Skeleton Crew Episode 4 Brings Two Oscar-Winning Directors Into The Star Wars Universe

Matt Kennedy/Lucasfilm

This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" season 1, episode 4, "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin."

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who are alternatively known as the directing pair "Daniels," earned their gold Best Picture Oscar statuettes for 2022's critically acclaimed science-fiction masterpiece "Everything Everywhere All At Once" (read /Film's review for more on that). In the realm of feature filmmaking, they also delivered laughs in the bizarre, offbeat 2016 film "Swiss Army Man," which stars Daniel Radcliffe as a flatulent corpse that Paul Dano is able to ride to safety like a jet ski.

To say that Daniels think differently than most directors is an understatement. When it was announced they would be tackling an episode of the "Star Wars" show "Skeleton Crew," there was a palpable excitement about what they could bring to the table. Would they deliver their signature, off the wall comedy? Or would the duo restrain themselves and pattern their efforts after the foundational work "Skeleton Crew" co-creators Christopher Ford and Jon Watts (along with the rest of their production team) laid down in the series' first few episodes? The answer, as evidenced by this week's Daniels-helmed installment, "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin," is a little bit of both.

Lucasfilm

There are definitely some trademark Daniels flourishes in this episode. "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin" brings a level of absurdist humor to the idea of child soldiers on At Achrann, a planet that looks exactly like the idyllic, peace loving world the young heroes of "Skeleton Crew" call home, aka At Attin. It even has all the feeling of a multiversal storyline like "Everything Everywhere All At Once," with sets and locations that are almost the same yet tweaked in certain ways. It's like we're seeing a slightly different version of how things could have gone, where Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) could have been happy doing laundry and taxes with Hayna Strix (Hala Finley), the child soldier the heroes meet who leads them through much of their journey on this new planet. Indeed, as they arrive in the sanctum of knowledge and find that the coordinates to At Attin have been stripped, they discover a multiverse of similarly named planets like theirs, e.g. At Achrann and At Attin. Who knows what other unlikely "alternate" realities they'd encounter by going to these other planets? 

It's no wonder Daniels were tapped to direct an episode that raised these sorts of questions, given their history helming one of the biggest Oscar-winners in recent memory.

The other major moment where the directors' style really comes out in the filmmaking is when Captain Fern (Ryan Kiera Armonstrong) takes the block out of SM-33's (Nick Frost) programming and allows him to regain his memories about the location of At Attin and what his previous Captain had directed him to do if anyone came looking for it. His directive was to tear anyone looking for the coordinates limb from limb, so he proceeds to go after Neel in a mildly frightening sequence with some SnorriCam style footage of the droid going berserk. This entire turn of events has a visual style that stretches what we're accustomed to from "Star Wars" and feels more at home in something the Daniels would have thought up on their own.

Matt Kennedy/Lucasfilm

While Daniels make their involvement known in both the episode's story and visuals, "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin" otherwise plays very much like the other episodes of "Skeleton Crew" before it. For those who were hoping Daniels would have their directorial thumbprint all over the entire episode, they might find this disappointing. Still, that's not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it's a testament to their competency as directors that they can be chameleons and are able to completely ape the established style of the show while deviating just enough to craft moments and themes their reflect their personal touch (but without coloring too far outside the lines in the process). In they end, they brought us a perfectly competent, fun, adventurous episode of "Skeleton Crew" that fit wholly in line with everything we've seen before.

Some might be disappointed by that, but it feels like that was also exactly the job Daniels were hired to do. Last year, Daniel Kwan even spoke out against claims that the duo had "sold out" for "Star Wars," confirming the pair had been approached to work on "Skeleton Crew" before "Everything Everywhere All at Once" had even opened in theaters. Clearly, they were hired because they were competent, not to rock the boat too much. That's really how television works, though, even in the age of streaming.

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"Can't Say I Remember No At Attin" is utterly charming and, like "Everything Everywhere All At Once," even gives us a bit of an unlikely love story in a place where we didn't think we'd find it. The episode, as indicated earlier, largely focuses on Neel – the lovesick alien member of the Skeleton Crew – and Hayna Strix, a member of the Troik Clan on At Acchran. She's also the daughter of a general, whereas Neel is a pretty committed pacifist. Luckily, the two of them are able to talk through the competing philosophies of their worldview and the differences between their planets and come to an understanding, culminating in the most chaste and adorable kiss in "Star Wars" history.

Mind you, that doesn't mean the episode is devoid of adventure or laughs; the Daniels are able to pack "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin" chock full of those as well. In particular, the moments with SM-33 not being able to remember At Attin take on an increasingly sinister, yet somehow laughable, tone as the episode progresses in what proves to be a master class in direction. Whether Daniels ever get another shot at making a mark on the "Star Wars" universe in the lead position or as a pair of guns for hire remains to be seen. Either way, this episode certainly proves they know how to nail the sensibilities of a galaxy far, far away in the context of "Skeleton Crew," and that's a great thing to see.

New episodes of "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" drop Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.