The Acolyte is an Emotionally Immature Nightmare

[@lotuschamp7796]

the guy murdered several of her friends and she's like drooling on herself trying to figure out what is good and what is evil

[@agzane268]

more like she's drooling over the guy who literally just murdered her friends and stepfather

[@DarkJediHunter117]

Not to mention Osha completely forgave her sister after trying to murder her and the other Jedi because...reasons...?

[@sageoz9886]

@@agzane268 it’s totally okay to kill people though if you weren’t going to get to hook up and scissor with them according to the superior moral standards of former long time personal assistant to Harvey Weinstein, Leslie Headland. Glad I saw this series or I’d still have the outdated notion that life was a precious thing to respect: that every human values their own life and it should be valued by others, you know that whole good and bad thing. Didn’t realize that the mean fascist Jedi were just oppressing the nice Sith that just want to be themselves and just, like, y’know kill who they want, when they want

[@zorokicksass60]

"seduced by the dark side" taken literal gone wrong

[@Paradox-es3bl]

He also did that like YESTERDAY in the story, and now because she saw him naked, she's in love and they watch the sunset together. Harvey Weinstein's secretary made a show that says, "He's not evil, he just wants FREEDOM. The freedom to do whatever tf he wants, including murder. And he gets the girl in the end!" Sickening in context. Hell, I tried defending things for a while, kind of... and being like, "Idk if she knew anything man. She only worked for him for a year? And I'm not convinced the show deserves all the hate it's getting PRE-release just because of that. Was the trailer GOOD?" But nah. The show came out and it deserves worse hate than it got lol. I mean, not any death threats... attack the show's quality and maybe question the sanity of the SHOWRUNNER and Kathleen Kennedy for approving it and everybody who let it come out like this... but no death threats.

[@GuiltlessGear]

"Emotionally immature" might be the most succinct way of pinning down just what was wrong with The Acolyte.

[@SkittleBombs]

It’s so accurate, but it triggers us to become emotional with how starwars is being abused. And our emotions don’t count unfortunately

[@namenloss730]

there's also "shallow and pedantic"

[@ab-gail]

💯💯💯

[@HoodedSpidey]

Don’t forget morally perverse

[@nulnoh219]

A whole generation grew up emotionally stunted cuz of all the constant validations, consolation prizes, and overprotection.

[@RunKnitCoffee]

In the defense of the holiday special… it was only about $1 million (equivalent) dollars vs … 180 million for the Acolyte

[@connorwaples6467]

And at least the holiday special is funny bad. The Acolyte is just depressing in how bad it is.

[@emanymton713]

It was also the seventies and lots of drugs were involved in the writing room. 😂

[@fionarras4736]

@emanymtin713 I still believe there was badly laced cocaine in the writer's room for the Acolyte. How could anyone with a sane mind say about that script and the power of many scene that this would be seen as good?

[@RunKnitCoffee]

@@fionarras4736 not a bad theory. Though delusion is also a powerful drug. Maybe both? Who knows.

[@weridoamongweirdos6783]

Converted to today's value, the holiday special costs around 4-5 million. About 4,800,000 specifically.

[@gabbycotto4024]

According to Leslie, Sol deserves death for being presumptive/paternalistic with Osha, but Anissa gets a pass for pushing witchery on her over protests, Horn-Mom never has it acknowledged she physically abused Mae & started a fight with the Jedi unilaterally, and Mae herself never has to admit or get called out on being creepy/possessive towards her own sister, to the point of wanting to murder her before letting her have a life and identity beyond just being “Mae’s pushover twin”.

[@epiczk0n141]

I think the whole “I will kill you” bit from Mae is so stupid and I can’t be convinced that it makes sense. I have a brother and we fought all the time growing up, never once have I had any inclination that I should kill him because he doesn’t think like me. Like seriously only a sociopath would write this shit and think it’s logical 😂

[@winterFox2r]

Heh. “Benign Patriarchy”. Oh how deep of a hole she keeps digging herself into. She makes up words and misuse them for the betterment of not even herself, but of delusions and repression. What she needs is a mental health care professional, but I’m afraid she might cause the professional to un!alive him or herself from the massive boulder of delusion Little Miss Headcase is packing.

[@Cityweaver]

@@epiczk0n141 Its sad how Leslie was going for a "Zuko and Azula" or "Vi and Jinx" vibe, except she literally starts Mae off with Force-choking a *butterfly* and threatening to murder Osha for leaving her. How juvenile is your writing that Princess "I'll burn a doll I don't like" Azula feels more subtly written than you?

[@ThatRandomEncounterGuy]

Right there. You hit the nail on the head right there: the series never once even pretends like Mae’s extremely selfish and possessive behavior is anything but wanting to keep their “family” together, the witches are described as a literal *cult* and yet it’s the JEDI who are shown to be these creepy, evil monsters, and Osha immediately kills her mentor and father figure just because a “hot” guy told her to (all without ever cracking an expression, but let’s go by how the script presents this and assume the acting is a separate, isolated complaint). And, as you said, to really hammer home that the witches are pure evil (encouraging Mae to keep her twin sister isolated, gaslighting her into becoming a witch without her consent or input, Mae blaming Osha for murdering their family for the crime of wanting to have independence or individuality of any kind and immediately assuming the Jedi are evil without proof or cause and deserve death and abuse without a second of hesitation), Horn Mom [I’m not gonna bother looking up her name, I don’t care] forces Mae to tap into the Dark Side to try and kill everyone. Even if, even IF this story was better written and going off the idea of “the Jedi did a terrible thing by killing off a group of peaceful space witches”, they managed to make the Jedi look more sensible and cannibalize their own retconned lore within itself. This series has such a toxic view on morality that I’m actually floored they were even able to make it to 8 episodes, and literally no amount of gaslighting or shaming or temper tantrums is going to get this project a season 2. Even if they did: a) who’s gonna bother watching when they scared off or insulted the fans, and b) Leslie Headland and Amandla Stenberg have been pretty thoroughly branded box office poison and toxic to the point of corrosive, so nobody would touch anything with them with a yard stick and a fullbody radiation suit.

[@hellomamacat]

​@@epiczk0n141when she said I will kill you I immediately thought that was sociopathic

[@oisinm332]

At least the CW people I'd imagine knew what they were making & didn't think they were making anything other than what it was.

[@ThatSockmonkey]

@@oisinm332 which was fun. But it also wasn't star wars. It's not unreasonable for people to expect consistency in their folk stories.

[@oisinm332]

@@ThatSockmonkey Exactly 💯

[@theclown3967]

Fun fact: The CW never turned a profit. They literally spent $2 for every $1 they made.

[@kregy7509]

You just made me remember the Batwoman show. That was atleast just hilarious to watch how bad it was. Well, the early season. After that it lost the unintentional hilarity.

[@oisinm332]

@kregy7509 I apologise. Nobody should remember that train wreck.

[@lasercraft32]

I dunno, if someone said "everyone is sacrificed to fulfill their destiny" when there's a giant ominous pit involved, yeah I would assume they mean some kind of blood sacrifice. In general, the witches give off CONSTANT red flags, and somehow we're supposed to sympathize with them.

[@horvathsogranfume658]

if you are an abusive, misandrist, maybe it would make sense?

[@kreigguardsman3355]

That was always my biggest issue it seems like I’m supposed to sympathize with them. But I know so little about them and what I’m shown seems to indicate they are dark and controlling. I know the Jedi so I’m going to side with them

[@blue-vr8dd]

​@horvathsogranfume658 it's not even entirely misandrist. because the lead Jedi of that group was a woman. I know all the others are men, so maybe the misandry is just towards Sol and that other kid for rushing in to "save" the kids? can't even get their own twisted message right because part of it contradicts what they're trying to say anyway. I guess it's just white people, so it's racist instead? but then the light whip lady is green so... I cba with all the politics, I just focus on the story being shite.

