The Acolyte: Day Thoughts
Halfway through the series, the characters are walking in circles.
Watching the fourth episode of The Acolyte was like riding with a driver who does not know whether they want to slow down or race to the finish line.
“Destiny” felt like a complete story within the series; however, “Day” feels like the twins themselves, a half of a whole.
Once the series is complete, this episode might make sense as part of the whole. For now, it is just an odd chapter with several questionable character moments.
Kelnacca, We Hardly Knew Ye
“Day” is a walk to the finish line to kill/save Kelnacca. There is Mae and Qimir on one side, and the latter is working overtime to focus Mae, slyly reminding her that she has to kill a Jedi without a weapon and that she has already failed “so many times.”
Then we have Sol, Osha, Jecki, Yord, and a bunch of random Jedi whose goal is to apprehend Mae using Osha, who is tagging along for Sol. They have a tracker named Bazil, a Tynnan who gets himself lost along the way.
None of it matters as they find something else entirely when everyone arrives at Kelnacca’s residence.
There was some build-up to a showdown with Kelnacca, the recluse Wookiee Jedi stationed on Khofar. As part of the cursed four Jedi who did something 16 years ago on Brendok that the creators have yet to reveal, the Wookiee was destined to die.
But The Acolyte team must have realized that asking Mae to fight a Wookiee might have been too much, so someone took care of that for her. People waiting for a Wookiee fight might have to wait for a flashback as the Jedi Master is seen in the beginning before the sun sets, fixing his dinner, and is not seen again until he is discovered by Mae, dead.
Justifiably, fans were upset, but this reinforces that Sol is the only one who can provide answers to Osha and perhaps Mae. Do we need to see another fight with a Wookiee who is already punishing himself? No.
And there are still questions from the little time spent with Kelnacca. Why was the Wookiee drawing the symbol of the witch coven along with a yin-yang type of sign? When was Kelnacca killed, and is it possible that it was not the masked darksider?
Thanks to marketing and trailers, fans know Kelnacca will have more screen time with Indara and Torbin, but his role in this episode mainly served as a catalyst for everyone else to be on Khofar.
A Square Peg in a Round Hole
The popular saying can apply to many things in this episode that do not make sense narratively. First, Sol’s team is returning to Coruscant and how time worked in this episode. Assuming that they were on Coruscant while Mae and Qimir were heading into the forest, it is a stretch to think that the Jedi and Osha could spend time on Coruscant, fly to Khofar, and get to Mae within three hours.
That is not nitpicking because the episode relies on that tension and whether they will make it in time to save Kelnacca. At least, that is the initial setup. But Sol and Qimir are the only ones with a sense of urgency.
One reason for the Coruscant stop is to pick up some redshirt Jedi to die at the hands of the darksider. However, a better use of the characters’ (and our) time would have been for Vernestra to send the five Jedi as reinforcements while Sol and the team head to Khofur. Then, the rules of hyperspace travel and how time works might not be hyperfocused on.
Another potential reason for the Coruscant stop is to introduce Ki-Adi-Mundi into the fun. The Jedi Master is in the Prequels, and, given his insistence that the Sith have been extinct for millennia, there was a reason the writing team chose him to get involved. He is not on Khofur, but he does know about Mae and that someone is training her (Vernestra insists that whoever trained Mae is a former Jedi).
Either way, those Coruscant sequences were unnecessary and took too much of the short episode.
Abrupt Abundance
“Day” also had a few unexpected turns that would be refreshing if given more time. The main issue with this episode is Mae’s decision to stop her mission and surrender herself to the Jedi. There are hints that finding out the other survived had a more profound impact on Mae than Osha, but Mae has such little screentime to show her processing that her sister is alive, let alone what that means for her revenge tour.
So when Mae sets a trap for poor (maybe) Qimir and tells him that Osha’s survival changes things, it is not a welcome pivot. Certainly not for Qimir, who warns that the Master will kill her. Not for Mae, who runs to Kelnacca only to find him dead.
But, more importantly, not for viewers who should be irritated by the poor execution of this character shift.
And the abrupt change of heart is not something that future context can fix. It is a miss.
Not even the last few minutes of this episode, when the darksider is floating down behind Osha, can change the misfire. Because when things are looking dire for the Jedi as they get Force-pushed back after charging the mystery person, the episode abruptly ends.
The sudden ending is not the real problem with “Day,” but it almost puts an exclamation point on an issue that Lucasfilm is having with their Disney+ live-action series. These are not adventures of the week like the animated shows but a larger narrative that viewers need to be invested in to continue watching. Aside from “Destiny,” the endings feel more like a break for a commercial as if The Acolyte was a movie cut up to play on broadcast or cable.
Andor also struggled with ending episodes, especially in the early half of its season, which is one reason it was a slow burner (and the least-watched live-action series).
Claire Kiechel, one of the writers for this episode, suggested that the ending is a natural stopping point for the beginning of episode five, which explains why “Day” does not feel like a full episode. However, at some point, Leslye Headland and Lucasfilm must ensure these episodes stand independently. OR have an extended episode.
The whole thing is watching what happens when business clashes with creative storytelling instead of supporting it.
What Did Work
Sol continues to be his namesake, a bright spot, and the emotional soul of The Acolyte. No matter what happened on Brendok, Sol cares for Osha and Mae even though his connection is with the former. He ignites his lightsaber for the first time in this series to save Osha from large, creepy umbramoths attracted to the saber’s light (that will surely come back).
And since Sol is now the last Brendok Jedi standing, that raises the stakes. The “killing the Jedi without a weapon” has been brought up so many times that it has to pay off. So either Sol dies literally or dies metaphorically. Either way, the result will be heartbreaking, and the show has earned that.
Osha and Jecki’s relationship borders on flirtation (although it is doubtful Lucasfilm will go deeper than that), and their conversations about attachment and the Force give some insight into Osha’s struggles within the Order that ultimately led her to leave.
And something on Khofur is reawakening Osha’s connection to the Force. Is it the planet, or is it the mysterious darksider?
It could also be her proximity to Mae. Yord, in his brief but effective moments, tells her that perhaps Sol brought on the mission to face herself and not just her sister. Osha asks Yord to kill Mae if it comes to that, but the Jedi Knight trusts Sol and suggests that she do the same.
Qimir is the number one suspect for the darksider, but he is also who the direction of this episode is heavily pointing towards. If he is not, and really does genuinely care about Mae, that would also be a fascinating turn. I suspect we will get an answer in the next episode because the back half of this series needs to start answering the questions it already has on the table before creating more.
Originally published at http://creditsandcanon.com on June 24, 2024.
