REVIEW: The Acolyte – Season 1, Episode 4, “Day”

“We're not defined by what we lose; we're defined by what we survive. You've survived a lot.”

Television Reviews

***SPOILERS***

In “Day,” Osha says goodbye to Jecki. Mae and Qimir arrive on Khofar. Vernestra finds out who Mae has targeted and discusses it with several Jedi. Vernestra tells Sol and the others not to tell the Council. Sol enlists Osha to join the Jedi as they travel to Khofar, Kelnacca’s home and Mae’s next target. A tracker named Basil leads the party to Kelnacca. Osha asks Yord to deal with Mae if she can’t be turned. They lose sight of Basil as Mae turns on Qimir. However, Basil and Mae find each other. The Jedi follow the sound of Basil’s voice, and Mae approaches Kelnacca to surrender to him… but he’s already dead. Our heroes are approached by Mae’s Master and draw their sabers, but he Force-pushes them all back. 

This episode is strange. Episode 3 was bad and offensive to fans of the prequels and Anakin as a character, but this one is downright bizarre. For one thing, and this is probably my slightest complaint, the title makes no sense. “Lost/Found” and “Revenge/Justice” seemed to refer to the two sisters and their differing views of the situation. It’s obvious what “Destiny” means; the characters even talk about their destinies in the episode. But “Day” is incredibly vague and doesn’t seem relevant, at least not right now. The episode doesn’t even take place entirely during the day. Of course, the titles could be recontextualized later on; this show likes to recontextualize many things. But what initially seemed to be a stylistic choice, with dual titles for the two sisters, has become nonsensical from where we stand right now. 

Kelnacca isn’t a character at all, again, at least for right now. They showed him at the end of “Revenge/Justice” as if they were teasing his future appearances, and then he gets unceremoniously killed off-screen. I understand the shock value of Mae finding him already dead, but they clearly wanted people to anticipate this character. Kelnacca didn’t get any chance to shine either in “Destiny” or here before he got killed, evidently by Mae’s shadowy Master. I made note of some symbols Kelnacca had carved in his home, wondering what they meant. This is yet another detail that, as of yet, means nothing. Even if the ending of this season (which I predict will be its last) makes sense of everything, the journey will have been so unsatisfying it won’t matter. 

I’m starting to believe that Mae’s Master is Qimir. For one thing, Qimir’s dialogue is manipulative, leading Mae to particular conclusions. He says it doesn’t matter that Osha is alive and does what he can to rile her up against the Jedi. He looks unassuming, but what he says/does is more important than his appearance. The Master also got to Khofar and Kelnacca rather quickly; we know Qimir was already there. If this is the case, little lines of dialogue and glances would make sense, like how Qimir’s gaze lingers after Mae says “(the Master) did need (him).” Maybe the reason he’s so essential is because he is the Master. 

The scene with Vernestra, Sol, and the other Jedi is beyond words. For one thing, they brought in the wrong Jedi for “fanservice.” If you follow this show, you’ve probably already seen/heard the outcry that Ki-Adi-Mundi shouldn’t be alive at this time. Do you know who is definitely alive 100 years before the prequels? Yoda. However, Yoda is my favorite Star Wars character, and I guess I should count myself lucky that these goons didn’t find some way to ruin him. This is far from the biggest issue, but just like the rest of the show, it shows a blatant disregard for canon.

My main gripe with this sequence is that Vernestra tells a considerable group of Jedi about Mae’s vendetta and her list of victims and then tells Sol that the Council and the Senate can’t find out. This is her worrying about the Jedi’s “political enemies” again. Okay, fine, whatever. But why did you tell a room full of people if you don’t want it to get out? Ki-Adi-Mundi and his friend don’t join Sol on the mission; none of the people in this room do. Why give a bunch of Jedi this information that the Jedi Council mustn’t learn? Isn’t it possible, if not likely, that one of them will let it slip? They also mention in this scene that they believe a Jedi splinter group trained Mae. This could explain why the Jedi don’t know about the Sith 100 years later… until the end of the episode. “Day” contains the infamous shot from the trailers of the Jedi whipping out their lightsabers and charging at the shark teeth Sith Lord. No matter what, they know there’s at least one out there now. As I said earlier, this show bears a complete disregard for the existing canon. 

This episode is very poorly constructed from a technical standpoint; I almost can’t believe they released it in this state. There’s one very pretty shot of the mountains on Khofar, which is actually the first notably pleasant image I’ve noticed in the show. But aside from that, the dialogue is difficult to make out. Did Sol say Mae has always been Osha’s “wound”? I guess that makes sense if that is what he said, but it’s very awkward. This show is also inept at ending its episodes; they always feel incomplete, like one more scene is missing. “Day” is no exception, ending with the Jedi being Force-pushed to the ground. It doesn’t look or feel like an ending, even for one episode. I felt the same way about Kelnacca’s scene at the end of “Revenge/Justice” and Mae at the end of “Destiny.” I like the idea of showing how alone she is; in a good show, that would be powerful stuff that informs her present-day character and choices. But it was so abrupt and clumsy in execution that it was confusing. At the end of most of these episodes, I’m confused as to whether it’s over. That’s bad. The sound mixing could be better, too, particularly in the dialogue. 

“Destiny” is probably the most destructive episode of The Acolyte regarding Star Wars lore and canon, but “Day” is trying its best here. This is the worst episode in terms of story and presentation so far. Lore aside, this episode is nigh incomprehensible, hard to see, hear, and understand the choices of some characters. If Mae knows Osha is alive and wants to set aside her vendetta, why isn’t she conflicted about the people she has wrongfully killed? Why doesn’t she surrender anyway and tell them everything? This episode is just bad.