[@beestingza]

Yeah that scene when the lesbian witch-mother turns into a smoke dragon-thing made me laugh. How else was Sol supposed to react?

[@alexmuenster2102]

>>I dunno, if someone said

[@beekeeper8474]

So by this shows logic is Hitler was just a misunderstood vegetarian.

[@polishscribe674]

With Germany playing the leading role in the progressive world, that is not totally out of the question.

[@horvathsogranfume658]

yes, but hitler would have to be a woman #girlboss

[@drawing_person9221]

Fun fact, he actually was a vegetarian, a absolutely disgusting and horrible person but still a vegetarian

[@JacksonVoet]

@@polishscribe674 I don’t know, Germany despises Nazis, and will never let anyone deny the Holocaust. They willingly atone. Also, they invented Bratwurst, one of the few things I could eat growing up, so I can’t stay too mad.

[@polishscribe674]

@@JacksonVoet but Germany tends to rewrite history to deny their responsibility. "No, it wasn't the Germans who committed all these atrocities. It were nazis, a small fanatic group." Or better, blame coutries THEY OCCUPIED for doing all these things. They unironically say things like "polish death camps" and do other things to make it seem like this genocide wasn't a systematic operation carried out by the German state.

[@What_do_I_Think]

This show just mirrors the maturity of its creators.

[@Xbalanque84]

Cluster-Bs gonna Cluster-B.

[@beestingza]

As does the Disney trilogy. What a catastrophic monstrosity of feminism.

[@jasonalen7459]

@@beestingza Whatever they are has long perverted feminism the way they pervert the Star Wars franchise

[@zemufinman1639]

31:33 Reminds me of some people that all have certain beliefs

[@What_do_I_Think]

@@zemufinman1639 If this is a political statement, just be a little more clear about it, since it could come from both sides the same (if correct or not). I know the path to the dark side in real life -- do you?

[@SquallLionhart409]

Even the opening fight scene breaks the writing. Mae's largest issue with the Jedi is that she believes they harm and kill innocents. She kills a Jedi by attacking an innocent. This hypocrisy is never acknowledged by the characters in the story, the story itself, or even any of the interviews. Imagine if Mae instead only attacked Indara, and when someone is in danger, both of them leave themselves vulnerable to save them, then both look over at the other in surprise. Imagine if they took the base ideas of the story and were competent.

[@hoos3014]

Mae's issue is with these specific four Jedi whom she believes killed her family.

[@SquallLionhart409]

@@hoos3014 Eh, seemed she disliked the Jedi in general for the specific actions of those 4 Jedi that she blamed for killing her "innocent" cult. Her hit list was definitely those 4, but her dialogue indicated that she believed them to be representative of the Jedi overall. That she was fighting someone she claims/believes actively kills innocents and her response is to take any amount of attention off of her to attack an innocent is character breaking. That Indara dies from such a simple misdirection is stupid, but more importantly should shake Mae's belief and conviction but instead does nothing. That the supposed murderer Indara died to save a rando should raise questions.

[@fd502]

@@hoos3014Well even if she thought specific Jedi were bad that was who she was fighting. Yet she never acts surprised that Jedi Master Matrix is diverted by an attack on a bystander.

[@hoos3014]

@@fd502 I don't get what you're saying. Mae uses diversion and trickery to defeat Indara because she knows she cannot beat her in a straight one on one fight.

[@contentsdiffer5958]

@@hoos3014 It's not complex. Mae accuses a Jedi of killing the unarmed and innocent, yet she throws a weapon at an innocent as a means to distract and kill that Jedi. Her accusation seemed heartfelt. Why did she then partially disarm herself on a bet like that? If she had been right about the Jedi, all she'd have accomplished would have been a dead bystander and giving her opponent an advantage. Additionally, she always believed that "The Jedi are bad!" to quote her, word by word. Well before she ever encountered them, no less. She was raised with that belief.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

The “pitch meeting“ nailed it. “Couldn’t they have cleared up the misunderstanding with one sentence?“ “Yes, but… Without misunderstandings, there wouldn’t even be a show.”

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

It's not even that... Misunderstanding is there to make them easily redeemable. Imagine if osha actually kills their mom and mei mei actually kills innocents

[@NateJones10]

Couple more observations to add to your excellent analysis: 1) How does a lightsaber whip leave whip marks and not just hack a person into bits? 2) How could any of these Jedi with such emotional instability and attachment to things go on to become Jedi Masters? Like what happened from Torbin being so homesick he rushes off and becomes easily manipulated by the witches, to where he is in such shame and guilt over it all he is in a powerful, force meditation done only by masters and waiting to die. In the sixteen years between, how did he possibly become a Jedi Master? Its like the time never passed. No one thought out where any of these characters went or what they did in that sixteen years. 3) When Mae is captured by Sol, the droid only opens one side of her bindings and then immediately she gets free without unlocking the other one. Her hand is locked down in one seen and then just free in the next. There is many moments in the show like this, with poor shot by shot errors and inconsistencies that show no one was paying attention to details.

[@HamannGeorg]

Because the writers are lazy. They don't take Star Wars seriously. Also as you mentioned Torbin: i find this to be so incredibly irresponsible. This is a scene about manipulating someone into suicide. A topic very sensible. And how do they go about it? Well if you fell guilty, just kill yourself it is ok. No one says anything about first seeking help. And in the end they even try to justify the deed of Mae, and that includes using someones guilt to push him over the edge. Lucky the characters and the deliverance is so bad, it is more comical than tragic and so maybe nobody will get any ideas, but if something like this would happen I think Disney should be held accountable for this really irresponsible handling of such a serious topic.

[@darkdwarf007]

Regarding the first point, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume he barely evaded the whip with the tip scarring his back. For the rest, however, I have nothing

[@KororaPenguin]

And I was reminded of this show by the following passage from Mark Twain's essay "Fenimore Cooper's Further Literary Offenses": "For instance [Cooper] allowed that astute and cautious person, Deerslayer-Hawkeye, to throw his rifle heedlessly down and leave it lying on the ground where some hostile lndians would presently be sure to find it-a rifle prized by that person above all things else in the earth-and the reader gets no word of explanation of that strange act. There was a reason, but it wouldn’t bear exposure. Cooper meant to get a fine dramatic effect out of the finding of the rifle by the Indians, and he accomplished this at the happy time; but all the same, Hawkeye could have hidden the rifle in a quarter of a minute where the Indians could not have found it. "Cooper couldn’t think of any way to explain why Hawkeye didn’t do that, so he just shirked the difficulty and did not explain at all."

[@SlurryMadA]

Well, to your first question, she is so dedicated to the whip that she keeps an actual whip handy just in case

[@wdf70]

This wasn't a star wars script at first, but was shoehorned into one.

[@rafaelcastro2591]

I mean...one thing is the fictional story of star wars, but having REAL LIFE PEOPLE not understand good and evil and actually saying that evil is "cooler" is real concerning 😐😐😐

[@jaieregilmore971]

Yeah it feels like they looking at things as surface level and ignoring the consequences of evil.

[@jantonisito]

They are not real life people. They are zombies from Hollywood lala land.

[@rafaelcastro2591]

@@jaieregilmore971 I would understand if they said something like "the DESIGN of evil characters is cool" (because lets face it: Siths usually look way cooler than the Jedis), but for them to say that they like evil and they feel represented by it is really bad 😂 its like saying someone like Hitler or Fidel Castro represents you. I feel wokeism doesnt understand good or bad, they just understand that they can do whatever they want without consecuences and without laws.

[@jaieregilmore971]

@@rafaelcastro2591 I would argue Luke in return of the Jedi proves that Jedi can wear cool clothing but yeah I agree too bad they don’t realize that the Sith are just a bunch of edgy teenagers who will never be satisfied once they have what they want and while the Jedi are the responsible adults.

