‘The Acolyte’ Episode 7 Review: Take It Or Leave It
One more week! ‘The Acolyte’ has given entertainment circles on the internet oodles of content and controversies to discuss, for better, and for (a whole lot) worse. All that’s coming to an end, though, with the finale right around the corner.
Episode seven, set to serve as an “alley-oop” for the eighth episode’s proverbial slam dunk, decides against throwing a lob, and instead dribbles the ball out to the buzzer, likely leaving all watchers wanting more buzz before the final blow.
It’s a confusing step, if not an admittedly safe one. This episode picks up where the last set of flashbacks left off, in the childhood domain of our lead twin sisters, Osha and Mae. The Jedi clash with the band of witches who raised them, and by the end, an unarguably crucial plot point is revealed. The content itself is necessary, but dedicating an entire episode to the reveal is more than questionable.
A great deal of time here is spent away from those involved in the core plot, too. We listen in on quasi-deep conversations from characters whom we hardly know; how or why we’re meant to care about them is unknown, and so the result is just as ineffectual as the explanation. Intrigue is nonexistent.
One can’t help but wonder why much of the bedrock content here, the stuff we need to know, wasn’t included in an earlier episode. With as short as some of these entries have been, too, it couldn’t have had anything to do with time.
That would’ve gone a long way in solving a consistent pacing issue for the series, as well as continued the momentum from the previous two episodes, which was at an all-time high.
Instead, we’re going into the final stretch with very little extra to be excited about than we had last week. It has staggered the show’s energy, and heightened the hill that episode eight is going to have to climb to leave Star Wars fans satisfied when it’s all said and done. Not a technically bad episode, per say, but again, a truly odd decision in light of the last few weeks.
Even so, the show maintains a visual effort and aesthetic consistency that make the flashbacks feel adhered to the previous six episodes. Even if it still isn’t a stellar achievement in cinematography for anything, it certainly isn’t lacking in any such attempt. The camera moves, lighting changes (some), and environments vary. Nowadays, especially on Disney +, that’s about all we can ask for.
At this point, The Acolyte is what it is. We’ve seen ups, downs, and absolutely everything else in between. It seems difficult to imagine that next week could deliver anything all that astonishing, but then again, nobody expected the excellence that was episode five, so going in with an open mind regardless would be ideal.
No matter what, the show has proven positive in the way of caring about a story and fully committing to it, even at the behest of many fans and supporters. Storytelling needs risk, and no matter what goes down in the finale, The Acolyte has taken plenty of those. Some hits, some misses, but the team behind this thing should be commended for taking a few swings here and there either way. Aside from the ones that break and disregard canon, that is.
Next week will have the final say. Until then, we’ll be counting our blessings in the form of fun fight sequences and neat planet names that pop up in the bottom left corner of the screen. One. More. Week.