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.
Everybody wants to change the world. The problem is that not everyone wants to change it the same way.
Muncie Daniels is more vocal than most about how he’d like to see it change. It’s how he’s made something of a name for himself, voicing his opinions on CNN. The Black man encourages like-minded people to be active rather than passive when it comes to provoking change. And when the stress of the job gets a little too much for him, he chooses to take some time in a rented cabin in the Pocono Mountains to write his upcoming book in peace.
It turns out the man staying in the cabin next door is also vocal about how he’d change the world. His name is Mark Simon, and he’s a prominent online writer for and member of a prominent white supremacist group.
Muncie doesn’t immediately know that fact, of course. Nevertheless, when the power at his cabin goes out, he heads on over to ask Mark if he can borrow propane for his generator.
He finds Mark Simon chopped into pieces in his sauna.
It seems two people who’d also like to change the world didn’t like Mark’s ideas very much. And when they catch Muncie staring at the body, they don’t like that, either. Muncie is forced to kill one of Mark’s murderers in self-defense and then flee for his life into the woods.
And pretty soon, the police get involved. The FBI comes snooping around, too. While Muncie was running, the other killer cleaned up the crime scene, leaving little for the authorities to go on. And when the killer begins planting evidence to frame Muncie, they start to look at him with suspicion.
After all, isn’t Muncie known for advocating for people to actively pursue change? It isn’t that big of a stretch that he’d take matters into his own hands by slaying a white supremacist.
The only way for Muncie to clear his name is to solve Mark’s murder himself. Soon, he finds himself in a war of world-changing people, including more white supremacists, corrupt media conglomerates and a group described as “Antifa with Uzis.”
It’s enough chaos to make anyone go mad.
Earlier this year, the movie Civil War depicted a war-torn and fractured America brought to blows via uncompromising political discord. There’s no single reason why the country falls apart in that movie, but it was clear that the film was built on a tense political environment.
In some ways, The Madness feels like a small-scale version of Civil War, one in which cultural chaos hasn’t completely torn the country apart but keeps it teetering precariously on the edge. Dangerous and powerful groups full of angry, radicalized people are a mere catalyst away from acting out. And while their actions might not cause a national collapse, they’re sure to harm plenty of innocent people. After all, if the choices are between total chaos and pinning it all on a scapegoat, most people would rather just assume someone like Muncie is guilty.
In turn, this leaves victims like Muncie scrambling. Because when the madness of the situation comes to claim him, there’s only so much he can do to clear his name. And there’s only so much he can take before some of that madness gets into him and causes him to act out in ways that he never thought he would.
And as for Muncie and his enemies alike, acting out often results in violence. People die, whether they’re shot, beaten to death with a blunt weapon or dismembered (each chopped piece of Mark’s body is shown in brutal detail).
Clearing his name likewise forces Muncie into some situations that may make viewers uncomfortable: a lead takes him to a swingers club. Some LGBT characters enter the scene, too. And despite the series taking an overall disapproving tone of our culture’s current political rhetoric, it still amps up the political craziness of its characters to 11 for drama’s sake. And many characters, Muncie included, frequently use harsh language.
In other words, if you’d like to spark change, I’d first recommend changing the channel. You won’t find positive change here.
(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 Muncie reports a gruesome murder, police begin to suspect that he may be behind it—and the true killer looks to frame him.
The murder is of Mark, whose body Muncie finds in a sauna. His head, legs and arms have been severed from his body, and we see the bloody scene just as Mark does. Mark’s killers attack Muncie, shooting at him and injuring Muncie’s leg. Muncie kills one of them by stabbing him in the neck with a pen. We later see the bleeding bandage on Muncie’s leg.
A police officer disbelieves someone’s name, saying it “sounds like a porn name.” There’s a reference to male genitals.
Someone says, “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.”
A boy is caught with marijuana, and his father scolds him for it. Muncie smokes a cigar and drinks hard liquor.
The f-word is used about 30 times, including two pairings with “mother.” The s-word is used nine times. The n-word is used twice. We also hear occasional instances of “a–,” “d–k,” “h—” and “d–n.” God’s name is used in vain once and is paired with “d–n.”
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.”
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.
STARZ fantasy drama ‘Outlander,’ now in its seventh season, is as outrageous as it is outlandish—in just about any way you can imagine.
Language, violence and sexual content will make ‘Dune: Prophecy’ much less accessible to families than the films it’s based on.
The crudities in A Man on the Inside probably won’t make your sky fall, but to say you should ignore them would force me to tell true lies.
Our weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest things happening in entertainment and technology. Sign up today, and we’ll send you a chapter from the new Plugged In book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family, that focuses on how to implement a “screentime reset” in your family!
