User reviews

This episode advances/exposits the plot about as much as a few lines of dialogue would've. It fills in a few holes/questions from the previous two episodes, but we really didn't need *all* of the "Jedi come and find the sisters" story onscreen. Perhaps if the dialogue were especially interesting, or the characters interacted in an interesting way, then, yeah, sure, go ahead and give us an entire rundown of that day's events, but no, the characters haven't progressed much further that Mae (bad seed) and Osha (neutral seed). And once again, despite having Carrie Anne Moss there onscreen, she's underutilized.

There is so much wrong with this series but this episode is by far the worst of the lot. The Jedi are weak and pathetic, the twins aren't twins, the dialogue is horrible, the story makes no sense. How does Torbin go from being a Padawan to a master in six years? (He took the Barash vow and stopped speaking ten years before the present and he was supposedly a Master, and episode 3 took place 16 years before present where he was a Padawan). Is Sol so weak that he can't force catch both the girls? 4 Jedi let a force user punk Torbin and just watch and then act like nothing happened. How does Disney keep spending millions on garbage like this?

This felt like the most un-Star Wars product released since Disney took over. Super bland characters, extremely predictable script, and poorly written dialogue. I don't have time to really go into the issues with this series' concept of the witches and the way this ridicules the importance of Anakin's genesis. Yes, magic exists in the Star Wars universe, no, it shouldn't look like this with only one Dathomirian and active force wielders who can impregnate people. This was such a special opportunity to create an epic story in a rare time period yet it feels like the director didn't even want to create a Star Wars show.

First off, I just want to say I am tired of defending the new star wars shows. I get that both boba fett & obi wan were tough watches for some people but the mandolorian and Andor were some of the best star wars i've seen in a good bit.

This on the other hand, this is tough to watch. I was okay with the first two episodes but this episode literally made me say outloud "What the heck is happening?" to which by the end of the episode I felt like I just wasted my time watching something Star Wars. Even just the thought of wasting my time on something in the star wars universe makes me extremely sad to think about. I absolutely love the world George Lucas made and I know that some shows and movies that have come out have been divisive and a let down but this show is on a complete other level. I feel that Kathleen Kennedy and here team are taking what was good about the universe (both canon and non canon alike) and destroying it. Disney is giving you basically unlimited amounts of money to make something great but you instead took what seems like a screenplay from some 10 year olds star wars fan fiction and made it into reality. I'm just tired, sad and upset at the way she and her team is handling this. There is so much good non-canon storytelling out there, stop trying to recreate the wheel and give the fans what they want.

I am going to try to give this show the benefit of the doubt but my expectations for the rest of this series has dropped to zero.

Through the years I've been the biggest Star Wars supporter. Almost to the point where I would go out of my way to find the good in everything they release. To be quite frank, I just sounded dumb. I try my best to make sense of The Rise of Skywalker. I'm that kind of Star Wars fan. But I think this might be the episode that has finally done it for me. I think I'm done. I've watched a lot of bad Star Wars and it seems to be getting worse yearly but this might be the worst that I've ever seen. I've tried my best in my head to make sense of it, but sometimes the answer is that it just absolutely sucks. We've reached the point where they don't even try to hide, their agendas. I hate being the person to say this, I really really hate it but it's obvious. When I look back into the past, I will remember this episode as the reason I have stopped watching Star Wars. I'm one person and it doesn't matter what I say, but I'm just expressing my feelings here in this review. I've officially lost faith in them. I am done giving any of my time and money to new stuff. Time and time again they have disappointed me. It's obvious they don't care about their fan base and are content catering to a small group of blue haired individuals. Well.... I hope it was worth it because your product is dying... heck it's on life support. Time to execute order 66 on the shows creator and Lucas film president. Wow this was just a horrible 40 minutes that I'll never get back. I feel dirty hating it this much but it's just that bad.

Unironically one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune of sitting through. People complain about the sequels, but this is an entirely different level. At least the sequels have enjoyable scenes, likeable characters, and aren't pure nonsense. This is just pure nonsense. It feels like it was pulled off a 12 year old's Tumblr fan-fiction.

When the witches start singing together I almost shut it off. It was so cringey that I actually felt regret, Real regret. Like why did I waste my time watching this? I could have been washing dishes. I could have been shaving, How did I get to this low of a point in my life that I sat through this?

This convent stuff is so cringe. This was such a waste of time these plots have been nailed and buried feet into the ground for decades! Our expanded universe gives unlimited potential and ideas. But no disney/Kathleen Kennedy just wanna pander their own interests. Star Wars: Acolyte Episode 3 disappoints on multiple fronts, failing to live up to the expectations set by its predecessors. The once-promising storyline feels increasingly convoluted, with character development taking a backseat to flashy but ultimately hollow action sequences.

The pacing is erratic, lurching between slow, exposition-heavy scenes and frenetic battles without allowing for any meaningful buildup or tension. This results in a disjointed viewing experience that struggles to engage the audience on an emotional level.

