Series Review: The Acolyte
Official synopsis: Set in the time of the old republic, An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior (Amandla Stenberg) from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…
I need to address the elephant in the room with Star Wars fans. And yes, I am one myself, but whenever Star Wars chooses to have a female or POC lead, a loud section of the internet loses their damn minds. And over the past 6 weeks, I've seen a lot of that going around with the Acolyte, which checks all those triggering boxes for the racists. It's disproportionate hate. The Acolyte DOES have some issues, but absolutely none of them have to do with the actors.
I had to vent. It just bothers me that this happens EVERY time.
Here are my likes, dislikes, and thoughts moving forward
LIKES
1) The showed how flawed Jedis are. The Jedi order ultimately fails. We know this, and even though we want to root for the Jedi because they're the heroes of the story, I'm glad The Acolyte showed them fucking up SO much. The strictness of the order is why it failed. The fact that so many other non-Jedi folk call them out was great. It's good to acknowledge that, because it would be easy for them to pretend everything was fine until Anakin came along, and that's just not true.
2) Amandla Stenberg does a great job playing two different characters. That's a ton of work, and she had clear mannerisms that separated Osha and Mae. She and the rest of the cast did a great job.
3) They were not afraid to kill "big" characters. See a known actor here? They're probably dying, and in shocking ways.
4) They properly teased the second season. I'm excited! Even with some gripes, the finale made me excited for what's to come.
5) Manny Jacinto
DISLIKES
1) The flashbacks were clunky and could've been shortened. Especially when we see a lot of the same things from Sol's point of view. Those could've easily been edited.
2) How Osha and Mae part in the final episode doesn't make sense. It's very plot driven, but logically it just doesn't work. Mae couldn't go back with the Stranger after betraying him, but she also didn't need to stay where she was and let the Jedi finder. They could've dropped her off somewhere else.
Overall: While not the strongest of the TV Star Wars offerings, it's not the weakest either. I'm looking forward to what they do with it in its second season, though it has some tough shoes to fill with some of the actors they will be missing.
I do agree that the show is flawed though I'm not sure where I would rank it in comparison to The Book of Boba Fett as that is my least favorite show of the Star Wars Universe. I did like Manny Jacinto and Amandla Stenberg while I wanted more of Dafne Keen as Jecki. I am open to a 2nd season but the writing does need to be better.
ReplyDeleteI wanted more of Keen as well! I was really bummed when she died. Especially after she came off of leading His Dark Materials so strongly.
DeleteAs a POC female, I welcome shows/films with female or POC lead but I think some of the concerns is the forced inclusion agenda (wokeness) on some of these shows. In any case, from what I've seen, I'm just not interested in this one. I can't wait for ANDOR season 2, that's the best SW series so far!
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of those comments too (lol, remember when people actually used "woke" properly) but I don't think including a POC is forcing anything. It's just giving more representation. Either way, I can see how this story might not be for everyone. I'm also excited about Andor season 2! That show ended up being way better than I thought it would.
DeleteI really disliked this show and I saw that as a Star Wars fanboy who is guilty of liking everything they do to varying degrees. With this one, I had so many issues.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it goes out of its way to show the Jedi as flawed. But I much prefer the way the prequel trilogy showed their faults and failures. In this show's efforts, they made the Jedi out to be incredibly dumb and in many ways corrupt. I hated that and it clashes with Lucas' vision.
Away from my fanboy side, I also thought the plotting was horrible, there were holes all through the story, and the character work was really bad.
Ok I'm finished. Sorry for my silly ramble. LOLOLOL
That's okay! I wasn't too torn up about a corrupt Jedi because some of them DO turn to the dark side, so it makes sense. But yes, I think the prequels did a good job of handling it in retrospect.
Delete