TL;DR – An explosive episode that had me audibly gasping multiple times.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Acolyte Review –

Well, one of the big problems that a show can have is setting up a fascinating Part 1 only to mess it up for Part 2. Oh, the lousy letdown, after waiting a week or even more, is such a letdown … looking at you, Doctor Who. But sometimes they nail the landing, and today, we get just that.

So, to set the scene, Mae (Amandla Stenberg) has arrived to hand herself into Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), only to find him already dead because her Master (not spoiling it here) has returned. This is when Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), Yord (Charlie Barnett), Jecki (Dafne Keen), Osha (Amandla Stenberg), and a bunch of other Jedi arrive. Things could not get any worse. Well, that is when the Sith arrives and blasts all the Jedi away. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

One big concern when I started watching this episode was the opening scene, in which Osha wakes up, and I thought that she was going to find out that the fight had already finished. It happens all the bloomin’ time. But call me pleasantly surprised when we see lightsabres clashing in the background and discover the battle is very much on. I think you needed this moment at the start to both ground us in the moment and give us a moment to breathe before literal carnage was brought forth.

Because when we get into the fight, we get into it hard. The action direction of this episode is fantastic, and you feel every moment. One of the exciting things about the show so far is how they have gone out of their way to spice up the action sequences by limiting the lightsabres and focusing more on the force powers. However, this week, the gloves come off, and the blades are out. Also, while revealing the most unsurprising thing of the season that Manny Jacinto is the big bad, but if you saw those arms, you already knew.

While we get some good old lightsabre v lightsabre smash arounds, we have never quite had something like this. The first thing was that the way that the Sith helmet short circuits the lightsabres shifted the fight in such interesting ways. It shows how much the Jedi go for the head and how shifting what the Jedi know completely undoes their training. Also, can I just take a moment to shout out Jecki, who believably kicks ass all episode. Her pulling out the dual sabres might be one of the coolest moments in Star Wars that I have ever seen, and this is in an episode where the bad guy impales a Jedi and then force-pulls another Jedi into the stab. People: cast Dafne Keen in your stuff!

We also get two of the biggest gasps I have ever given in a Star Wars project. I knew those Jedi were going to die, and Sol basically announced to the universe in Day that he was going to die. But the way they killed off (probably, we will see) Yord and Jecki was wild. As was the exchange where Sol lamented that she was a child, only to get the reply, “Well, you brought her”. However, for all the action brilliance and letting Manny Jacinto cut wild. I do think we have reached the point in the season where being obtuse with the central mysteries is not helpful. After such a strong start, that energy could not be continued, and the episode did not really have an answer for that. Also, while I loved the use of coloured light, the purples when the blue and red clashed, I am not a fan of this dull colour grade they put over everything.   

In the end, do we recommend The Acolyte – Night? Absolutely. I was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole time. It was explosive and caught me off guard multiple times, and I wish more of Star Wars took risks like this.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen The Acolyte yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Acolyte
Directed by – Alex Garcia Lopez
Written by – Cameron Squires & Kor Adana
Created by – Lesley Headland
Based On – Star Wars by George Lucas
Production/Distribution Companies – Lucasfilm, Shoot to Midnight, Disney Pictures & Disney+
Starring – Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-Jae, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Manny Jacinto, & Joonas Suotamo with Hassan Taj & Shanice Archer