From the beginning of the Skeleton Crew series, some characters have been slightly unrelatable. We get to see the family dynamics with all of the children, especially Neel and Wim, but Fern's relationship with her mother stands out among the group. Undersecretary Fara is a force to be reckoned with and her actions in the finale, "The Real Good Guys," are a great example of her being a force to be reasoned with.
Why Fara sees safety in numbers
Undersecretary Fara reminds me of my own dad. He knew how to measure success, having worked in academic advisement. I remember him once reviewing with me the grades I needed to get a certain GPA. It was intimidating, but it also helped me a lot to know what I could accomplish with the right scores. He was proud when my hard work got me into my first-choice college. When Fara takes pride in Fern being at the head of her class, I saw that this was a mother who took pride in quantifiable success.
Wendle is the one to fret that Wim needs to get every question right to pass the Assessment, but there's no doubt in my mind that Fara knows exactly how many answers her daughter can miss without failing. She is a stalwart member of the community who puts her faith in the system that has been in place for her entire life and sees everyone's place in the Great Work.
The great turning point for Fara is trusting in wisdom outside the system. In the Supervisor's Tower, she laments that "The Barrier was supposed to protect you from this. It was supposed to keep you safe from the galaxy." When Fern insists that the failure of the Barrier to protect them means that they have to do something, the Undersecretary is visibly taken aback. Fern speaks her language by pointing out examples and providing experiences when her mother literally needs to count on the goodness of other people and then brings it back to something less concrete. "You have to trust me," says the daughter. "What's the plan?" answers the mother.
The revelation of At Attin and its rescue comes about through the cooperation of many people, but Fara saves the day by trusting her daughter's "first step into a larger world." She disables the Barrier in a gigantic leap of faith, and because she has faith in the unknowable, she has a major hand in saving the world.
Disney+ is home to the full Skeleton Crew series and all episodes can now be found streaming.