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.
Every testimony has a bit of darkness.
Take Leroy Jethro Gibbs, for instance. We know he had to start working at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS, then just NIS) at some point. In his case, it was in 1991.
Considering the failed psych evaluation, it was a wonder he got the job in the first place. Fortunately for him, his boss, Special Agent Mike Franks, put in a good word for him.
But perhaps Mike should’ve taken that evaluation a little more seriously.
Gibbs isn’t crazy. But it’s apparent that past trauma, which stems from the unsolved murder of his wife and daughter, as well as his time serving as a Marine, catches up to him often. And if he’s unable to overcome that trauma, he may inadvertently contribute to someone else getting hurt—or worse.
If you’re looking for a review of a particular NCIS show on Plugged In, you’ll have to be specific. Because you just type in those four letters, it may require a bit of scrolling to find the series you’re actually looking for.
We promise, that’s not our fault. You can blame the producers of this franchise for creating six different shows set within the naval agency. For Plugged In staff, reviewing an NCIS show sort of feels like the intro to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: “Alright, let’s do this one last time.”
In the franchise’s latest installment, NCIS: Origins, we follow a character who bears the weight of past trauma. Gibbs isn’t unstable. Just … less stable, like a chair with a cracked leg. It probably won’t break; but you’ll still want to be careful how much weight you put on it all at once.
And speaking of weight, Gibbs and his team encounter some weighty issues throughout this series: a man kidnaps a child, a burned body with its head smashed open, a blood-soaked bed. Bodies and skeletal remains are frequent in their line of work.
To cope, you’ll won’t find this team going to church—though religious beliefs do come up as cases are worked. Instead, you’ll probably find the team getting intoxicated at the bar. Mike will probably top that of with a night of passion, too (though characters get naked and are seen in underwear, we don’t see nudity).
And the stress of the job just may evoke a swear or six from their mouths.
Every testimony—every origin story—has a bit of darkness. You’ll just want to make sure you’re willing to bear it before sitting through this one.
(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.)
Gibbs joins the NIS team, but his first case may prove to be too much for him.
In a burned building, Gibbs discovers the charred body of a woman. A fallen beam has crushed her head, spilling her brains on the blackened floor. Blood drips from Gibbs’ face onto his fingers. We see someone who’s been shot in the head. We hear a reference to suicide. An investigator reconstructs a skull.
Various totems made of bone hang in a home “for protection.” One is made to look like a pentagram. The bones cause NIS to wonder if someone was involved in satanic practices. Someone wonders if a murderer felt called by the devil to kill another person. There’s a reference to holy water. Song lyrics mention Peter and “the cross I’m bearing.”
Mike and a woman have sex, though nothing is seen. Later, Mike walks around in tight underwear. A woman showers. Someone makes a verbal reference to a stripper pole. A man realizes that his wife is continuing an affair despite telling her husband she had stopped. A character refers to his “wife’s lady parts doctor.”
We’re told that a woman was addicted to meth. A man deals narcotics. A couple of people, high on drugs, hide in a sewer system. Someone smokes. People get intoxicated.
“H—” and “d–n” are frequently used, roughly 10 times each. Other crude language includes single uses of “douchebag,” “b–tard,” “p-ss” and “crap.” “A–,” “b–ch” and “pr-ck” are used a couple of times each. God’s name is taken in vain once.
With a death row inmate’s execution date looming, Mike hopes the man will finally reveal the location of his victim’s body.
We see a photo of a blood-soaked crime scene: It’s a bed where two victims were stabbed to death with a pen. Investigators learn that someone attempted to intentionally run into enemy fire in order to commit suicide. A convicted criminal is killed via lethal injection.
The death-row inmate is a former professor of theology, though he says he’s agnostic. He’s written a book titled Searching for God: A Study of Comparative Religion. He references the Dalai Lama, and Mike says the man has a “god complex.” The inmate claims to want absolution. A cactus’ shadow makes the shape of a cross. We hear that a killer’s included a Muslim, a Catholic and an atheist. There’s a brief conversation about Hinduism as well.
The camera shows Mike in tight underwear. Two men objectify a woman. A man kisses a woman on the cheek.
Someone drinks liquor. A man and woman are intoxicated. One person smokes.
“D–n” is used nine times, and “h—” is heard six times. “A–,” “b–tard” and “b–ch” are used a couple of times each. God’s name is used in vain once.
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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