Spoilers

Star Wars returns to Disney+ with the two-episode premiere of The Acolyte. Set some one hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte marks the live-action debut of the High Republic era and comes to us from showrunner Leslye Headland. We’ve had quite a long wait for this show as it was revealed back in 2020 and the promotional material for the show did leave me wanting after so much build-up. So, did the premiere succeed in catching my attention or leave me wanting?

The Acolyte, so far at least, is off to a solid start. What works in the shows favour is the general mystery that binds the plot together. A masked assassin is hunting and killing Jedi, sending the Order into something of a panic. The Jedi haven’t known conflict or war in some time, as the galaxy has been at peace for generations and to suddenly have their friends and peers be assassinated definitely has them rattled. Thankfully, they have a suspect. Enter Osha, a mechanic currently working for the Trade Federation. Osha was a Padawan but ultimately decided to leave the Order six years earlier. After the death of Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss, for all of five minutes), a witness identifies Osha as the killer. But, and I called this on Film & Spirits, Osha has a long-presumed dead twin, Mae, who is the real culprit.

So the show begins to ask questions to the audience, such as why is Mae killing these very specific Jedi and why did Osha leave the Jedi Order? Perhaps most intriguing thus far is who the mysterious Sith is giving Mae orders; is this the master or the apprentice? Considering Darth Plageuis is probably alive in this time period, I’m willing to guess that this is his apprentice and that he’ll be killed, forcing Plageuis to seek a new apprentice (one far younger and more powerful). The whole mystery of the Sith, why he’s involved and using Mae as an assassin, forcing her to undertake almost ritualistic killings (one without weapons for example), I’m very curious to see where this thread goes and the show has a lot of questions that need answering and a refreshing sense of mystery for the franchise.

The characters do seem interesting, especially Jedi Master Sol, who gives off major Qui-Gon vibes and I’m all there for it. He’s warm and wise, yet a capable warrior nonetheless. He’s the most interesting in that he seems like such a paragon, but also is on Mae’s hitlist so he and the Jedi in question have some sort of checkered or even dark past. Sol’s current padawan Jecki is also entertaining to watch, but I’m not so sure about Yord, a very by-the-book Jedi Knight. His character is the most logical, but something about his performance feels off, as if he’s in a play or a fan film as opposed to television.

The kung-fu-inspired fight scenes are also pretty neat and there’s an in-universe explanation for why we’re getting hand-to-hand combat. Is it a little weird seeing Wushu in a galaxy far, far away? A bit, but we’re in a different era of Star Wars and the choreography is well done and entertaining and it makes sense that the Jedi would be proficient in hand-to-hand combat in an era where they’re not getting into lightsaber fights every other day.

While the mystery is interesting, there are some inconsistencies with the writing. When Osha, a suspected Jedi killer is arrested, the Jedi opt not to accompany their prisoner, believing her to be secure, but then a bunch of non-Force users are able to quickly escape regardless. While imprisoned, Osha states to her fellow inmates that she believes in the Jedi, yet opts to run from them once marooned on an icy planet after the prison transport ship crashes. Then in the second episode, Osha opts to examine a dead Jedi on her own after giving her escort the slip, which I don’t understand why she’d think that’s a good idea considering the suspicion around her and her sister. Then there’s the bizarre coincidence that Osha and Mae have almost the same hairstyle, despite being separated for sixteen years, it comes across as “we did this so the twin reveal wouldn’t be obvious”. There’s moments like these that just seem too manufactured.

The Acolyte thankfully doesn’t seem to be using the Volume for the production and the sets, for the most part, look great. I did get reminded every now and again that this was a TV show though, in that the sets often felt like corridors in some way shape or form designed for a soundstage. Costumes are hit or miss, while they have a distinct style, they also don’t feel lived in, almost too pristine and fabricated and a certain Jedi Master’s beard is laughably fake, which took me out of his scenes a bit. The score by Michael Abels sadly didn’t leave any impression on me, I couldn’t tell you what the score sounded like right now. I think the biggest issue the show has aesthetically is that apart from Jedi robes being different, there’s not much here to distinguish the High Republic era on screen from the prequel era. Heck, even the Trade Federation is around (thankfully, with no stereotypical Asian voices this time).

The Acolyte is off to a decent start though. I sound like I’m being overly harsh on it, but I am curious about the mystery and I like the tone the show has established. I hope the writing does improve though, as some moments felt highly sloppy or manufactured for the sake of getting from point A to B as easily and quickly as possible. So for context, I liked this premiere more than the premieres for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boba Fett, and Mandalorian season three, but not as much as Andor or Ahsoka.

Oh just an update, I’ll be on vacation next week and won’t be watching episode 3, so there won’t be a review after that one airs, but I’ll be sure to watch and review it as soon as I’m back, which will be before episode 4 airs.