TV Review: Although Fun, ‘The Acolyte’ Episode 7 Makes No Sense
by Frank Martin
Since the moment The Acolyte started there have been hints of a greater mystery going on. They were not subtle, but instead telegraphed to the audience with a promise that all will be revealed later on. However, the story hasn’t done a great job of building up the major characters and their plot. The mystery shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone now that it’s been revealed in this week’s episode. The answer provides some more context, but also highlights the haphazardly written story and the ways in which it plays fast and loose with Star Wars lore.
Similar to episode three, this week’s installment flashes back to when Osha (Lauren Brady) and Mae (Leah Brady) were children. Instead of continuing the story from their perspective, though, it reveals what transpired on Brendok 16 years ago from the Jedi’s point of view. Sol (Lee Jung-jae) feels an immediate connection with Osha and wants to train her, but Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) wants to proceed with caution — especially since the Council wants to leave the children alone. He eventually confronts the witches, who are hostile to him wanting to take Osha despite Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) willingness to let the girl to go. Unfortunately, Sol kills Mother Aniseya when he feels threatened, thus sparking a series of events that culminate in catastrophe.
It’s clear this episode needed to orchestrate events to transpire a certain way, just like episode three did, but it doesn’t make the story any less contrived. Seeing Mae inadvertently start a fire that burns down her home is extremely lazy writing. Plus, there are tons of ways in which this conflict could have been settled easily. Characters act wildly disproportionate to their intentions and the program creates drama just for the sake of propelling the plot. That’s not to say the episode isn’t fun. It still has Force users facing off against one another and a mind-controlled Jedi Wookie fighting against his allies, but that fun is up against a story that makes little to no sense.
The Acolyte streams Tuesdays on Disney+.