Furthermore, the dialogue feels forced and unnatural, with characters delivering lines that are cringe-worthy at best and outright nonsensical at worst. It's clear that the writing lacks the depth and nuance necessary to elevate the material beyond generic sci-fi tropes.

Even the visual effects, typically a highlight of the Star Wars franchise, fall short of the mark, coming across as cheap and unpolished compared to previous installments. Overall, Star Wars: Acolyte Episode 3 is a lackluster entry in the series that fails to capture the magic of its predecessors.

I never ever review. However, the slap in the face I have just received from Disney is enough to prompt a punchy response. Truly & honestly, its the biggest disappointment of an episode of any TV show I've ever seen. I had seen some chat about the 'money grabbing era' of Star Wars, and I tend to think more is better - why not make a loads of shows?

This episode (and show) is why. They've spent $150million and have made the flattest, most lacklustre storyline, with a cast they've found in a cereal box. The witches weird interpretive dance, the child acting being terrible (no offence kids, they are -to be fair to them- children) and the dynamic between the twins is so wooden it makes me want to sit on a cactus. It's a complete cash-grab, and the amount of Disney executives pulling their hair out over how awful it is, is the only positive. It laughs at the ingenuity and vision of Lucas and overall is just depressing to any fan of the originals. The Mandalorian was epic, how did they get Acolyte so wrong?

This was absolutely terrible. Very slow, poor dialogue, questionable choices of background and buildup, and an overall non-Star-Wars feel. They should be embarrassed at how bad this episode is. How this got past Filoni's desk, we'll never know. Music was very low-quality as well.

The content is poor, and there is little to no sense of direction. Some laughable one-liners - "there is no good and evil, it's just about power and who gets to use it." A "coven" of witches? A witch who can incapacitate a padawan instantly, and then reverses it with the padawan not caring at all. Confusing buildup to this backstory.

Overall, terrible. Worst thing I've ever seen from Lucasfilm. They need to do better.

.....there is plenty of space for things not shown in previous Star Wars stories. A coven of force-sensitive women isn't outside the realm of possibility. And they might have been prosecuted because of their powers. There are several planets at least in the old Star Wars extended universe which were hostile to force users in general or Jedi in particular.

Moreover, this coven's interpretation of the Force as a "thread" might be different from what we have heard in Star Wars but it might just be a subjective description of what could be the same thing. Throughout our history there were several ways of describing something like gravity. Newton decribed it as a force, Faraday and Maxwell decribed it as a field of force extending outward at the speed of light and Einstein thought of it as a fundamental property of matter bending space and time around it. All we know is that if you drop a stone then it will fall to the ground. Considering that these witches only use the powers of "Force push and Force pull" which we have seen countless times in Star Wars, I can't say that their understanding of the Force breaks the "in universe" rules of Star Wars.

As to the "immaculate conception" of the twins we have too little information from this episode alone to make an assessment if it "breaks Star Wars". Something similar happened in Star Wars only once with Anakin Skywalker. That was a major event caused by "The Will of the Force". The head of the coven described it as a "miracle". It doesn't look like it's a convenient work-around for this coven to procreate without males. However, since such an event would require a "major disturbance in the Force" and not "It just happens because the plot demanded it!", the writers certainly owe us an explanation better than "I created them.".

As to the Jedi. They execute their right to test children for their Force potential. I see no indicators that they would simply remove children from their families against their will by force. The witches fear that they will have to leave if they pass the Jedis' test but we simply don't know the protocol here. There is a "cultural conflict" with the coven and we just don't know how the Jedi would resolve this conflict if push came to shove.

So much for Star Wars "theory", but does this episode work as entertainment? Well, it certainly is a slow burn. The relationship of the sisters isn't very riveting. It is abundantly clear that both are still very immature and not ready to "ascend" to anything. What makes it even worse is that they're played by child actors who arent very good at acting. The rest of the cast are uneven in their acting. The performance of Mother Aniseya is overly dramatic which subtracts from the gravitas she should have as a leader. Many other roles are either hyper-emotionals or wooden stoics. There certainly isn't much to connect to as a viewer. It says a lot when the Wookie Jedi is the most likable character (and if you're a cynic then you could say he has the best dialogue). The setting and the sets are nice, though. However, there were some strange editing choices of cutting away from a grandiose CGI scene to parts obviously shot on sound stages. Moreover, my pesky brain had some problems with dimensions and internal "world logic". How does a huge reactor room fit into a slim mountain? Where do all these witches get their food?

Finally, the way one of the twins "resolves" her inner conflict leading to a catastrophe only shows how poorly prepared and trained she was by her coven to deal with her potential. Basically, she proves the Jedi right. She needs additional training by experts lest she turns to the Dark Side.

All things considered, this episode isn't a "world breaker" but it certainly isn't a highlight of entertainment. It is a long flashback filler episode which seems to set up character motivations later in the season. Things like that have been done more efficiently.

