Chris Connor reviews the fifth episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte…
The first half of The Acolyte has had plenty of promise, introducing us to a wealth of new characters and worlds with plenty of familiar tropes for Star Wars fans while also feeling fresh. The fifth episode, ‘Night’ significantly ups the ante with the group of Jedi led by Master Sol on Khofar facing off against a mysterious adversary, strong in the dark side of the Force.
While the previous episodes have been more led by the show’s central mysteries, this episode is almost wall to wall action as the Jedi are no match for their opponent. It is a thrilling series of duels as both sides look to get the upper hand, landing a fatal blow. This opponent has been lurking in the shadows for a long time and now he has revealed himself, he can’t leave any witnesses.
In keeping with Star Wars tradition there is a sense of no one being safe with several major players exiting the stage early on, surprising perhaps with three episodes to go. This makes the villain feel more powerful and shows the risk they pose to the Jedi.
One of the drawbacks of the Disney Star Wars era in an action sense has been that the duels have been underwhelming compared to the Original and Prequel trilogies. The sequences here are some of the strongest in the live-action shows to date while cleverly juxtaposing the saber action with Mae’s more martial arts choreography, particularly while she fights Dafne Keen’s, Jecki Len.
Michael Abels’ score has been a standout feature of the show to date balancing themes and motifs from other parts of the franchise and here with the dark side on the rise cleverly splices in nods to the First Order and Kylo Ren into the score while making something menacing, befitting of the show’s tone.
This is certainly one of the stronger episodes of The Acolyte with payoff for the slow build-up to date and answering some of the show’s central mysteries. It has the feel of a finale at times with such a large fight taking up the majority of the episode and it will be intriguing with three episodes left to see where the show goes from here with the survivors now aware of the existence of Mae’s master and his motives. If the show is able to maintain this level of quality in its final three episodes it will rank as one of the stronger Disney+ efforts.
Chris Connor
