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.
Prophecy is deeply ingrained in the plot of Dune. If it weren’t for prophecy, Paul Atreides might never have been born; he might never have joined the Fremen on Arrakis; he might never have tried to stop the Harkonnens.
But prophecies were causing problems long before Paul came into the picture. More than 10,000 years before his arrival, to be exact.
When Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul, founder of the Bene Gesserit (an order of Truthsayers), was on her deathbed, she had a vision. She foresaw the end of her Sisterhood, a reckoning called the Tiran-Arafel. And she shared her vision with the only person she felt she could trust: Valya Harkonnen.
Valya and her sister, Tula, had abandoned their surname long ago. Their family had been banished to a desolate world as punishment for abandoning humans in the war against “thinking machines.” Valya says this isn’t true. She joined the Bene Gesserit to become a Truthsayer so she could learn the truth for herself. But in so doing, she changed her allegiance to the Sisterhood.
Valya believes that the best way to protect her order is to strengthen it. She and the other Sisters make themselves indispensable to the Great Houses by providing their Truthsaying services and offering advice to the worlds’ leaders.
But that’s just what’s on the surface. Deep down, each Sister is working to manipulate bloodlines and form political alliances with a singular goal in mind: to put a Bene Gesserit on the throne of the Imperium and thus prevent the prophesied rule of Tiran-Arafel.
And after decades of planning, it seems they’ll finally attain that goal.
Princess Ynez, daughter of Emperor Corrino and Empress Natalya (whose own marriage united thousands of worlds) is to be wed to Pruwet Richese.
The marriage is purely political: Pruwet and Ynez have never met, and Pruwet is just 9 years old. However, his father, Duke Richese, is offering the emperor a fleet of ships that will help him solidify his holdings on the spice planet Arrakis.
Because of Pruwet’s age, Ynez will train with the Bene Gesserit until her husband comes of age and is able to fulfill his marital duties. So when Ynez finally takes the throne as empress, she’ll be a fully-fledged Truthsayer, loyal to the Bene Gesserit.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the entire royal family, Valya has orchestrated this entire union. It was the Bene Gesserit, using their political influence, who started the problems on Arrakis, leading Emperor Corrino to search for a strong military alliance.
But in the most recent attack on Arrakis, one man survived: Desmond Hart.
Desmond realized that the attack wasn’t led by the native, desert-dwelling people known as the Fremen. Rather, it was executed by off-world insurgents. What’s more, he also knows who sent them.
Now, Desmond is determined to gain favor with the emperor and reveal the manipulations of the Bene Gesserit to all. He wants to end the order of “witches” forever. And he just so happens to have been gifted some unique supernatural abilities in his ordeal that will allow him to do just that.
HBO’s Dune: Prophecy is every bit as intense as the most recent Dune films and then some. The show is rated TV-MA, and rightly so.
There’s some harsh language, including the s-word. Spice, a drug unique to the world of Dune, is abused by many people. And the Great Houses seek to control the flow of spice, since it’s also required by navigators for space travel.
Ynez has sex with her family’s Swordmaster the night after her engagement ceremony (no nudity, but still pretty graphic otherwise). And, of course, there’s plenty of violence and spiritual content, too.
Dune has ever been linked to religion. The story of Paul Atreides serves to demonstrate how a messianic figure can be abused. But this story doesn’t focus on him. Rather, it focuses on the “witches” of the Bene Gesserit. They abuse their power for their own ends. And in case you were wondering how far they’d be willing to go to preserve their way of life, the story begins with Sisters chanting: “Victory is celebrated in the light, but it is won in the darkness.”
Supernatural abilities are often paired with violent actions. After receiving her mandate to preserve the Bene Gesserit from the previous Mother Superior, a young Valya uses the “Voice” (a sort of mind-control ability of the Truthsayers that Valya first developed) to force the new Mother Superior to slit her own throat since the woman didn’t agree with Valya’s methods. Later on, Desmond uses his own new abilities to immolate Pruwet Richese and Sister Kasha, the emperor’s Bene Gesserit advisor.
Undoubtedly, we’ll see more of each of these content concerns as the series progresses. And that will certainly make it much less accessible for families who perhaps OK’d the films.
(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.)
Valya Harkonnen, Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit, uses her influence and power to arrange a marriage that will put a Sister on the throne. However, decades of planning are thwarted when the groom is murdered by a man determined to end their order forever.
Members of the Bene Gesserit order are often derided as “witches.” They chant prayers and read from religious texts. They use their powers to help them determine if people are telling the truth. Several Bene Gesserit have prophetic visions—many of which show death and destruction. Valya develops the “Voice,” a form of mind control.
Valya says the Sisterhood much push the boundaries of what it means to be human, but other Sisters say “the mind of man is holy” and argue that they must not “disfigure the soul.” One Sister objects to manipulating royal bloodlines, saying that it’s “playing God.” Valya disagrees, saying the Bene Gesserit must create the path of righteousness themselves, not just point to it. And later, it’s revealed that Valya has eliminated anyone and everyone in the Bene Gesserit who disagrees with her.
Two people, including a small child, are immolated by a man with supernatural abilities. Valya uses the Voice to command a woman to slit her own throat. A man seems to survive being swallowed by a sandworm on Arrakis, and he claims that the “gods” saved him.
A woman says that her parents sold her to a man who “peddled the flesh of children.” She claims to have been biding her time until the man “got sloppy” with his knives, using one of his blades to slit his throat before returning home to kill her parents in their sleep. It’s revealed she’s lying, but she laughs at the shocked faces of her listeners.
Video footage shows Desmond surrounded by dead comrades after the attack on Arrakis. An old woman suffers a painful death. Ynez spars with her family’s swordmaster, Keiran Atreides. Sisters of the Bene Gesserit spar in hand-to-hand combat and put themselves through intense physical and mental ordeals as part of their training.
Humans fight against “thinking machines.” We’re told the humans won and banished the machines. Decades later, wedding guests are terrified when a young boy brings a toy machine to the ceremony. Desmond stabs the object but doesn’t destroy it. The boy is told to get rid of the damaged toy, since it’s a forbidden object. But he doesn’t obey.
Just after her engagement ceremony, Ynez has sex with Keiran. There’s no nudity (Keiran removes his shirt), but the couple gropes each other and we see their movements. A woman wears a sheer shirt that reveals her breasts. People dress scantily in a nightclub, and many appear to hook up. Several women ogle Ynez’s brother, speaking crudely about him. We see the silhouettes of several men and women without clothes as they are examined by Bene Gesserit trainees.
Although Ynez will not consummate her marriage to the 9-year-old Pruwet until he comes of age, their union is still disturbing. Pruwet’s father makes a comment about Richese “seed” finding purchase in Ynez’s womb.
Valya reveals many lies about history. She has a cynical view of people who hold power, believing them to only be driven by violence and greed. She seeks to right these wrongs and build a stronger, more virtuous empire. However, her methods are flawed and often violent in nature.
Ynez and her brother snort Spice before going to a nightclub. There, many people vape a liquid form of Spice and drink alcohol. Folks drink alcohol in other settings as well.
Many people lie and manipulate others, especially the Bene Gesserit. Someone says, “Thank the stars.” A man tries to sell whale fur and “seed.” There is a single use of the s-word.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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