[@KororaPenguin]

​@@rafaelcastro2591 And I'm using the character of Wilhuff Tarkin in a comparison on the deceptiveness of appearances. The little-known early-Sixties fantasy character Brak the Barbarian (whom I only know about from a collection of vintage sci-fi and fantasy magazines) looks the part of a barbarian warrior, but is a gentleman through and through, and has an actual moral compass and is very much a civilized warrior. Tarkin, meanwhile, looks the part of a civilized warrior, but fits Chesterton's definition of "the true savage" as someone who "laughs when he hurts you, and howls when you hurt him", irrespective of race, ethnicity, or relative technological or cultural sophistication.

[@DiscountCassian]

The only star wars that did well with moral ambiguity was Andor. But that's because it wasn't dark side and light side it was just people and their upbringing

[@pancakes8670]

Andor was also still capable of having villains, but the villains more so took the form of an institution. The Empire itself is presented as cruel and Fascist, breaking morally ambiguous characters that you can sometimes even root for. Grinding people up for it's own purposes. It's possible to do moral complexity while having good guys and bad guys, something more people need to learn.

[@DiscountCassian]

@@pancakes8670 the way they masterfully get us to root for dedra Meero before revealing how evil she actually is was such a great display of character writing. And I think the writing of Syril is greatly underappreciated. We have a guy who yeah works for the empire but when you consider his upbringing it's totally understandable that he would see the empire as a good thing. From his perspective it's justice and safety and the rebellion is not. He doesn't follow the empire because he's evil he follows it because as far as he's aware the empire are the good guys.

[@Sinhesthysia]

Yeah I think this is why I and other people are getting kind of tired of seeing Jedi in star wars stuff. You can only tell a black and white morality-centered story so many times before it either gets stale or tries to become too complex for it's own good.

[@DiscountCassian]

@@Sinhesthysia 100%. And when telling a story about the Jedi and sith that's morally complex it's very difficult because of the nature of both parties. And unfortunately in the case of the acolyte we see witches doing objectively bad things and being labelled the victims and Jedi reacting understandably labelled as the bad guys. It just falls flat on its face.

[@kevincarter2020]

The thumbnail captured the 0.001% of the actress wasn't using a blank stare

[@magma_fire_bagwan]

Yeah lol

[@lunaitor-uq9hz]

Bro probably had to spent an entire day looking for a non-blank expression for the thumbnail

[@lasercraft32]

It just SCREAMS how twisted the writer's/director's moral standards are.

[@Astr0iceDrag0n]

That's Hollywood for ya'

[@descansaKnight]

thats actually scary to think about

[@nf5011]

straight from the mind of Harvey Weinstein´s personal assistant...

[@kreigguardsman3355]

@@nf5011which seems like a massive red flag

[@Keirnoth]

@@kreigguardsman3355 That's an understatement, my friend.

[@nyanchat2657]

what did you expect from the assistant of THAT man? blurring the lines between light and dark is on brand, as is being terrible

[@viscountrainbows2857]

I'd say that Disney and most of Hollywood in general is on the dark side but radiating canned light as a ruse. It may have fooled people before, but we now see the shoddily taped on LEDs beginning to peel away at an embarrassing pace.

[@ADragon-gi9mr]

OK but she isn't him. Just an awful show person

[@epiczk0n141]

@@ADragon-gi9mrBirds of a feather flock together 😂

[@ADragon-gi9mr]

@@epiczk0n141 so you have all the worst things in common with everyone you're near? 😂

[@epiczk0n141]

@@ADragon-gi9mr Probably lol

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

This show is a glimpse into the thought processes of a sociopath.

[@Agent_86_]

It was terrible fan fiction told badly. And it deserves every ounce of derision it gets.

[@horvathsogranfume658]

they paid her 180 mil for the fan fiction 😂

[@Sf_solarflare]

@@horvathsogranfume658 my fanfiction is unironically better (especially emotionally)

[@shawnkuhn4753]

The biggest mystery of this show is how Torbin went from a crappy apprentice to a Master in 6 years. The flashback is 16 years and he's in the Barash Vow meditation for 10 of those. No way he went from apprentice to Master in 6 years.

[@jasonalen7459]

It's ironic that they made one of the like two named white male characters in the show and inadvertently made him *the* most overpowered Jedi in all of existence

[@fionarras4736]

In their world victimhood is power. He was mindravaged and from that pain they let him have that power knowing he will off himself via white guilt... Toxic little bunch aren't they?

[@capadociaash8003]

@@jasonalen7459his only rival is Rey in that regard, she went from nothing to super master even quicker

[@DirtDobberYT]

@@jasonalen7459 You're right XD Disney messed up

[@acat6145]

Some people are going to use the argument that it is not that unusual because Obi wan jumped relatively quick from padawan to knight then knight to master while ignoring the fact that he killed a sith while Torbin has no known feats

[@hblaub]

Correction: It was "the power of one, the power of two, the power of LENNY" - it clearly meant Lenny Leonard from The Simpsons, of course.

[@Noqtis]

And than they have the nerve to say that witch chants in general are cringe when Heilung exists... I kinda hate when Americans do witches. It's like they have this caricature of a witch and don't go even searching for good inspirational material... Tf even were those abominations in the series. Black witches don't really work anyways. I'm sorry it's European folklore, I don't see witches i see shamans because that's what witches were to european people. Just the female druids aka healers and leaders. It's like doing a white shaman without the DEI implication but it just feels as weird

[@sixter4157]

I thought it was the "power of Penny" from The Big Bang Theory.

[@Noqtis]

Our russian friends can fix this shit: The power of blyat, The power of pisdez, The power of cykaaaaa

[@MrJacksspleen]

"Lenny" from "Laverne and Shirley" is more powerful.

[@voodoo5143]

Correction of correction: it was drunk Arthur Morgan wanting to find Lenny

[@MasterSkywalker91]

Any Star Wars project that demonizes the Jedi and makes the Sith look sympathetic is not Star Wars at all.

[@robynsun_love]

In the grander scope of Star Wars, I view The Acolyte as an _exercise_ in sympathy for the Sith, rather than a total retcon of everything that came before. Protagonists need not always be heroes. It is possible to _empathize_ with someone (see and relate to their perspective) without having to _sympathize_ with their cause. The series paints a clear picture of how the Jedi Order necessarily divorced itself from its ideals (that is, if its ideals were even healthy or sustainable to begin with) in having to function as an institution; leaving in their wake a moral vacuum that the Sith are clearly unable to fill. Leslye Headland has made clear she views the dark side more in terms of Jung’s shadow than as the consummate evil it is elsewhere unambiguously depicted as - the character of The Stranger embodied this when he said “I’ve embraced my darkness - what have you done with yours?” This series does not condemn the Jedi as worse than the Sith, but rather makes the case that the Jedi are constitutionally unable to _refute_ the Sith. I reject the framing of the light side as temperance and the dark side as indulgence, and it seems Headland may as well. In positioning themselves as a reaction to and negation of the Jedi Order and Jedi code, the Sith fail to _transcend_ the Jedi, to grow beyond the Jedi, to think outside the box that the Jedi created for themselves. The Stranger himself unwittingly implied this in saying “I don’t make the rules; the Jedi do.” Whatever could better replace the Jedi Order (and thus obsolesce the Sith) has yet to appear in canon, though in my mind its representation/depiction is a loose thread that Star Wars would be immeasurably better off if it were to mend. To quote Luke Skywalker, “to say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity.”

[@millli-hq4oo]

I cannot stress how much I agree with you

[@yannicreicher6811]

​@@robynsun_loveStating that the Dark Side isn't indulgence is actively ignorant of the lore. The Dark Side always begins as selfishness, which necessitates self indulgence. Even the Acolyte drunkenly stumbled into that truth.

[@MasterSkywalker91]

@@robynsun_love I disagree and you sound like one of those Grey Jedi proponents.

