REVIEW: The Acolyte – Season One [2024]

Rating: TV-14 | Episodes: 8 | Runtime: 40 minutes
Release Date: June 4th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Lucasfilm / Disney+
Creator(s): Leslye Headland

Someday, those noble intentions you all have will destroy every Jedi in the galaxy.

It all comes back to the Skywalkers eventually. No matter how far into the past Disney goes or how disconnected they try to make us believe their latest chapter is, the lines will always find their way back to Anakin. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re able to create a cool new narrative thread in the process. This whole world stems from George Lucas’s Skywalker Saga and the powers that be continue to be cautious about severing that tie. Leslye Headland’s “The Acolyte” is a tentative step in that direction, though. Even if it’s all about Senator Rayencourt’s (David Harewood) prediction that a Jedi will one day implode and become their destroyer … just like little Annie Skywalker.

The fact that someone is willing to speak that truth is what makes Headland’s show compelling. Yes, the Jedi have been shown as fallible before. But never to the extent where the obvious allusion to copaganda can finally be dissected. Here’s a band of all-powerful patrolmen (Carrie-Anne Moss’s Master Indara, Lee Jung-jae’s Master Sol, Joonas Suotamo’s Master Kelnacca, and Dean-Charles Chapman’s padawan Torbin) who take “serve and protect” to the level of “my way or the highway” when out surveying a supposedly desolate planet. Theirs is a culture that demands the autonomy and authority to protect its own above those in need.

Because whatever happened on Brendok isn’t as simple as we’re led to believe at the start. It can’t be if people involved in the tragedy start dying sixteen years later via a purposeful assassination plot. Maybe young Mae (Leah Brady) did start a fire that obliterated everyone. Or maybe the Jedi were at fault due to their uninvited presence … or worse. The answer is what we hope to discover while following Sol and his former padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg) as they investigate the cause of a Jedi murder. The closer they get to discovering the culprit’s identity (and whomever might be pulling their strings), the closer we get to the truth.

The result is similar to the storyline we’re used to seeing in X-Men. Just like Magneto isn’t wrong about his desire to live out in the open, neither are the many Force factions outside of the Jedi’s purview. Whether that be those who train in secret while holding their emotions at the forefront of their powers (Sith) or witch covens like the one on Brendok led by Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith)—who gives the Jedi the right to say they shouldn’t exist? That they are a danger to society and safety? Couldn’t one argue that they are better suited to wield the Force due to their acceptance of their flaws? Flaws the Jedi points out in others but not themselves?

It should therefore be no surprise that the killing Sol and Osha are looking into seems to be the result of figures with their feet planted in those two worlds: a witch and a Sith (with the comedic relief of their black-market ally Qimir, played by Manny Jacinto). Motivations might stem from personal vendettas, but that doesn’t mean the dominoes falling to expose the Jedi as hypocrites and in need of oversight isn’t an important byproduct. Sure, these specific victims are being hunted with reason, but they will admit the wrongs they committed to earn that ire is a result of their institution rather than who they are themselves. The cloak makes them feel untouchable. It allows them a sense of superiority that brings a darkness all its own.

Because every rebel is the opposite side’s terrorist. And every terrorist is its own side’s rebel. We’ve spent half a century holding Jedis up as heroes because they fought back against the Empire’s fascism. It’s easy to appreciate Luke, Leia, and Han in that light because it’s colored as good vs. evil. Only now—somewhat surprisingly considering it’s coming out of Disney—have the lines blurred a bit. We suddenly see the bureaucracy and rigid laws of “good” that ultimately create “bad” in their inability to bend. (See Ahsoka’s frustration whenever Huyang follows Jedi protocol despite the Jedi Order being defunct.) Every “righteous” entity ultimately gives birth to its worst enemy through its own oppressive actions.

So, of course “The Acolyte” will eventually tie into the Skywalkers beyond the abstract with its teased introductions of familiar characters. We’re pretty much watching the birth of the Empire through the actions of the so-called Stranger (so much like Magneto that his helmet also stops telepaths from reading his thoughts). As well as the lengths the Jedi will go to cover their tracks, paving the way towards their own destruction via Anakin’s rebirth as Darth Vader and everything we know that happens afterwards. Finally, we get to play in the sandbox of the Dark Side—even if it’s not quite there yet. Because while we can agree with the sentiments that “All Jedi Are Bastards,” how the Stranger goes about proving it is undeniably evil. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Will his pupil see the difference?

I’m being vague with character names and relationships since Headland and company (highlighted by Kogonada directing both Brendok flashback episodes) do well to keep certain reveals hidden for suspense. I applaud this since so many shows do it for viral marketing instead. None of Headland’s secrets are secrets for long—they create a satisfying cliffhanger before integrating into the story so that identity isn’t shrouded to the point of hamstringing character growth. Add some really good performances from a great cast (I haven’t even mentioned Dafne Keen) and some of the best action sequences of any Star Wars show yet and it’s hard not to love the ambition of a big swing willing to open up the IP’s true potential.