Every series has that one episode that stands out. One episode that makes every other episode seem dull, even if they are also top tier. ‘Night’ is that episode for The Acolyte.
Every scene in The Acolyte Episode 5, ‘Night’ is filled with heart-pounding moments that’ll make viewers want more.
The only critique this episode could be in the beginning, where it chooses to resume the storyline from “Day.” To show just how powerful Mae’s (Amandla Stenberg, The Hunger Games) master is and give fans more lightsaber fights (because of course there can never be too many) would’ve been to show him take on the entire Jedi squad. Instead, it opens with most of them dead, leaving only the main Jedi the show’s been following to fight him.
While seeing people get slaughtered isn’t ideal, what’s ideal is to see how powerful Qimir (Manny Jacinto, The Good Place) is. It might take some budget to film, but this would’ve further built up his reveal and showed Sol’s (Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game) darker side possibly taking over in their fight, after the death of his fellow Jedi.
With the series making Sol a complicated character, and one of the most liked characters among fans, the show also makes it easy to root for the Qimir. The mystery, strength, and arguments he makes open the door to side with the dark side. Now that it’s confirmed he’s a Sith, that’s just another reason to want to see how things turn out with him. If Qimir gets defeated, who’s really going to keep the show going? Now that it’s known who Mae’s master is, the plot only thickens.
Another aspect that can make fans go against the Jedi is in Episode 3. “Destiny” shows how the witches wanted peace and the Jedi were the ones to be more forceful than previously shown. This begs the question, what side should fans be on? Yes, peace across the galaxy is what every movie fights for, but isn’t chaos a little more fun?
The Acolyte Episode 5, ‘Night’ beautifully plays out multiple fights showcasing Qimir’s power and the Jedi’s resilience. While it was predictable at least one of the main Jedi would die, it was a shock to see two killed. This made the episode all the more thrilling, proving how powerful a single episode can be in a series. Killing off the prominent side characters reveals that the show’s creators aren’t afraid to follow what is necessary for the plot, fueling the characters that have the show’s true focus — not a plot that just keeps people in every episode.
None of these fights felt rushed or skipped over, and the in-between moments made viewers appreciate the fights even more.
This episode also made it easier to like Osha (also Stenberg). In previous episodes, she could be seen as a flat character in comparison to her sister Mae. But in ‘Night,’ she spares Qimir’s life because there’s no way anyone thought her plan would actually work — Sol’s lightsaber would’ve been the way to go. This leads to the ending, where she is left with Qimir, which will hopefully be a plot that’ll either enhance Osha’s character dynamic with her seeing some reason with him, or it’ll destroy Qimir’s character. Having Osha join forces with a Sith wouldn’t make sense, but it would make for an interesting twist.
Another strong aspect of ‘Night’ — besides every scene with Qimir — is when Mae and Osha finally reunite and find where one another stands on how things played on Brendok. While their stance was known and figured out easily to viewers, it appears Mae and Osha hoped their other half saw things their way. In the first half of the season, Mae is the feisty round character and now that it appears Osha will be with Qimir all next episode, let’s hope she becomes like Mae, in more than just her looks.
This episode set the stage for the level of how events should unfold and be told for the remainder of the season. This episode shows Disney can create an episode that destroys all other episodes and possibly some full seasons of different Star Wars shows, so they should choose to always create content this way.
