Episode 4 of Skeleton Crew brings two Oscar-winning directors to the Star Wars universe

This article contains Spoilers For Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Season 1, Episode 4, “I Can’t Say I Don’t Remember Attin.”

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, better known as the director duo “Daniels,” took home the 2022 Golden Oscars for Best Picture for their critically acclaimed sci-fi masterpiece. “Everything is everywhere at once” (read the /film review to learn more about that). In the world of feature filmmaking, they also got laughs in the bizarre and offbeat 2016 film “Swiss Army Man,” starring Daniel Radcliffe as a bloated corpse that Paul Dano can ride to safety like a jet ski.

To say that Daniels thinks differently than most directors is an understatement. When it was announced that they would be tackling a “Skeleton Crew” episode of the Star Wars franchise, there was palpable excitement about what they could bring to the table. Will they introduce their signature outside of the wall comedy? Or will the duo rein themselves in and model their effort after the foundational work done by “Skeleton Crew” co-creators Christopher Ford and John Watts (along with the rest of the production team) laid out in the series’ first few episodes? The answer, as evidenced by this week’s Daniels-directed segment, “I Can’t Say I Don’t Remember La Vie Aten,” is a combination of both.

There are definitely some trademarks that Daniels thrives on in this episode. “Can’t Say I Remember Not in At-Aten” brings a level of absurdist humor to the idea of ​​child soldiers on At-Achran, a planet that closely resembles the ideal, peace-loving world that the young heroes of the “Skeleton Crew” call home. Also known as Aten. It also has the feel of a multiverse “everything everywhere at once” story, with sets and locations that are almost identical but modified in certain ways. It’s as if we’re seeing a slightly different version of how things could have gone, where Neil (Robert Timothy Smith) would have been happy doing laundry and paying taxes with Hyena Strix (Halla Finley), the child soldier he meets Heroes and leads them along the way. Much of their journey on this new planet. In fact, when they reach the Sanctuary of Knowledge and find that the coordinates to Attin have been stripped, they discover a multiverse of planets with similar names like their own, for example At Acrann and Attin. Who knows what other unexpected “alternate” realities they might encounter by going to these other planets?

It’s no wonder Daniels was chosen to direct an episode that raised these kinds of questions, given their history. One of the biggest Oscar winners in recent memory.

Another key moment where the directors’ style of filmmaking really shines is when Captain Vern (Ryan Keira Armstrong) deprograms SM-33’s (Nick Frost) block and allows him to regain his memories of Aten’s location and what his former commander ordered him to do if anyone came looking for him. . His directive was to rip anyone looking for the coordinates end to end, so he proceeded to go after Neel in a rather creepy sequence with some SnorriCam style shots of the robot going berserk. This complete turn of events features a visual style that expands what we’re accustomed to from “Star Wars” and feels right at home in something the Daniels could have thought of on their own.

While Daniels advertises his involvement in both the episode’s story and visuals, the song “Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin'” is very similar to other episodes of “Skeleton Crew” before it. For those who were hoping that Daniels would have his directorial stamp throughout the entire episode, they may find this disappointing. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it’s a testament to their competence as directors, that they can be chameleons, able to mimic the established style of the show perfectly while deviating enough to craft moments and themes that reflect their personal touch (but without coloring too far from the scope of the work). lines in the process). In the end, they gave us a fun and adventurous episode of “Skeleton Crew” that fits right in with everything we’ve seen before.

Some may be disappointed by that, but it appears that this is also the job Daniels was hired to do. last year, Daniel Cowan even disputed claims that the duo “sold” their tickets to “Star Wars.” Confirmation has been that the pair have been approached to work on “Skeleton Crew” ahead of “Everything Everywhere at Once” opening in theaters. They were obviously hired because they were competent and didn’t rock the boat too much. This is how television works, even in the age of streaming.

“Can’t Say I Remember La Vie Aten” is an utterly charming film, and like Everything Everywhere at Once, it offers us a bit of an unexpected love story in a place we never thought we’d find it. The episode, as previously noted, focuses largely on Neel – the lovelorn alien member of the Skeleton Crew – and Hayna Strix, a Troik Clan member of At Acchran. She’s also the daughter of a general, while Nell is a very committed pacifist. Fortunately, the two are able to talk through the competing philosophies of their worldviews and the differences between their planets and come to an understanding, culminating in the most chaste and adorable kiss in “Star Wars” history.

Knowing that this does not mean that the episode is devoid of adventure or laughter; The Daniels could pack “Can’t Say I Remember La Vie Aten” full of those, too. In particular, the moments when SM-33 is unable to remember Attin take on an increasingly sinister, yet somewhat laughable tone, as the episode progresses into what proves to be a master class in direction. It remains to be seen whether Daniels will get another chance to make a mark on the “Star Wars” universe in the lead position or as a pair of guns for hire. Either way, this episode definitely proves that they know how to show off the sensibilities of a galaxy far, far away in the vein of “Skeleton Crew,” and that’s great to see.

New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will be released every Tuesday at 6pm PT on Disney+.