The Acolyte Episode 8 Review: Underdeveloped Garbage Writing, What Could Have Been

The Acolyte has released its final episode, which unfortunately proves just how bad the series is under showrunner Leslye Headland.

Episode 8 has some cool moments, great action, and answers to some questions, but, similar to the majority of the series, the writing comes off as awful.

It’s a shame, too, because there was a decent story there, but it went underdeveloped.

If you think about it, all you need to watch are episodes 1, 2, 5, and 8. As I stated in my previous reviews, they could have strung the backstory throughout those episodes instead of wasting it on two whole episodes.

So that leaves four additional episodes where they could have better developed what went down in tonight’s episode.

Leslye Headland made the mistake of leaving things on the table, teasing elements that fans love in only one episode—the final episode—without a second season being greenlit.

Instead, she should have woven those elements throughout the entire season. She needed to give her all in the first season, not save cool elements that fans will likely never see for the last episode.

It probably should also be questioned how many of those cool elements were actually originally a part of the series?

Or did the original version suck so much that they were added in last-minute reshoots to please the fans? That would explain why those elements weren’t present in the previous episodes and why the earlier episodes were all drawn out and boring as fuck.

Note: Spoilers follow.

What I didn’t like about the episode were the developments with Mae, the writing surrounding the Sol vs. Qimir fight, and the Rocket Raccoon wannabe.

What I did like was what was teased at the end of the episode, but again, it all feels underdeveloped.

I don’t like how Mae starts off the series as a complete badass but then changes her mind and thinks it’s okay if she tells the Jedi about whatever it is about Qimir (we still don’t know).

I don’t like how Qimir mind-wiped Mae. Why didn’t Mae just go with Qimir and Osha? They didn’t explain well enough why Mae didn’t want to stay with Qimir. If the argument is that Mae fails Qimir, then why wouldn’t Qimir still want Mae, especially since Osha had the Force Vision that showed Mae killing Sol? Qimir even mentions that Mae can kill without a weapon, so it’s unclear why he wouldn’t want her on his side. Additionally, they didn’t explain well enough why Qimir wants to find Mae. He agrees to go with Osha—was it to stop Mae from killing Sol so that Osha could do it instead and become his Padawan (that would’ve been cool)? They don’t even hint at such a thing.

Or how about the apparent relationship between Osha and Qimir? They show their fingers touching, implying they have feelings for each other, but there was no onscreen chemistry that hinted at that. So, a full frontal scene makes you fall in love? What?! What was hinted at was that Osha and Jecki had feelings for one another, which Dafne Keen even mentioned in an interview. Maybe Osha is bi? Guess so.

Regarding why Mae acts the way she does, I’ve seen more than one fan suggest that Osha and Mae switch places. But why? There’s zero explanation for this. Is it because one has to be on the Light Side and the other on the Dark Side? So if one moves away from one side, the other moves to the opposite? Again, there are no hints or explanations, and it doesn’t even seem like Headland knows what the fuck is going on.

Master Sol is a disappointment. He started off as the best character of the series, but quickly becomes a big bitch. More crying bullshit.

They needed to handle the ‘Sol killed your mother’ revelation better. It would have been more impactful if they had kept that from the audience and revealed it later, making it the show’s equivalent of ‘Luke, I am your father.’ Maybe that’s why they didn’t do it?

The fight scene between Sol and Qimir was pretty good. I appreciate that The Acolyte avoided the acrobatic flips from the prequels. However, I didn’t like the slow-motion Crouching Tiger/Matrix-style effects. It looked fake as fuck, like they were on strings. And why didn’t Qimir just headbutt Sol’s lightsaber?

I also didn’t like that Osha was able to take away a lightsaber from a Master Jedi. There’s just no fucking way. Osha hasn’t trained in what? Years? I just can’t see it (we assume Mae trained with Qimir). Or how about Sol’s lightsaber breaking when it hits the ground? WTF? While it was cool to see Osha change Sol’s lightsaber from blue to red, the writing should have been much better. And something cool: So Osha is using the lightsaber that killed her mother!!!

I also didn’t like the Rocket Raccoon wannabe stopping Sol from shooting down Mae. Why?

Here’s why: It’s because they couldn’t think of a better way to get Mae to the planet and separate her from Sol. The writing is simply horrible.

What’s cool is what’s going on with Darth Plagueis, Vernestra, and David Harewood’s character.

This is what I was alluding to above: imagine if these characters had been more developed throughout the season or at least hinted at. It could have been fucking epic.

Instead, because the series is garbage and 75% or more of Star Wars fans aren’t watching, Season 2 is unlikely to happen. If they do decide to make a Season 2, they should hire a new showrunner—someone who knows how to tell a fucking story.

The Yoda cameo was also cool, but it was pure fan service (did Yoda look really old in a series set 100 years before the prequels?!). Having Yoda and Darth Plaguis (again, likely added at the last minute?!) doesn’t make up for an entirely shitty series. It’s like going to your favorite restaurant, getting served a pile of shit, and then they serve you some ice cream—does the ice cream make up for the pile of shit? No fucking way. Bozo Redditors are already falling for it. You got shortchanged, motherfuckers!

Vernestra stating, “While this is a terrible tragedy, it was the work of one flawed man,” is also hilarious.

The Acolyte Episode 8 is too little too late. It’s full of some cool moments, some fan service, but it’s far from making up for the awful story progression, character development and writing from previous episodes. At a cost of $200 million, I hope Bob Iger gets an audit done ASAP. The episode gets a 4/10 rating. The entire episode and series is also more “Jedi are bad” bullshit. Why can’t Disney give us the Jedi we all want?