No writer/director would want to follow The Acolyte’s fifth episode, “Night” because no matter how good the following episode could be — there’s no way it could compete.
The Acolyte Episode 6,”Teach/Corrupt,” is, as predicted, a letdown. While it was interesting, it felt incomplete.
“Teach/Corrupt” confirms (to this writer) that The Acolyte should’ve been Disney+ movie, not a Disney+ series. If The Acolyte were a film, the filler can be cut down and everything would feel more cohesive as compared to the high highs and low lows of this series. A movie would also prevent the feeling of watching something where nothing happened — which is the feeling after watching Episode 6. This episode should’ve either been longer to provide an ending with more meaning or be combined with the next episode to give fans an episode where they can get results.
Yes, Osha (Amandla Stenberg) putting on Qimir’s (Manny Jacinto) helmet in the end is intriguing and something that’ll make Episode 7 exciting because viewers will see what happens next. However, Osha is a back-and-forth, in-between character who doesn’t truly know herself, and to be honest, viewers don’t know either. She’s the type of person who changes her personality to be similar to those around her. When she’s with Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and the Jedi, she’s impulsive yet ethical. When she’s with Mae (Amandla Stenberg), she’s holier than thou and disapproving. When she’s with Qimir, she’s a morally gray character.
No side of Osha sticks with her throughout the show, her change from a “good” person to someone closer to the dark side isn’t shocking or a twist of events. That makes the ending of “Teach/Corrupt” have no meaning or weight to make any viewer really react to her actions. It’s not a big moment like it could’ve been.
Something similar could be said about Mae being back and forth. All she wants at the show’s beginning is to kill the Jedi who came to Brendok when she was young — Sol included. Yet when she gets multiple opportunities to to complete her goal, she doesn’t do anything. Mae, when finding out Osha is alive, changes her mind to be reunited with her sister. But when that doesn’t work out and her anger for the Jedi returns, why not attack Sol? Isn’t that a reason why she pretended to be Osha, to get close and then strike?
With that as something that can’t quite be understood, there are two more parts of the episode to add to the list.
First up is Bazil (performed by Hassan Taj), the Tynnan tracker dealing with Mae by himself. There was a reason Episode 4 brought the armada of Jedi to arrest Mae, so why’d he think he could take her on by himself in an awkward leg hold? Bazil should’ve gone straight to Sol, and they take her on together because let’s be real, he didn’t do anything besides let Mae know her cover is blown.
The second is Mog Adana (Harry Trevaldwyn) accusing Sol of killing his Jedi team … because it must be impossible that it could’ve been Mae’s master training her in the force — just an impossible thought. This scene made no sense, especially since Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) didn’t put that speculation to rest. It’s obvious she knew it wasn’t Sol and it was Qimir.
Yet, once again, Qimir is the strongest aspect of an episode, just like “Night.” Learning more about his story and possibly having Vernestra be revealed as his Jedi master is a plot that needs to be dived more into. After all, who else could it be?
