As someone who doesn’t watch SW trailers, I only loosely heard about the backlash on The Acolyte’s first trailer. When I saw the cast for this show, my first thought was “oh God, are people being racist?” I haven’t forgotten the intense harassment Kelly Marie Tran faced. But I knew I had to be fair – the Acolyte trailer very well could have been negatively received because it simply wasn’t good. So I went into the first two episodes with an open mind.
And… I mean, I’m already having a good time. So that sucks for everyone else!
Jedi vs… Sith?
The Acolyte began by pulling the Rogue One move of an opening screen rather than an opening crawl. And I think that’s fair – the crawl is very iconically SW, and it has to be earned. While I liked the premise of “secret” Force-users moving about the galaxy, the exposition given felt a little overly long – I want action, not just dialogue. And I did get that a couple of minutes later!
All I knew going into this show was that it had Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, and Carrie Anne Moss. I was pumped for this show to open with a fight scene between a Jedi and an unidentified Force-user, and that Jedi being Moss was just delightful. Stenberg shone too – obviously – and I loved the clear difference in their fighting styles. It was more than the way Moss took the defensive and avoided openly battling with Stenberg – it was the way Stenberg grunted and shouted as she attacked, in contrast with Moss’s silent retaliation.
Stenberg’s “Yes, you do” line before engaging Moss was chilling, and the reveal at the end of their fight that they knew each other added an extra layer of mystery to the encounter. However I expected this scene to end, it certainly wasn’t with Indara’s death. Moss was one of the top-billed names on this show, and killing her off in the first episode was surprising. My call is that she’s going to come back to life somehow – or maybe Acolyte was trying to be subversive by having one of their main stars die so early on. If that’s the case, it’s a risky gamble.
After this scene, we properly meet Stenberg’s character – a meknek named Osha. Her work is dangerous, and her flashes of backstory were interesting. But… Osha? You named her after the workplace regulations? I have a worker’s card with this girl’s name on it. SW has weird names, but I feel like they didn’t used to be this in-your-face about them.
In Osha’s visit from Yord, an old friend, we learn that Osha was once a Jedi but chose – for unknown reasons – to leave the Order. Nevertheless, she is taken into custody for the murder of Indara despite her protestations.
At this point, with the reveal of Osha’s backstory (her mothers and sister having died when she was a child), I hazarded a guess that this sister was actually a twin who was still alive and killing Jedi. Wasn’t a very elaborate theory, but it felt somewhat obvious given Osha’s strong denial and confusion about the murder. A two-faced ex-Jedi killing off her former teachers is a bit too nuanced a characterization for modern SW.
Surprise surprise, the Jedi jump to conclusions
Moving on from Osha’s arrest, we return to live-action Coruscant for the first time since season 3 of The Mandalorian. And even then, the time frame is markedly different. We still have Jedi this time around!
And here we meet Lee Jung-jae, or Master Sol. I’m a sucker for cute master-apprentice dynamics in SW – have been since Anakin and Ahsoka – and so Sol instantly appealed to me. His teaching of the younglings and his visible distress over the suspicion of his former Padawan was endearing. Despite the guidelines of the Jedi Code, having Jedi actually show emotion and connection is lovely.
The nerve of this Vernestra lady, though. “We have a lot of evidence” against Osha?? You have ONE eyewitness! There are literally millions of planets in the SW galaxy and you don’t think two people who look like Amandla Stenberg exist?
But I get it, the implication is obviously that the culprit is someone who looks like Amandla Stenberg and has a history with the Force, which narrows down the suspect pool. The whole situation just feels a lot like the plot trying to get Osha arrested despite such flimsy “evidence.”
Save the Loth-cat
During Osha’s prison transport to Coruscant, her trust in the Jedi is made clear. She doesn’t attempt to escape, but the subsequent criminal overthrow forces her to do so. I liked her failure to use the Force to her advantage – not having been a Jedi for six years, it made sense that she wouldn’t still hold the same abilities. And having a character fail at a task early on means that their eventual mastery of said task will hold great effect.
Osha was a neutral character up to this point – not dislikable, not wildly personable – so her quite literal “save the cat” moment was sweet. Not only did her rescue of the tortured prisoner show her sympathy, but it also showed her sense of concerned awareness. By the point of the escape attempt, I’d forgotten all about this last prisoner, so Osha making the choice to go back for him was especially nice.
But… that doesn’t end well for her. Oops. Is this going to be a greater parallel about why she left the Order – because she gave her all and got nothing in return?
(Heh, look at me expecting that level of depth.)
Reunions of two different natures
With Osha unwillingly on the run, the story turns back to Sol’s attempts to find her. His feelings for her, even with so much time passed, made me anticipate their reunion. And I liked the other two Padawans accompanying Sol: Yord and Jecki. They both had well-done characterizations, plus enough touches of nuance (Yord’s tough exterior and Jecki’s desire for approval) to foreshadow future developments.
Not knowing that Sol is coming for her, Osha experiences an unsettling Dagobah-esque dream where she regresses in age and speaks with her presumed-dead sister. The chant shared between her and Mae was neat – and a nice way to draw their connection – and I was relieved the “plot twist” of “twins exist” was getting acknowledged so early on. Part of me thought they wouldn’t reveal this until the end of episode 2, and I think that would’ve just felt embarrassing on behalf of the writers. So I’m glad we’re acknowledging the bantha in the room!
And then there’s the extra fun detail we learn from Sol: apparently, Mae started the fire that killed her and Osha’s parents and destroyed their village. So far, given Mae’s obvious dark-side leanings, this isn’t an implausibility – but I doubt the mystery we’ll uncover will be as simple as “evil child once did evil things.”
Finally, the two paths cross. Sol, Yord, and Jecki track down Osha, resulting in a tense confrontation. I laughed at how Yord tried to be commanding and impersonal – his character is endearingly frustrating in how he handles conflict. But the way Sol shouted Osha’s name was impactful, given how reserved he is, and that endgame reunion of him and his former Padawan, the soft tone in which he says her name… it’s so tender. And he tells her he believes her! Let’s go!
Episode 1’s final scene shows Mae meeting with an unknown Sith-like person, who speaks of an “acolyte,” although it’s unclear what or who this refers to – is he the acolyte, or is Mae?
Having gone into this show with no expectations, I was very pleasantly surprised by my emotional attachment. While The Acolyte seemed plot- and action-focused so far, I liked the characters and their connections to one another. The mystery element, too, prodded me to keep watching.
Here are my (way too lengthy) live thoughts!
