Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episode 4.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is already defying expectations, moving away from the galaxy-wide fight between good and evil to focus on four children from a forgotten planet. Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and KB (Kyriana Kratter) go on an unexpected adventure, meeting the former pirate Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), who agrees to help them find a way home in return for their assistance in breaking free. From his introduction, Jod seemed sketchy. Not only was he locked up, but he has lied, stolen, and is basically set up to be untrustworthy. Already, the character has been given three different names (Jod, Crimson Jack, and Silvo), making his backstory more mysterious. Honestly, I’m a sucker for a good redemption story, but Jod’s character showed no signs of caring about self-improvement.
Yet, in Episode 4, “Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin,” when he has the chance to either betray the children or run off without them, Jod saves them instead. Personally, I expected Jod to be the franchise’s way of breaking the mold they set for themselves. Star Wars series have a long history of children finding a fatherly protector, like Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in The Mandalorian, Hunter (Dee Bradley Baker) in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, or Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) in Star Wars: Rebels. But Jod seemed like the last person to fit that character type, as his snarky attitude towards the kids and blatant self-interest suggest him to be a treasure hunter like the pirates chasing them. Then, in Episode 4, he shows genuine concern for the four children he has found himself traveling with, showing there is more to the character than his mysterious nature and self-serving goals.
Jude Law’s Jod Is a Better Person Than ‘Skeleton Crew’ First Showed Him To Be
With so much mystery surrounding the character, I was skeptical of Jod’s goals, and Skeleton Crew suggested I should be. After all, KB and Kh’ymm (Alia Shawkat) don’t trust him. However, Episode 4 shows there is more to Jod. Arriving on a planet eerily familiar to the children but war-torn, the four kids leave Jod on the ship as they search for information — only he doesn’t stay put, getting involved in the conflict on the opposite side as the children. As two enemies fight over stolen eopies, Jod solves the problem, buying the eopies and returning them to the Troik, who have the children. Offered a reward for getting the eopies back, Jod asks for his four companions to be released to him, saving them from the war the Troik wanted them to fight.
Jod’s heroism goes even further when SM-33 (Nick Frost) targets the children for asking for the location of At Attin, which his former captain ordered him never to reveal. Seeing where things are headed, Jod raises a blaster, preparing to stop the droid, and when that doesn’t work, he jumps in to manually turn off SM-33 before he hurts Neel. Saving the children had no benefit to Jod. In fact, they were the only thing between him and the ship that could have taken him to freedom, yet he risks himself to save them, showing that he is not just the self-involved character I believed him to be. Though abandoning children to war or letting them die would be dark, the heroism with which he ran towards the towering droid that threatened to rip Neel limb from limb proves that he did more than the minimum.
Related
‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Most Deep Cut Easter Egg Subtly Expands the Franchise
Take that Galaxy’s Edge!
Jod’s Morality Makes Him More Interesting on ‘Skeleton Crew’
Not a lot is known about Jod or his past, and every piece of new information makes him more of an enigma. There are many theories flying around about who he is – a former Jedi in-training who survived Order 66, a Force-sensitive pirate, or something even more sinister. But only time will tell what is true. So far, it is clear that whatever he was in the past, Jod is not the shining symbol of morality Wim wants to make him. Even in Episode 4, which focuses on his better deeds, Jod steals Wim’s money before using it to rescue the children.
With his pirate connection and a checkered past, Jod’s heroism is a surprising twist, yet it adds a layer of complexity to the character. Star Wars often deals in light versus dark imagery, and the characters who fall in the middle of the spectrum get lost. Jod, at the very least, is not totally evil, but he is prone to poor choices that the likes of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) or Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) would never make. I expected the worst from Jod, but that is not the case. Skeleton Crew has shown a streak of goodness in him, making him a better character and drawing me further into the show’s overall mysteries.
Four kids make a mysterious discovery on their home planet that leads them to get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy.
- Release Date
- December 2, 2024
- Creator
- Cast
- Jude Law , Ravi Cabot-Conyers , Ryan Kiera Armstrong , Kyriana Kratter , Robert Timothy Smith , Tunde Adebimpe , Kerry Condon , Nick Frost
- Seasons
- 1
- Franchise
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S. New episodes air every Tuesday night.
Source link
