‘The Acolyte’ Failed To Make A Strong Impression
The Acolyte didn’t deserve the hate that it received. But it also didn’t do much to prove its worth in the greater Star Wars galaxy.
This season’s big new Disney+ show was The Acolyte, and it certainly got a lot of buzz. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always good buzz. Viewers were especially harsh on this series, but did it deserve all of the hate? Was it great? Or was it just an average addition to the Star Wars lore?
The Good
Even if you were looking at The Acolyte through the most critical lens, there were some undeniably good aspects to it. The visuals, for example, lived up to the Star Wars quality we’ve come to expect. Maybe not feature film level, but pretty darn good.
Same with the costuming. Sure, we can’t compare to what Padme or Mon Mothma would wear to senate functions, but the wardrobe choices were solid, clean, and worked. The Jedi having matching robes makes a lot of sense. Similarly, the choreography is clean, well-practiced, and fun to watch. Overall, the visuals were decent, and didn’t really have a bad moment.
The Acolyte was also full of characters who I found likable, played by a cast that was honestly stacked. Amandla Stenberg played Osha and Mae, and you probably cried about her as Rue in The Hunger Games at least once. Sol was played by Lee Jung-jae, who we all remember from The Squid Games. Manny Jacinto was Qimir, and I didn’t recognize him as Jason Mendoza in The Good Place at all until I was told. Carrie-Anne Moss was Indara… Trinity is a Jedi now. This was a solid, solid cast. Even the people I didn’t mention by name were good.
That said, not all of the characters were likable, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
One thing that Acolyte did well, though, is show us that the Jedi are sort of bad at their jobs. They consistently made poor choices, leaned hard into mistakes, lied, and ignored instructions. And while I think there were many instances of bad writing in this series, I don’t think this was one of them. It makes sense that we’re watching the Jedi be a lot less than the ideal we have in mind for them. After all, there’s a reason they fall so easily. We get a lot of pro-Jedi content in Star Wars and a little no-Jedi-at-all content. So, an honest look at the order was refreshing.
The Bad
One of the biggest things working against this show was that it seemed to want to be prestige TV… But it missed the mark. This wasn’t a mostly just fun show like Mandalorian. But it also didn’t do any of the heavy plot lifting like Andor or any of the animated shows have done. It felt like The Acolyte wanted to be a series that we all speculate about and chat over at the water cooler. But nobody hangs out at water coolers anymore, and there wasn’t much to talk about.
Like I said, I think this wanted to be prestige TV, but the story didn’t back that up. Whether the writers didn’t have the chops to make this hit the way it should have, or a room of producers produced this to death, or a secret third thing happened is a mystery. But the emotional beats just didn’t have the punch they needed to.
And the tragedy is that you can so easily see how good this should have been. With just a little more polishing or maybe a little less meddling, this could have been an amazing show.
The Score
I felt like that Tyra Banks meme throughout this entire show. I wanted so badly for The Acolyte to be good. We all did, I think. But it felt sloppy and unfinished. Despite having a cast full of actors who have made me feel an entire range of emotions in the past, I didn’t feel a single thing for eight straight episodes. And like… that’s not great.
Some of the most likable characters in this show got the least screen time, with one dying in the cold open of the first episode. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Played by Rebecca Henderson, who I think did a great job. This is a criticism of her character, not the actor.) felt like the middle manager I hate to see around the office but can’t shake. When a member of the senate comes to let her know that he doesn’t like or trust the Jedi, I found myself rooting for the bureaucrat. Again, not ideal.
I wanted to end this show excited about a potential season two, but instead, I’m ambivalent. I wanted to love these characters, but instead, I just wanted to re-watch other things the cast was in. The Acolyte left me whelmed.
What did you think of The Acolyte? Are you hoping for a season two, or was one season enough for you? Do you want to see more stories set in the Old Republic? Let us know in the comments!
May the Force be with you, Adventurers!
