Connor Billington

From casting to acting to choreography and writing there is hardly anything redeemable about this show. Lead actress Emandla Stanberg has all of about two facial expressions not to mention her lacking knowledge of her own characters and the Star Wars saga as a whole. This is all not to mention the terrible work that Disney has done at promoting the show. Many of the actors or lead production team members have come out publicly insulting the original material and showing their lack or respect for it, something that is apparent as you watch the show as old Star Wars lore gets seemingly retconned and it almost feels like a different universe entirely until they brought in characters like Ki Adi Mundi. In an attempt at diversity, Disney has cast an almost entirely female/LGBT cast and crew. This was so serious in fact that in a new lawsuit brought against Disney, the Acolyte will be used as evidence for sexist anti-male hiring. In the show almost all male characters are stupidly weak and lacking virtue or dead by the end of the show. I don't even want to think about the space witch lesbian orgy scene. Kathleen Kennedy strikes again with the uninspiring 'Mary Sue' female lead with little to no character progression, extreme power out of nowhere (no training/trials etc.) The world bends around the main characters instead of being an obstacle. The show tries it's hardest to be an action drama like the original movies but comically fails. All "dramatic moments" backed by intense music are laughable, unrealistic (even in the world of Star Wars) and even the moments that are supposed to be comedic have the opposite effect. I think what the Acolyte failed the most at is reaching their target audience (YA-adult men), maybe if there were more autistic she/theys out there then the show would've done well but instead, higher ups like Leslie Headland called original Star Wars fans toxic, sexist, racist, homophonic etc. Which is not the best way to reengage an audience. The reality is that there isn't anything wrong with the fans, they're just tired of bad writing, bad acting, bad plot and even bad lightsaber fights and action sequences. I'd like to point out the major instances of these poor qualities but this review is already getting long, just watch the first five minutes of any episode and try to engage your brain as you realize what you're watching isn't actually a well thought out addition to the Star Wars universe but a poorly timed fan fiction that could've been written by a gay chipmunk. It's a disgrace to the Star Wars universe, even next to the sequels which I thought I'd never say but at least it looks like it's paying the price.