Star Wars: The Acolyte

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts about Disney’s Star Wars, a lot of people have strong opinions about the direction Disney has taken the franchise. And while I’ve had some annoyances with certain creative decisions, for the most part I don’t have a problem with the majority of what’s hit the screen. That is, until now. The Acolyte is the latest Star Wars series from Disney and without a doubt it’s been the the most controversial. Before I get into the problem that I have with this show, let me take a moment to discuss just what The Acolyte is all about.

Up until this point, all of the films and shows that have been produced in the Star Wars universe have had some sort of strong tie to an established character or event. For example, The Mandalorian takes place shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi and even features the characters Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker. Ahsoka focuses on – you guessed it, Ahsoka from The Clone Wars. But The Acolyte is different. It takes place approximately one hundred years before The Phantom Menace, in a time that is known as The High Republic. The idea of the The High Republic is to show the Republic and the Jedi at the height of their power. It is a time of peace and progress. The ancient threat of the Sith has been long defeated and the society has mastered the art of Hyperspace Travel. The Jedi are in their prime as the ultimate force of peace and justice in the galaxy. In this way, it is the height of the Republic’s existence. Until Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars “The High Republic” is a concept that did not exist. It is entirely a creation that exists outside of George Lucas’ vision. Now, that alone doesn’t make it bad. But until now, the High Republic only existed in novels and comic books. And, if I’m being honest, the sales of those products has been less than great because they seem to foreign to what Star Wars fans have come to know.

So now we have The Acolyte – a show that takes place during the High Republic era. The show was originally advertised as a murder mystery of sorts. “Someone is killing Jedi. It’s up to the Jedi Order to identify this mysterious threat.” That was the selling point for the show. On the surface, that concept actually sounds a bit intriguing. The only problem is, the answer to this “mystery” is revealed in the first ten minutes of the first episode. Then, the focus shifts from the “who” to the “why”. This is where everything falls apart…

So, this where I’m going to get in deep. Fair warning, I’m about to drop spoilers for this show. If you haven’t watched the show and don’t want know the details, you should stop reading now.

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Ok, Here we go.

When the show first starts out, we see a mysterious young woman kill a Jedi master. Her motives are not clear at first, but we are led believe she is seeking revenge for some unknown crime that the Jedi committed against her in the past. When word of this reaches the Jedi council, a team is dispatched to apprehend the killer. The killer is identified as Osha, a former Jedi apprentice that left the order. However, Osha maintains her innocence. As the story continues to unravel, we learn that Osha has a twin sister, Mae. However, Mae is believed to have died several years ago. It soon becomes apparent that some sort of controversy surrounds Mae’s death. It is implied that the Jedi order was involved in covered up the true nature of Mae’s fate.

In a nutshell, it turns out that Mae is still alive and she has been trained in the dark side of the force by a mysterious master. Mae believes that the Jedi order is responsible for the death of her family and has embarked on a revenge campaign against the various Jedi in question. Throughout the course of the show the audience is led to believe that the Jedi Order engaged in some shady behavior and perhaps Mae is justified in her want for revenge. However, by the time the series is over, we learn that in reality, nothing nefarious actually occurred. Yet, over the eight episodes of The Acolyte, we see Jedi expressing remorse for what happened and in one case even committing suicide to atone for their “crimes”.

Now, there is one Jedi character in particular that does seems to be a bit on the shady side. It’s hinted that she may be responsible for the motives of Mae’s master. But the truth about this particular character is not revealed before the show ends. So, all we are able to do is speculate. Even so, this doesn’t change the fact that the major plot of this first season is based on nothing more than one big misleading lie. If I’m being honest, it feels really cheap. It’s as if the show’s creator pulled a fast one on the audience. Some viewers actually speculate that this the case. Leslye Headland, the show’s creator, has been very vocal in her disdain for the male dominated Star Wars audience in the past.  However, in reality, I don’t think screwing with the audience was her intention. Instead, I really feel like the disjointed quality of this show is due to the fact that the creative minds behind the series are just poor filmmakers.

I feel like the idea here was to show that both the Republic and the Jedi Order were too comfortable in their power and took their righteousness for granted. They were sloppy, lazy, and arrogant. This is a theme touched on by The Last Jedi, if you remember. I really feel like the concept behind this series was to show just what could go wrong due to the Jedi’s blind arrogance getting out of control. However, this theme is ultimately lost due to all the “mystery box” writing and the back and forth storytelling. Instead of being a clever concept revealed over time, it ends up being nothing but a confusing mess. Mix this confusion with a healthy dose of various social justice injections into the narrative and you end up with a final product equivalent to plate of hot garbage.

The shoehorning of modern social concepts into this show reaches levels unseen before. I’ll say this again for people who are unfamiliar with my stance on the subject. I have no problem with social commentary as long as it has a purpose and doesn’t detract from the story. But all too often, such concepts end up feeling forced or out of place. This show is terrible offender in this regard. Everything from gender pronouns and homophobia to even white colonization and feminism are hinted at in some form or another. Again, I’m not afraid to hear thoughts on these issues. But I’m not really sure that Star Wars is the appropriate forum. And if it has to be, can you at least try to make it relevant?

So, is there anything good about The Acolyte? Sure. For example, some of the actors are impressive. The character of Sol in particular is well done. The visual effects are stellar. From a lore perspective, the show reveals that the Sith did indeed exist during this period, hiding in the background. We get a real life glance at Darth Plagueis – a character mentioned in the prequel trilogy (and one believed to have been Palpatine’s master). The final seconds of the show also tease a cameo by Yoda. So there’s potential to hook this show into the existing lore and make it interesting. The only problem is, the majority of what’s on the screen ends up feeling like cheap fanfiction.

All that being said, is this show beyond saving? I don’t think so. This first season is a mess, yes. But a strong second season, crafted by competent writers, could manage to tie up loose ends and salvage the concept.  Sadly, I don’t see that happening. But one can hope…

I hate to sound like one of these guys. But, I have a hard time accepting this series as part of the Star Wars canon. It’s poorly written, conceptually it doesn’t make sense, and so far it doesn’t seem to really have a purpose in the grand scheme of things.

Final thoughts: I feel like this is an attempt to make a Star Wars show for Gen Z. It seems like the aim is make the audience dislike the Jedi. The bad guys are bad because the oppressive Jedi made them that way…. except they didn’t. So what is the point? If you want your Star Wars mixed with social commentary, musical elements, and even a hip-hop soundtrack, this might be for you. But if you like the things that made the classic Star Wars so popular, this might be a tough show to digest.

Mature Content: Some graphic violence.

Number of Episodes: 8

Score (1 out of 4): 2