[@Cityweaver]

@@robynsun_love Leslie making up her own definition of The Dark Side of the Force after 40 years of dozens of writers expanding on it doesn't make her viewpoint valid. This isn't real life. This is a fictional world and the Dark Side IS, by definition, the Will of the Force overwhelming a person's ability to function in normal human society, by preying on their emotions and motivations. You can't just circle jerk a new definition. Besides that, the Jedi are the designated heroes of this story because their job is to keep order and peace in the Republic. That cannot be taken away from them and ANY story that would look to demonize them for doing their JOB is inherently against the whole functional purpose of the story. We are not illiterate. We appreciate a good story with a morally grey protagonist. One who doesn't even like Jedi or the Republic. Heir to the Empire, Thrawn. The Mandalorian. Andor. Boba Fett. We aren't stupid. We know what villain protagonists and heroic antagonists are. This show wasn't trying to write a heroic antagonist. It was trying to demonize the Jedi. By making a story about Force witches we are supposed to sympathize with, by insisting they are oppressed, and then immediately saying the Jedi Order and Trinity's character were perfectly willing to let them raise their daughters and it was "one lone wolf" who was so scared of them that he pushed to take them away. That is not systematic oppression. That is literally the narrative of the people who don't WANT to do the hard work of addressing racism or oppression in institutions. "We weren't the problem, that was one bad apple and we dealt with him, so stop protesting." Not all cops, indeed. And you can't circle jerk that away with quotes from Jung or talk of transcending.

[@robmclean4352]

0:15 At least Carrie Fisher was drunk when she did this; what excuse does "The Acolyte" have...?

[@edwardthompson3377]

To add insult to injury, Vernestra Rwoh is a character from the High Republic novels. They've kind of pulled a Jake Skywalker with her, as her personality and motives don't really match what we know about her. They got all the superficial details right: The species and gender, the purple lightwhip, the discomfort with hyperspace (due to visions), and she was a prodigy, so her being a Master makes a lot of sense. She even kept secrets for no adequately explained reasons! (Listen, she's not a great character. I don't care for her in any iteration. But a lot of High Republic fans do like her, so changing her to fit this script is still disrespectful.) But she was also empathetic and didn't process politics very well. She's very hands-on. And it would take a **lot** to make her slash someone in the back. Can't think of a reason right now. Plus her story in the High Republic novels is still being written, so jumping ahead about a century is a wild choice. As an aside, the Stranger's cover name was Qimir, which sounds like an off-brand Organization XII (Kingdom Hearts) scramble of Imri, the name of Vernestra's padawan in the novels. There are many reasons why it probably isn't Imri (Imri is a bit oafish looking, blonde, and a very sweet person, and a human who would be over a hundred at this point), but this show is pretty nonsensically written. I wouldn't be surprised if that was meant as a season two reveal.

[@dancingdragon3]

I love Vern in the books. It feels almost mean spirited to use her like this and basically ruin/spoil her whole plot line for us book readers.

[@jaieregilmore971]

Honestly this show is bad introduction to high republic Jedi I’m not the fan of the era but I get the concept of it but the point is people was marketing this era as the Jedi at their best but in this show they don’t act like Jedi at all they feel like children playing with lightsabers. Also unpopular opinion I prefer the prequel Jedi over the high republic Jedi.

[@dancingdragon3]

@@jaieregilmore971 the Jedi in this show are nothing like the High Republic Jedi in the books. They are a little more relaxed about certain things, like turning a blind eye to padawans exploring brief romances, but they are highly moral, hard working, and professional.

[@jaieregilmore971]

@@dancingdragon3 I take your word for it no matter the flaws they have I’m still on team Jedi there ideals isn’t wrong. This show made the Jedi fools it just so baffling that they get easily killed off like that by qimir people use the explanation that they haven’t fought anybody with lightsaber before but it just seems like a bad excuse. Not really a fan of the hight republic era but there is one character I like/interested in is Porter Engle at least his younger self in the Blade comic down to his design and his lightsaber is slick looking.

[@tylerbensdad]

Using the same logic, just imagine how it frustrates fans when they try to destroy everyone from Luke to Yoda. And they try to destroy George Lucas and accuse him of being a woman hater etc. It's shameful and they want everyone to accept it blindly.

[@Onesoul71]

Horrible series, great analysis.

[@grayearly3116]

This show was an admitted self insert fanfiction for the author. Food for thought

[@whade62000]

The misunderstanding between gray and black-and-white morality and the hyping up of "gray" Jedi had been so common that it really should be nailed on every new SW writer's door. Also, fence sitting is a common fallacy irl too, people thinking they're better for compromising when there's clearly a good and a bad option.

[@sageoz9886]

The Ewok movies were Shakespeare compared to The Acolyte

[@KororaPenguin]

So was the kriffing _Glove of Darth Vader_ arc.

[@a_fine_edition2746]

Genuinely. They are actively better written than this show as well as more enjoyable.

[@streetman23]

@@KororaPenguinomg you just unlocked a core memory. I remember reading those books in middle school and being like, uh, ok 😅

[@KororaPenguin]

@@streetman23 And comparing anything favorably to _The Acolyte_ is damning with faint praise.

[@DirtDobberYT]

Honestly you are so right. The Ewok movies make me smile. This show makes me grimace.

[@mechanwhal6590]

“JOHN, YOU ARE THE ACOLYTE!” And then John was the Acolyte.

[@kevincarter2020]

If man say him a ting then him a ting innit

[@Xbalanque84]

Where's a cyberdemon to fire the rocket missiles when you need him?

[@JanJansen985]

I dont think theres enough old people watching this video to get that joke Good joke I lol'd

[@omgwtfrofltomato]

as a complete outsider to star wars and this series, the cheapening of vader via the "vergence" (or w/e) is what stands out to me. the disrespect and lack of creative effort has really become a western thing in my mind.

[@epiczk0n141]

What’s crazy about this response, which to be clear I LOVE your comment, is that there are “fans” out there who probably consume even less Star Wars than you do, who will confidently assert that you’re a bigot with a passionate hatred for the franchise for this position. The discourse around Star Wars is so broken thanks to this show

[@themastter8]

Well it just triples down on shitting on Star Wars. Not only does the skywalker family’s struggles and successes mean nothing since “Rey ahcktually defeated the emperor.” this shit makes them not even special to begin with. Disney managed to make everything pointless

[@TheeOK1]

​@@epiczk0n141 *thanks to Kathleen Kennedy. I was never the staunchest fan of the Star wars franchise, but all of this discourse started with the disney trilogy. Op hits the nail on the head with the vader thing tho. I dont understand why the helmet for every sith is becoming a thing when it was just for vader, a man who was figuratively and literally transformed by his pride and anger. There's symbolism there but the idea of sith never felt like it was just becoming an Evil "version" of yourself. Yet here we are with people whom barely understand the IP

[@teamtundra2619]

@@epiczk0n141not really

[@teamtundra2619]

I don’t think so

[@t3tsuyaguy1]

It does strain credulity that the council , having already ruled that Osha is too old to train, would change their minds, give that now she has massive emotional trauma, centered on the very attachments that concerned them in the first place.

[@Cityweaver]

Zoom out to what's supposed to be the criticism of the Jedi in this story, its weaksauce criticism to say that the Jedi are actually a condescending and oppressive arm of the Republic that stamps out any use of the Force that isn't authorized by their dogma... and then clearly show the Jedi Council perfectly willing to allow Mae and Osha to be trained by Force Witches, to then only adopt them after their mothers have died, and then to let Osha GO when she chooses to quit. LOL... So oppressive.

[@apeist]

I just found this channel and I gotta say, it's refreshing to find someone who actually understands the nuts and bolts of storytelling take this show to task. So much of the commentary around this show is either shallow and vapid or toxic and hateful, with both approaches involving little to no analysis of why the story and characters fail on a fundamental level. Anyways, thank you for the great breakdown - looking forward to more from this channel!

[@robofistsrevenge3288]

The Star Wars Holiday Special was a campy, self-aware, 1970s parody variety show filled with B-list celebrity cameos and musical numbers. In retrospect, it's a hilarious good time, never taking itself too seriously. It's _leagues_ more enjoyable than this show. Not even a contest.

