An even longer time ago in a galaxy far, far away… this was the setting of the latest “Star Wars” series. “The Acolyte" was set around a century before the events of the films.
The series was set in the High Republic era, a time when the Jedi were at their height and the Sith in hiding. Though there have been media exploring this time such as books and comics, “The Acolyte” was the first instance of it in live-action.
In the series, Jedi worked to track down a mysterious Jedi killer with the dark side of the Force. The series was created by Leslye Headland and starred Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, and Manny Jacinto.
Highs
The show delivered a high production value with sets and costumes that looked just as good as the movies and impressive fight choreography, especially for the frequent lightsaber fights. The entire show leaned into the spectacle of the “Star Wars” galaxy while exploring the lore of “Star Wars,” including references to the prequel trilogy and content outside of the movies.
On top of the spectacle, the show was generally entertaining with a capable cast and intriguing ideas. Though the series was flawed, it was well enough made that with better writing it would have been a great “Star Wars” series.
The series was also the most diverse “Star Wars” has ever been. Given the misogynistic and racist backlash previous projects have received, it was good to see the franchise not cater to bigotry. It even had some queer representation with a coven of lesbian witches.
Lows
Disney has had a questionable track record for queer representation. Most commonly queerness in Disney projects has been relegated to subtlety with coding, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments, and stereotypes. The few instances of explicit, quality representation have often been done dirty, such as the popular cartoon about a bisexual witch “The Owl House” having been canceled.
Now “The Acolyte” did have a coven of lesbian witches, though they weren’t allowed to be too explicitly sapphic (no kissing, no calling each other wives, no “I have two moms”). Though it wasn’t particularly bad representation and subtlety can work, it showed that subtlety is still all Disney is willing to offer its LGBTQ+ fans.
Along with somewhat lacking queer representation, the show's depth was severely lacking. Character motivations were often unclear, leading to a confusing and disappointing finale, plot holes, and a nonsensical plot. The mystery also yielded disappointing answers.
And while the show attempted to interrogate the lore, its attempts at complexity and nuance could be summed up by Disney popstar icon Hannah Montana, “everyone makes mistakes.” All the attempts at questioning the Jedi and Republic fell flat when the show couldn’t commit to showing its critiques or letting characters be thoughtful about their moral ambiguity.
Verdict
“The Acolyte” was all spectacle without offering anything of value to the table. Cool lightsaber fights were not enough when the characters wielding the sabers were uninteresting. Though it had potential, the show needed characters who were far more developed, complex, and gayer in order to work.
The entire first season of “The Acolyte” is currently available to stream on Disney+.
Rating: 4 out of 10
