Star Wars is relatively new to live-action TV, so it has quite a bit of catching up to do. So far, we’ve seen an episodic adventure-of-the-week series (The Mandalorian), a nostalgic follow-up mini-series (Obi-Wan Kenobi), a Indigenous-themed crime thriller (The Book of Boba Fett), a prequel-to-a-prequel (Andor), a live-action companion series to an animated series (Ahsoka), and a purposefully unrelated meditation on good and evil (The Acolyte.)
While all of these worked as TV shows, there’s one TV subgenre that is more or less considered the ultimate acheivement: the mystery box. Mystery box shows all revolve around a central question, teased and complicated with every following episode, before finally coming to a satisfying conclusion — something that’s incredibly difficult to pull off. However, the latest Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew, may have just positioned itself as the first Star Wars mystery box series.
What is At Attin?
Though Skeleton Crew opened with the “kids swept up into a grand adventure” premise of Amblin films, as soon as the kids escaped their homeworld of the planet of At Attin it became clear their quest was far bigger than just getting home: At Attin is, essentially, the Star Wars equivalent of El Dorado, a planet of vast riches thought to be lost.
The kids need to get home to At Attin, but in order to get home, they need directions. In order to get directions, they will need to figure out just what makes At Attin different. It’s the perfect mystery box for a series like this, because the mystery is far bigger than just “What’s the deal with At Attin?” For example, we see the kids talk about how their parents are analysts, but analysts of what? Fern’s mom, Fara, speaks of “The Great Work,” but just what this “Work” is, is definitely related to whatever is keeping this planet a thing of legend.
It’s the perfect choice for this series. Not only is this pushing Star Wars live-action television to one of the most high-concept ideas in TV history, it also perfectly explains why we’re just hearing about At Attin for the first time — it’s unknown by the audience, but also unknown by everyone else in the galaxy. No wonder it’s never shown up in one of the countless Star Wars stories we’ve seen before.
Skeleton Crew may take a lot of its cues from nostalgia like the practical effects of the original series and the surburban adventure tone of 1980s movies, but its also deeply entrenched in TV history. It may not be Star Wars’ version of Lost, but it’s definitely Star Wars’ version of a mystery box, something that will fuel fan debate and theories across its eight episodes.