[@cattrucker8257]

I think you got it down well. Holiday Special was an almost playful late 70s thing, almost tongue in cheek, weird and cheap but funny for precisely those reasons, and almost cute in how it played with existing characters. It was almost like a psychedelic comedy skit for the occasion of a holiday season, and it sure as all hell didn't try to pretend it was the next entry in Star Wars, it was a funny side episode that existed to cash in on holidays. Acolyte, on the other hand, takes itself dead seriously and sincerely thinks it's redefining Star Wars in a better way. In a way, both Holiday Special and Acolyte are products of their times... it's just that times didn't change for the better in media, the simple fun is gone and pretense is in.

[@sjmcc13]

It was also a rushed project, this was years in development.

[@dlxmarks]

I watched it a few weeks ago and I'm certain many cast members were super high during taping. Definitely Carrie Fisher and Mark Hammill looks like he's tripping balls too.

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

I myself would like to know what he means by “Ewok movie-level bad”. Does he mean ROTJ, and if so, why? I know it’s generally considered the weakest of the Original Trilogy films, but it’s still better than this, right? And what’s with all the hatred for Ewoks anyway? I thought that was already on its way out once people decided that they hated Jar-Jar Binks more.

[@sjmcc13]

@@eeyorehaferbock7870 there were some made for TV ewok movies back I the 80's. They were low quality.

[@berserkasaurusrex4233]

A cult with questionable motives toward children is invaded by the authorities, and a mysterious fire breaks out killing everyone.... I wonder if the creators of this show even realize they made a Star Wars show about Waco?

[@jond7972]

The perfect review. This show should not have been bad. Plain and simple.

[@TheRealBlackarrot]

That $180 million would've better been spent on therapy sessions for Leslie

[@sjmcc13]

I am genuinely curious if they is a cost break down out there somewhere.

[@Ben-m9n7p]

​@@sjmcc13 I'd like to see that, especially since the official figure for the acolytes budget stands at 230 million dollars. My theory is that the show was set up either for embezzlement or money laundering purposes

[@adrianwheeler1936]

Great example of how to critique without being a bully.

[@mjoberg6695]

Screaming this from the rooftops. Thank you for this video! What this show got wrong (among so many other things) is the Jedi aren't *against* rage or fear or guilt or any emotions. They don't want people to become blank robots. They just don't want people (with power) ruled by those things. They teach tolerance and balance. The Jedi are stewards first and foremost even for people who hate them because they know better than to amplify hate. Emotions are powerful and lend the dark side strength, but running 'hot' all the time is volatile, exhausting and impulsive which is DANGEROUS when you are tasked with literally taking care of a diverse universe of unique souls. To say to people: "actually feeling all these things all the time, letting them rule you and you should succumb to them" leads to narcissism, myopia and selfish decisions something the Jedi are against for the sake of unity, balance and progress.

[@mjoberg6695]

Again, you're allowed to feel and be angry and confused and fallible (we all are) but true Jedi know to rise above their own wants and desires. It's stoicism, basically.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

At least the Holiday Special has some camp value to it. It makes a good double feature with the Paul Lynde Halloween Special

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

It is a great bonus movie for a bad movie night

[@Habu12]

Not to mention the animated portion with Boba Fett, which has long been considered the jewel in that show.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

@ajourneythroughcinema1271 there's just something special about 1970s variety shows I've always enjoyed. It's fun to see which character actors will show up

[@suezcontours6653]

@@ajourneythroughcinema1271 One thing I love about this series is the PROMOTION of black women and Asian men together. I live in South Africa and we are very much Kpop and KDrama stans. We have had a surge in Asian men moving here and it's a delight that we can find common ground to start dates with.

[@jesserebelo3583]

Throw the Kiss movie in there for s triple

[@remo7034]

The best way to tell him I'm letting her go with him is to suddenly turn myself into a scary smoke creature.

[@LordFlaggy]

Disney has tried very hard to make the Prequel Trilogy look as good as humanly possible

[@jimbeaux89]

I swear it feels like they’re purposely destroying Star Wars and mocking while doing so

[@horvathsogranfume658]

disney is a culture vulture

[@JanJansen985]

No star wars is just caught in the crossfire of this culture war

[@kstephenson5857]

This is some really solid analysis. I especially appreciate you calling The Acolyte what it was: soap opera targeted to a young female audience. When you look at the show like that, you realize that the show isn't actually all that terrible on delivering a soapy, strung-out storyline where heartthrobs are more valuable than storytelling. But if we look at The Acolyte as a soap opera, it sadly still fails in two important ways. 1) It didn't advertise itself as a soap opera. All the articles and press junkets attempted to paint The Acolyte as an elevation or continuation of the pre-existing Star Wars universe - not as a fun, stupid soap. It was supposed to be dealing with the dark side; seduction; the failure of the jedi theology - all themes that were pitched as mature and grown-up to a SW fanbase that is ~85% comprised of 20's-40's males. And in the end, the show is the exact opposite, which pissed off that largely male fanbase who was interested in a darker, Sith-oriented storyline. But I 100% believe that if Lucasfilm and the Leslye Headland had actually been honest in what their show was and who it was for, then so much of the online rancor would never have occurred. Heck, this cottage industry of YT video essays would never have picked up on it. It would have just been a mediocre show with a small, but devoted fanbase. Well, if it weren't for one other flaw. 2) There is no consistent morality to this world. The Jedi attempt to act as peacekeepers, but are punished within the narrative for their 'insolence' - even though the Jedi did not try to fight the coven, nor do they start the fire. Sol is faulted for not being open and intimate with Osha, yet his closeness to her is also condemned as being creepy or overbearing. Smilo Ren is evil for massacring Osha's friends, but Osha immediately sees him as worth pitying/loving just because he was hurt by his master once. For some reason, the Jedi see their interactions with the witch coven as wrong and worthy of shame/obfuscation, even though they did nothing wrong. Characters' moralities seem to flip-flop on a dime, and yet are only ever punished for their noble intentions - not for their objectively evil actions. In the end, The Acolyte seems concerned about labelling the _characters themselves_ as "evil" or "good," regardless of the morality of each character's _actions._ It makes every single character seem like a complete hypocritical idiot, and leaves the viewer utterly bewildered on who they should be rooting for.

[@claudius3359]

Very much agreed.

[@OmegaZyion]

The lightsaber fights are honestly the worst in the franchise. Most of the fight is obscured to hide how bad it is. Actors swinging at nothing to make it look like something is happening. Lightsabers are swung at each other rather than trying to hit their opponent. Kicking instead of using a lightsaber to attack openings. It's no better than the first time two kids pretend to be Jedi by swinging sticks at each other.

[@millli-hq4oo]

I've seen children that duel better than the "jedi" in the acolyte

[@TheeOK1]

Degredation of standards. The disney trilogy at least tried

[@hoos3014]

Stop the 🧢

[@MylesKillis]

That’s all fights except Hayden’s fights

[@lemmonsinmyeyes]

I could never explain why CW stuff felt like for younger folks, but it always did. ‘Emotionally Immature’ is the PERFECT phrase to explain it. Fantastic analysis bro

[@ButUrWrongTho]

Imagine when you were young, somebody telling you that someday in the future Star Wars movies will be made by people who say they would choose a red light saber because the dark side is "cooler".

