Project Geekology
Embark on an epic journey with Anthony and Dakota as they delve into the vast realms of geek culture, from cherished classics to cutting-edge creations. Join us for an exhilarating adventure of exploration and nostalgia, as we unearth hidden gems and reminisce about the moments that have shaped us. Welcome to the ultimate celebration of all things geeky!
Project Geekology
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Part 1
What happens when childhood wonder meets the vast expanse of the Star Wars universe? Join us as we uncover the whimsical adventures of "Skeleton Crew" on Disney Plus. With special guest Rich Shanana, we explore the series' first four episodes, diving into the lives of characters like Wim, Neel, Fern, and KB. This isn't just a journey through space; it's a coming-of-age tale filled with the profound themes of identity, growth, and friendship. We'll uncover how each character navigates their personal trials within this epic world and discuss the potential of "Skeleton Crew" as a fresh gateway into the Star Wars saga for newcomers.
Imagine running a Disney marathon dressed as Kermit the Frog, complete with a custom hat—sounds fun, right? That's just one of the personal stories we share, blending our pop culture chat with real-life adventures. From Rich's Jack Sparrow moment at Disneyland to Dakota's support of his wife at Disney World, our stories merge seamlessly into our thoughts on the second season of "Squid Game." We dive into the captivating dynamics of Neel and Fern's growth, drawing parallels with the challenges and triumphs of our own experiences. It's a humorous and heartfelt look at how pop culture intertwines with everyday life.
But the excitement doesn't stop there. We engage in a spirited discussion on the broader implications of the series, from the rich Star Wars lore to the surreal artistry of Hayao Miyazaki's films. We offer fresh insights, comparing the fever dream-like quality of Miyazaki's work to the narrative depth of "Skeleton Crew." Whether you're a Star Wars aficionado or a Miyazaki enthusiast, this episode promises a tantalizing exploration of imagination and storytelling. Prepare for an episode that is as insightful as it is entertaining, with plenty of humor and heart along the way.
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Can't say I remember, no, I ain't Guys. Welcome to Project Geekology, episode 106. I am one of your hosts, dakota, and I'm joined, as always, with.
Speaker 2:I am Anthony and don't confuse me with Neil the elephant child.
Speaker 1:I don't think anyone's going to or anything. Yeah, I don't think anyone was going to confuse you with Neil, but we are also joined with our new regular guest host. I guess I'm not really sure what you are these days.
Speaker 3:Rich, welcome. I feel the same way. That's my way. My name is Rich Shanana. All right, Nobody really knows who I am, but I am glad to be here with you guys and I'm glad that it's not a skeleton crew.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean technically, how many people does it take to build a skeleton crew or to just be a skeleton crew of something? It's just the bare bones, right. It's just the bare minimum needed to get a ship running right.
Speaker 3:So I guess for a podcast it would be. There's been many episodes, so I guess one is the skeleton crew.
Speaker 1:Okay, I got you, so we're running at full capacity plus one.
Speaker 3:Right, 100%. We have the dinghy on the side of the boat and everything.
Speaker 1:All right, I like this naval lingo that we have going on, because I actually did recently watch the first Pirates film, curse of the Black Pearl, and I just love that movie so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we covered that also. It's been a bit. Yeah, it's been a while.
Speaker 3:Those movies are glorious, yo, glorious, yo, ho ho and a bottle of rum I, just I I I love everything and be I.
Speaker 3:I did share this with uh jen I I guess, before disney like outlawed this or whatever I was. I went to disneyland and I bought the tricorder hat, okay Right, with like the random, like wisps of like hair on it and it had like the braids with like the little, so it was a full Jack Sparrow, right, and I happened to kind of have the similar facial hair. So I remember being at Disneyland and a number of people and I didn't do this on purpose Stopped me and they're like that guy looks like Captain, like let's take a picture, and I was like I, I won don't look like Johnny Depp at all, yeah right, but um, boy, did I have a good time.
Speaker 1:It was uh kind of hilarious, so that's awesome uh, but, guys, we, we are talking about Skeleton crew, specifically the first four episodes of the uh limited eight episode run. Uh, disney plus series uh, it's a star wars uh television show. If you haven't checked it out, at least not the first four episodes uh, please do so before listening to us here. Uh, for our 107th episode. And yeah, we're going to be getting into both non-spoilers and spoiler discussions for those first four episodes. What we thought about, or what we currently think about the character progressions of all the individual characters, the introduction of Jad Nahil I forget what his name is, he has so many names. But yeah, before we jump into any of that, I guess I'll jump in first, because I already kind of jumped into, like my, like, what I've been up to this past week. But I also actually did visit Disney World briefly over the weekend because my wife Jen ran the Disney World marathon. She didn't do the dopey challenge Challenge or the Goofy Challenge, but she did run the full 26.2 miles that take up the actual marathon run.
Speaker 1:So, for those of you who don't know, disney has race weekends where it'll be like the first day is a 5K run, second day is a 10K run, third, third day is a half marathon and the fourth day is the full marathon. People who do multiple races, can you know? Basically it's a feat of strength, basically. And they, for those of you who do like just the half marathon and the full marathon, that's called the goofy challenge. And then those who do all four days of racing, which is just insanity, it's called the dopey challenge, uh, but you get a really cool medal for for each of those uh races that you do, and you know, some people were out rocking all six medals for each, each of the four races plus the two challenges, uh. So, yeah, people are crazy, but I think it's pretty cool yeah, that's wild, that's absolutely wild jen was.
Speaker 1:Jen was, uh, fully decked out in, uh, a kermit costume, which she was extremely excited about. Uh, she, she has been planning this for months. And then, after the race, she basically was just wearing a bunch of kermit merch uh that she has collected over the years kermit crocs, kermit backpack, kermit merch that she has collected over the years, kermit Crocs, kermit backpack, kermit sweatshirt. She brought her Kermit plush toy and she made a Kermit hat for the run itself, so she was fully Kermited out.
Speaker 2:I told Jen that you needed to deck out in Kermit also.
Speaker 1:Should I go Kermit or Miss Piggy? Yeah, there, you go there you go.
Speaker 3:Hey, buddy, it's 2025.
Speaker 1:Let's go, let's do this, but no, I did have a really fun time in Disney World for the short time that I was there. What's cool is that in the race they actually run through all four of the Disney parks and if you're doing good on time, you can actually stop and ride some of the rides, like some people were stopping to ride Everest and all that?
Speaker 2:I think that's yeah, and it's.
Speaker 1:It's, you know, free, with the price of admission of, you know, like the, the, not the theme park price of admission, but the the actual ticket to run the marathon, you can pretty much do whatever rides are open at that time. So I thought that was pretty cool Nice.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, yeah, she had a good time. She finished it. She ran the whole thing. Unfortunately, when we were there and I think this is why we ended up watching Pirates of the Caribbean the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was down during the day that we visited Magic Kingdom. So it's like a must do for me whenever I'm there. You know, like that's kind of like the first thing I go to and probably the last thing I do before I leave that park. So seeing that it was just completely just off, all day was just it, killed me.
Speaker 2:It's also like really cold for orlando that weekend, but yeah yeah, it it's been kind of cooling down here in South Florida like over the past like few weeks it'll. There's some days where it'll kind of pop up to like maybe 80, but then we'll have a couple days where it dips down to, I think, like the coldest was maybe like in the 40s, but usually it's like in the 50s, 60s, I think. Right now it's like in the 60s. So it's definitely been a nice change from the. It's usually like hot most of the time. We don't usually get a bunch of weeks where it like cools down, like we'll get like a week where it it'll cool down to like, you know, maybe 40 or 50 and then after that we're back up to like maybe 70, 80 nice, uh, florida, and like the 70 80 range, is, it's just so nice, anything past that point?
