Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 5 review | Leslye Headland’s series finally finds its footing

by Maria Lattila |
the acolyte
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After a disappointing episode last week, we return to a galaxy far, far away. Here’s our The Acolyte episode 5 review. 

The Acolyte episode 5 comes with a lot of pressure, at least for this writer. It’s a series that still hasn’t found its groove or fulfilled its potential and after last week’s disastrous episode, this week simply had to improve things or The Acolyte will be dead in the water. 

Last week’s episode ended on a frustrating cliffhanger. After a slow, tedious episode, our ragtag team of Jedi were confronted by the mysterious, masked Sith master. Lightsabers were drawn and then… nothing. End credits. I nearly threw my coffee at my TV and I’m not one to waste coffee, ever. That should give you an idea of how frustrated I was last week and it was reflected in my review. 

Will we finally find out who’s hiding behind that pretty uniquely designed mask this week? Yes, we do, but we wouldn’t dare to spoil it here. We’ll talk about it more in next week’s review.

the acolyte sith
Credit: Disney+

This episode, titled ‘Night’, largely feels like an extended ending to last week’s episode, but it’s by far The Acolyte’s strongest episode yet. We finally get some action and there’s finally some stakes as the Sith master slashes his way through several Jedi. 

‘Night’ also finally gives the cast something to do. There’s some phenomenal lightsaber choreography here and it feels like we’re watching Star Wars as it should be. The episode is almost all battle and little exposition, which is a nice change to how things have been going for four episodes. 

It’s not without its faults. Mae is still a frustrating character; the writing for her is uneven and her motives aren’t entirely clear. It’s presumably because showrunner Leslye Headland and her team of writers are trying to save some big reveals for later episodes, but it leads to weak characterisation. Amandla Stenberg, who plays the double role of Osha and Mae and is very talented, has little to do. Her roles mostly require her to repeat the same thing over and over again, week after week; Mae is evil, Osha is good, their home burned down. 

In fact, I’m far more intrigued by Sol’s character than anyone else at this point. I’m running the risk of repeating myself here, but I really can’t emphasise enough just how excellent Lee Jung-jae is in the role. He reminds me a lot of Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn with his fatherly grip on the character. Thankfully, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett and Manny Jacinto also finally have some room to show off their abilities. 

If The Acolyte can keep this up, the series might save itself from being considered one of the weakest Star Wars entries to date. ‘Night’ brings a lot of clarity to the narrative, even though it also seems to drive it into a corner. At this point, the upcoming revelations, especially around Mae and Osha’s childhood, seem a little too clear and I wish they would just get them over and done with and focus more on character development. 

The Acolyte streams on Disney+ now with new episodes premiering every Wednesday. 

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