“The Acolyte” Struggles to Thread the Needle
"Destiny" and "Day" epitomize the unevenness of the Disney+ series
The Acolyte is uneven, weighed down by wooden, repetitive writing that is often more determined to make a point than advance the story but buoyed by some interesting characters and a new setting for Star Wars. That dichotomy was on full display in the last two episodes.
Episode 3 — “Destiny”
As I wrote, the first two episodes provided a solid foundation for the show. Moving into episode three, however, the weak points were brought to the forefront. “Destiny” is a flashback to the pivotal moment of their childhood. Osha and Mae are immediately established as very different despite being twins. We are shown this in the opening scene. Unfortunately, we are repeatedly shown and told this throughout the episode.
Osha wants to push the boundaries of her group, spend time away from her twin, and cares about other forms of life. Mae tends to be the opposite. Instead of allowing this dynamic to be established through those opening interactions, the show has Osha and Mae repeat some variation of their differing perspective every few minutes. We don’t get any other aspects of their personality or even their connection with each other.
We do discover the girls were conceived and carried by lesbian witches using the Thread, their concept of the Force. To be clear, I am not a Star Wars lore expert. I can’t comment on what this does or doesn’t do for the rest of the franchise. But simply from an internal storytelling standpoint, this all seems forced. The dynamics seem simplistic—poor persecuted lesbian witches hunted down by power-hungry and corrupt Jedi.
Four Jedi—Indara and Torbin, the two Mae has already killed, the Wookie Kelnacca, and Sol—interrupt the witches’ induction ceremony for Mae and Osha. Both the girls are tested to see if they could be Jedi. Mae intentionally fails her test, but Osha wants to leave so she passes. But Mae doesn’t want Osha to leave so she says she’ll kill her twin instead. She locks Osha in their room and starts a fire in their home that is carved into a stone mountain. The fire quickly spreads (somehow). The witches are all seemingly dead (somehow). Sol saves Osha from falling off a bridge but can’t save Mae.
Some of what happens is so inexplicable that we have to assume the viewer doesn’t know the whole story. Why would Mae think the best way to keep her sister around would be to kill her? How does a small fire started by a child spread so quickly and destroy a building made primarily from stone? What killed all the witches who weren’t burned? But the show is asking you to have a lot of faith in the writing and storytelling when it hasn’t demonstrated that it’s earned that trust. We see that in episode four, “Day,” as well.
Episode 4 — “Day”
Mae and her friend Qimir search for Kelnacca in an isolated, ominous forest on Khofar. Meanwhile, the Jedi discuss who could’ve trained Mae but decide to hide all of what they know to avoid having to answer questions. They send a team of Jedi, including Yord, Sol, and his padawan Jecki, along with Osha to apprehend Mae before she kills Kelnacca.
Some of the Khofar scenes, those clearly filmed on location, look beautiful. Having just watched the rerelease of The Fellowship of the Rings in theaters, it reminded me of those early moments of the fellowship marching through Middle Earth, aka gorgeous New Zealand. Unfortunately, the unevenness returns for scenes inside the forest, which often looked cheap and clearly shot on a sound stage.
As Mae and Qimir head toward Kelnacca, she suddenly decides she’s done with this quest. Because Osha is alive, she wants out. She traps Qimir and heads toward Kelnacca alone to turn herself in. She’s already killed two Jedi masters but now she’s ready to surrender to the Jedi, even though she could’ve done that immediately after seeing Osha and not on a completely different planet. The story seems like it skipped a beat that could’ve helped explain her seemingly out-of-nowhere change of heart.
When she reaches Kelnacca’s house, she discovers he’s already dead. The Jedi arrive and surround Mae, but she realizes her master is there. He floats down behind the Jedi and comes face-to-face with Osha. On the good side of the unevenness, this was a tense scene. When he ignited his red lightsaber, I thought he killed Osha. But he uses the Force to push her out of the way and send the entire team of Jedi flying backward, as the episode ends.
At the halfway point in the season, the primary problem with The Acolyte is that the story demands significant trust in the ability of the writers to pay off numerous mysteries and setups. Unfortunately, the writing has been a weakness so far.
Is Qimir the master? Because he’s being set up as the prime and only suspect, which leaves them in a difficult position. Either it is Qimir and viewers are disappointed because that was clear from the beginning. Or it’s not Qimir and viewers are disappointed because there were no breadcrumbs leading to anyone else so it feels like a shock simply for the sake of a shock.
I do believe many of the current complaints people have online, like the spread of the fire in a stone building, will eventually be explained. I don’t doubt we’ll get a reason, but I’m not confident it will be a satisfying explanation.
Similarly, I’m certain there are ways to make a master reveal of either Qimir or someone else feel earned and satisfying, but so far the writing on The Acolyte hasn’t given me confidence they can thread that needle.
Coming Soon
Doctor Who has been similar to The Acolyte this season, uneven and seemingly concerned more with the external narrative than the internal one. Briefly, “Rogue” was Russell T Davies at his worst, a thin story constructed around one boundary-pushing scene. “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” was Davies at his best, bringing together threads from throughout the season for a big culminating conflict. I’ll give my overall thoughts on the season after the finale, “Empire of Death,” this Saturday.