The Acolyte is a new series streaming on Disney+. It is set in the Star Wars universe and occurs 100 years before the fall of the Jedi and subsequent rise of the Empire.
What happened: Osha, still wearing the Cortosis helmet we saw her put on back at the end of episode 6, has a powerful Force vision of Mae killing Jedi Sol without a weapon. She's determined to stop Mae, so strikes a deal with Qimir to go together, as he doesn't know where Mae and Sol are and Osha doesn't have a ship. As they depart, a gaunt, skeletal figure watches them depart from Qimir's cave. Sol has taken Mae to Brendok, where everything went wrong 16 years prior and sends a signal to Vernestra on Coruscant. But Sol hasn't actually told Mae anything before Mae breaks out of her restraints, stealing an escape ship (not an escape pod, because this thing has flight controls). Sol chases after her through the rings surrounding Brendok but annoying tracking groundhog Bazil sabotages Sol's ship sending both him and Mae to hard landings on the planet. On Coruscant, Vernestra is confronted by Senator Rayencourt, who mistrusts the Jedi because they're so powerful and fears what damage a single rogue Jedi could do. Verenestra admits she's conducting a murder investigation but insists she's "very close" to bringing in the killer. She then receives Sol's signal and grimly gathers as many Jedi as she can without raising alarm and rushes off in pursuit. Back on Brendok, Sol searches for Mae but encounters Qimir instead. They fight. Having faced Qimir before and seen his tricks, Sol is able to gradually wear down his adversary. Elsewhere, Mae finds Osha, but when Mae tells Osha that Sol has lied to her all these years Osha lashes out with anger and a pretty intense fight develops between the girls. Vernestra's ship arrives and Mae uses the distraction to get away from Osha. Sol destroys Qimir's lightsaber and appears ready to kill him when Mae arrives. Mae challenges Sol, who openly admits he killed Mother Aniseya but insists he did it for the good of the girls. Osha hears his confession, and enraged, Force chokes Sol to death. The girls flee but Qimir, no longer wearing his Cortosis after the fight, is sensed by Vernestra, who recognizes him. The Jedi pour into the ruined Witch fortress and find Sol dead. The girls stop to rest and hug and bond under the bunta tree from the first episode. As they're talking, Qimir arrives and warns them that if he can find them this quickly the Jedi can't be far behind. At first the girls are going to tell everything to the Jedi but Qimir points out that Mother Aniseya was killed in part because she created them through a vergence in the Force, an incredibly powerful and threatening ability. Osha's unlocked Dark Side power would be equally threatening, even without the whole Force vergence to consider. Osha offers to train with Qimir if he'll let Mae go. Qimir agrees and uses the Force to wipe Mae's memories so the Jedi can't use her to track them. Mae is captured and taken to Coruscant where Verenestra tells Mae--and the Senate inquiry--that Sol's guilt over killing Mother Aniseya drove him mad and he is the one responsible for killing Indara, Torbin and Kelnacca. After, she goes to meet with Master Yoda.
