The Acolyte

⭐ 8/10

This score is probably inflated because of all the trash TV the Star Wars universe has pumped out, but I enjoyed this show!  I thought it started slow, but I was intrigued with the direction it took.  Mainly, they are giving us something new!  We aren't retreading the same story they have told 100 times.  This one is about a pair of twins with magical origins and their journies with the force.  It does a great job being critical with the Jedi order, and most importantly I think it has a great villain!  He is scary and powerful and has a point of view you can empathize with.

The acting is a bit stiff at times, but I thought the lead who plays two parts was good, genuinely playing two different characters.  I thought the Squid Game guy was solid, but why not let him speak in his native tongue?  This is a massive universe with characters that speak tons of fake languages. I thought the middle episodes were the best here, pretty dark and exciting with excellent action scenes.  Really hooked me at this point of the series.

Another complaint would be the disjointed episodes.  Its hard to explain, but I feel like every time a scene would end it was almost surprising, picking weird moments to cut to the next scene.  Even the end of episodes, the credits rolling always felt so abrupt.  There are two episodes that basically go through the same events but from different points of view.  Its an interesting storytelling choice that works at times but felt redundant at others. Aside from that I thought it was well done, and the finale did not do what I expected it to.

I think the lasting memory this show will have is the unique and exciting lightsaber fights, and the compelling villain.  Kind of key parts of these Star Wars or even Marvel shows/movies but often the things that are the worst. I wasn't distracted by CGI or feeling like Star Wars fanboys have poisoned the writer's room into vomiting out fan service. I love that they are doing something new here, and I hope to see more of it.  After Andor, which is perfect, and some earlier Mandalorian, this is the best Star Wars show easily. Kind of the promise of the whole Star Wars on TV thing, new stories in new parts of the galaxy with new points of view.  Give me more!