Keira Raftery

Is it as good as Andor? No. Is it a whole lot of fun? Absolutely. The Acolyte is leagues ahead of other disney plus shows that aren't getting near as much hate. It's clunky in parts, but the fight choreography is stunning, the actors bring their A-Game, and the mystery set up in episode 3 is compelling. I swore at the TV at the last cliffhanger, because I want answers damn it. Lee Jung-jae learned English to play Sol and it was worth it, he is absolutely the heart of the show. Amandla Stenberg is also a stand-out, she probably has the most difficult role to play but she pulls off the nuances of it brilliantly. And who can forget my new favourite Sith Lord... I was initially avoiding this show. Not because of the review bombing - I assumed most of the hate was for the usual wrong reasons - but because disney plus shows have lately been disappointing me with their writing quality. I assumed that these problems would be present in the Acolyte, and it certainly isn't free of the problems that have been plaguing disney plus shows. Where this show falls short is where a lot of disney plus shows fall short. While some Disney plus shows - like Kenobi - struggle to fill 6 episodes and probably should have been movies, there are other disney plus shows that needed either longer seasons or longer episodes. With the Acolyte I think the short episode length constrains the writers. Maybe its Disney being tight with the budget, but there isn't as much breathing space to flesh out the character's relationships, or to set up a certain reveal better. I feel Andor succeeded despite these episode lengths because it had more episodes to work with - at 12 episodes it is one of the longer disney plus shows. So far I feel like the Acolyte would benefit from having either longer episodes or at least 2 more episodes to do the story justice. However as someone who had the reveal spoiled before watching the show, I was able to just enjoy seeing the subtleties in the actor's performance that hinted at the reveal. And the actors again bring their A-Game, which makes up for where the breathing space falls short. I found myself very attached to these characters, and some of them have the potential to be some of the best characters in star wars. As a caveat, I am not a die-hard Star Wars fan. I have not read any extended media outside of the movies and shows, and I'm sure there are problems with the lore that I won't pick up on. But there is one lore complaint I heard a bit before I started watching the show, and I had it in mind as I was watching it. And honestly... just be patient? It looks like the show is setting up an explanation - just wait two more episodes and then you'll have the full picture of what you're whinging about.