Disturbances in the Force: This episode, as far as I can tell, has no title. Which makes no sense, but then again that's on par for this episode. All the pacing issues I complained about in the earlier episodes are magnified tenfold here. During their fight in the ruins, it becomes very clear that Mae and Osha, wearing white and black, respectively, have switched positions. By that I mean Mae is on the path of redemption and Osha is falling headling toward the Dark Side. The vision Osha had was not one of Mae killing Sol but of herself--and the "sisters" are the same person inhabiting two different bodies, she couldn't tell the difference. It's an interesting idea,
but that was the finale! After Osha succumbs to the Dark Side (for very good reasons I might add) and strangles Sol, there is no more story. That's it. Hard stop. Yet
The Acolyte drags things out for 15 more minutes. Everyting that comes after completely deflates the emotional climax and Osha's character arc. She essentially killed her father for crying out loud! As for Sol, he shows zero remorse for his actions 16 year prior. He's still insisting he was in the right, unrepentant, unredeemed. Then, after his death, Vernestra compounds the problem by doing the same damn thing by lying to Mae and the Senate and (presumably) the Jedi Council. Why? I'm thinking Qimir is a former padawan of hers, but its not clear. None of the motivations are. I mean, Bazil sabotaging Sol's ship came from out of nowhere, had no logical basis. Bazil has become a blunt force plot device. On Brendok, after finding Sol's body, Vernestra orders the other Jedi to set up a wide perimeter but in the next scene they're all following Bazil in pursuit of Mae. Huh? Osha's decision to go with Qimir and leave Mae was also baffling weird. The girls had just reunited after thinking each other dead for 16 years and now, not only will they separate, but they're erasing all of Mae's memories as well? That seems like a solution in search of a problems. Why not take Mae with them and sort things out later? Qimir's ship kinda sorta gave the impression of being only a two-seater earlier in the episode, but in prior episodes it appeared a lot bigger than that. But so what? The episode should've ended 15 minutes earlier! Everything that comes after that only serves to set up a potential season 2. It's flabby and wasted and bad writing. The Yoda cameo at the end was wasted, and honestly, kinda pissed me off. One of the things I liked best about this series is that it didn't use previous Star Wars shows and movies as a crutch, with endless parades of cameos and references. We didn't need Yoda. Nor did we need Darth Pagueis. What purpose did he serve? It was a weird, unnecessary reveal that would've made a much bigger impact in season 2, with an episode building up to it rather than an in-passing cameo. Yes, there's still the question of who trained Qimir if Plagueis isn't shown, but so what? That's a good thing.
The Acolyte diffuses that mystery for no substantive reason. Fine, I'll grant that Plagueis ties in to the whole Anakin "virgin birth" angle through the twins and the Force vergence. Again, so what? What does his fleeting appearance accomplish here that it couldn't do better in a potential future show? As it stands, Plagueis is even less impactful here than Maul was tacked onto the end of the by-the-numbers
Solo film. A Maul cameo couldn't elevate that otherwise competent film, so why should be much-less know Plagueis have any greater impact with the far more uneven
Acolyte? Short answer: He doesn't.
At several points during the battles in the fortress, the Witches are chanting. Were there actual survivors? Were there spirits there? Was it an echo of the past? Was it a mere stylistic choice? I dunno. Not everything has to be spelled out, but this episode spells out so many random things that it's hard to know what's important and what's not.
Look, this show was never going to live up to
Rashomon. That's a given. I was rooting for it because it was giving us something different for Star Wars. But its missteps are relentless. None of the Jedi we've gotten to know to any extent--apart from Yord the jerk and Jecki the padawan, who are both dead--are really admirable. The Jedi we see stubbornly refuse to learn from their mistakes. I get that this show is sowing the seeds that lead to the fall of the order, but damn, folks, give us some examples of the "heroes" as hostile Senator Rayencourt calls them. This show is brimming over with ideas that are poorly realized, sloppily executed and implemented by half-measures. I want it to be better than it is. It
should be better than it is. It showed flashes of brilliance throughout, but then reverted to hand-waving and plot coupons to move the story along, or not. For all its flaws, I still like
The Acolyte better than the nonsensical
Obi-Wan series or
The Book of Boba Fett (how can anyone manage to make Boba Fett
boring!?). I like the ideas. I love the fact they're trying to give us something different. The actors involved gave it their all. But this is a clear case of reach far exceeding grasp. Maybe the next time Disney+ greenlights a Star Wars series, they focus on telling a complete story rather than worrying about setting up a potential season 2. But that sloppiness in the final could just as well prevent a season 2 from ever becoming a reality.
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Chicken Ranch Central
In 2024, however, another milestone was reached, with the official release of the revised, updated and expanded 50th anniversary edition of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse. The six years I put into researching and writing the first edition (published in 2016) and the additional work I invested in the newer edition seems to have paid off as far as critics are concerned, with the book's reception being as close to across-the-board positive as is reasonably possible. I still think it's one of the weirdest stories to ever come out of Texas, as state that bases its entire identity on weird mythology.
Just a reminder--book reviews help tremendously. If you've read Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch and are willing to do so, even a short sentence or two on Amazon, Goodreads or other online book site would help get the book in front of new eyes and spread awareness. Thanks!
Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.
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