The Fantasy Review’s Opinion: The Acolyte Fails to be Interesting in the Show’s First Two Episodes.
I grew up watching and rewatching the Star Wars prequel movies over and over again, so with a setting 100 years prior to the rise of the Empire, you might expect that The Acolyte would be perfect for me. I thought so too.
First, some positives. In these first two episodes we have had some great performances from the cast and the visuals are stunning. The Acolyte follows after shows like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka in its aesthetics.
Lee Jung-jae’s character, Sol, is precisely the kind of jedi I was excited to see in this new show. He is traditionally trained, well respected by his peers, but has a little rebellion in him – reminds me of Qui-Gon Jinn (my favourite character from the prequels).
And that’s basically it for positives.
The Acolyte sells itself as a murder-mystery-thriller show, but the “mystery” is essentially revealed within these two episodes, and the remaining secrets are weak. There’s little to no intrigue, I don’t care about Osha and Mae, and Carrie-Anne Moss has been wasted if that is all we are going to see of her.
What is it with Star Wars and twins? “Oh, she didn’t murder her old master, it was her twin sister who everyone thought was dead until recently”. It feels like a poor imitation of Star Wars, with none of the heart or passion for the franchise that fans would expect.
I sincerely hope it improves. I also felt disappointed with Ahsoka in the beginning, but overall that show ended up being alright. Perhaps the introduction of a Wookiee can save the show… It does feel, at this point, I am only continuing to watch in future weeks because I’m excited to see Abigail Thorn as Ensign Eurus. Except for that, what has The Acolyte really shown us so far to inspire any confidence that there is a cohesive vision for the story?