Speaker 1:right and then, but uh, inclusion either direction, actually in either direction, just because florida cold is really cold it's like a wet cold yeah, because it's so humid.
Speaker 1:It's a like, it's like a bone chilling cold that you, you experience in florida, even though technically it's not as cold as some of the like the northern states. Like we were coming down from new york, which has been you know 20 for like three weeks in a row, but for some reason, just being outside you know like maybe 40 or 50 degree weather in Orlando it was, it felt the same, you know, it was just like, but anyway that yeah. So that's that's what I've been up to. Uh, had a fun time but, back on that grind.
Speaker 1:Uh, Anthony, what have you been up to?
Speaker 2:I have been up to mostly watching these first four episodes of Skeleton Crew again, and I know it came out I don't remember when I think it came out last month. But I finally got to the second season of Squid Game. I don't know if you watched that. I don't know if you watch any of it at all, but it's definitely. You know. I'm pretty sure that if you haven't seen squid game, you've heard of it and yeah, I, I, I have heard of it obviously I did.
Speaker 1:I actually am one of the few people who have yet to watch it I mean it's uh, I join you, I join you, it's, it's definitely interesting it's.
Speaker 2:It's crazy how it it grabbed a lot of people because I mean, it's, it's a korean show. You know, not not many. There's actually a lot of like korean shows that are like very similar, that don't make it around.
Speaker 2:You know, that doesn't make the international circuit the way that this one does and so like, like there's one that I was watching that it was like a zombie apocalypse breaking out at like a school, and you do it like. I mean, the, the koreans are very similar to the japanese and like their, you know, I guess, their uh imagination, their creativity. You know, I guess, their imagination, their creativity, you know.
Speaker 1:I noticed they are much better at like the live action dramas than the Japanese, where the Japanese are much better at the animated dramas, but, like you said, they have similar creative, I guess, outlets and styles.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:I think that's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I've been watching that?
Speaker 1:How is the second season?
Speaker 2:I've been enjoying it so far. I haven't finished it yet. It's interesting to see what the dynamic would have been because it centers around the winner of the first one, the first season. So it's interesting seeing like, okay, how, how are they going to bring it back? Like, why would he be going back into the games you know and so like them figuring it out and kind of implementing that and bringing the games back? It's, I mean, I've been enjoying it so far. It's you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess, like as somebody who really enjoys watching, you know anime, this is almost like something that you would see in live action. I think, like one that kind of reminded me of that. There's an, an anime that they did like a live action adaptation of it. It's called alice in borderland and it's kind of like you know games, you know these people getting transported to like a game that, like you get killed. If you get killed in this game, you're, you're dead. You know like your body is in the game and if you, you know you get killed in this world, kind of. So not like, not like sword art online, where when you get killed in the game, it's your brain getting.
Speaker 1:You know that disconnect I see, I see cool man, um rich, throwing it over to you what have?
Speaker 3:you been up to. Oh, we just, we finally wrapped up it was. It was a very difficult week of having to watch revenger of sith four times a day and stop it and wax poetic about things that I liked or disliked, but I got through it. It was difficult. You locked in.
Speaker 1:For those just catching this episode Rich is a teacher and he is using Revenge of the Sith to ease kids into Macbeth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we just started Macbeth, so I got to. It's the only day of the year that I get to use my face as a lesson plan, because the line is he unseams him from the nave to the chops and then I get to point to my mutton chops and go guys, what are these called? And they're like oh. And then I'm like, yeah, oh, so it's really enjoyable. I can never change my facial hair because I don't have to change my lesson plan. That would be unfortunate.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's a good. You know, if your wife ever complains, I do it for the kids. If my wife ever complains If your wife ever complains.
Speaker 3:But other than that, just you know, trying to finish out Dragon Age, I think I, just before we started recording, I actually saw that one of the missions on my menu is. It says if you start this mission. You're ending the main story.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, interesting. So next time we talk, I will hopefully be done with this Now are you the kind of guy that will try to do all of the other side quests in the interim, or can you like complete the side quests after you complete the main storyline?
Speaker 3:so I've done everything that I can uh every single side quest now, because I haven't looked it up yet, but if I, I feel like I remember the last dragon age game being like, uh, you win and then it's over, it's more like a zelda than it is a uh, you know, like a red dead interesting.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that's a smart idea, cool, very nice I want to get 100.
Speaker 3:You know, get that platinum, that that meaningless platinum trophy on my playstation 5 account, which means so much I did that with the spider-man game oh yeah, no, I I expected my son, like when I came by and he didn't have the platinum yet, I was like are we even trying right now? Like what's uh, what's happening? So he, uh, he got it that's, that's wonderful.
Speaker 1:Peer pressure, and actually we're going to be talking a lot about peer pressure today. Uh, as we jump into our topic of discussion skeleton crew we have a bunch of, um, young kids who, you know, they're just doing their kid thing. One of them is, uh, you know, has a lot of wanderlust. He's always, uh, having adventures in his head about being a jedi and going on crazy adventures. Another one is just happy to be in school and happy to be a child and happy to be on the path that he's on. He's got a crush, he's, you know, just living life. Then we have another one who is on a path to success I would say on a path to success, I would say but she decides that she would rather go for being the cool kid and so on. And then the last kid I'm purposely not saying their names, I don't know why I'm not saying their names, but I'm going to keep doing this the last of the four children has a cybernetic implant that helps her stay alive and is honestly pretty cool. So, yeah, those four kids are Wim, neil, fern and KB.
Speaker 1:Before we begin, what are your thoughts on, I guess, the introduction of these characters and where they go. Let's talk about Wim first, because he he is at least at the out, at the outset of the show. Uh, the, the main character that we're following, rich. How do you feel about whim as a character, from where we are in, you know when we first meet him to, you know where, where we are at the the end of these four episodes well, I think you know, for me he's obviously supposed to be kind of like lukey in terms of that.
Speaker 3:You know, he, he's the one who wants to leave the planet right, he has like these dreams of joining. I mean, obviously luke's ideas were more well grounded because he's there was an act like he could actually join the war. You know he could join the new republic, right and he, he understands what's beyond his little rock yeah, where you know whim is by himself.
Speaker 3:But I think it's weird. Out of the four of them, I almost feel like he grows almost the least, but maybe it's because he has the most to do. I, you know you immediately feel terrible for him. Uh, because his dad, I mean very early on I do believe it's the first episode, yes, it's definitely within the first four. You know like, kind of says like, isn't it time for you to stop? You know like. Or he asks for him to read a bedtime and he says can you read me a story before bed, like mom used to, right? So he's even like saying a lot like ma, you know our, my mom, who's dead dad? Could you know she used to do this. I'm obviously not feeling well. Would you please do this thing that my dead parent used to do? And he's like I got too many reports, I can't do it?
Speaker 3:gotta go to work, you know, and it so you're immediately I don't know if I thought it was heavy-handed, but it was just so quick that you know you're like, oh, you know, like neglected, poor, poor, neglected kid.
Speaker 3:You know, like his dad's a workaholic, uh, buried himself in work after his wife died, yeah.
