In what is assuredly the most pitiful, mediocre iteration of contemporary Star Wars, Disney’s “The Acolyte” is only the latest wandering, sigh-inducing program to be cranked out of Lucasfilm. Show-runner Leslye Headland, the former assistant to disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, made it clear in various interviews that this show was not going to be a return to the inspiring Star Wars universe of yesteryear. Instead, she made it explicitly clear that “The Acolyte” was merely going to be another avenue for Headland’s brand of pandering messaging as well as an opportunity to “subvert audience’s expectations.” I’m not necessarily opposed to these things in concept, so long as they do not become the raison d’être for the whole show. Not to mention all the influencers and pundits who endlessly criticize Star Wars on these grounds are often the most odious, exhausting, self-indulgent, reactionary loons that our decaying culture has to offer (such as the internet goons who relentlessly dunk on Star Wars for “wokeness” and so on).
With that being said, there is plenty of fertile ground to criticize “The Acolyte.” This show brought me to unexpected belly laughter more than once. It purports to take place prior to the prequel films as we follow a pair of twins who are the result of a “vergeance” in the Force, Osha and Mae, one good, the other evil (yawn). Then we are led through a witches’ cult, where a clumsy fire somehow burns down a stone mountainside hideout, and this leads to the killing of all the witches by a Jedi named Sol for some inexplicable reason. There are a ton of predictable plot twists (with far more plot holes than could be spelled out here), and a panoply of truly awful action sequences. “The Acolyte” asks us to consider: Are the Jedi really the good guys? Are the Jedi ever on the wrong side of things? Why do we always regard the Sith the “bad guys”? And other similar morally grey themes that seem to be en vogue these days. I guess this is what passes for serious writing at Lucasfilm (in many ways, “The Acolyte” is reminiscent of the universally panned eighth Star Wars film 2017’s The Last Jedi). The only noteworthy aspects of this show include a terrific score and impressive visuals, as well as a solid performance by South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae as the Jedi named Sol. But anything good in this show is tragically ovreshadowed by lots of foolishness and all-around silliness –such as the infamously clownish “The power of one, the power of two, the power of many!” I could go on and on, documenting dozens of headshakingly baffling moments featured in this show but it’s really not worth it –this show is mostly a waste of time. It concludes with two memorable cameos for fans –one scene shows the back of Yoda’s head and the other displays a brief clip of Darth Plagueis onscreen for the first time (it’s tragic that a truly great character like Darth Plagueis from the Expanded Universe makes his first appearance in a ridiculous show like this).
Here are a few further questions I have from this show: Why was Sol so eager to kidnap/rescue the twins in the first place? Is this what the Jedi do all over the galaxy in the High Republic era –kidnap children against their will? Why in the world would the witches refer to the Force as a “thread”? Why do the Jedi come across as so utterly corrupt and incompetent in this show? Why was there a nude scene of swimming in a lake? Was there supposed to be some sort of contrived romance between Qimir (the Sith) and Mae/Osha? Why did Osha suddenly kill Sol and trade places a la The Parent Trap with Mae? What purpose did that serve? Why did the chipmunk alien character sabotage Sol’s ship in the end? Why did Lucasfilm think it was a good idea to portray the Jedi as essentially horrible, cheating, mischevious characters? I mean, Vernastra literally lied to the government and blamed the whole situation on Sol which essentially gives cover for the rise of a Sith I guess… what in the world? Is this really how the republic falls? How feeble and weak are we supposed to think the Jedi actually are in this show? Is it now canon that characters can change the color of their lightsabers if they are good or evil? And also is it suddenly canon that characters’ minds can be erased (as in the case of Mae)? Where did that come from? Why do characters seem so inconsistent and contrived in this show? Why is there such a painfully unsatisfying conclusion in this show?
Understandably, “The Acolyte” faced intense fan backlash along with its show-runner, Leslye Headland. Personally, I don’t always share the views of the scores of grifters online who seem to make a handsome living incessantly attacking Star Wars. However, for the life of me I cannot understand why Lucasfilm continues to release eye-rolling, pandering, nonsensical shows like “The Acolyte” –especially when Star Wars has such an extraordinary and extensive volume of rich stories in the much-adored Expanded Universe (which Disney tragically de-canonized in recent years). But despite canceling the Expanded Universe, the modern state of Star Wars can never seem to come close to surpassing it –the only interesting moments in modern Star Wars occur when old Expanded Universe characters and plotlines make small cameos or brief allusions (such as the appearance of Thrawn or Darth Plagueis and so on). There is a Ki-Adi-Mundi cameo in “The Acolyte” (he was one of the Jedi Council members who first showed up in the prequel films) but his appearance caused quite a lot of fan controversy because his character technically was not supposed to have been born yet. Several online resources were quickly edited to change his lifespan once this was discovered. At any rate, the Disney era of Star Wars has been just a painfully derivative, unoriginal, and forgettable experience –disappointing and frustrating with morally ambivalent shows like “The Acolyte” which can only hope to cling to the coattails of far superior shows and movies. Unfortunately, “The Acolyte” is also just a sad statement on the precipitous decline of pulpy science fiction adventures in our day and age. Will Lucasfilm ever be able to recapture the renewed excitement we had in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian? Likely not, in my view.
Not my favorite Star Wars either, and I don’t understand everything that I watched. It was just Star Warsian enough to keep my interest through the last episode, and the visuals were amazing. I’ll end on a positive note.
My hatred of Disney for its abuse of SW will continue. -_-