The Acolyte Full Season Review With SPOILERS – Bang Average

I said I would wait till the full season had dropped so here is my The Acolyte full season review, with SPOILERS.

I said I would wait till the full season had dropped so here is my The Acolyte full season review, with SPOILERS. If you’ve still to catch any of the episodes then maybe check back on this later. I have to say, overall there were some things I liked about The Acolyte. However, there were also many things I disliked and overall I thought this first season bang average.

As per most Star Wars these days, there are fans who loved it and fans who despised it. I guess I am somewhere in between. There were some good ideas introduced in The Acolyte. I just don’t think these ideas were particularly well executed to entice me in as a viewer.

I said this to my colleagues previously and I can’t help but feel it still. If this was a book, I think it would be found on the YA shelf. That’s what The Acolyte feels like to me. A show pretending to be an adult drama for those developing from the stage of loving something like Ahsoka, but not quite ready for a show like Andor.

Good? – Not a Lot

Ultimately, there were some good things in The Acolyte. The attempt to show how the Jedi become more intwined with the politics of the Republic was a good idea. The actual fights were well choreographed and interesting, for the most part. The Stranger/Qimir/Sith Lord was a good character you are intrigued to find out more about. There are some connections to non-canon books which indicate an attempt to canonize some of that old lore back in, though with changes.

Yet, despite all this, none of those points really hit the mark for me overall. The politics thing came in a little too late, and felt underdeveloped. Whilst the fights were well done, I think the levels of power seemed to shift depending on what the script needed. For example, Qimir/Sith manages to fight and kill multiple Jedi at the same time, including Sol, who is the only one who can withstand him. Yet in the finale it seems like Sol gets the better of Qimir in a one on one. Now, I know Sol is powerful, but he’s still not faced this kind of threat before.

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As much as Qimir/Sith/Stranger was interesting, and his role was expanded, it still wasn’t enough for me. We spend about as much time overall with Vernestra Rwoh as we do Qimir and she was such an uninteresting character. Too much of the Sith angle is kept back for a Season 2 and frankly I’m not sure it’ll happen. We had the link to cortosis and then a small cameo of Darth Plagueis in the finale. However, at the same time, does that make sense? Would Qimir be taking his new apprentice to the place where he lives with his own Master? Surely Plagueis would be not to keen to see Qimir train up an apprentice? There is probably an explanation coming in Season 2, but who knows?

The Bad – Plenty

However, for me there is far more here which just didn’t work, at all. The characters, I liked three character in this whole series. Now, I don’t mean like because they’re nice etc. What I mean is that there were for me three well written, interesting characters. Those being Qimir, Sol and Jecki. I really disliked both Osha and Mae, Vernestra, Jord, Kelnacca, Torbin and all the nameless Rando Calrissian Jedi. Indara was interesting enough to not be on this list, but having her killed first was also a mistake for me.

Where the show really fell apart for me though were the two flashback episodes. Episode 3 shows us what Osha remembers of the events on Brendock. Episode 6 shows us what really happened. Frankly, the fans had far better theories for how this really played out than the writers did. There was just not enough differences to make it worthwhile seeing the whole thing again. I also thought the witches chanting was laughably bad, and I wasn’t keen on the young Osha and Mae, how they were written, or acted. Though, that’s also partly because I found Mae/Osha one of the least interesting characters in the show. When that’s the lead, you have an issue for me.

I mean… did that little fire, really end up making half a mountain explode? Give me a break.

RELATED: The Acolyte Creator Confirms Osha’s Fate – Talks Season 2 And Darth Plagueis

A lot of the mystery box set up here was also just, too easy. The Jedi might have done this terrible thing, but it was all just an accident of communication issues. Qimir was obviously the Sith in the mask. Osha was obviously going to switch and become the acolyte. It was obvious Vernestra was going to end up blaming Sol to cover things up. Oh, and it was for me obvious that Sol would ultimately be killed by a Force Choke. Additionally…. so, that’s an ability a fully trained Jedi cannot counter? We only ever saw Vader use this against non-Force users. Why didn’t Vader just do this to Kenobi?

Ultimately I feel like those who made The Acolyte think it’s far cleverer than it really is. It’s not very deep, it’s not that well written. The Acolyte wastes a lot of its run time in pointless twaddle and skips past the more interesting topics presented. That’s frustrating because The Acolyte‘s basic make up and setting is… interesting. Again, it’s poor execution of that pitch for me which lets it down.

The Future?

It is possible that The Acolyte Season 2 could be a much better show. If it focuses on Osha and Qimir. However, my guess would be that we’ll spend a lot of time with Mae and Vernestra and less with Osha and Qimir. I really don’t think the twin angle worked that well overall and now the show has a ‘what do we do with Mae?’ issue.

I’d probably watch it to see if it improves. However, I have a feeling it won’t get made. The Acolyte was just not good enough to get a Season 2 for me. This should have been a show focused on the Sith. Instead we spent far too much time with the Jedi who were all cardboard cut outs. Finally, the budget. This show has a big budget, comparable with that of House of the Dragon Season 2. In that show who can see the money on screen, in The Acolyte I wonder where it went rather often.

GRADE: C

I didn’t find it the unwatchable mess some of my colleagues did. However, I was not that impressed or engaged with the story being told from week to week. Too many shorter episodes, too much wasted screen time, and too many cardboard cut out characters.

What do you thin of my The Acolyte full season review? What did you think of the Season overall? as always, let us know your thoughts below.

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