Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Season 1 Episode 5 Review: You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Season 1 Episode 5, “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates,” raises the stakes yet again, making what was previously a wondrous adventure into a rude wake-up call of an episode with a stunning betrayal. 

In this episode, the kids land on an all-too-pleasant planet called Lanupa, a nice change of pace from their previous stop. This new planet makes for an interesting comparison to their aggressively peaceful home planet.

This episode has one of the biggest turns of the show thus far. It was one we all saw coming, but it is a testament to the skill of writer Myung Joh Wesner that it turned out to be one of the most shocking moments of the series.

Jod finally shows his true pirate colors and betrays the kids for the sake of the treasure that he seeks to find on At Attin, going so far as to hold a knife to Fern’s throat to get captaincy of the ship.

This twist is to be expected, given the long list of names that Jude Law’s Jod/Dash/Silvo/Jack has collected.

Even so, it was thrilling to see Law play the turn from the not-so-trustworthy scheming pirate with a soft spot for the kids into a menacing and ruthless pirate who will stop at nothing to get the treasure.

This episode reveals that the “eternal treasure” that SM-33’s former captain Tak Rennod was looking for on At Attin was actually the last existing Old Republic mint. 

Old Republic credits have been of note throughout the show so far, and we finally understand why in this episode.

The reveal that the treasure is actually eternal because it comes from a mint that could theoretically produce an infinite amount of money is particularly clever.

There is a moment where you see Jod’s decision to betray the kids happen in real time as he understands the true value of At Attin.

It is mirrored by a look of daunting realization on Fern’s face that Ryan Kiera Armstrong makes particularly convincing since this is when she knows everything will go downhill.

In line with this stunning betrayal, “You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates” is a great title reference to what is going to happen since we see Jod say this exact line as he is describing that the greatest sacrifice a pirate can make is their treasure.

Jude Law and Ryan Kiera Armstrong are definitely the stars of this episode, as Law plays his slowly growing turn towards betraying the kids with appropriately sinister expressions.

Armstrong gets several moments to shine as we see the weight of navigating this increasingly dangerous adventure on Fern’s shoulders much more in this episode.

We also get a surprising moment of doubt and reflection from Wim. He has finally realized that this adventure is too scary for him and that he misses his home and his father.

It is quite refreshing to see this nuance in his character, who was so starry-eyed about adventure in the beginning. Jod speaks to him with a very brusque “don’t get attached” talk, making Wim’s choice to stand up to Jod all the more impactful at the end of the episode.

Jod’s talk mirrored some Jedi philosophy we have seen in the Star Wars universe. He also ends up wielding a lightsaber by the end of the episode, which means Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a little closer to the rest of the universe than we might have previously thought.

The show has done very well to show us that it is in this universe we know, but also is distant from it in some ways. Whatever connections have been drawn have not overshadowed the main plot, and that will hopefully remain consistent.

I like how the episode shows a bit more of the parents, but there’s one character who still hasn’t got a chance to shine: KB. She is clearly the brains of the operation, but we don’t know much about her at all.

Since Fern, Wim, and Neel have all gotten turns in the spotlight, KB is overdue for one.

Writer Myung Joh Wesner brings a good balance of wonder and danger. Director Jake Schreier does a great job building up the tension around Jod and his betrayal specifically. 

The series has touched a bit on the themes of the worth of fighting your way out of every battle. It does so again with this villainous turn for Jod, whose only means of getting to At Attin for his treasure is to fight Fern and the kids, who are all shocked by his betrayal.

On the other hand, rather than having to fight the huge, monstrous Cthallops, Fern and Wim struck up a friendship, and he helped them simply because they regaled him with tales of their adventure so far. There is a clear difference between how Jod and the kids approach new friends or foes, and the show has done well to demonstrate this.

Nick Frost, the voice actor for SM-33, deserves a special shoutout for his performance.

Even though the captaincy is won by Jod after his challenge, SM-33 sounds downright apologetic about having to obey him.

Frost has consistently delivered on the grouchy pirate’s right-hand man (droid?) role well, and this episode gave him some time to shine, too.

It will be particularly interesting to see how the kids navigate the rest of the series on their own since they’ve got no adults to help them at all after this. 

Episode 5 delivers on its consistently delightful premise, this time making the stakes higher than they have ever been before and presenting a true challenge to the kids at the center of the story.

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New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew air Tuesdays at 9/8c on Disney+.

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