Night

The number of moments when characters did things that made no sense (or omitted to do things they should have) was probably in the 20 or 30 range, but you know what? I don't care. At least something happened. The big reveal happened, and it was terrible, but you know what? I don't care, because at least something happened. The previous four episodes, nothing happened. Well, to be fair, there was a fire and a bunch of witches died, but we don't even know how/why/who did it, so it falls in the 'nothing happened' category. Finally, people do stuff in this episode. And most of it was dumb, but i don't care. Substantial improvement, and i had fun.

Everyone is giving props to Leslie & Disney for this episode. If you knew anything about how action movies are made these days, you'd know that all action is subcontracted through specialists. So Leslie Headland has no say in the action choreography. Disney was smart to hire Christopher Clark Cowan to be the action director / designer. And because this whole episode was basically light saber and hand to hand fighting, it basically meant he directed the whole thing. And everything he did was great.

But Leslie's horrible leadership still bleeds through. The entire episode was filmed on this horrible jungle set, never truly looking like a real exterior. The dialogue was still cheap and corny, the twists were still predictable. Get a real director and pair them with Christopher Clark Cowan and we'll finally have something great.

The Good:

Finally something interesting happened in the episode! I won't spoil it, but there was at least some sort of action and conflict that was engaging. Far more entertaining than people walking through a forest for 30 minutes.

Additionally, the choreography of the fight scenes in this episode were actually quite good for the most part. Much stronger than Asoka, in this episode.

The Bad:

Amandla Stenberg playing a twin of herself. This was written as a key plot element of the story (however cliche) but she's just not a strong enough of an actress yet, to make this convincing. She would have been fine for one role or the other, but falls pretty short to play herself as a different person. Twins are very different people. She plays both the exactly same, but with a different haircut. You needed someone with a strong and dynamic range of acting skills to pull this off properly, and I don't think there are too many actors or actresses that could do that. They should have added in a 2nd actress to play either a twin or a sister. Or even just ditched the twin idea to begin with. It was rather unnecessary imho.

The Ugly: The CGI in this is like early 2000s Doctor Who. Really low budget look and feel. The general sets are also very Star Trek (80s series) quality. Really surprising given the extraordinary budget.

Overall, credit where credit is due, so I gave it a 6/10. This was the most interesting of the episodes to date, and really I'm left thinking this should have been the opening episode of the series. Everything that led up to this episode was slow and so much of it unnecessary. But this episode had challenges too. Still was far better than the other 4.

After a rocky start to the series "The Acolyte," the fifth episode finally reaches a level that will make fans' hearts beat faster. While the first four episodes were often characterized by long, boring passages, Episode 5 offers almost nonstop action. For Star Wars standards, this episode is surprisingly brutal, setting a clear tone for the intensity expected in the upcoming episodes.

The noticeable increase in excitement and action in this episode is a welcome relief. The hectic fights and breathtaking effects almost make you forget how sluggish the series has been so far. For the first time, there is a genuine sense of anticipation for Episode 6.

However, despite all the positive developments, there are still weaknesses that cannot be overlooked. The dialogues still seem aimless and contrived, often disrupting the immersion. Some scenes appear unnecessary and feel like they were included merely to fill screen time. These points diminish the overall experience and sometimes leave you frustrated despite the action-packed scenes.

Overall, Episode 5 of "The Acolyte" is a step in the right direction. The increased excitement and focus on action make it the best episode of the series so far. It remains to be hoped that the upcoming episodes will build on this level and further reduce the weaknesses in dialogues and scene structures. For fans who have persevered until now, there is finally a ray of hope and a reason to be excited about Episode 6.

Like another reviewer said, I'm not giving this episode a full 10 because I think it's completely at that level, but to counter the negative review bombs. It's a solid 8.5 for me though. I continue to not adore what I refer to as the FL's teenage tone of voice, I'm not a fan of much of the dialogue, and these episodes are far too short. But the "Sith" character is outstanding, Sol continues to be solid, and the fight choreography was stellar. This episode also just didn't come to play; it was a whirlwind of both the expected and the jarringly unexpected. I rewatched it once already and am about to again.