Speaker 3:But I, you know, he is definitely the more, the more childish of the group and it just I, I kind of struggle to place his age. I just had a conversation with my son who he, you know, he got, you know, doesn't listen to this and thank god, but he had a little bit of a meltdown one day, just theoretically, the idea that he has all these toys. But now that he's 10, he's not sure, you know, he doesn't want to be the the kid who's still playing with toys. So he's kind of he gets like feel it out at school, you know, and and I think whim is somewhere in that age, because it seems like his dad is, you know, doesn't approve of it anymore and his friends don't seem to engage in that same behavior. So he's definitely been off in this fantasy world for a long time. I like him, he's got some spunk, you know, he has some nice moments, uh, but I think, uh, in some ways, he's the character that grew the least for me so to I?
Speaker 1:I don't know if I'm answering your question or not, but the way that I interpret where they are in in life, or at least in the education system, it seems to me that they're going from elementary into a middle school setting. They're they're doing like this final test, that kind of will set them up for success or failure, depending on where they place, and that's kind of like the introductory setup that we have with their schooling and everything on that and and uh it the way that the kids are all portrayed, specifically women, neil. It feels as though they're still in that elementary school mindset or like early middle school mindset. You know, wait, where did you say they are?
Speaker 3:can't, can't say I remember no, ah you took it away from me, man, I know, I saw, I I I saw the layup in your eyes um and then you know, I destroyed it limb from limb.
Speaker 1:Um, let's see, yeah, so I would say, I would say they're like middle school age, ish um yes, yes, I would.
Speaker 2:They're at that coming of age age, which is usually that age, the middle school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, still trying to figure yourself out that age and I think that's kind of why the dad is like all right, come on, buddy, you gotta, you know, start growing up a little bit.
Speaker 1:I, I think they, they really play the, the dad off as being, uh, really neglectful and stuff. And yeah, he, he is outwardly neglectful, at least in this one episode, but I think to a degree he has maybe some point when, when, when it comes to whim, because whim is like just so over the top in his own head, you know, like he, he is letting this get in the way of his schooling. It's it's getting in the way of, uh, him getting to class on time, it's it's. You know, it's actually a real problem, um, and maybe that's because his mother died early on or something, but yeah, it's, it's interesting. And I, I do feel bad for not only whim but for the father ultimately, because you know, as the show goes on, you see that he does truly care for his, his son right, right, especially like when they leave oh, yeah, you can see it's he's, he's heartbroken.
Speaker 1:But yeah, uh, anthony, what do you, what do you feel about, like, uh whim's character and how he grows over these four episodes?
Speaker 2:If at all.
Speaker 1:Do you think he grows a lot?
Speaker 2:I think that in these first four episodes he is still very much so that same Wim, the one that wants that adventure, the one that wants to become a Jedi. His head is a little bit in the clouds, whereas everybody else, all the other kids, are a little bit more grounded, especially Neil. Neil's like the goody two shoes, but also trying to make sure that everybody doesn't go, that their heads don't swell too much. I guess he tries to be a little bit of that voice of reason.
Speaker 2:And so, with him being Neil's best friend, with Neil being Wim's best friend, I think it's definitely an interesting, an interesting offset. But those, you know, those friendships happen all the time. There's always that one crazy friend that brings you know, a friend like Neil like kind of takes them out of, out of their bubble, but then then you have somebody like Neil that kind of brings you back to Earth when you've been in orbit for too long, you know. Yeah, I would say that Wim, at least in the first four episodes, doesn't really have any growth. Like he's still like sold on Jod being a Jedi where all the other kids are questioning him, like are you really?
Speaker 2:a jedi like, like they're like he's like whim is almost like the kind of kid that adults think that our kid that kids are like. But the rest of the kids are really like how kids are. You know kids aren't stupid once they pick up. You know they when they kind of pick up a little bit of a radar you might be able to to to trick them a little bit more than an adult, but they're still pretty smart and this group of kids shows that they're pretty smart.
Speaker 1:And I think with Wim, one thing that I like that we're starting to see in these four episodes is that adventure isn't exactly what he had. That we're starting to see in these four episodes Is that adventure isn't exactly what he had. Like, the adventure that they're having Isn't particularly what he had in mind.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:As far as adventures go, because there's a lot more like danger At every turn. There's a lot more getting lost Than there is finding new cool places, you know.
Speaker 2:Well, bucko, you wanted to be a Jedi, and that's probably one of the most dangerous things that you could want to be, at least in that point in time yep, yep, uh.
Speaker 1:So let's, let's move over to neil. Uh, as you, you brought neil up earlier. Uh, I think neil is probably most people's favorite character, um and the show, just because he is just such a lovable, like, adorable alien creature. Uh, that is basically just. You know, for all intents and purposes he's entirely human in terms of his, uh, mental faculties and the way that he presents himself, but he's almost he's an elephant. He's an elephant, yeah, he's, he's, uh, it's almost like he's an elephant. He's an elephant. Yeah, it's almost like he's a Max Rebo type character, an Ortolan, but technically he's not, because Ortolans only have two limbs, he has four, so he's his own species. We don't really know what his species is called at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they haven't given them a name. I think that they've given their species type a name, but not an actual name to the species, like an elephantine or something like that, or teen, so something like that. I mean they, they are very much so like they're, they're like sentient elephant, human elephants you know that that's exactly how they come off like.
Speaker 2:It's exactly like what they are. But I know, I totally agree, neil is very adorable and, like I said, he is kind of that one that tries to ground them but, like you know, in an innocent kind of way, whereas you know, you have someone like fern that's like a little bit more on the harder, harder side, but she is a little bit of a ground too yeah, one of my favorite things um that they showed in this series is when they go into neil's father's like garage there's like an old, uh, a beer plaque.
Speaker 1:you know that you would like normally see in like a bar, but it's, it's of like his species and it's like holding up like a couple of beers and it's just, it's just so kitschy and I want that plaque so bad. I want to see what it looks like up close. It looks so funny but yeah, I, I, I love those little details.
Speaker 2:You just see a group of elephants just like raising a glass.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, well, it looks like neil's father, but like he's holding like six, six cups of beer or something like that. That's. That's what the the pub thing looks like. But as far as neil goes, I he's probably the most naive of the bunch.
Speaker 1:He doesn't really know how um the world works on the universe that they're, you know, thrust into, he's the one most susceptible to. You know, I guess believing people like, maybe not the most susceptible in terms of, like, uh, jod and whim, whim is like very eager to believe that this guy's a jedi, like he's. He, he's willing that into existence, but with neil, you know, if if whim tells him that they're not going to get in trouble, then they're not going to get in trouble like he doesn't, he doesn't question it.
Speaker 1:You know, and maybe that's something that he should, because that there's some clear peer pressure going on to do something that he clearly shouldn't. You know, and, um, he doesn't have all that much forward thinking early on in the show, but I think by episode four he really comes into his own. He realizes that he's not just a fighter like the others, he's not eager for adventure or anything like that, but he is eager to, you know, like to find peaceful resolutions to things, and I thought that was a really cool uh moment for him in in that. In episode four specifically, yeah, I didn't wholly like episode, at least the first half. I didn't like the first half of episode four, um, but we'll talk about that more later. But but yeah, I did like how Neil was portrayed in that episode.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Rich, how do you oh go ahead?
Speaker 2:I was going to say I felt like episode four was like. It felt like it was an episode for him, that it was an episode.
Speaker 1:It was like a growth moment for Neil. Okay, I like that. Yeah, I could see that. Rich, how do you feel about Neil in these first four episodes?
Speaker 3:It's funny. It's almost like Neil's character is so amazing that it actually I don't know how to put this Like I wanted to like Wim more. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I know where you're going with that.
