Skeleton Crew Episode 8 Recycles A Wizard Of Oz Twist

This article contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” episode 8, “The Real Good Guys.”

“Skeleton Crew” is one of the most refreshing “Star Wars” titles in a long while. It’s a show that appeals to audiences of all ages thanks to its young cast, wide-eyed wonder about the franchise, and use of terrifying imagery to sell the peril the characters are in. It’s also a series that features a wide variety of weird little alien creatures, which also helps to make “Skeleton Crew” feel like a truly unique and lived-in part of a galaxy far, far away.

Most importantly, “Skeleton Crew” understands space pirates are not just a cool addition to any “Star Wars” show, but they also deserve an entire series that’s all about them. That is the corner of the galaxy “Skeleton Crews” lives in, and the show excels at taking pirate tropes and archetypes and translating them to “Star Wars,” whether it’s most of the plot of “Treasure Island,” character names derived from “Peter Pan,” or simply (and finally) introducing space sea shanties to the property.

Indeed, “Skeleton Crew” is big on homaging other titles, and in the season 1 finale, “The Real Good Guys,” we get yet another tribute to classic literature and cinema. It comes when Jude Law’s Force-sensitive criminal Jod Na Nawood takes Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her mother Fara (Kerry Condon) hostage and forces them to escort him to meet the enigmatic Supervisor — aka the (presumed to be an) individual in charge of the whole At Attin operation — in order to let his pirate ship land safely on the planet. We’d heard a lot about the Supervisor throughout season 1, but when the time comes to actually meet him, “Skeleton Crew” ends up borrowing a page right out of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Who or what the Supervisor is didn’t really seem like much of a mystery in “Skeleton Crew” — at least not at first. It wasn’t until we learned of Captain Rennod and his legendary exploit to find the planet of eternal treasure that the idea sprung up amongst fans that maybe, just maybe, the pirate had managed to usurp the hierarchy of At Attin and made himself Supervisor.

Of course, that’s not what we see. Instead, the moment we arrive at the Supervisor’s office, we encounter a giant droid with a rotating head reminiscent of a Dalek. Not a droid with the voice of Rennod, nor a droid head revealing a tiny Rennod inside. Nope, just a regular old droid in command of the entire planet. It’s essentially “Skeleton Crew” pulling its own “Wizard of Oz” twist, revealing that the leader of the organization is merely a tiny, sad machine you can kill by merely shoving a lightsaber through its eye.

That being said, it’s a clever turn of events and a testament to the overall quality of the season 1 finale, which focuses less on providing answers to the show’s earlier mysteries and more on being a fun adventure. After all, if the Supervisor had turned out to be Rennod, that wouldn’t have been a meaningful twist for either Fern or her mom, seeing as the adults on At Attin have already met the Supervisor and know him to be a droid — a reasonable, non-pirate one at that. Perhaps a potential second season could expand upon the history of the Supervisor and other droids on At Attin … though, sadly, if the initial ratings for “Skeleton Crew” are anything to go by, we probably shouldn’t get our hopes up.

The entirety of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” season 1 is now streaming on Disney+.