THE ACOLYTE’s third episode is a backstory that should have been called a hack story. Over the years STAR WARS has developed a lot of origin stories within their universe. And those types of stories usually work. The challenge in DESTINY is that this new STAR WARS series has yet to provide a compelling reason for us to care about Mae and Osha. DESTINY takes us to a flashback designed to make us care, yet the reasons are dumb. And yes, I’m using dumb to describe it since this episode is awful.
We get:
- Stilted child actors playing Mae and Osha. Actually, maybe this is how the series ties to PHANTOM MENACE… children acting badly.
- DUNE ripoffs with Spice and Witches
- Confusing character motivations that don’t justify the current plot.
- Horrible dialogue like:
- “The Jedi are bad!”
- “The Jedi are good!”
- A scene with two children fighting about a drawing and spice cream. Yes, this actually takes up screen time. 🤦
I love the idea of STAR WARS taking chances on new stories. Especially when they aren’t tied to the Luke Skywalker timeline. Yet, fans deserve better than E3, and we know after THE MANDALORIAN and ANDOR that STAR WARS can do better. I’ll continue to watch THE ACOLYTE, but I have little new hope for it.
It’s available on Disney+.