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Posted in: Disney+, Review, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: amandla stenberg, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Lee Jung-Jae, Leslye Headland, Manny Jacinto, Review, star wars, Star Wars: The Acolyte, The Acolyte
The Acolyte Ep. 5 "Night" Review: Star Wars at Its Darkest and Finest
Lucasfilm's The Acolyte Ep. 5: "Night" is certainly the most action-packed and darkest Disney+ Star Wars series since Andor and Ahsoka.
The Acolyte went beyond what I thought was a crime drama set in a Star Wars setting on the latest episode "Night." In the previous episode, "Day," we discover Mae (Amandla Stenberg)is beginning to have second thoughts about her dark mission. As we pan to the other party, her twin sister Osha (Stenberg) is approached by someone who might be pulling the dark force pulling the strings in a mask like the ones donned by the Knights of Ren in the Skywalker Saga sequel trilogy. The conclusion of "Day" saw the mysterious figure effortlessly Force push our heroes away. The following contains spoilers.
The Acolyte Ventures Where So Few Star Wars Projects Go
To provide context into the malaise that lies ahead, one thing the Star Wars franchise has done has grown a bit stagnant in terms of narrative. The heroes, most times, always get away no matter what dangers lurk. In a life-or-death scenario, it becomes exceedingly predictable. Recap? There is only one major death in the live-action Ahsoka, and it's a villain character. The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett largely keeps its core intact. On all of Dave Filoni's animated Star Wars series, he only dared to kill two major protagonists in Rebels' Kanan Jarrus and The Bad Batch's Tech.
Even when George Lucas established A New Hope in 1977, there was a real sense of loss when Sir Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrificed himself so his comrades could escape the Death Star. While I'm not necessarily a fan of the Skywalker Saga prequels, many cite Revenge of the Sith (2005) as the best of the trilogy. When villains look competent and dominating, providing a real danger to the heroes, stories become the most compelling. It's also why so many gravitate to The Empire Strike Back (1980), and in the Disney era, Rogue One (2016), and the series Andor.
There's a ton of chaos going on in the episode directed by Alex Garcia Lopez and written by Kor Adana and Cameron Squires, "Night" is easily The Acolyte's best episode and most action-packed with tons of great choreography, unlike a good chunk of the sequences in the prequels, it does serve a purpose because characters are properly built up to care about them. As dark as RotS was, I didn't care about a lot of the deaths there because the bulk who died were characters who barely registered any screen time to invest.
Here, the build-up has been more than worth it. The presiding cast shined in Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, and Manny Jacinto. I may have a new favorite character in Star Wars now. Leslye Headland has done an amazing job with the setup and execution, pardon the pun, and makes the final three episodes much more exciting. The Acolyte streams on Tuesdays on Disney+.
The Acolyte Episode 5: "Night"
10/10
"Night," the fifth episode of Disney+ and Lucasfilm's The Acolyte, could have easily made for a compelling season finale cliffhanger, but we still have more to go. That's why we were surprised - in a good way - with a number of things that went down during this chapter. The entire cast knocks it out of the park with the fight choreoography and action. Once again, this was the kind of action we've been waiting for all season - and we still have three episodes left. And let's hear it for someone who could be the most charismatic Force-wielding Sith villain we've had in the Disney era.
Credits
Director
Alex Garcia Lopez
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