The Acolyte is done, and now we are left to ask: In the sea of content that we are flooded with, does the finale achieve something deeper than just continuing to sell us the Star Wars brand? Partially, yes. It gives us reveals that could have been delivered episodes earlier, action that would have been cooler a generation ago, and (SPOILER) the death of perhaps the greatest Jedi character the franchise has seen, all to remind us that the Star Wars universe is only as good as the filmmaking behind it.
Episode 8, “Doom,” begins where we left off, with Osha (Amandla Stenberg) donning Qimir’s (Manny Jacinto) sensory deprivation helmet. Since the helmet leaves her alone with the Force, she experiences an uninterrupted connection to her own power similar to her mother’s—the ability to put others into a trance as she freezes Qimir in his own mindscape. That’s a pretty cool development, but due to the pacing of the series, we don’t get a payoff to this ability. Therein lies the biggest flaw of the show: it’s underwritten, without enough meaningful content to justify its own pace. From episode 1 on, The Acolyte’s directorial style all too often misses opportunities to give deeper meaning and emotional context to moments.
By this eighth episode, we’ve grown to expect long, drawn-out reveals, such as when Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is about to tell Mae what she and Osha truly are as a byproduct of a Vergence, only to be shocked by Mae before finishing his sentence. Cookie-cutter writing like this held the series back from exploring more meaningful ideas in the allotted time for the episodes. The show would’ve benefited from a faster pace and more exploration of the little things that make life “in a galaxy far, far away” interesting.
For instance, according to Sol, Osha and Mae are not twins or sisters, but rather are the same person, conjured and split in two by their mother using the Vergence in the Force on their home world of Brendok. That’s cool, but the story doesn’t convey why we should care about this, other than it being rare.
Considering him a liar that murdered her mother, Mae tried to lose Sol in a space chase that is surely one of the best in Star Wars history. Flying through a Saturn-like planetary ring is simply good sci-fi. I’ve never seen it done before with such attention to detail. This scene is another instance where The Acolyte delivers something fresh that expands our collective minds, thereby pushing the boundaries of science fiction as a genre. Applause for this scene.
We’re introduced to Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood) in a meeting with Master Vernestra (Rebecca Henderson). The Senator brings a challenging perspective to the Star Wars universe, believing Jedi to be hypocrites of the self-control they preach, predicting that one day one of them will lose control and cause big problems for the galaxy. Perhaps this is a disadvantage of being a prequel, but his motives feel overly convenient, designed to fit the needs of the story rather than character-driven. However, Harewood’s portrayal of the character is strong, and a good counter-balance to Henderson’s stressful-yoga-teacher Jedi. In their first shared scene, the senator delivers the powerful line, “When you’re looking up at heroes, you don’t have to face what’s right in front of you.” I find this remark to be very timely, aligned with how we as a culture are increasingly questioning who and what we model ourselves after.
We get more great acting when Sol enters the ruins of the burnt temple on Brendok. Sol walks up to where he’d had to make a decision to save Osha or Mae as they fell from a bridge 16 years earlier. Deeply unsettled by the memory, Sol steps back, almost as if his limbs are glued to the space and he’s pulling himself free with every step, contorting his body as he paces backwards. The body language here is outstanding, and for me solidified Lee Jung-jae’s portrayal of Sol as the most dynamic acting across all of Star Wars to date. I hope Lee is showered with accolades for his work in this series.
Unfortunately, that level of excellence doesn’t carry over to the finale’s big face-off. The fight choreography for the finale feels like the action design team had some creative limitations put on them, with very basic martial arts moves being shown in slow motion, as if they were special for a Jedi or Force-wielder. This is a stark difference from some of the amazing action moments in earlier episodes. The fight between Osha and Mae is incredibly plain, and feels more like a stunt person posting their reel on Instagram to build a following rather than the grand finale of a Star Wars show. The Qimir/Sol fight has a similar feel, like we’ve see it all before.
The battles end with Osha choosing to kill Sol. The show died there for me. The most interesting character and best actor in the series is no more. The tension of Sol confessing to the Jedi has vanished. Osha and Mae flee, and we are left with new questions as Master Vernestra arrives with a squad of Jedi. She learns the truth from psychic impressions in the space, chooses to cover it up in front of the Senator and council meeting, and now we see that the Jedi are flawed too. Oh, and Vernestra formerly trained Qimir. And Vernestra reports to Yoda. And I’m not sure if watching anymore is worth it.
I love art. Art can be interpreted in infinite ways, and everyone can find something if they simply take a moment to appreciate it. Then there are time-waisters, shows and other media that simply exist to keep printing money with mindless viewership. The Acolyte episode 8 has elements of both, and is perhaps the best example of the series being full of the same. Some episodes were truly powerful, some moments raised the bar for Star Wars. Overall, I’m left feeling that Star Wars wants to keep the same cyclical storytelling going, with masters training students that turn to the dark side, causing people to either run away from them or run toward them to stop them. This pattern was boring when The Force Awakens released, and it hasn’t gotten any better. With the last image of the series finally being Osha and Qimir holding hands wrapped around the same lightsaber, I’m hopeful for the sake of all the talent in the show that they get to make another season, and I’m reminded that Star Wars lacks a definitive artistic voice at this point guiding it to do anything truly bold and original.
