…wow.
It’s not that I wasn’t apprehensive about The Acolyte’s future, but for Disney+ to acknowledge the show’s failure this openly… like I said, wow.
For a Star Wars show to be canceled… we haven’t had this happen in years! Normally the “Star Wars” logo above the show’s title is enough to secure its completion, but not this time.
I hate unfinished media, and being a Star Wars and Marvel fan usually means I don’t have to fear a cancellation.
Usually.
Technically, The Clone Wars was canceled back in 2013, but in 2020 we received a beautiful final season. Somehow, I don’t see that happening for The Acolyte.
Star Wars has had its cancellations – Resistance comes to mind – but we’ve never before had a live-action show canceled. The ones that vaguely hinted at a second season are the ones that can stand on their own regardless, such as The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. These miniseries have become a staple of the Star Wars library, but that term defines a single contained season. Shows like Ahsoka and Andor do not count, as they end with massive cliffhangers and endings too open to be satisfying on their own. The Acolyte falls into the latter category.
The Acolyte technically counts as a “miniseries,” but that phrase implies intention and completion. We’ve been left with an unfinished, unsatisfying storyline.
But honestly, after that finale, I’m not too distraught.
Mourning potential already lost
It really sucks when a show is so full of itself that it doesn’t bother finishing its story, banking on the hope of a second season to flesh itself out.
I thought I liked this show, but the finale showed me I just liked the idea of it. I liked these characters and the potential they held, but in the last episode we lost any nuance in the core dynamic: Osha and Mae. Nothing’s quite worse than a reunion with terrible build-up.
I should’ve seen the warning signs in episode 6. Episode 5 was unquestionably the season’s best, filled with lightsaber fights and confrontations and heartbreaking deaths. For the following episode to become a slow, boring dredge filled with the most boilerplate “turn to the dark side” speeches signified the show’s ultimate failure. The Acolyte almost did something new and unique, but a lazy attempt to vilify the Jedi without giving depth to the main characters was never going to succeed.
At least we got to look at something pretty along the way? (And I’m not just talking about Manny Jacinto’s arms.)
Disappointing losses
The Acolyte might have had some boring settings (except for that tree) – nothing terrible, nothing remarkable – but the lightsaber duels were certainly entertaining. No matter how many people clamor for SW content unrelated to the Jedi, the beauty of lightsabers can’t yet be matched.
And the actors! Lee-jung Jae and Manny Jacinto were fantastic. It’s a shame we’re losing both of them. Much as I like Amandla Stenberg, her delivery frequently left something to be desired. But I blame that on a lack of direction for her character(s). When the show can’t decide if Osha/Mae is good/evil, there’s not a lot for the actress to work with. If The Acolyte could’ve figured out who they were, maybe Stenberg could’ve, too.
Characterization let-downs all around
I have a HIWWI post here relaying how making the twins a Force dyad would’ve given them a fantastic layer of depth. But the show didn’t even need a change as drastic as that to handle its characters better! Here are just some aspects I hoped for along the way:
- Mae ends up with Sol and Osha ends up with Qimir, their positions reversed
- Mae becomes light-side and Osha becomes dark-side
- Sol and Mae team up because of their shared love for Osha
- Yord and Jecki show up as Force ghosts
- Mae becomes truly evil
- Either twin tries to take their own path away from the Jedi and Sith
I’d have taken ANY of these situations – some of them can coexist, some can’t, but anything would’ve been better than what we got!
Osha and Mae’s characterizations are inherently flawed, inconsistent, and unclear. And they’re the main characters! It’s wild that Yord, Sol, and Qimir still feel more developed than the twins. The Acolyte had eight episodes to show us who Osha and Mae were, and it decided to pull a bait-and-switch with their personalities in the penultimate episode rather than give us layered characters.
If this show began with the premise “Osha ends up with Qimir,” that’s FINE. But give us more backstory about her latent dark side! Strengthen her connection with Mae if Mae is to be her catalyst for joining Qimir! Highlight Osha’s conflict with the Jedi and her own emotions regarding her past! And, for that matter, do the same for Mae!
We know where The Acolyte intended to end, but it took a messy route and tarnished the entire product. And despite what critics say, there really were some moments and characters not worth ruining. Oh well.
Given the finale, my copium-induced hopes for a season 2 envisioned Mae becoming a Jedi under Vernestra and Osha becoming a Sith under Qimir, ignoring Sol’s Force ghost all the while. And even then, that concept frustrated me. I still can’t understand why Osha went with Qimir OR why she and Mae suddenly care about each other, and a second season would’ve required addressing all of this nonsense. If it couldn’t have gotten these points across in its finale, though, why should we expect a sequel to do so?
Yoda means a second season, right?
Even two desperate cameos and the recurring-ness of a character from the High Republic books couldn’t save The Acolyte. But the showrunners must have known that, as the sudden appearance of Yoda never seemed like anything more than a flailing grab at a second season.
It sucks how the failure of The Acolyte has tainted this entire timeframe. The “recent” High Republic books (first one came out in 2021) unlocked a new era of Star Wars, rife with brand-new characters and conflicts entirely unrelated to the Skywalker Saga. For the first TV show focused on this point in history to fail is a terrible omen for its future. We could’ve done anything in this era, using any combination of characters and plot points without affecting the main movies! But now, if any future content is to take place in the distant past, it’ll have to awkwardly sidestep around the Acolyte timeline.
The best solution I can think of is a TV show set several years after the events of The Acolyte, wrapping up the latter’s plot in a throwaway line, and moving on with its own premise. Something like a character commenting on the strange dark side users from a century ago and how two Force-sensitive twins mysteriously disappeared at the same time. Then a new story could continue onward without having to acknowledge The Acolyte again. But we’re highly unlikely to get a second chance in this timeframe. And even if we do, it likely won’t feature the Jedi so heavily.
If we’re lucky, we’ll probably get a graphic novel wrapping up The Acolyte, similar to Firefly’s legacy. The SW comic budget should be a little less than $20 million per issue!
It’s still disappointing that SW’s first “original” Jedi-focused series came to this end. It truly was rife with potential, although the finale solidified all of its flaws. Let’s hope that Skeleton Crew will give us the good non-Skywalker-focused SW content we’ve been waiting for.
But alas, what a dark day for the Jedi.
