‘The Acolyte’ Episodes 1-2 Spoiler Discussion: Leslye Headland Competently Directs a Solid Start of the Season
With the first two episodes of The Acolyte now available on Disney Plus, it’s finally time to talk about them in detail. If you haven’t seen them yet, you’re welcome to check out my thoughts on the first half of the season here, where I broke down what worked for me and what didn’t, but without going into specifics. That’s what we’ll be doing today.
Spoilers ahead for The Acolyte, episodes 1-2
The elephant in the room, and what I’ll address first, is the fact that Amandla Stenberg plays two characters, Osha and Mae. The bulk of the marketing introduced Mae, while Osha appeared in a few spots and was finally acknowledged in some press junkets close to release. Because this had been hidden from the public for so long, we tried our best to keep it a secret too, and I tip-toed around the character when writing the non-spoiler review.
And this was hard, because it turns out that Osha may have more screen time in the show than Mae, who we barely see in the first episode aside from the opening. Mae has a lot of inner turmoil, and it’s equally hard for the audience to figure out what she wants as it is for her. She wants revenge against four Jedi, we’re told, but the why is the key here; the actual mystery of the show. (I won’t be revealing anything that happens in the next two episodes, of course.) Until we are told why, it’s hard to really get behind her cause — though Leslye Headland, who wrote and directed the first episode, does a solid job at planting the seeds that the Jedi Order may have some secrets of their own.
For that reason, I’m rooting for Mae more because her character progression means that the story moves forward rather than because she actually earned it as a character. At least not yet. And this is, of course, where the paradigm of doing episodic discussions of a long-running story comes into play. The Acolyte is a slow burn, so I’ll reserve final judgement on the character of Mae until the season ends.
My favorite part about Mae’s character so far, though, is her dynamics with Osha. Even if we haven’t seen the two of them together besides a Force Awakens-like vision in the first episode, there’s already a sense of history between the two, and the affection the two have for each other is palpable even from afar. I do feel, however, that the show so far could have benefitted from a larger Mae presence, relegating Osha to more of a supporting role. We may not have seen the High Republic in live-action, but we’ve seen enough forms of a Jedi storyline, or even former Jedi apprentices, for Osha’s arc to feel somewhat familiar (even if I have full faith that it will feel unique by the end of the season). We haven’t really seen much of someone like Mae as the undisputable lead character.
This is a complicated thought, though, because I really enjoyed Osha as a character. She’s instantly engaging, funny, and charismatic, and I enjoyed every second that she was on screen. She also brings the best out of Lee Jung-jae’s Master Sol, a seasoned and well-established Jedi Knight who sees his world crumbling around him as he tries to save his former Padawan. And speaking of great character interactions, I could watch an entire episode of Sol and Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson). Heck, I could listen to Lee Jung-jae saying “Master Vernestra” on a loop.
Another win for The Acolyte was how well it was able to differentiate between Mae and Osha. Beyond clothing and slightly different hairstyles, Amandla Stenberg channeled two polar-opposite characters and was able to make the transition from one scene as Mae into another scene as Osha completely seamless. Her portrayal of either character was also a big selling point of the show for me.
But not everything is firing on all cylinders with The Acolyte, though. I won’t comment much on the mystery set up in the first two episodes, as there is some development further down the line that I’ve already seen, but I will say this. The first two episodes didn’t do a great job of having me on the edge of my seat. By the end, I’m intrigued to find out what happened to Mae and Osha, yet I’m more intrigued to find out what happens now that each of them knows the other one is alive. The end result feels predictable and carries a dèja vu from other stories. Leslye Headland has talked about Rashōmon influences, and I can already foresee where things could be headed based on that.
In terms of characters, too, Charlie Barnett’s Yord Fandar is borderline unbearable. I understand what he represents (people who probably don’t deserve the position they hold) but that doesn’t make the experience of watching him any easier. Barnett’s sense of moral high ground when he enters Osha’s room was such a great introduction for a character who will, hopefully, embark on an arc of self-acknowledgment throughout the series.
Jury’s still out for me on how I feel about Manny Jacinto’s character, Qimir, but more than anything, he (as well as Yord Fandar and Jecki Lon, played by Dafne Keen) feels vastly underdeveloped. Once again, though, it’s too early to make a final call on these judgments, so let’s put a pin on this thought and revisit it by the time the season ends.
In terms of action, I was very satisfied with Mae vs. Sol at the end of the second episode, both because of the choreography involved, but mostly because of the emotional stakes behind it. Headland’s camera work was very good, and the writing by Jason Micallef and Charmaine DeGraté was on point. Possibly the best part of the episode was the final encounter between Osha and Mae, and I can’t wait to follow up on that.
Overall, I would say that the first two episodes of The Acolyte were solid enough to keep me interested in watching the third, yet do not carry the sense of urgency to do so as soon as possible. I’ll be coming back for the characters; by the time we finish the season, I hope I’m a lot more invested in the story.
We’ll be back next week with our thoughts on the third episode.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