[@BaneofGods]

Headland confirmed in an interview that evil smoke mom was doing a double kill on herself and mae with the evil smoke monster thing-"turning herself and mae into the force 'without dying'", when 'become one with the force' was literally used in this series as a euphemism for death, with Jecki being strangely pleased about it (talking about that bug that was cut in half). So not only was Sol understandable in his snap second decision to strike the smoke demon, he was objectively right in doing so...though given both twins are evil, maybe he should have let them die. one final knife twist about Mae in the final episode-not only is the memory wipe thing extremely stupid (and others have pointed out that it's lazy plot convenience that would still leave her with her memory of trying to kill her sister and the thing on brendok), Venestra decides to unilaterally have Mae's crimes forgiven and ignored because Mae claims she doesn't remember doing them...after Venestra decided to pin the blame on everything for Sol, no matter how stupid that is given how many different iron alibis he has for most of the killings, and the stupid beaver thing having been there the entire time and having seen everything

[@nickdriscoll6131]

The smoke demon thug was utterly baffling to me. I couldn’t figure out what the freaking heck she was trying to do-she was trying to make them one with the force? Why? Can you tell me what interview his was? I should probably stop thinking about this dumb show.

[@BaneofGods]

@@nickdriscoll6131 from the nerdist 'THE ACOLYTE’s Leslye Headland on Episode 7, Witches, Vergences, Qui-Gon, and Anakin' article. Along with the nonsense about the smoke demon crap, there's a bunch of other mind bogglingly dumb stuff she has to say about the episode and other things in the series

[@alexmuenster2102]

>>euphemism for death, with Jecki being strangely pleased about

[@dragonninja3655]

The sand scene is NOT bad dialogue. I hate people keep claiming that it is. It was very clever, that annakin could see sand and not have it remind him of his traumatizing childhood. Padme brought up loving her planet's beaches, and annakin was like , "yeah, i actually like them too. Crazy, i never thought I'd be able to put aside my past pain of living as s slave on an awful planet". As flirting, it was a bit awkward, but he was raised to be a celebate monk. The dialogue and even the acting for that scene was not bad.

[@hoos3014]

It was horrific, "worst case scenario" dialogue. Even George Lucas himself admits he's not good at writing it.

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

​@@hoos3014 it's highly memeable but not that bad in context

[@CordlessJet549]

No, its pretty fucking bad.

[@SolarBrain4128]

At least, there was thought behind it. It could have been better with another rewrite or delivery, but there's at least consistent character reasoning behind it.

[@givmi_more_w9251]

If the subtext can't travel to the viewer because the viewer projectile-vomits out of pure cringe, the dialogue is pretty fucking bad.

[@guyolive1071]

100% agree with this premise. Immature with a smatteing of arrogance without self reflection.

[@daweithisisdavidinmandarin6121]

Preaching to the choir, brother. Plot contrivances that depended on miscommunication and melodrama is the exact definition of this show. I actually think there are some good things about The Acolyte, but they wasted all those good things on being lazy and not writing or executing logically connected ideas. I think it is the worse show I have seen in the last 24 years, not because of my expectation but because of the quality of the story. Nothing made sense within the world of the show or outside. There was no high but a lot of lows and confusion. Great video!

[@h.ar.2937]

“Emotionally immature” is just a reflection of the writers/director behind it

[@KennySparksYT]

I watched this entire video and I have to say that I agree with you on all counts. Your CW analogy was spot on. I don't know how many times I've watched Arrow or The Flash and just begged the characters to have a conversation. I also enjoyed the first 2 episodes. I actually enjoyed the 3rd episode as well. It was episode 4 that broke me. That moment that Mae just pulls a 180 OUT OF NOWHERE was the moment I realized there was no redeeming it. Also, I couldn't believe that an 8 episode show had the audacity to have a filler episode. Now I will admit that episode 5 had me locked in until we start getting back to the story and then it was back downhill from there. If someone enjoyed the show I have no issues with that. That's their right but as for me I just can't accept the terrible writing of the show. Great work on this video!

[@Cityweaver]

Nooo.... It's good writing... Why can't you see that? Don't you want "show, don't tell"? /jk XD Every time someone defends Ep.4, they use this half-hearted attempt of saying Mae pulling a 180 makes sense because she just thought about it in her head and came to a conclusion that made sense based on information from the last episode (technically, ep 2). And I always point out to them that a story is about *cause and effect*. Why didn't she reach this conclusion to turn herself in DURING the episode where she learned her sister was alive? What functional purpose does it make to run away from someone you want to be near, then decide later to be near them, them resist them again, then swap clothing and leave them again to chase Sol, then threaten to kill Sol, then decide not to, then listen to a history story you were present for, and THEN tell Osha that Sol killed Mama? A story is cause and effect. What cause led to any of these effects? You can't insist a character can just think to themselves and do differently than ANY OTHER ACTION they'd performed thus far. It is a FUNDEMENTAL aspect of suspension of disbelief that characters don't DO that. Bad writers and people who support them think they are being witty or clever by having characters "act like people." Oh, Mae is just being indecisive, but that's how people act, so its okay. No. Noooo. Its not a real thriller if people can suddenly have killing intent towards each other and then just as suddenly NOT in the next freakin' scene!

[@kregy7509]

Ngl, enjoying even the first three episodes sounds baffling

[@givmi_more_w9251]

I noped out of both The Flash and Arrow. Both when the 'love interest' (aka insufferable bint) complained 'wHY diDN'T yoU tElL mE' to create relationship melodrama. Arrow even had a stupid love-triangle IIRC. And love-triangles need to be included in the Geneva code of war crimes.

[@shift7808]

The best and most insightful video ive seen out of dozens of others.

[@Meowow55iscat]

I keep finding smaller channels that make high quality content like this guy. Keep it up!!!

[@thunderkrux7745]

Definitely going to name my kid Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

[@fatalblue]

At least with most CW shows, they often revolves around teenagers and young adult characters, so there was at least some justification for the use of miscommunication for drama since young ppl can be silly and ilogical but the Jedi in the Acolyte are not only full grown adults (for the most part) but monks trained from young to have excellent emotional regulation. I don't think its unfair to assume that even young Jedi would be a cut above their non-Jedi peers in regulating their emotions so literally no one's behavior makes sense.

[@thomasmikalishen6515]

EXCELLENT summary. Your commentary is hilarious and sensible.

[@hjelsethak]

This isn't the adaptation you are looking for...

[@richarddevine8391]

OMG...CW, teen angst, immature. This is exactly what this show was, thank you for verbalizing that!

[@dawashingmachine9158]

This show did the “my moral compass leaving my body when the villain is sexy” meme but completely seriously

[@TheW0rdMan]

Your spluttering over "thirst-trap" was so relatable 😂😂

[@sixter4157]

Wait, that was the highest image quality holiday special I have seen. I must find that.

[@leandronc]

Tjis is the best essay I've seen on this series here on KZbin. You nailed the problems in the head. People who can't human very well don't write great stories, as it turns out.

[@Domex122]

wow someone who gives real reasons why it's bad and not just says "woke" thx for the video

[@gen2mediainc.577]

we got high bar Star Wars reviews before gta6

[@TheAxeLordOfFire]

"Wokeness" is often just a catch-all for "this show has PoC/women as the protagonist, so therefore it's automatically bad!". Just look at the meme of that guy having a meltdown about Starfield having an option to choose your pronouns to see what the mindset of those fans are. The fucked up part is, a work can be progressive as hell and STILL really well-written; Baldur's Gate 3 is an excellent example of this in mind, as is the Fallout TV show and latest Doctor Who, and even small projects like Hellblade (a women with schizophrenia and PTSD confronting her demons and overpowering them). It's like people complaining how "woke" Star Trek "has become" when the series was ALWAYS built on progressive, utopian ideals for the future, we've only started complaining about it because the latest writing for shows like Picard are a stinking dumpster fire. The Acolyte isn't bad because it has a black female protagonist, it's bad because it's badly-written. Simple as that. The showrunners had no idea what they were going with for the show and as such completely screwed the pooch for reasons enumerated in the video ad nauseum, and it really shouldn't be mistaken as anything else. Bad writing isn't "political", bad writing is bad writing regardless of if it's "political" or not.

[@Lothiril]

The CW shows may have had miscommunication and cheap drama, but at least they had likable characters in their shows that made the audience come back despite the otherwise questionable quality of the shows. I don't see that in the Acolyte...

