Star Wars: The Acolyte – Night review S1 E5
Night didn’t let logical storytelling get in the way of the clumsy, confusing main plot of The Acolyte. Characters are dramatically dumbed down solely for the sake of moving from Point A to Point B regardless if it makes any sense.
By Acolyte standards, this was a very eventful episode with some unexpected key deaths and the big reveal a lot of viewers already figured out. I was not among them.
Osha wakes up to the sounds of a lightsaber blazing. That was some Force Push. She stumbles like she’s a virgin in a horror movie and sees a dead Jedi staring back at her. Things are not going well for Sol’s crew.
The Stranger/Master is toying with his food in making short work of the 5-6 Jedi that accompanied Sol, Yord and Jecki. This fight is kind of a mixed bag as The Master is clearly skilled with his lightsaber just as much as the Jedi seem to be wholly incompetent.
When Dark Sidious tears through four Jedi that’s eye-opening. When a newly revealed Sith humiliates a basketball team that’s eight deep that’s something else. At least The Stranger looked cool wiping them out.
Yord gets slashed on his leg, which should render him incapacitated. Sol arrives from his nap to save him and deal with The Master. He orders Yord to take Osha to the ship. Just switching that assignment up to Sol asking Osha to save Yord would have made more sense. Certainly more than Yord clumsily keeping his lightsaber out as a beacon for The Stranger or any other malevolent presence in the woods.
Jecki survived the initial purge as well and starts battling Mae, who borrowed Kelnacca’s lightsaber. It’s not like he was going to be needing it. Jecki doesn’t have a lightsaber against an assassin who’s been killing Jedi Masters without a blaster or a lightsaber. This shouldn’t be much of a fight. Surprisingly, Jecki outsmarts Mae and goes to help Sol, who’s barely keeping The Stranger at bay.
Jecki’s aggressive attack leads to The Master losing his helmet. Jecki continues the assault and gets impaled repeatedly by his lightsaber. That was a shock. And like many speculated it is indeed Qimir — see also, The Acolyte’s most interesting character.
Qimir says he wants the freedom to use his power the way he wants to without the Jedi’s interference. And that would be fair until he starts killing Jedi. Speaking of, Yord rushes him but is shocked to see Qimir was his opponent. That’s enough for Qimir to seize the moment to snap Yord’s neck.
Remember kids (and adults), there’s zero need to buy Star Wars figures until you actually see the show/film. Your favorites might not survive the season or second act.
Osha manages to talk Sol against killing Qimir, which seems pretty silly. He won’t kill an unarmed opponent. Remember how much chaos Count Dooku caused in the last act of Revenge of the Sith? Exactly.
Qimir isn’t about playing fair, but Osha is ready for the sneak attack setting her iPhone droid to flashlight mode. That’s enough to attract the winged beasts who snatch him away. What a revolting development. This kicktail quasi Sith can decimate nine Jedi, but he forgets how to use his Force Push when creatures come at him?
Mae stuns Sol. She doesn’t want him ruining the reunion with Osha. This series has been arranged somewhat odd as Mae and Osha reconnecting seems counter intuitive. It definitely hasn’t been set up as something for viewers to root to want to see happen. Mae is mad that Osha is still loyal to the Jedi.
Night again offers frustrating teases of Sol’s big secret. At this rate, he’s bound to be shot or stabbed with a lightsaber and confess with his dying breath. Whatever it takes for The Acolyte to end with Mae and Osha looking off into the twin suns on Tatooine vowing to stay far away from the Jedi and Sith conflict.
For now, Mae’s best strategy is to trim her hair and swap clothes with an unconscious Osha. This plan really makes no sense. She’s reunited with her sister.
What sense does it make to leave her to go off with Sol. Bazil, the only other survivor, seems to sniff out that Mae is not Osha. That at least pays off the scene from last episode where Bazil gave Osha a full once over smell test.
This also makes the whole why would twins who have been away from each other for at least a decade still look so much alike. Did neither want to dye their hair, go with a more exotic haircut or have a nose ring? It feels very much like the sisters’ look was dictated solely for this scene.
Of course, JEDI Master Sol sure should be able to tap into The Force and determine that “Osha” is really Mae. Qimir does seem to quickly dope out that Mae and Osha have switched places. And he isn’t nearly as interested in killing Osha as he is his former acolyte. At least Qimir also gets his mask back too.
Night demands some dumb decisions from characters in order to pull off the big twist, which itself seems complicated just for the sake of dragging the story out longer. The big reveal was interesting, but The Acolyte is struggling to make this story coherent.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney
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