Comedy
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Disney+’s ‘Skeleton Crew’ has some problems, but overall it’s a return to form, when the galaxy far, far away was relatively safe for the family.
Late in the night, the son of the Germany’s likely next chancellor narrowly survives an assassination attempt. He’s rushed to the hospital, but he pulls through after extensive surgery.
The next day, his father visits him. As the older man steps out of his vehicle and heads into the hospital, a bullet passes past his security team and through his brain, killing him instantly. The son was bait; the father was the real target.
The German government estimates that the unknown assassin made the shot from 2.37 miles away—far surpassing the current world record for a confirmed kill. It baffles MI6 agent Bianca Pullman, who’s an expert on firearms (and the kind of person who would have memorized facts about world-record kill shots). It also intrigues her; whoever took this shot is the real deal. As she learns more about the case, she becomes obsessed with finding whoever this assassin is.
Meanwhile, the assassin, going by the codename “Jackal,” receives another hit job. And should he accomplish it before Bianca finds him, it may have an even bigger impact on the world than even the death of a prominent German politician.
The Day of the Jackal? More like the days of the Jackal.
June 7, 1971: The day the book is published in the United Kingdom.
July 30, 1973: The day the film is released to the world.
November 14, 1997: The day the Bruce Willis remake of the film came out.
November 14, 2024: The day this TV adaptation of this story is released on Peacock.
Yes, the titular Jackal has had plenty of days to go about killing and attempting to assassinate prominent figures. And this time, it’s MI6 agent Bianca who engages in the cat-and-mouse chase with the world’s deadliest assassin.
With all this talk about death and assassins and previous iterations, it should come as no surprise at this point that The Day of the Jackal is very violent. When people die, blood splatters everywhere. And if they see it coming, they’ll beg for mercy beforehand—and they’ll occasionally utter an f-word or two just before meeting their Maker.
And when the Jackal engages in his (frankly, uninteresting) domestic life, some sensual scenes sully the show, too.
All that to say, maybe it’s time the sun finally went down on The Day of the Jackal.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
After the Jackal assassinates a prominent German politician, MI6 agent Bianca becomes obsessed with capturing the hitman.
A handful of men and women are shot and killed, each with a large splatter of blood. The Jackal leaves one man alive after shooting him twice. Others die in a fiery explosion. A corpse rests in a chair, strangled with an electric cord. Someone dies following cardiac arrest.
A young woman walks around in boxers and a shirt. A man and woman kiss.
One character says that people see a rich man as “god.” MI6 agents describe a rifle modification as the “holy grail.” There’s a reference to someone who killed Catholic people.
Someone smokes a cigarette.
We hear the f-word used five times. Someone uses “a–” and “bloody” once each. God’s name is taken in vain twice, and Jesus’ name is likewise used in vain twice. People hold up signs with swastikas and the f-word on them.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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