Speaker 3:The premise, I wanted to like Wim more. And the other part is like when I first saw neil, I was like, oh man, this is the guy everyone's gonna love, right, like, this is the guy. And I was like I, I don't wanna, so I, I kind of I don't want to say kept my distance, but I didn't ascribe to him right away. I was like, yeah, okay, yeah, he's in the back, you know, whatever, he's cute, you know, like he's got the little brother, as in all this stuff. And there was just so many things to to like neil that I was like I don't, I don't want to do it right away.
Speaker 3:But I think episode four, was it? Um, hana, hana, yeah, hana, right, uh, that that the interaction with hana, to me is just top-notch stuff. I mean, if you, if you're like me and you're on the fence, I think that by the time you get to the end of episode four, there's no debate, I mean, unless you, you really like the little rat creature that jumps out of smee's eye, uh, or sorry, sm33, uh, but other than that, I mean there's, there's really neil is the best character and I, you know, and it's weird because whim is the. I would say whim. Whim is the, I would say, when women supposed to be your protagonist.
Speaker 1:Almost right, I mean he that's, that's how they introduced it to us. I wonder, I wonder how you know the writers would feel about that, or if he's just the catalyst for the story to commence. You know, I feel like maybe that's his ultimate role. But yeah, you would think that Wim is the main character of the story, but as the show goes on and the other characters are more fleshed out, he just kind of slots himself right there, as you know, just a quarter of the story, you know right right but but it's weird because we don't know.
Speaker 3:We know whim's dad, yeah, we know whim's mom is dead, right, we know kb's parents. We will eventually, you know, like we get to know them more in that story. We know that. But then now, now you look at neil's parents we barely know anything about them. We know he's got a couple of siblings and they're very cute. And then even fern, where's her dad? Uh, you know, like that's left out. But when we get all the info on whim, so it's just, it's really I'm not sure if they, like you're saying, I wonder if it's just a way to introduce the story or if they were trying to make him kind of really the lead and it just.
Speaker 3:Neil's just so damn adorable.
Speaker 1:Maybe the actual like writers started gravitating towards other storylines or characters, but that's an interesting thought, yeah. Anyway, I think Neil is a fantastic character. I think that he grows slowly at first over the first couple episodes, but by episode four he really comes into his own and he understands his limits, which is a cool concept for a kid and he realizes that his true strength is in his friends, realizes that his, his true uh strength is in his friends, and I think that that's yeah, it's a powerful uh message, uh for for kids, and I like that about him neil kind of reminds me of that, that kid's book um babar babar yeah oh my gosh, I haven't.
Speaker 2:I haven't seen that in ages he's a king, right or something, or he's a prince, yeah yeah, but it's like a family of, uh, elephants and it's like it follows like this elephant kid. So like when I saw him, I I was thinking like what does he remind me of? And like I looked it up and I was like that's it right there, babar, babar, that's funny.
Speaker 1:all right, let's talk about fern a little bit, because we have a very self-assured character at the offset. You know she's kind of like the bad girl. She's the one racing speeder bikes. She flips her school jacket inside out and has a whole bunch of patches on it and you know she's always in detention and. But you know she's like she's the daughter of someone high ranking in this, you know, on this planet, basically, how do you feel anthony about fern? And in these, in these episodes, or because she, she actually goes through quite a bit of of change, I feel she she does too, she and and she's, she's that take charge character, so she.
Speaker 2:So, like you said, we we were thinking that whim was going to be the main character, but she almost kind of becomes the main character a little bit. In a sense, she takes charge of the ship, she becomes like the captain, she makes a lot of the calls. Very much in line with that, that type of character, who you know, that kid who has a high-ranking parent, you know a parent that's a ceo of a big company, or they're a politician or there's something, somebody that's high up, and it's a kid that's like acting out and she is very much so that type of kid that you know she doesn't want to fall and you know follow into her her mother's steps, like she, she doesn't want, she doesn't really want that, she doesn't want to be the head of class, she wants to really be her own person, and so I think that that's really what that take charge attitude is is her trying to be her own person.
Speaker 1:I like that, rich. How do you feel about fern, at least in the opening episodes?
Speaker 3:I think there's a there's a good amount of growth with fern. I particularly like when she's you know, when she gets, when she has those vulnerable moments. Uh, there definitely is this. And now this is where I'm worried about keeping it safe, keeping it secret. But fern, she's definitely rebelling against, wanting to be like her mom. I don't know if I'm going into spoiler territory if I simply say that her mom admits to similarly kind of behaving in a pattern, in that pattern, and you know, we do know that they're kind of out of time. So you just wonder how we know that they take the tests. We don't know if there's any. You know what if her mom's a nepo baby and she also is a nepo baby, like there's just a long string of these people in the family she does.
Speaker 1:She is weak of rich girl syndrome, like rebellion against her mom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly they rebel against their parent, right, you know. And then when, when we do have the mom tell us that, oh yeah, you know, I did kind of similar stuff, no big, no biggie, you know, it's like, oh all right, well, so then I wonder how long this kind of you know, like, how how much of the assessment is legitimate, you know, how much of it is, or is it just for show to you know? You know there's more we're gonna have to kind of discover as we go into more episodes to, I think, further mine the roles that the kids and their parents play yeah, that's something I don't think you know.
Speaker 1:Going going forward, actually, um, we, we get a lot of information about, you know, having finished the series, you know, I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say we don't get too much more information about, like, how they enter the roles that they enter. If I'm wrong about that, I guess we'll discuss that next week. But as far as Fern goes, I really like that. She has this take charge mentality and even, like you said, anthony, like she does, you know, jump into the role, as you know, the leader of their ship that they've commandeered. She becomes the captain and several times throughout these four episodes she, you know, introduces herself as the captain not only to SM-33, but to Jod and also to the Troik people. In the fourth episode, yeah.
Speaker 1:So she has very, very much taken on that role. But I think by the end of episode four, there's a great moment where this is a kid, this is a kid who's made a whole bunch of decisions and they are in a lot of trouble trouble and they could potentially lose their lives or, you know, never make it back home and she kind of has this moment of weakness in front of whim where she steps aside and starts crying because, you know, she's being made to like figure out all these huge life choices on the spot while, you know, while they're trying to get home and I think that that's a great that break in her facade is really telling about, like, who she is, because she clearly wants to be in control. She wants to be in control of her own path and her own destiny. But she realizes at this point that maybe I can't do that, uh, at least not at my current, you know, uh, maturity level or whatever, or with, you know the, the information that I have at hand, and I think that's a really cool moment.
Speaker 1:Um, I think, of all the characters, uh, she has the most growth within these four episodes in terms of just that, you know, like realizing that you've taken this too far, basically. But yeah, yeah, I like Fern. I like Fern a lot. Anthony, how far have you watched in the show?
Speaker 2:So I've gotten up to. So I have episodes 7 and 8 that I have to watch.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Yeah, both of those are excellent, so I'm excited to hear your thoughts next week. But KB is interesting because we know very little about her at the offset. We know that she has some sort of cybernetic implant that she needs to survive off of, but this also allows her to, you know, like kind of like an augmented reality experience within life, where she's able to kind of communicate to certain droids or to certain ships in ways that droids are often capable of doing, which is kind of a cool concept for a character.
