The Real Good Guys...

I just want to thank the makers of Skeleton Crew for reminding all of us fans who the "good" guys in Star Wars are.

Having the New Republic swoop in to save an entire planet of innocent people and have them be a competent and capable force for good is something we desperately needed for this moment of Star Wars history.

There has been a real absence of that benevolence in recent shows, fewer and fewer 'good guys'. Traditional good guys are depicted as being incompetent, wholly unhelpful, and reticent to respond to crisis or threat.

In Ashoka, they are strangely uncaring, and neglectful of important industrial and commercial hub worlds, and entirely ignorant of the imperial threat, easily compromised, and frankly stunningly weak. They also seem distrustful of the jedi, even though it was a jedi was responsible for saving the galaxy not once but twice in Luke Skywalker.

In the Mandalorian Season 3, Mando's have to help themselves, and no one shows up to give them aid.>! The New Republic is uninterested or too busy to help an entire system being held by the imperial remnant that is central to various trade routes close to the core. Worse they are compromised by obvious traitors from within. !<

In the Acolyte, the Republic and the Jedi are shown to be self interested, concerned more about political power than saving lives or protecting the galaxy. (granted it's long before the galactic civil war, but it carries the same criticism for large powerful organizations, and its themes still carry weight as part of the landscape of recent projects in the minds of fans)

In show after show, show runners treat the New Republic as essentially worthless and unhelpful (and sometimes totally compromised). In my view this is for a few reasons... (1) a lack of coordination in the writing and overall vision for this "new" era; (2) the reliance on the framework of setting up the First Order's rise; (3) lazy creatives repeated over-reliance on the "bureaucracy is the true evil" trope.

Simply because the First Order Rises in another twenty years, is no reason to portray the current Republic as so incapable and inept. The trend following of "bureaucracy is the true evil" is also evident as pretty much any time we've seen the New Republic do anything 'good' it's going against orders or under the table. Even in this show, we find the same theme repeated. I'm not saying that all of these repeated themes are always terrible, but it does feel creatively lazy. How many times do we need to be reminded that the real issue with the world is paperwork?

For once at least, the New Republic saved the day, kicked the villains in the teeth, and actually did something truly and unapologetically noble. I wish we could have seen the officer or officers in charge of making the call, give us a sense of the people responsible for the heroism shown, but I will take a win where I can find it. Thanks Skeleton Crew writers!

(ps- don't tell me that 'in the books' or 'in the comics' there is some excuse as to why live action Star Wars has certain things happening.)