The Acolyte generated such hype when the first trailers were released. We were all excited to see Carrie-Anne Moss back in action—even if her role was far smaller than we were led to believe—and the show looked to promise intrigue, action, and a deeper dive into some of Star Wars' less explored lore.
But, The Acolyte fell flat. Even with relatively decent critical acclaim, fans didn't like it. While Rotten Tomatoes is far from perfect, this discrepancy is apparent: critics gave it a surprisingly high 79% approval rating, while fans gave it an abysmally low 19% approval rating.
Despite the lower ratings, many fans stand strong in defense of the show.
So, what went wrong? The action scenes were chaotic and well-choreographed, and from this writer's perhaps not-so-humble point of view, the casting was spot on. Amandla Stenberg as Mae and Osha had me believing she was two people. Lee Jung-jae was a convincingly torn Master Sol, and Manny Jacinto crushed it as Qimir (though as a fan of the Jaguars and The Good Place, this kept popping into my head). And who didn't love Dafne Keen as Jecki? She might have been my favorite character in the whole show.
Unfortunately, even with a top notch cast, The Acolyte didn't deliver. Fans were disappointed. But why? Here are a few simple changes that may have helped the show land.
1. Sometimes less is more
There were just too many sideplots. Poor Vernestra gets the brunt of it, but who really cared about the Jedi Council's issues with the Senate? This entire thread could have been cut without losing anything.
And while I don't hate the back-and-forth timelines, there was too much of it. I felt like I rewatched entire episodes with just a little bit more information. This could have been condensed into a more streamlined format, and I suspect it was stretched out solely to fill an arbitrary eight-episode mandate.
2. The Acolyte is disconnected from larger Star Wars universe
I almost didn't include this one. Sometimes it's great to move away from the more mainstream Star Wars timelines and dive into the fringes. I'm a big fan of the High Republic period, which puts The Acolyte right in my sweet spot. And I've said it before: Star Wars is like a restaurant, and every show, movie, book, and game is an item on the menu. You don't have to like everything, but you're sure to enjoy something.
With that said, there wasn't enough development of the coven. How do the Jedi truly feel about rogue force users like that? I get that they're kind of a gray space—not light or dark—but how does that fit into the bigger universe? And, if they live in insular environments like this and don't typically have children, how do they maintain their numbers? Yes, these answers are available in the wider consumption of Star Wars media, but they weren't addressed at all in The Acolyte. And for some Star Wars fans, that might have been it.
3. There are some unbelievable characters
I know I said I loved Stenberg as Mae and Osha. She did outstanding, and I actually had to Google whether it was just her or if they were separate actresses. And Osha's character arc made sense; she was lied to as a child, then discovered her former master murdered her mom. Her transition to the Dark Side works (and that blue-to-red shift was pretty cool).
Mae is where I have my gripes. She abandoned the Stranger too easily. She just...gave up. Then her altruism in accepting the mind wipe? No way she would have agreed to that, and no way Osha would have let her agree to that.
And let's go back to that murder in the first place. Maybe it's because we get to know Master Sol before we truly meet the younger Jedi Knight Sol, but when he killed Mother Aniseya, that didn't make any sense. He murdered her to advance the plot, and not for any other reason.
Overall, I still think The Acolyte is worth watching. While it lacked focus and overall cohesion, the show has enough high points to make it worth the effort, if only for the better-than-expected lightsaber fights.