Speaker 2:Right and she almost has like I don't know it's like heightened sense or like this ability to to scan, because when they first meet jod, they're leaving that jail and she's able to pick up that there's something coming when you know jod didn't pick up on it, it ended up being a droid, but she was able to pick up that something was coming. Somebody even made like a remark like oh, she might be kb, might be a jedi too or could?
Speaker 1:she could use the force yeah, it's interesting because jod may not have been able to feel the droid through the force, because it's not a living right, but if it was giving off some sort of like you know, radar bleeps or whatever or you know radio waves, and she was able to sense that through you know her augmentations, then that that kind of gives her like like droid force powers, which is kind of cool yeah but, um, what I will say about kb is that most of her growth is in the second half of this season, which is kind of uh frustrating, because I really want to talk about probably my favorite scene in the entire show.
Speaker 2:Is is like I have to talk about it next week but, uh, but yeah um, something that you notice a little bit in the, at least in the first half of the season, is KB is almost a little robotic in a sense, and I don't know if that is the actress or if that's what the character is supposed to be like, since she does have a little bit of that. You know she has that cybernetic implant and so I don't know if that's who she is. You know, I don't know if if that's yeah, like, like I said, if that's kb or if that's the actress. You know that's trying to kind of. You know, because sometimes with kids you know they're, you know acting, may not, you know like they're trying to figure out the you know acting for themselves, but it's uh but I feel like it fits the character pretty well because you know kb, she has that visor, so she doesn't seem to react in the same way as the other kids that do yeah, it's, she's.
Speaker 1:She's much more Lobot and much less Geordi LaForge.
Speaker 2:She's very calculated in the things that she does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly. I really like her character and I'm excited to talk more about her as a character and her growth next week. But yeah, I did notice that as well that she on rewatch. What I will say is that on rewatch there's a lot of moments where, knowing what you know of the character from later episodes, you see that she's very pensive about certain decisions that are thrust upon her.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:She questions if she can do them. She questions you know, should I do that, or you know little things like that, and I think that that's a really um interesting layup for her down the line also speaking of lobot.
Speaker 3:You guys buried the lead here.
Speaker 1:What did?
Speaker 3:you think of the Lobot pirate, who is played by none other than Jaleel White aka Steve Urkel? Did you guys catch?
Speaker 1:him there. I did notice that Steve Urkel was a little bit before my time. I obviously was in my. Did I do that? That was in the vocabulary of the time, like pop culture and stuff, but I don't think I was ever a big fan of the show, if I can remember correctly. But I did recognize him instantly and I thought that it was kind of. It was cool seeing, you know, familiar faces in new and interesting settings and prosthetics.
Speaker 3:They're really. They're really trying to pull people out of the woodwork and, just, you know, drop them. I actually this might sound sacrilegious, but it's one of the things that I actually kind of like about the Disney alliance here is that you'll just have, you know, bill burr randomly on a show or whatever you know, just kind of these, uh, or even bringing back, uh, the character, the actor who played jar jar binks yeah, it was a uh acolyte, I believe yeah, um no, nothing, nothing sacrilegious about no, ahmed best did really good.
Speaker 2:He was in. He was in one of the um the mandalorian episodes. He, he's uh, he's actually like one of like the the better, like he's like one of the jedi masters when it comes to uh dueling. Actually, he's like one of the the strongest, uh he's like the best known like lightsaber duelist right, um, I forget, I forget the actual jedi's name.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I know and bill burr, like for somebody who didn't really care for star wars, like really killed that role too yeah, if you watch interviews with bill burr after the fact, like he had no idea what was going on, he changed his tune. Yeah, he actually like became a fan, you know which, which is pretty? Yeah, it is and then I mean, you know, in in the same vein, you, you also had um, you know, we we had talked about machete being the rancor, uh, the trainer, oh yeah that's so ridiculous dude, they put him in everything I like that he's.
Speaker 2:I honestly like that. He's open-minded to be like just in anything. It's funny, he's just that guy.
Speaker 3:He is that guy hey, at least, uh, at least they, they didn't cast him as a, as a, as a mexican guy, right, like he must have been like, oh, this is different they didn't have him as these aren't the coals.
Speaker 2:I don't have him as some, like bandito in one of the cantinas.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean uh, you know he's in one of the greatest movies of all time con air. But uh, yeah, I really do like these. Just trying to circle back, I do like these appearances. I, I, I, I don't know, obviously, like my son will watch this and not care right and my, when I tell my wife because she's been watching it, she'll go what?
Speaker 3:and then she'll go back to like really not, uh, so I don't know who it's for. I mean, obviously it's got to be for, like you know, you said that he was in your you know periphery, if I need to say, but you know I watched it. You know, like on friday nights, you know I did. I wanted to be home so I could watch, you know, tjf on abc. So, uh, just these. I I obviously the like this is a kid. I think this is easily a kid's show and I think it's the most.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna say something crazy, and I know we're only talking about four episodes, but if you had somebody who was like I'm a little concerned about star wars, like I don't know if I could jump into this thing, it's too big, it's a juggernaut. I'm a little concerned about star wars, like I don't know if I can jump into this thing, it's too big, it's a juggernaut, I'm overwhelmed. I think you could sit them down, have them watch this and suck them into the world and then start indoctrinating them with the ones they need to watch. But you know, like, I think this is such a beautiful, perfect way. In like waited for a non-star wars fan to dip their toe into the water and just slowly understand a little bit about the universe yeah, I, I don't disagree.
Speaker 1:I I'm trying to think of like questions that will arise on a first viewing, like, well, wait, what is a jedi supposed to be? Like, you know? Like what you know, like you'll get stuff like that maybe, or so wait, they don't know that stars exist, or you know stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, all right, you know what you might have some like there's a certain mystery box thing that you're also given with this show in the star wars setting that you as an audience member has more information about the general galaxy than these four, uh kids that's funny.
Speaker 3:I, I actually wanted to call you after episode two and just be like when is this? Like I one of the things that was really bothering me, I mean definitely for the first episode, you know, I'm like when, when, when are we? When is this? Uh, I want to know exactly. Like I wanted to see a timeline, uh, quite honestly okay, but like I wanted it immediately, I know because you need everything immediate.
Speaker 1:Um, but you, we get more information on like the actual time and setting in the later episodes. But you can. You can glean that by by episode three, I think, the, the name uh alderaan is thrown out and one of the characters, the, the owl lady, basically says oh, you missed the war, or something like that, and so this is post uh original trilogy yeah and it's probably around the same time as the mandalorian and stuff like that that's what I it.
Speaker 3:They did such a good job because I really first episode I'm like just kind of spinning trying to figure out where I am and then they slowly start to kind of you know, kind of roll it out and reveal it, uh. So I thought they did a great job, you know, I mean I immediately I had a question and they kind of answered it like you know just almost right away I think that they.
Speaker 3:You're right. There are gaps there where I take it for granted. I have, like before I taught revenge of the sith, I had to create a powerpoint and I remember showing showing jen being is this too much, is this too little? Like I don't know. I know so much that I want to share, but I also can't spend three days of class just lecturing on Star Wars, so I had to pick the, the very absolute.
Speaker 3:You know, I do have students in front of me that I'll ask them what do you know about Star Wars? And they'll literally they'll say I know nothing. Like I don't you know, they don't know darth vader, like nothing, yeah, so, uh, yeah, there, there are. There are some things to it, but I also, I guess I struggle so much with like where do you start a person outside of the universe anyway, do you? You know you kind of have to gauge their, their vader level. Like what do you know about vader? You know, like you know, you kind of have to gauge their, their vader level. Like what do you know about vader? You know, like you know, if they don't know anything about his parent, about his, uh, what about him being, uh, luke's father? Like it changes everything. Right. But if they know just that part, then you start them on one.
