This week's new Skeleton Crew was the first one not written by Christopher Ford and Jon Watts. It's the first of two written by Myung Joh Wesner, another in a trend of Disney hiring inexperienced writers for their shows--Wesner's only two previous credits are for shows called High Potential and Death and Other Details, both series having been released in 2024. She has a web site which includes brief synopses of a number of unproduced scripts. She brags about her perfect spelling in her bio. Her Skeleton Crew episode wasn't so bad and definitely felt like she did her homework, which I assume was watching The Goonies twenty times.
When Wim picked up the lightsabre, though, it was another moment when I knew exactly what was going to happen next; he ignited it when he was holding it upside down and nicked his foot. I might forgive this moment if it's revealed next episode that he's lost all of his toes on that foot. But, good grief, he's just a joke at this point.
This episode was the one that most strongly gave me the impression that the writer has no idea how to write children. Every time they did something, like Wim crying about how frightening everything is, or the group of them suddenly having a pillow fight, it felt like Wesner had a numbered list of "Things Kids Do" and rolled dice to see which one they'd do next. They feel so detached at this point. The only time I felt for one of them was when Fern had to make a decision when Jude Law's character invoked the duel. Unfortunately, there wasn't the tiniest part of me that didn't want Law to win the duel.
His motives are perfectly intelligible and both the writing and Law's performance continue to sell him. I was also pleased to see Kelly Macdonald as a former cohort of Law's character. You might know her from Boardwalk Empire, No Country for Old Men, or Trainspotting. How I wish the series had been about her and Jude Law on a galactic treasure hunt.
Skeleton Crew is available on Disney+.
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