Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 1 and 2 Review – Entering The High Republic

It’s been a very tumultuous ride for Star Wars fans who follow the various Disney Plus shows that release. Some have been interesting and reinvigorated Star Wars, while others became a major downer for the entire franchise. But each Star Wars series has tried to show fans something different in one way or another, be it a new timeframe or perspective for a galaxy far, far away.

With Star Wars: The Acolyte, we’re introduced to a new era of the franchise never before seen in live action, while also being set around a hundred years before the events of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Does this put The Acolyte on the right track for its two episode premiere on Disney Plus? Unfortunately, the show may end up dividing the Star Wars fan base even further.

The Acolyte is set during the time of The High Republic, when the Jedi order is in a state of peace in the Star Wars galaxy. But while there isn’t a giant intergalactic civil war taking place, an assassin is taking out various Jedi masters to fulfill a hidden agenda, which may or may not be part of something more sinister. A young woman, and former Jedi padawan, named Osha is accused of the murder of a Jedi master named Indara. She is taken into custody by Jedi Knight Yord Fandar after working as a mechanic for six years away from the Jedi Order. But when Osha is stranded on a remote planet and reunites with her former teacher Master Sol, more attacks take place against Jedi that lead to a mystery which begins to grow into something more troublesome.

The first two episodes of The Acolyte introduce us to the High Republic era, but don’t really build out the state of the galaxy all too well. We’re shown that there are more Jedi in the galaxy than in previous Star Wars stories, but are hardly given time to take in the setting itself. A lot of the focus is on Osha and her twin sister Mae we’re introduced to early on, both played by Amandla Stenberg. The core of the series revolves around these sisters and their tragic backstory, with the murders of Jedi masters being the main problem that arises. Other characters like Master Sol, Yord Fandar, Jecki Lon, and others are more supplementary to the main plot of the twin sisters.

However, any sense of mystery that the show initially pitched is seemingly lost after the first episode. The twist about there being twin sisters involved, as well as another enemy lurking in the shadows, is revealed pretty fast to the audience. The only mystery string to pull us through the show is the identity of whom the main enemy is. Are they a Sith or something related to the dark side in some way? We see them at the end of episode 1 with a red lightsaber, but beyond that, the first two episodes don’t give enough info to make any educated guesses. Beyond that, most of what could have been stretched out through the show as part of the greater mystery is already basic knowledge within the first episode, so we’re left to just go with the flow and see how things go.

But the lack of mystery isn’t the bigger issues with The Acolyte as a show. A combination of poor writing and awkward dialogue exchanges between characters really dampen a lot of moments in each episode. Beyond that, we don’t have many reasons or incentive to really care about most of these brand-new characters, except for Osha and Mae. We have enough time in the first two episodes to get their backstory and possibly motivations, but we aren’t afforded the same amount with everyone else. Making it worse, a few decisions made by certain characters in both episodes will have you questioning their actions and how there are better solutions most of the time. The opening fight scene between Master Indara, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, and Mae comes to an end with a head-scratching climax that will make little sense to anyone who knows about Jedi abilities. It’s meant to be shocking to viewers, but might take them out of the show by questioning the legitimacy of how things occurred.

Some scenes with Master Sol, played by Lee Jung-Jae, talking with another character will be somewhat difficult to understand due to the ADR. Lee’s accent is very heavy and might make some of his lines unclear without the use of subtitles, but also struggle to have a good enough delivery within the context of a scene. In some moments it works out great, but in others it feels out of place enough that it may have required another take while filming. But Master Sol isn’t the only one that has moments like this, there are times when both Yord and Jacki Lon also have awkward exchanges with their line delivery.

Jacki Lon, played by Dafine Keen, can have a very stoic and monotone delivery that is not always consistent across different scenes. While Yord, played by Charlie Barnett, ends up feeling like some of his lines are forced with overdelivery for no reason.

What the show does often get right is the music and set design. Most locations are detailed and have a lot more details than previous Star Wars Disney Plus shows. The wider environments and open areas make the story feel greater, which could be a result of the show not using The Volume stage to film most of it.

But the music in the background of the action also sounds like a galaxy far, far away has sounded for a long time. Musical cues that echo some of the films and other shows, while not being exact, are great for setting the overall tone that matches to how we know Star Wars can sound like. When the action picks up, we hear those familiar instruments playing notes we’ve heard back in the original trilogy, and in the quieter moments the right pacing of notes keeps things consistent in this galaxy. For all the faults with The Acolyte in the first two episodes, it still gets how the atmosphere of Star Wars should feel.

The fight scenes and action-packed moments in both episode 1 and 2 are far and few. There are lightsabers ignited, but are hardly used in the way we know them. A lot of the fighting is limited to being hand-to-hand combat that lightly uses the force, more specifically from a few Jedi wielding it. The opening to the first episode has Mae battling Master Indara in a great fight scene that is reminiscent of kung-fu films, but is brought to a halt with a very questionable ending that some viewers may not like. Another fight in episode 2 is done similarly, but is interrupted mid-battle. Hopefully, as the series goes on, we might actually get to see the High Republic Jedi actually fight in a way that we’ve seen other Jedi of later years after igniting a lightsaber.

Were the first two episodes enticing enough to keep viewers coming back each week for the rest of The Acolyte? There is an intriguing aspect to the show that also comes along with its fair share of problems. Luckily, The Acolyte doesn’t fall into many of the bad setbacks that other Disney Plus shows found themselves in, like The Book of Boba Fett or season 3 of The Mandalorian. The High Republic era as the setting will be something for Star Wars fans who have read any of the High Republic books, but we’ve yet to see enough good things about this era in the show to make viewers want to stay in this time. Hopefully, the story between Osha and Mae, as well as details of the dark side figure, will continue to unfold into something interesting over the course of the series’ eight episodes. Otherwise, we’ll have another mediocre Star Wars show on our hands.

The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes released weekly each Tuesday.