Speaker 2:You know, like I, I don't, it's well, it's tough, well dakota wouldn't you agree that star wars in a sense is almost like comic books? You know, like there's always some point in comic books that kind of creates an entry point for new fans and yeah star wars does that quite often.
Speaker 2:Actually, I think that they do that. You know, there's a lot of people who are more into reading books and there's entry points with the novels, there's entry points with the comics, there's entry points with the visual media, with the visual media as far as tv shows and and movies. You know, honestly, when you think about it, star Wars is a lot more accessible than it was before Disney because there was so much more. The amount of legacy content was absurd and I do wish that before Disney had acquired them, there was a little bit more control of what came in. I I mean, we did get some interesting stories but it made it confusing. But now that there's a little bit more of like, you know, there's like the lord of lore, um, you know, it's kind of fine-tuned a little bit. You know, is it perfect all the time? No, but I do. Honestly, I feel like you could hop right into skeleton crew and not have seen any star wars, because that's it feels I mean, it's very spacey and we know that it's star wars.
Speaker 2:But if I didn't know that it was connected to star wars then I would have been none the wiser, you know yeah, it would have just been four kids on an adventure in space exactly yeah, so actually I I do take back a little bit what I what I said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there are. There's a certain mystery box element that you know, uh, rewards you as a, as a star wars fan, but there's enough new information and you're you, you can basically watch the universe unfold as it is like unfolding for these kids. Um, and that that is it could be. It could be a pretty good launching point for for people. And uh, anthony, you were talking about comics. Um, uh, I I've spoken about it before. There's a there's a great book by I think his name is Douglas Wolk. Uh, he wrote a book called all of the marvels oh yeah, and I remember you talking about that yeah, he literally read every single marvel comic wild
Speaker 1:uh, within the, within the 616 universe, uh, from from the 60s, uh, all the way to you know day, and it's like what? 27,000 issues of comics. And he basically said, like the best place to start is wherever you want, because you're always going to be a little bit confused. There's always going to be something in this, what he calls the mountain of marvels, that you're never going to understand. No one person truly grasps everything that happens or can happen within the Marvel Universe, so you can just jump in anywhere. You'll be a little bit confused, embrace that and then move on to the next issue.
Speaker 2:Right and I feel like that's you could do that with Star Wars. I feel like that's almost with anything worth diving into. You're going to be a little bit confused at first, but eventually you'll catch your stride and you'll kind of figure out things as time goes, and there's always a little bit of a reset. It's not like a full-on reset, but it always like a little bit of a reset. You know it's not like a full on reset, but it's like maybe a soft reset. You know, I mean I know that you know not to get too too off topic for too long, but, like you know, marvel does that a lot. You know they do a lot of these like soft resets. You know there's always a new Avenger team. There's always a new Avenger team. There's always a new Guardians of the Galaxy team. There's always. These teams always change. And so, yeah, the same with Star Wars. You know, star Wars, they had a full-on reset. Well, not a full-on reset. They kept the core but everything else was completely wiped out.
Speaker 2:You know everything outside of the movies and like with the con wars right and with some of the select lore, like they did bring back a little bit of elements of like the old republic. But you know most of the yeah, mostly like it's really like a good time to get into. I mean, you don't have to rush and read everything but like start in one area and if you want to expand from there, go go on ahead. Like we've talked about how the first season of the men of lorin was perfect for, like somebody that was new to star wars, this is another perfect show. That's you know. For for someone new to Star Wars, you could dude this is absolutely amazing. If you're somebody that enjoys the Goonies, watch this show, watch this show.
Speaker 2:I wholly recommend this show.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yeah, we haven't talked a lot about.
Speaker 2:Jod yes.
Speaker 1:The character that we, you know, meet by the end of episode two. Actually, we meet him early on in the first episode. He's originally the pirate captain Silvo.
Speaker 2:The pirate captain Sith Lord Jod.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, he's mutinied by his crew after failing to provide a sizable bounty for a ship that they commandeered. And we don't find him until the kids are thrown into a prison on some pirate hub world and he showcases some Jedi powers. He overhears Wim's desire to, like you know, have a great jedi adventure and he's just like, ah, this will be a great opportunity for me to, you know, lure these kids you know to to their ship so that I can get out of here and, you know, not die he's like let me sucker these kids how do you guys feel about him in these first four episodes?
Speaker 1:uh, let's try not to like go too far into spoilers for for the next, uh four episodes. But, like, is he a good guy? Does he care about the kids at all? Does you know? Like, do you feel that, uh, he sufficiently shows an interest in the kids safety? Uh, where do you land, anthony, because you haven't actually finished the show.
Speaker 2:Where, uh, rich and I have right, right, well, I mean, I've gotten enough so far, but I would say that at least within these first four episodes he doesn't seem to be wholly a bad person, but he definitely is kind of using them as a means to an end. He hears about Atten. Atten is this kind of legendary place of treasure, so he's trying to like, okay, these kids seem to believe that they're from this place. Maybe they are, maybe they're not, but, like, let me follow this lead, right? So he doesn't seem to be like a bad person within these first four episodes, but he also doesn't seem to be 100% trustworthy. You know, like you can tell that there there's an ace up his sleeve, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Rich. How do you feel about Jod or Silvo?
Speaker 3:Well, first, I'm very upset that I can't remember the name of the Sabacc card that Lando literally keeps up his sleeve when he screws over Han in that game of Sabacc.
Speaker 2:Maybe they call it a Jod.
Speaker 3:It's something with an S and it's killing me, but anyway. So, yeah, I mean so I've obviously watched the whole thing and then rewatched it again. But, like, just based on the first four episodes, jod obviously I think it's clear that he has something up his sleeve does like I think it's clear that he has something up his sleeve, but at the same time, I think he could I don't know I think there's a way where he could have manipulated the kids in a faster or meaner way and gotten to where, like I, I think what seems to him, what seems to be like slow playing, I think, is him not being a complete cutthroat? Right, like he could be a terrible complete cutthroat. I mean, hey, I mean we, we mentioned this guy earlier, I love him.
Speaker 3:Right, my boy, jack Sparrow, right, like he is comically evil sometimes. Right, like where he just like they make a big show of it in the pirates movies, but you know he'll kind of betray someone in a hilarious way, uh, but he's still doing it here. You, I don't think john is as cutthroat as he could be with the kids at least not these, at least not in these episodes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't think that he. You know he could be a lot like he. What does he make he?
Speaker 3:makes the food and then he eats. Don't think that he you know, he could be a lot like he. What does he make? He makes the food and then he eats it in front of them. You know, and even I forgot about this and I was like what a jerk. And he's like there's more in the pot, you know I love that that scene, because neil is like I.
Speaker 1:I love the actor who played neil because he's so uh, he does such a good job of you know, acting with his, with his limbs and his body and like head tilts and everything you can really see his, his train of thought, even if he's not talking, and he's like rubbing his stomach right and like his character is that one that can really show too many like facial expressions because he has a.
Speaker 2:He has like a whole trunk on his face. You know, yeah, and yeah it's, it's impressive, yeah, it really is. Um, what I was thinking is that jod is kind of like that classic adult that really doesn't have much experience with children and so you know he's, just like you know he he's, he's probably seen him, maybe been around them, but like not long term, you know he's, just like you know he he's, he's probably seen him, maybe been around them, but like not long term, you know yeah, well, one thing that's interesting is that he doesn't use the kids as a shield or anything like that.
