Skeleton Crew Episode 7 puts adults in a classic Steven Spielberg scene

This article contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble.”

The penultimate episode of Star Wars: The Crew of Skeletons Season 1, titled “We’re Gonna Have So Much Trouble,” returns the action to the planet Attinwith all the show’s storylines and characters converging on the mysterious world of myth. While things are going on, the parents of the kids in danger, Wim (Ravey Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kyra Armstrong), Neil (Robert Timothy Smith) and Kay Bee (Kyrianna Critter), plan to send them a message letting them know how to overcome the deadly barrier that stands between them and returning home. Meanwhile, Captain Brutus (Fred Tatascare), Jodh Na Naud (Jude Law) and the rest of the pirates fight for the children and their ship, the Onyx Ash, when they realize it may hold the key to getting through the barrier.

In the end, Jod wins, forcibly capturing the children, holding them hostage with violent threats, and abandoning his pirate crew. Once on the surface, he finds Attin’s legendary treasure, and the children are reunited with their parents. However, the actual episode ends just as the final conflict begins.

Along the way, “We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble” samples everything from “Andor” to, once again, “Treasure Island” for ideas. However, one of the best scenes comes from Steven Spielberg’s classic.

The creators of “Skeleton Crew” Robert Watts and Christopher Ford did not hide the fact that they were inspired by the work of Steven Spielberg, especially his directing and producing in the 1980s. “The Goonies” is often cited as a source of inspirationand it makes sense. “The Goonies” truly cemented the “Kids on Bikes” genre in the hearts and minds of ’80s kids around the world. But there was, of course, another film that truly started the genre: Spielberg’s 1982 hit The Alien.

The seventh episode of “Skeleton Crew” opens with a scene taken straight from “ET”. The parents of the missing children are certain that the droids and At Attin wardens will do nothing to help find their children, so they have built their own communications device, assembled from spare parts, to send a message across the planetary barrier. They gather together in the forest to send their message. Unfortunately, Attin’s security droids with bright flashlights pounce on them at night and give chase, hoping to intercept their message.

The scene is like a live broadcast of two specific, iconic moments in “ET.” The first is the chase in “ET” that was mentioned earlier in the series, where government agents chase the eponymous alien through a night forest with flashlights. The other, however, is when the ET built his own communication device to contact his people and be taken home. “ET called home,” he tells his friends in one of the film’s oft-quoted lines.

While “Skeleton Crew” episode 7 combines the shots and atmosphere of Spielberg’s classic with its own nocturnal forest, it also puts the adults on the run from the authorities this time around, which is a fun transition. It’s clear, though, that they just want to get their kids home safe and sound, and it makes you wonder if that might be the case for other aliens trying to capture aliens on the other end of things in a Spielberg movie.

If there’s anything we can learn from Spielberg’s Bike Kids movies of the 1980s, it’s that they always have a thrilling climax with lots of action and, well, kids on bikes. With this episode of Skeleton Crew ending on a huge cliffhanger after its young heroes return home to Attin, it stands to reason that we’ll probably be back to see the kids riding their motorbikes trying to save the day from Jodh Na Naud and his treacherous behavior in the season 1 finale.

Will they fly into the sky and show the silhouette of the moon? That might be too much, but I can still bet that the hoverbikes will turn into things. I would bet too Wim will get the lightsaber that Jod used to escapetoo. It would make a lot of sense for him to become the Jedi he dreamed of being since the very first episode. In addition, hopefully, the children’s droid friend SM-33 will return. It’s just good storytelling in the Spielberg mode.

Star Wars: The Crew of Skeletons season 1 finale airs on January 14, 2025. at 6:00 PM PT on Disney+.