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.
“Why be what someone else wants you to be when you can be who you are?” asks Uncle Budrick.
Max agrees. That’s why she’d like to become a knight rather than becoming a troubadour like Budrick. It’s also why she’s somewhat excited when their horse runs away with their traveling wagon, forcing them into the nearby Byjovia for supplies. After all, Byjovia’s where people train to be knights under the kind King Conrad.
But Byjovia is far different from how Budrick remembers it in the days of his youth. It’s dirty. People fight over scraps of rat jerky. Guards arrest anyone who complains—and any complaint usually means the death penalty.
It turns out that some time ago, King Conrad and his valiant knights left to fight a dragon and perished in the attempt. That left the throne vacant for his far smellier brother, now-King Gastley, to usurp. And King Gastley’s the kind of guy who throws shoeless orphans in the dungeon because they can’t afford shoes.
In fact, he throws her uncle in jail not long after they arrive in town.
Well, Max is indignant. Someone should do something about this cruel king.
Someone … like an aspiring knight.
Those who were upset about the removal of Big Nate from Paramount+ might have a new show they can watch—provided they have access to Nickelodeon or Hulu.
Max and the Midknights is the latest animated release based on the work on Lincoln Pierce, the author best known for his Big Nate book series. This time, we focus on Max, a young girl living in medieval times who aspires to be a knight.
The character was designed to have a “gender neutral” look. And according to the author, this was an intentional choice to encourage his young male audience to root for a female protagonist and to focus more on her aspirations of being a knight rather than focusing on her gender. In that respect, parents can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the character isn’t meant to be any sort of political statement on gender fluidity. However, related to this point, it should be noted that the voice actress behind the character identifies as nonbinary.
Regarding the actual content in the show, so far, there’s not much that’ll raise concerns. The animated violence is more in line with cartoons: When monsters are stabbed, we don’t see any blood. And even though a man dies, he’s killed offscreen. As for other issues, magic exists in this world, and good and evil characters alike use it to fight for their own causes.
In other words, Max and the Midknights doesn’t charge into battle in rusted armor, but it might appreciate a little polish.
(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.)
Max and Uncle Budrick arrive in Byjovia, where things are worse than Budrick remembers.
In a dream, Max imagines herself as a knight, fighting a dragon. The dragon burns a village down to the ground. Just before she stabs the dragon, she wakes up.
Someone is executed offscreen. Arrows find their mark, sinking into a man’s body, though he claims that he’s fine. A thief threatens Max and Budrick with a dagger. An angry mob throws pitchforks at the duo, and those implements lodge in the side of their wagon. Someone gets pelted with a rock and falls unconscious. Guards fall off a building. One guard is struck in the head by a giant church bell.
Someone yells out, “By Jove!” A character claims that a man has the “voice of an angel.” To avoid a guard’s suspicion, Budrick claims he and Max are on their way to see an exorcist. Someone refers to following a horoscope.
A man belches loudly.
Max devises a way to break into the castle to rescue her uncle. Meanwhile, Mumblin the magician considers whether he should help Max.
Knights joust, and we’re told that some of them die from it. To accentuate that point, after a knight is struck by a lance and survives, King Gastley states, “It’s no fun if the heads don’t come off.” A giant boar and an octopus-like sea monster attack people, and Max slashes her dagger at the octopus. The skeletal remains of previous unfortunate prisoners in a dungeon are seen.
Someone produces a summoning coin, said to conjure a powerful wizard. It works, summoning Mumblin the magician, a once-famous sorcerer who has since lost his spark. He magically transforms a boar into a bee, and he summons items. One aloof character suddenly claims that Max and her friends each have an “evil doppelganger living in the shadow world.”
When Mumblin is summoned, he appears before everyone in a bathtub, wearing nothing but a towel. He complains that people always seem to call for him while he’s trying to bathe. Later, Mumblin scrys on Max and her friends, and he tells them that scrying eyes can be used to see anything you want—within parameters. “There have been lawsuits …” he states.
A man flatulates. Someone is described as “idiotic.”
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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