elljawa

This is up there, with the best of TCW and Andor. Not every episode of acolyte has been great but it truly stuck the landing.

The fight scenes are excellent. Headland said the show was wuxia inspired, so I loved seeing how these fights were so reminiscent of movies my father used to watch when I was a kid. Crouching tiger, hidden Jedi.

The plot works well, in that it isn't predictable but everyone that happens feels like it makes perfect sense as it happens. The end of Sol's story was incredibly well done, his insistence to the end that he had done the right thing was heartbreaking, as it became increasingly clear last episode he did not

Some fun cameos, I won't spoil it

Acolyte suffered from too few episodes of often too short length, resulting in episodes of uneven quality and occasionally jarring pacing. This episode doesn't suffer from that. This is what every episode of this show should be aiming for in terms of scope and pace.

Pilot episodes always have some issues with the writing. There is a lot to do in very little time. And this episode does suffer some issues all pilot episodes have. Clunky dialogue on character introductions for the most part

But really, it's so much stronger than most pilots, and the most promising SW show outside of andor in a while. The Jedi are well realized, their relationships fleshed out. The action is fun, I've been wanting wuxia style combat in SW for years. The aliens and droids all look great, and while the CGI isn't mind-blowing, it's adequate

It isn't the second coming of SW, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

The key word here is "potentially"

The Acolyte's first episodes are a pretty strong start. The characterization of the Jedi is strong, very much in line with the order as Lucas described it, and as we saw in the PT.

The only downside is some clunky dialogue. Most pilot episodes have clunky dialogue, to introduce everything needed to the audience, and we usually forgive it because we get 19 more episodes. But with just 8 per season, every episode really counts, and I wish the character introduction to OSHA had better dialogue. Dialogue is better than the PT but that's a low bar to clear.

But really, everything else is strong by SW standards. Not as strong as Andor, but stronger than everything else since Mandalorian season 1. I am excited to see where this leads.