I couldn’t help but think “Holy sh-t” after the final moments of last week’s episode of The Acolyte. The mysterious masked villain finally stepped out from behind the scenes to confront our Jedi heroes. He was very powerful, and the episode ended at a moment of maximum anticipation. Well, The Acolyte 1×05 delivers on that anticipation and then some.
The story of Osha and Mae Aniseya (both played by Amandla Stenberg) has been engaging so far. These identical twins spent years apart after a traumatic night in their childhoods when they thought the other died. Mae’s master took advantage of that trauma, training her into a weapon to kill Jedi. Osha, on the other hand, studied as a Jedi for a while before leaving the Order. After 16 years, Mae put her plan for revenge into action. Four Jedi were stationed on Mae and Osha’s home planet, and three of them are now dead. However, now that she knows Osha is alive, Mae intended to turn herself in. But her master wasn’t going to allow that.
As much as this show has presented a balanced view of the Jedi as good but imperfect, when Mae’s master confronts them, we know they are the ones we want to win. The Acolyte 1×05 is a thrilling, action-packed episode with game-changing revelations and plot points. It’s the best episode of this show so far.
“I have accepted my darkness.”
Let’s start with the action, because there is a lot of it in this episode. Star Wars is known for its lightsaber duels. This episode has some of the best in recent memory, perhaps for the whole franchise. When Osha’s former Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) faces off against Mae’s master, it’s a thing of beauty. The editing is also remarkable. Cutting back and forth between that duel and the hand-to-hand combat between Mae and Sol’s current Padawan, Jecki (Dafne Keen), heightens the tension beautifully. And the choreography of both is excellent. There’s even a point when Jecki faces Mae’s master too and she ends up with two sabers. It’s entertaining as hell.
Of course, conflict like this can also be emotional. Not all of the characters we like are going to make it out alive. Mae’s master has nurtured her grudge against the Jedi with his own hatred of them. They don’t underestimate him. His power is more impactful considering his identity, which some viewers might have guessed. We’ve seen Mae interact with Qimir (Manny Jacinto) since the first episode, and he kept up a carefully laid-back vibe. His turn into evil works really well. Jacinto lends his villain a physically alluring quality that the bad guys of Star Wars haven’t really had before.
“I can help you return to yourself.”
Despite that, make no mistake– he’s evil. Really evil. He doesn’t just kill Jedi we care about, he also tells Sol that he wants a pupil. He calls himself a Sith, and everyone knows Sith travel in twos. He wants someone to carry on his darkness after him. He thought it was going to be Mae but she planned to leave. She has other plans too. When Sol and Osha escape from the Sith, Mae knocks out Sol. She still wants Osha to side with her against the Jedi, but Osha can’t. Mae claims Osha has been brainwashed but we can tell Mae has been the victim of that more than Osha.
The consequences of that brainwashing show themselves in Mae’s actions at the end of this episode. She knocks out Osha and then uses a lightsaber to cut her hair. She now looks exactly like Osha. Do you see where this is going? Any story featuring identical twins has the dramatic potential for a switcheroo, and it looks like this show is going there. Mae dresses as her sister and goes with Sol, while Qimir finds Osha. Dichotomies have always been a concern for the narrative here. What better visual way to present that than twins on opposing sides of the good/bad spectrum? And just when we thought Mae had turned toward the light, too. This plot turn and the deaths in this episode make The Acolyte 1×05 dark and rich storytelling.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney Plus.
