Revenge/Justice

Lol. When the tour group is heading straight to the floating jedi dude, but the Main character breaks away, she somehow finds a shortcut and beats everyone there? Dude. That is so bad its freaking hilarious. Is this a plot hole? It sounds like bad tv just to introduce the anxiety, only for it to not matter 3 seconds later when the other young jedi confirms her story...

like so that means she either found a shortcut that no one else knew about..and this is her first time there too...Or the group stopped for a coffee break, which is never shown, unfortunately. I would have liked to see them having some coffee.

At this point, we have become so used to "Star Wars" being set in a specific place in time, and to see something that doesn't feel like it's a part of the Skywalker Saga can be a bit strange at times. There are moments where I have to remind myself that this is not set during the prequels, but actually an entirely different chapter of this universe. And it feels great to be watching something where I don't have any idea about its final direction. This episode continues in the veins of the previous one, both in terms of its strengths and its few shortcomings.

A lot of the issues I had with the first episode are repeated here, but the writing for this is considerably more of a mixed bag. The additions to the mystery of what went down on Osha and Mae's home planet and why Mae bears a grudge against the Jedi are all very fascinating and fulfills the promise of this feeling like a detective show in a way. It also continues to bring in a slew of interesting characters, but the issue is that the episode's don't dedicate nearly enough time for any investment in these new characters. Lee Jung-jae's Sol continues to be the highlight of the show, but a lot of supporting characters seem to be exclusively a personality and not a lot more. It's not that they are bad characters, there's just not enough in there for me to actually care for them, so a few big events of this episode left me pretty emotionless. However, the action sequences are still proving to be among some of the franchise's very best, and the idea of Jedi fighting without using their lightsaber and adapting more a martial arts style of combat is so visually pleasing to watch and it makes for some incredibly fun and badass fight scenes. The episode also features a more pleasing visual look as a lot of the visual effects are better and the Volume is less aggressively used in this episode, although some of the production design does feel reminiscent of things that we've seen in the universe before.

"Revenge / Justice" makes for another solid entry as it continues to lay the groundwork for the show, but the writing is an overall mixed bag. The fight choreography is still a highlight of the show, and the visual effects are better utilized in this episode, making the world feel more vibrant and lived-in.

This isn't terrible, but it's writing on the level of a CW superhero teen soap. Production quality is pretty good; sets and visuals are high quality. But, as has become a pattern with new Disney Star Wars properties (S1 Mandalorian & Andor excepted), the writing is insipid and formulaic; heroes - and especially villains - are cartoonish. They don't feel like nor behave like authentic persons. The leads don't possess charisma or chemistry. Expository dialogue is clunky and stale. Characters behave unintelligently, with implausible lack of the barest foresight, just because the script demands the plot keep moving. I'm hoping it improves, but sadly I'm not particularly hopeful.

Instead of a two part opener. This could had easily been combined with the first episode.

The flat script and the earnest acting did not help the opening minutes. It felt too vanilla.

Also being just too late to save the next victim from his fate was a trope that could quickly become tiring.

The saving grace is that Acolyte does have few gears to crank. The mystery is just what did these four Jedis do in the past. What guilty sin are they shouldering?

This includes Master Sol, his name is in the hitlist.

So there is a mystery worth exploring but also just what to do with the Osha and Mae saga.

The writing and acting will certainly need to pep up a bit.

I have defended every Disney Star Wars project to date (except The Last Jedi) but I can't let this one go. I really hoped I wouldn't get to a point where I would say that Disney has ruined Star Wars but I am finally here. This show is absolute trash. The premise had so much potential, but the script is terrible. Might be the first ever Star Wars project I don't even finish. No desire to continue watching, even with nothing else on currently. It's so sad too when you wait so long for something Star Wars related to come out. I can only pray Andor season 2 will be as good as the first. Now that's how you write a show.