Speaker 1:He's not. He's not using the kids to put them in danger, yeah yeah, he, he seems, at least, uh, up to this point, like he genuinely wants to get them back home. Obviously, he wants the treasure, he wants the prize at the end of that Right, you know, at the end of that Yellow brick road.
Speaker 2:Yellow brick space.
Speaker 1:Is it possible that you know SM33 is like what's holding him back from being totally cutthroat? Like, is that the case? Like, what do you feel about that, anthony?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I think that I don't know. I think that those interactions are like pretty, like comical. But I think that it's not too much in his like nature to be cutthroat in that kind of way, at least like with the kids. You know, I like at this point, but he, uh, I mean they're like, I mean he does kind of rummage through their stuff, like trying to like, you know there is, you know aton is very obviously like a relic of the past, you know, and jod is kind of saying like oh, they've, they've got you know this old currency which, apparently, is worth more.
Speaker 2:You know it's like an old currency that has More worth than, I guess, what it was back then and so it's essentially like a treasure. You know Like Like treasure. You know like like back in the day. You know like a gold doubloon was like worth whatever it was back then, right. But if you were to find like a whole trove of them right now, they're worth way more than they were back in the day. That's what, that's what their currency is like, the old republic currency, you know like yeah that's what you know.
Speaker 2:So, like that's what I'm thinking, that you know, he's seeing that this and he's seeing that, oh, this must be part of that treasure, and then we have that whole aspect of the what was it that they were talking about? The great plan or the great works, right? So at this point we don't know exactly what that is Right, and so yeah, so I want to actually jump in.
Speaker 1:I'll let you finish your thought. But what's interesting is that when you think of great works the term great works within Star Wars it's really only been applied a couple places, and mostly in the high republic books. Like the chancellor of the high republic at the time, lena so for the phase one books, she, like she had a series of what they called great works. Um chancellor so's great works and one of those, like her, one of her biggest great works was the creation of the starlight beacon yeah so I don't know if at atten is a extension of those great works oh, wow, yeah, set out by that.
Speaker 2:So like how, how much do they not know? Like you know, like maybe they don't know much about you know, even like there's a high republic period but then there's like the whole, you know, era of, like you know, the era with the republic, with, like you know, the jedi, you know the jedi council, and then the fall of the republic. You know, obviously they don't know that there was a whole war. But like, how far back do they go? You know where is their knowledge?
Speaker 1:yeah, that that's an interesting train of thought and I think they they do give us some hints as to that in the final, in the final episodes. So we're gonna we're definitely gonna touch on that more yeah next week. But, um, yeah, it's, it's food for thought. I don't think they ever, you know, make any real uh strides to connect this to high republic era outside of that that term, uh, the great works.
Speaker 3:But it's just something that I noticed do you think there's any way that these pirates are an entry point for the? Is it nihil? Nihil the uh nihil, the, the pirate clans from the high republic dude, that was insane.
Speaker 2:We talked about that. We had.
Speaker 1:We have a whole episode about the lie of the jedi and that was insane the, the nihil, exists 200 years prior to the Phantom Menace and we don't know if, if or how they they truly get removed from the galaxy. So, as far as these pirates go, I don't think they're connected in any particular way. I mean, it could be, you know, some descendants of Mark markian row or whatever, but yeah, I don't, I don't think there's anything directly connecting them as of yet, uh, the nihil, to the, the pirate clans that we see um I mean those pirate clans are probably more, I would say I would closely relate them to the ones that you might see in Clone Wars, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:With your buddy. What was his name? The pirate that you would see often in Clone Wars? I forgot his name.
Speaker 1:Oh, gosh, you know who I'm talking about, right? I know exactly. He's a Weequay. Yes, gosh, you know who I'm talking about, right, I know exactly, he's a weak way, yes, a weak way. Why do I remember his race's name before I remember his name?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he always had like that. You know, dude, I can't even Hondo Onaka.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Hondo, yes yes.
Speaker 2:So I would say that those pirates are probably more kind of like out of that type of pirate than like the nihil. The nihil the nihil were I wouldn't. I wouldn't call them pirates. There were more like they were marauders.
Speaker 1:Yes, like they were marauders, like they were space vikings, like essentially yeah, exactly, they essentially.
Speaker 2:they had kind of clans, but they were a little bit united under Marshawn Rowe. But yeah, you're right, they were marauders. They were more like barbarians than pirates.
Speaker 3:It just also made me. When Kim the owl creature, when they oh wait, I think I'm jumping episodes, I'm going to stop myself right there and I'm going to pinpoint it Next week I will tell you You're going to stop myself right there and I'm going to leave. I'm going to pinpoint it next week. I will tell you keep it safe, something that kim does.
Speaker 2:That also made me wonder if it had anything to do with uh when I interesting, I'll keep it when I saw, when I saw her, it made me laugh so much because I had this person in my dnd group who was an owling and he was a scribe, but he was like a 10 year old, like owling scribe that like it was funny. Like every every like instance that we got into he was like very like childlike, like you know, like he'd be like why, why do you look like that? Why are we doing this? So so when I saw her um, because like we all have like artwork for our characters she so much so like reminded me of him that like I died laughing when I saw her, I said not the owl ling yeah, uh, the.
Speaker 2:The creatures in this series are, uh, amazing right like we get some like kind of like new ones that we don't really ever see yeah, we get.
Speaker 1:We get a lot of like unique concepts and uh like, even just like the suburbs in in a star wars setting is just such a fascinating visual that we've never explored before. We've seen every biome in existence. We've never seen the suburbs.
Speaker 2:Right, we've seen these vast cities. We've seen deserts. We've seen beautiful lakeside places and plains. We've seen lava planets. We've seen forest moons. We've seen lava planets. We've seen forest moons. We've seen swamps. We have seen everything, but yeah, it was an interesting touch.
Speaker 2:It was an interesting touch Because, yes, there would be a suburb In Star Wars. Why would there not be a suburb? And the fact that we got this and kind of like this Goonie-esque tale is like very cool. I, I really like what they're doing here. I feel like whenever, whenever star wars takes a risk, they, they do. I don't know. I feel like they do like very well I, you know, we've talked about the acolyte, the acolyte. The acolyte was a little bit of a risk. Their, their decisions were not always the best, but I feel like it got more flack than it deserved because people were already hating on it before it came out.
Speaker 2:I think that people were a little bit more, I guess, excited to see this because it did seem like it was a goonies type movie or a type tv show and a lot of people like the goonies and so the fact that you can kind of compare something that is beloved with a show like this, it's already gonna gonna be seen and you know it's already gonna be seen in good light. Like my dad absolutely loves the show, you know he also loves the goonies, but he loves the show too and and I think it's because of it has that touch, that coming of age of adventurous kind of pirate type thing he likes. He likes pirates, he likes pirates of the caribbean. Um goonies has pirates in it. So it's very fun. You know these first four episodes, I guess. I mean, do we have anything else that we want to like discuss?
Speaker 1:No, I think you know we stuck pretty much to non-spoilers for the majority of it. We didn't really talk about too much of the nitty-gritty details. The one thing I really want to bring up.
Speaker 2:I don't mind talking spoilers, because this is going to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think next week, once we actually get to discussing everything, it'll be a much easier discussion to get into spoilers and all that Right, because a lot that happens now is kind of like a setup for later on.