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I’d agree with that.

[@dylandang7365]

0:05 I may go so far to say this is the worst piece of media ever created

[@fbiagent..]

@@EventualWarlordand rise of skywalker?

[@ghostprojekt]

​@@fbiagent..Rise of Palpatine is great ragebait, Acolyte is just boring crap.

[@aiasfree]

Borderlands (2024).

[@thatonedude]

Doctor in distress? I love it because it's so bad, but acolyte is just... Bad. Ya know? Can't like it.

[@LancerDL]

This was a useful review without some of the noise in the criticism I've heard of this show. The flaws in the moral dilemma seem to stem from the writers being unable to keep in mind "what does each individual know" along with "what would someone want to communicate based on what they know"? Instead they wrote it from the perspective of a few characters whose only motivations were the things they were selectively traumatized about and what they currently wanted right in front of their face. IMHO, the flaw is in that the writers are not used to thinking from outside of a suffering person's perspective. Thus all morality is based around how the twins and the Sith saw things. It didn't matter that the Jedi were literally provoked to violence, because in the end the Jedi survived. Even if they let Sol defend himself, I doubt the writers knew how a person in his situation would do it; guilt he might have, but at worst it was an accident. It is not a surprise to me that such people can't tell the difference between good and bad.

[@writingref]

Jason = Qimar Blink and you'll miss it name. Great video - especially the Light vs Dark theme critique and the emotional immaturity is a great way to describe the character writing.

[@jefferysterner]

This was such a great analysis thank you

[@Tracy_LLC]

I would rather watch the Star Wars holiday special on repeat for a week straight, then watch 1 episode of the Acolyte.

[@RaikenXion]

Same I've never even watched the Acolyte I saw that hot-mess coming a mile off like a year before it was gonna come out; but I'd rather have sticks put in my eyelids to keep them open and made to watch the holiday special on repeat for a whole week, then watch the Acolyte pos

[@lunaitor-uq9hz]

At least with the holiday special, you can...PRETEND like you're having fun, worst case scenario

[@bad-people6510]

That's an entire generation of media at this point. It's even worse with Star Trek where we're supposed to have highly trained astronauts in a military structure acting like sarcastic teenagers back-chatting their parents to their superior officers.

[@cadyfitzgerald3273]

It feels like they were trying to apply Star Trek’s complex grey morality to Star Wars which has always had very clear cut “Good” and “Bad” sides. It works for Star Trek which is more about philosophy and exploration of different worlds and cultures, but not for Star Wars which is supposed to be a simple fun epic tale set in space. They’re both valuable in different ways.

[@hoos3014]

Star Wars shouldn't be limited to only "good" vs. "bad" stories. There's a whole galaxy to explore; let's give the Space Nazis a break.

[@claudius3359]

@@cadyfitzgerald3273 As much as I believe that you can tell a morally grey story as long as you know how to do it right,I agree that it can't be done really well in SW,especially if we're talking about Jedi & Sith (since ordinary people like in Andor aren't really bound by it).

[@TheArkerPenSpinning]

28:55 I have a terrible feeling that the reason Mae doesn't go with them, but gets mindwiped is a cheap "setup" for a Revan type of arc, where Revan was a Jedi, got corrupted to a Sith, lost his memory and was used by the Jedi to become one again and then got his memories back and fell to the semi-dark side. Leslie Headland has mentioned being a fan and doing a series on KOTOR. So obviously, Mae is going to be used by the oh so mean Jedis to become a jedi and fight against Osha and then get her memory back or something, Idk. Hey, she might even be the one to kill Qimir so that Plagueis doesn't have to and the rule of two is respected.....

[@RegularFlyGuy]

So youre saying she wanted to copy both Anakin’s and Revan’s stories? 😂

[@TheArkerPenSpinning]

@@RegularFlyGuy Sure feels like it LMAO

[@claudius3359]

So she *is* a KOTOR fan! I was wondering if she was one considering the storyline she attempted.Cause I faintly remember there was a similar story in that era of Jedi taking children en masse and I wondered if she attempted to take inspiration from that but failing to execute it properly.

[@TheCosmicBroadcast]

Fantastic analysis, breakdown, and summary of the MANY issues with this series. I agree with every single point and observation you made. Even with all of the plot holes, inconsistencies, poor character writing, etc…. I’ll probably be the most perplexed about where on God’s green earth did the 180 MILLION dollar budget go?!? It’s not even like the show had an A-list actor leading the charge who commanded a high salary.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thanks man. Yeah the budget really didn’t show on screen. Maybe it all went to the most expensive fight choreographer of all time lol.

[@annikinstarkiller600]

One of the best thrashings of this show that I've seen. Well done

[@MasticinaAkicta]

Emotional Immaturity, I see it, much like Nu-Trek or modern Star Trek.

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

The former weinstein aide finds evil interesting, there's a joke to be made here

[@janette2422]

literally feels like a Supernatural Episode...but that would be saying something worse about Supernatural, which I think did things a LOT BETTER

[@kingvejita8827]

no matter how bad the plots get at least the brothers and the other chars are always nice to see and follow, same cant be said about any star wars show or new movies.

[@jaythomas468]

I think your initial COMPARISON of “this feels like a CW show” is pretty SPOT-ON. The Acolyte is like a CW show where all the characters’ motivations and backgrounds were summed up on a single cocktail napkin and they then tried to “frame” the Star Wars IP around it and weren’t CREATIVE or TALENTED enough to come up with writing that kept the characters and plot threads CONSISTENT so they had to overly rely on contrivances and conveniences (creating plot holes along the way) to keep the “wheels” of the story “spinning.” Also, IMAGINE trying to write a “morally gray character” (which are usually the characters I find MOST INTERESTING in various works of fiction but I DON’T THINK they FUNDAMENTALLY “understood” the IP they were working with) in a series where “good guys” and “bad guys” are LITERALLY REFERRED TO as “light” and “dark,” respectively.

[@incandescent9525]

What's with this modern shows trend to take a plain and simple "good vs. evil" story and make it morally ambiguous? They were doing it with Star Wars, and now the same thing with Rings of Power. "Dark side is cooler" my ass, this showrunners look exactly like a bunch of dumb teenagers opposing every moral and social norm just because they think it would make them look cool and superior.

[@Arkham8076]

you articulated well what i was feeling watching this show.

[@n0dr0gs49]

Does any one else find themselves going "the power of one, the power of two, the power of Minnie..." "...Mouse."

[@judahenjoyseducation4549]

KOTOR II did the entire concept of this already. and did it masterfully.

[@dragonninja3655]

In the flashback episode we see that the first time the Jedi see the girls in the coven it is when one of the moms is violently pushing the girls onto the stone stairs. The girls could have had their heads cracked open. Even if they weren't force sensative, the jedi would have a right to be concerned for the girls' safety.

[@TB-iq7gx]

thats when you call your IP a grand space opera for 40 years and someone thought "put some soap between the space and the opera". believed to be dead evil twin is such a soap opera trope that I think its only used in comedys as a quick joke about bad/campy storytelling. (mark instead of eyepatch though)

[@mikolaykuka9759]

Your review opened me for the idea that ADHD teens may love the show. So much action, constant flipping sides, passionate venture without a second of thought

[@mikolaykuka9759]

Sadly for Disney - that's bad for business as such audiences is limited - not much profit and additionally, those teens are to distracted to last for all 8 episodes scattered across two months show time.

[@mikolaykuka9759]

If it was 90min. cinema show it could earn some profit

[@IHateDisney-123]

ADHD does not magically make you enjoy shite

[@wannabehistorian371]

I have ADHD. We have more intelligence than that lol

[@sklerp386]

​@wannabehistorian371 Yeah, I may have ADHD but I'm not a moron

[@ShojoBakunyu]

Having them keep the same hair style when it's WELL established that wigs are a HUGE popular fashion statement in the Star Wars universe. It'd make more sense that the Evil Twin framed her sister to get her searching for her.

