REVIEW: The Acolyte – Season 1, Episode 6, “Teach/Corrupt”

Television Reviews

***SPOILERS***

In “Teach/Corrupt,” Osha wakes up in a strange place. Sol tries to reach the Jedi and tell them what happened, unaware of the danger he’s in. Osha finds Qimir, and they chat about masters, apprentices, and her time with the Jedi. Master Vernestra learns of the skirmish on Khofar and heads there. The twins are each pulled to one another’s master’s side. Mae prompts Sol to tell her about what happened on Brendok. However, he ends up realizing she’s not Osha and stuns her. Vernestra and some Jedi arrive on Khofar and suspect Master Sol of the murders. Sol and Mae have a heart-to-heart as Osha tries on the Smilo Ren mask.

There’s a lot to talk about here, mostly bad. But I will start out with what I enjoyed in “Teach/Corrupt;” I have been pretty hard on this show as it’s gone on, but I strive to be fair, and I tried to go into the series as open-minded as I could be. Two things that are pretty good in this episode are the performances from Many Jacinto and Lee Jung-jae and some of the actual scenes with Jacinto and Amandla Stenberg’s Osha. Mae comes off as lame and stupid in “Teach/Corrupt,” and they’re clearly setting up Sol’s big failure or misdeed from sixteen years ago. But Lee Jung-jae continues to be a highlight, imbuing his character with a warmth and sincerity all of the others lack. He’s the only one with any real connection to any of the others and who has knowable goals. There’s a scene in “Teach/Corrupt” in which Sol grapples with his emotions about whatever happened sixteen years ago and what Qimir said to him in “Night.” This reminded me of a scene in Andor where Luthen Rael puts on his facade, going through the motions of being a careless art dealer. This isn’t quite that impressive, but it shows a similar passion for acting and the character Jung-jae is playing.

Manny Jacinto is too good for his role. He actually brings some of the intrigue that is otherwise missing in The Acolyte. I don’t think he’s the new Orson Welles or anything, but watching him play off of Osha is kind of funny. He’s an actual actor, and she behaves like a block of wood. I’m not totally convinced it’s all Amandla Stenberg’s fault because I imagine the direction on The Acolyte is less than perfect. In Qimir’s monologue about his time as a Jedi, you can see that spark in the performance. I believe him in a way I don’t believe Mae, Osha, or most of the cast. I also think the way Qimir goes about convincing Osha is very effective. Who wrote this scene, and where have they been for the whole show? I’m not saying this scene is amazing or anything, but it makes Qimir feel real, and it makes it feel like the show is about something. The Acolyte has been so bad so far that even a decent line of dialogue is shocking to behold.

“Teach/Corrupt” is better than the previous few episodes but somehow makes some of the previous episodes worse, or less logical. Remember when Sol and Osha allowed the bugs to carry Smilo Ren away last week? Tell me why, then, Sol tells Mae they must find Smilo, stop him, and save Osha? If Sol wanted to stop Qimir, why didn’t he stop him when he had the chance? Why allow him to escape if you want to kill him? And don’t say Sol believed the bugs would dispatch Smilo for him. It was silly enough for him to be temporarily disabled by big moths; we all knew they wouldn’t kill him. This show is so dumb it can’t remember the events of the episode directly preceding this one! And Sol never realizes Mae isn’t Osha, at least not until Basil, the beaver critter guy, tells him as much. This is ridiculous. Why can’t Sol, a seasoned Jedi Master, sense that this isn’t his former Padawan? By the way, why is Osha okay with trying to kill Qimir now when she wasn’t in “Night?” In that episode, he was armed and at least able to defend himself. In “Teach/Corrupt,” she creeps on the poor dude with a lightsaber while he showers. Can you imagine this scene with the roles reversed? The porn parody writes itself at this point. This is a nitpick, and an admittedly weird one, but it’s been bothering me. What is with all the shirtless/naked/compromised young men in this show? Leslye Headland is gay, and the Star Wars fandom is one of homophobic, straight white men, right? So, what’s with all the man candy? Who is this supposed to be appealing to? Yord’s topless scene early on was already weird, but this scene is just creepy.

I have another minor issue with this show’s naming conventions for the episode titles. Now, we’ve returned to the dual titles, usually being opposites or two different perspectives on the same thing. I initially thought this was cool, but it was dropped for episodes 3, 4, and 5. Instead of naming 4 “Day” and 5 “Night,” they could have called one episode “Day/Night.” As I said, I know this is really splitting hairs; there are very real problems with the worldbuilding, dialogue, acting, etc., in The Acolyte. But this does distract me. What’s the formula here? Are the titles supposed to relate to the duality of the twins, of the Sith and the Jedi? Does any of this mean anything? Am I having a stroke? I’m probably thinking about this a lot more than the writers did.

They’re trying hard to set up Sol’s confession. I really think they’re doing too much, and it’s taking away from the only aspect of this show I have enjoyed. Sol was the only one who ever felt like a Jedi, or a real person with feelings at all. Having him brood and hate himself like this is depressing and boring, and it’s not in line with his established character. I know The Acolyte doesn’t care about character consistency or anything else; really, but I do. We also have this bizarre interlude where Sol shuts off his comms and immediately yeets away from Khofar before Master Vernestra arrives. This whole aspect of the episode is wild to me. Sol is evidently afraid to see or speak to Vernestra, and Vern and her Padawan buddy seem to think Sol went crazy and killed all the Jedi. What is going on here? How did they come to this conclusion? Sol has no reason to do that. Vernestra also has a conversation with a senator early on to establish an investigation into the Jedi by the Republic. I’m just not interested in this part of the story. Vernestra is not likable, and we know almost nothing about her. I don’t like the idea of her worrying so much about what people think of the Jedi rather than just doing the right thing. I’m so tired of this show.

“Teach/Corrupt” is better than some of the other episodes of The Acolyte in isolation, but it’s bad for the show as a whole.