Speaker 1:The one thing that I really disliked about Episode 4 specifically was the fake Adaten planet, akan Akan. Yeah, I thought the society didn't really make any sense and it it really bothered me because it was like let's throw, you know, let's make a really bad doctor who episode, but only half of the episode and then the rest of it is going to be. You know, you're normally uh scheduled, uh skeleton crew programming. I don't dislike Doctor who and I actually love Doctor who in some forms, but it doesn't really.
Speaker 1:It doesn't work in all settings and I didn't feel like that whole militaristic world uh worked for this series and ultimately I don't think it really adds to the show all that much I.
Speaker 2:I don't think that it borrowed, I don't think that it bothered me as much, because I mean, if there was a world that was like at atten, there was definitely going to be more and not every single one of those planets were going to be successes, I guess in a way that atin would be, and in some instances some of those civilizations would devolve into whatever it was.
Speaker 2:And I think that it was a little bit of an interesting touch that the children were kind of like the leader, or seen as like the leaders.
Speaker 2:It was almost like a nod to like, believing in children, like and understanding that they're smarter than than like a lot of people give them credit to be, and sometimes they do have good, good, uh, ideas. I mean, I understand like where I guess some of the, some of your gripes are, where they come from, and I guess that they could have maybe tightened up that storyline a little bit. But I do believe that there being that faux Atten world or not a fake one, it just would have been one of those worlds. If there was a world, it seemed like a perfect society and so the fact that there would have been only one wouldn't have made sense. There would have been multiple, and the fact that not every single one of those, like I said, succeeded or continued to be that perfect society. I believe that I mean I don't have any issues with that, I just think that maybe it was a little sloppy.
Speaker 1:So interestingly. It's interesting that you brought that up, because in episode three, when what's that Owl Lady's name?
Speaker 3:Kim.
Speaker 1:Kim, yeah, when, uh, what's that owl lady's name? Kim kim, yeah, she says that at atton is one of the these like uh, unique nine, yeah, like nine unique planets that, um, uh, for whatever reason it was the like at atton was the one that wasn't destroyed, so so the other ones were destroyed.
Speaker 3:The jewels of the Republic. I think they're called right.
Speaker 1:Yes, the jewels of the Republic. And for whatever reason, at Aachen, the planet that we visit is one of those destroyed worlds. We don't know if it was internally destroyed by the society just crumbling or if it was purposely destroyed and these are the remnants of this society. But it's a cool concept. So I don't dislike the concept, I just didn't like the execution yeah, and I feel that did you guys have anything else to say about these first four episodes before we close?
Speaker 2:out. Yeah, do any last remarks For me. It's length, I mean I know I've also finished but there was.
Speaker 3:Before we close out. Yeah, do any last remarks For me. It's length, I mean. I know I've also finished, but there was. I don't Maybe it's not in the first four episodes, but there's one episode that is. You know, I want to say 25 minutes long.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, and I just it's a Disney Plus thing.
Speaker 1:I don't know why they can't get their head around. I mean, I do understand to a degree, like only, like you know, put on limiting the amount of actual content that we're receiving on a weekly basis. We're not receiving an equal share every week. We're getting diminishing returns some weeks, some, some weeks not versus. You know, you go to HBO and you watch House of the Dragon and it's an hour and a half episode every single week for 10 weeks it's. You know, like it's just on a different level and yeah, no, I, that is a gripe that I, for 10 weeks it's. You know, like it's just on a different level and yeah, no, I, that that is a gripe that I have and it's something that, um, I think most people uh, have issues with I think that if you're gonna have long episodes, like they need to be like long quality episodes, you know, correct?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, if you're just gonna put on, you know, 30 minutes of solid content and then an hour of nonsense, then I'd rather just have like 30 minutes of of quality content, you know, and decent episodes. Naruto with all their dang filler episodes I can't, oh, please don't even. I would say like I said, with that I was like bro, like just skip a week. I don't want this filler uh, yeah, you'll catch.
Speaker 2:You'll catch the the actual important stuff on the what happened last week, but I guess that that's why we have like shorter seasons like this to kind of limit um the fillers. You know, like you, you can't really have fillers and skeleton crew when it's only eight episodes, you know yeah, totally, totally yeah.
Speaker 1:So I I would say that is a a genuine um issue that I have with the show, but it doesn't. It didn't bother me as much as certain other shows, like I know it bothered me more in acolyte, uh, where, like, there were some episodes where it felt like nothing happened you know, but I, you know, I, I feel like all, all together, something important happens in each episode of this show and I, I, I think that's really cool, anthony. Any final words, for I was going to say the Acolyte skeleton crew.
Speaker 2:I mean we're just covering the first four episodes and I still cannot recommend this show any more than I am now. I mean, if you enjoy Star Wars and want to see like a fun space adventure, come to this. If you're not too sure about star wars but you like shows like the goonies or anything involving pirates, come to the show. You know it's fun. It's a fun show, it's really fun. There's this mystery to it, that kind of quenches, this, like you know. You know there's a lot of people who are into like mystery stories that this has to it. You know, and I really enjoy it and I'm really excited to talk more. You know, about the rest of the show next week and you know, actually watching the last episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm excited to see to, to hear your, your, your, thoughts.
Speaker 2:I know I'm going to hate it.
Speaker 1:A lot happens in the last couple episodes, so uh.
Speaker 3:Rich, what do you have?
Speaker 1:any final thoughts.
Speaker 3:You know I just we'll talk about it next week, but you know, I don't know how that somehow he did that. Keep it secret, keep it safe, just so crazy, I mean. And then the zombie Han.
Speaker 1:I can't wait till we can finally talk about.
Speaker 3:Oh, you'll see zombie Han Solo. Oh man, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:Grogu returns. Oh man, lightsaber and all. Lightsaber and all we're just messing with you, lightsaber, and all Andaber and all. We're just messing with you, lightsaber and all.
Speaker 2:And he's wearing a Mando helmet.
Speaker 3:And chainmail Speaks backwards Spanish.
Speaker 1:Guys, thank you so much for listening to us here for our 107th episode of Project Geekology. Next week we are covering the second half of Skeleton Crew. Next week we are covering the second half of Skeleton Crew, the last four episodes, ending with the, I guess, the series finale, because I think it's billed as a limited series. So we'll be talking much more about, I guess, the spoilery side of Skeleton Crew next week for episode 108. But just as a heads up for you guys, um, after we do skeleton crew, we're going to be jumping into a movie that we said that we were going to be covering months ago dude, like a year ago yeah, probably about a year ago, because it came out in december 2023 there you go, yeah, so we're going to be finally covering uh miyaz latest movie, the Boy in the Hair.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've covered a couple of Miyazaki's already. You know we have Princess Mononoke, and what was the other one? I forgot that.
Speaker 1:Did, we do Nausicaa.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, it was Castle in the Sky, oh Castle, no, no, it was Castle in the Sky. Oh, castle in the Sky. Yes, castle in the Sky, yeah.
Speaker 1:That was an interesting one yeah. Yeah, okay. So this will be a much more interesting show, because I don't think Rich is at all introduced to the world of Miyazaki and this is definitely one of Miyazakiaki's least accessible movies. It's it's a much more artsy film than his usual fare it's a fever dream it'll, it is a fever dream. It's. It's like going into uh, your first david lynch film and uh going into dune not that david lynch film.
Speaker 1:Anyway, guys, thank you so much for listening to us here. If you want to check out any of our uh socials, be sure to visit the show notes down below, where you can get links to any of our um, any of our links. And yeah, we will see you next week goodbye y'all can't say I remember no the wolverine.