[@lucymoody4927]

Speaking of childhood haircuts - I live how they gave Trinity and Squidgame little girl and boy haircuts in the flashback sequences. That was really cute and wholesome

[@KororaPenguin]

At least it's SOMETHING to like.

[@spaceknight793]

Headlump's real thinking: "I don't like SW. Let's turn it into something else." A year later... "I can't imagine why SW fans don't love this."

[@EnriqueMaxx]

I don't think you make mention of this but what I found most annoying was how quick to violence all the Jedi behaved. They acted more like how people think cops act in real life, not an order which is more comparable to religious monks

[@chidori0117]

No wonder she likes the grey jedi .... how do I take a fundamental concept about the fiction I am working in an put my badass character in ... I know my character is just not affected by all this dark side stuff so that they can wield awesome lightning without being evil. Truly a masterclas in grade school writng.

[@ItatsuMagnatsa]

That wasn't Osha's Lightsaber. It was Sol's Lightsaber. And that's NOT how a Kyber Crystal works. Osha didn't even Remove the Crystal and Bleed it. The Crystal didn't Resist or Show Osha Visions of the Past or Future unlike the Kyber Crystal that DARTH VADER had Bled in a Comic where he had to basically make his Own New Lightsaber. This Bullshit of the Lightsaber Slowly Turning Red because Osha was giving Into the Dark Side is just Stupid and Lame and Doesn't make Sense at all.

[@janjanbinks1710]

Seeing the Acolyte's failures only made me remember other better attempts at making Star Wars more morally ambiguous: Knights Of The Old Republic. This show CLEARLY wants what KOTOR has but th thing is: even in KOTOR things were also light and dark. The Jedi were misguided in their arrogance and passive in allowing the Mandalorian Wars to happen but the light side was still the clear good thing, separate from the Order itself. The Sith -while some of them had compelling arguments - were still followers of a destructive ideology. They're trying to be all genre savvy like Kreia was in KOTOR 2 but without being compelling or thought provoking.

[@dragonninja3655]

Did he just call the politics of the prequels boring?! That was one of the best things about the prequels, the politics and secret plans of the sith were fascinating. It was so well done. And they've only expanded on all the game of thrones type poltics since then in the books, tv shows, and games.

[@pizzasaurolophus]

Modern Star Trek has the same problem. Instead of humanity's best and brightest, highly trained and experienced military officers, everyone acts like emotional children. There are communication breakdowns, etc... all in the name of getting the plot from point A to B. Also the writers seem to think that viewers need to 'identify' with the characters that are supposed to depict a futuristic society with no currency, no racism, people free to do what they want, etc... rather than give us a vision of a brighter future.

[@GOODYGOODGOOD789]

Disney: easily makes one of the best TV seasons of the year with X-Men '97, and one of the worst with the Acolyte. Thanos: Perfectly balanced as all things should be. I've genuinely seen better writing in some of the worst seasons of Power Rangers, than in this show. Also, for all the people who say "tHE jEDi kIdNAp cHIlDrEN sO tHEy'rE bAD" I think those people completely miss the point, and that you the Jedi ask the parents for permission to take the children (referring to what is clearly shown in the Phantom Menace), and you can leave the order any time you like, as Ashoka did. 0:46 A Journey Through Cinema: Trashes the CW including the Arrowverse, and says their plots rely heavily on contrivances. Madvocate: You've made me so proud... I'm not crying you're crying. 3:34 Yay that's what they call them now. 4:25 Don't ask questions just consume the product and get excited for the next product. 15:26 Poe Damron would be proud. 16:39 This is basically a Scooby-Doo mystery where "pLoT tWISts iT'S tHE oNLy cHARaCTeR iT cOUlD Be" expect Scooby-Doo is made for children, this genuinely thinks it'll be a surprise for adults. 22:07 I love how the showrunner Leslie Handland kept going on about how awful Sol is even though the fight and the reason why the mother died was purely on her not Sol BECAUSE SHE ATTACKED HIM FOR NO REASON AT ALL AND SOL WAS JUST ACTING IN SELF-DEFENSE. 29:11 Yeah, well the force is magic so they don't need to explain it... I actually wouldn't be surprised if the writers thought that. 29:27 Speaking of Scooby-Doo I genuinely think most Scooby-doo mysteries are better than this one. To quote Steve Harvey yes sirre thought about killing myself.

[@matthewk4912]

A large part of the fanbase don't really understand the Jedi. They claim that George was saying in the prequels the Jedi were a horrible institution, but George actually called them the "most moral of anyone in the galaxy" who were put in a hard situation. And in the Star Wars universe, the Jedi before Palpatine were so respected that parents wanted their children to become Jedi, so the kidnapping thing has really gotten out of hand.

[@GOODYGOODGOOD789]

​@@matthewk4912 Also, you really can't call the Jedi dangerous or a cult, because say it with me YOU CAN LEAVE THEM ANYTHING YOU WANT EVEN WHEN YOU'RE A PADAWAN. Also, people like to point to the KOTOR games as reasons why the Jedi are evil, and while those are my two favorite games of all time (restored content mod version of the latter), and I've spent hundreds of hours playing each of them, just because Jolee had some legitimate criticisms of the Jedi didn't make them evil, and he is right in saying that Jedi can't be perfect because no living being is perfect, and I've never understood the criticisms of the Jedi not being able to fall in love when most religious institutions in real life don't allow their clergy to marry (including some branches of Buddism which is what the Jedi are partially based on), so what exactly is the problem. Also, KOTOR II Kreia does make good points about the Jedi but she's not perfect, and while she does make good points about a lot of things a lot of her arguments fall flat when you don't go into them with the mentality that you're going to treat them all as gospel. Kreia isn't an interesting character because she's always right, she's an interesting character because she has a distinct and interesting philosophy that is a lot more interesting if you actually think about it and don't mindless go "eVErytHONg sHE's sAYs iS rIGhT." even though yes she can make some great points and some debatable points.

[@matthewk4912]

@@GOODYGOODGOOD789 Yep, also KOTOR isn't even part of the new continuity, so it can't dictate our view on the Jedi in a universe where KOTOR didn't happen. Star Wars fans seem to not be able to distinguish between different depictions in different continuities. George has some very Buddhist beliefs, and actually supports a lot of the Jedi ideology, but I think this is a case of many fans not sharing George's spiritual beliefs or worldview, so they demonize the Jedi more than they were portrayed as flawed, which wasn't George's intention. People don't seem to understand the idea of living a life of service and self-sacrifice. Because the Jedi wield the Force, something far more powerful than them, they have the no attachment rule not because they want to oppress their members, but because mixing individual desires with the greater good while being super powerful can lead to disaster. If that's not the life you want to live, the Jedi allow you to live the life you want outside of the Order.

[@ivysalen]

Pro-Jedi comments?? On KZbin??? May wonders never cease...

[@rachelwalsh3123]

People don’t consider how dangerous an untrained force sensitive child could potentially be to their non-force sensitive family. Imagine a normal five year old having a temper tantrum, and then imagine that child being able to use telekinesis on things and people bigger and stronger than they are.

[@SkyNetgr]

Amazing video. Thank you for making it

[@mattthespyd3r969]

The gray jedi code is just a cop out. you’re not disciplined enough to be a Jedi and you’re too scared to be a sith?

[@LoneWolf_Cub_Ogami_Itto]

It's always a good time to find classic Japanese Samurai Cinema, one of a few of what inspired George to begin with. I can't tell how good of an actor Tomisaburō Wakayama is but that man was born to play Ōgami Ittō in Lone Wolf & Cub 6 film series, this 1970s film series entertained me a great deal more than anything D+ did.

[@erinhardick4803]

I do not know how Disney with reviews like this can still blame sexism and racism for the bad reviews.

[@michaelfang1393]

Bro...yes!! I'm glad you brought up Bad Batch! IT'S SO GOOD!!! Acolyte can't touch this masterpiece!