Welcome back to the blog readers. I do not know if you guys have been able to tell, but The Acolyte has not really been a good show in my opinion. It has been a real chore to watch, and just about everything that is not the action and Lee Jung-jae's performance has been a real bore to me. My patience has really been running thin this whole time as I am now left to beg for a good episode to this show. Would we finally get on the right track with this episode, titled "Choice," written by Charmaine DeGraté, Jen Richards, and Jasmyne Flournoy, and directed by Kogonada? Stick around to find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
As I said in the intro, I have been relegated to hoping each upcoming episode will be good, something I never thought I would have to do with a Star Wars series. But unfortunately, I think the magic ran out and I should no longer hope for a good episode. This episode was not good, and I honestly do not know if I want to watch the finale. But again, the episode was saved by the action and the performance of Lee Jung-jae, although his character has turned me off.
I do want to talk about the action of this episode (at least in the spot where there was any). The episode was basically a slow burn which retells the events of the third episode from Sol and the Jedi's point of view. I will talk more about the story implications later, but at the end of the episode, there is a lightsaber fight that I thought was absolutely brutal, and more vicious than anything I had seen so far, even in the fifth episode. This fight really makes me lament what we could have had with this series, because I really wanted to see more of Kelnacca fight. Maybe if this show ever gets a second season, we will see that. But I doubt that will happen.
This next paragraph will not only cover the performance of Lee Jung-jae , but his character development in general in this episode. You guys know that I have loved Lee's in this series as Jedi Master Sol. He has given us the most raw and grounded character in the series over the last 6 weeks and I truthfully only watch the series so I can see him. And truthfully there was more of that this week as well. This element of the show I love. With that being said though, his character development in this episode negates every good thing that was going for his character just for the sake of it. I was extremely frustrated this week, and I have no idea how next week's finale is going to redeem the character for me.
Finally, I want to talk about the story of the episode for a bit. I like how they are retelling the events of the third episode from the Jedi's perspective. I knew there was a side to the tale not being told, and I was right to believe that. But what this series did to the Jedi makes them look like absolute incompetent idiots who are very trigger-happy. This is especially the case for Sol, a character that I have loved for the duration of this painful watch of a series. This episode makes him look impulsive, brash, and absolutely deserving of death, especially when he killed Anisera. It is such a damn shame that everything that was being built has been negated. Then we have to talk about the thing that will take me out of the remainder of this show. They make a very clear and very obvious reference to the forbidden word in Star Wars. You know, the one that made people burn their capes and be ashamed to be a Star Wars fan in 1999? Yeah, that one. Once that happened, I paused the episode and really contemplated finishing it because I am one of the people who does not like that word in Star Wars. I also thought it was dumb that Mae was coached to be angry and set that fire, and I absolutely hated how the Jedi made themselves look absolutely stupid when they looked to convince Osha that this was all Mae's fault so they can look innocent.
The Acolyte is really starting to frustrate me with its terrible story, terrible characters and just the overall negative vibe that I am getting. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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