All in all this episode is just "mid". I hope the writers will eventually get to "the good stuff". Three episodes out of eight is a rather lengthy setup period.

For me this episode follows in the same vein as the opening two. It expands on a reasonably interesting mystery with a concept of how the Jedi recruit Younglings. Children living away from their families as part of the Jedi Order is not addressed in the prequel trilogy, so for me it is a worthwhile subject.

I think the existence of other cultures centred around the phenomenon of the force, albeit with a differing perspective to the Jedi is also an interesting idea. It works for world building in the Star Wars universe and developing stories outside of Jedi/Sith perception of the force that we already know from the movies.

As for how the story is told and the portrayal of the central characters I think this is where The Acolyte slightly falls down. This episode involves a flashback, and the filmmakers do little to visually distinguish between Mae and Osha, which makes certain scenes confusing. Plus the reaction of one twin to a decision made by the other for me feels contrived to bring about dramatic events and spectacle. Much of the dialogue is quite simplistic (e.g. "Both of them; her sister too") and makes certain scenes feel drawn out in my opinion.

Arguably there did not need to be an entire episode dedicated to giving us this backstory this early, especially as it alludes to things referenced in exposition dialogue provided in the previous episodes. If so why mention those aspects previously when it could have been left a total mystery and just shown here or preferably later? That being said I think the tension created by a scene that involves a confrontation between two groups of people works fairly well. Plus you do want to find out what happened in moments that were not shown. I think my patience will wear thin if it takes several more episodes to do so.

I think most performances are okay given the material the actors have to work with. However, there is a lot of the episode carried by the young actresses who play the central characters. I never criticise children on screen as I admire anyone so young to be doing something with such confidence, but do not think the material nor direction gets the best out of them. The twins should not feel they failed in any way, as it is a big ask and the responsibility of the writer and director to use their talents better.

The general cinematography, editing and art design is strong as you would expect from a Star Wars production.

Again many comments on IMDB are exaggerated extremes (as always with SW) saying it's either the best show ever or comparable to something you wipe off the bottom of your shoe. In reality it's neither. Never trust the opinion of one-time reviewers (press the menu button (3 dots) to the right of the up/down vote button and select "see all reviews by" and you can find out) and always be suspicious of those who do not qualify statements (positive or negative) with actual reasons or specific aspects of the film/show.

Life long star wars fan here. All of it. I read the books, the marvel star wars comics (including the high republic), I love most of the TV shows, including Ahsoka, and I play the video games.

I gave the benefit of doubt after watching the first 2 episodes of Acolyte. I wasn't blown away by it but it was early to tell how things would pan out and it seemed OK. Episode 3 changed all of that. It felt like it was written by first year student or chatgpt and none of the characters' actions made any sense at all. It seems like a platform for divisive identity politics with little regard for coherent storytelling. So badly in fact, that it's unwatchable for 90% of the audience. I almost turned it off part way through as the cringe factor was off the scale.

Has lucasfilm forgotten their core fans? How can it make financial sense to make something this expensive for such a tiny demographic? Surely it's guaranteed to fail? They're like the Arctic monkeys at this stage - unapologetically making music nobody is interested in, when they used to make cool stuff everybody loved.

This is totally the wrong direction for the franchise. Just make great stories about good and evil which everyone can enjoy, regardless of their political beliefs! It's not that hard, and storytellers have done it for thousands of years. Keep the divisive politics out and you'll have wide appeal.

Poor show, Disney. Really poor. And if you think I'm a bot, you need to seriously take a look at yourself and take some responsibility. We can't all be bots, can we?

I'm done with Acolyte. I won't be watching any more episodes.

Embarrassingly bad and it disrespects the essence of what Star Wars is. I'm generally not hard to please and have loved many Disney Star Wars shows and movies that others have not. (Ahsoka, Solo, Book of Boba Fett to name a few that I enjoyed) However this is disgustingly bad and feels more like a fan fic. The fact this show has the highest budget of any Star Wars project is astonishing because it completely falls flat. The dialogue is bad, even for Star Wars standards, and the acting does it no favors. The only saving grace of this show is Master Sol and his terrific actor. He is the only interesting character that holds any ounce of my attention at any given moment.

No spoilers. This show keeps getting worse. I know they're kids but the acting was really really bad. The only people I liked in this episode were squid game guy, trinity, and tommen from game of thrones. To be fair I only like them cause of the actors playing them and not because they're actually compelling or interesting characters in any way. Oh and i liked the wookiee as well but probably just cause he doesn't speak so they can't write him to say bad dialogue.

The costumes and effects are fine I guess. I don't really have anything to say about them honestly. The directing in this episode wasn't good either. They cut to slightly different versions of the same establishing shot like 10 times this episode and I don't think that's an exaggeration. Lots of cringe dialogue and singing for some reason also. My hope that this show will get even slightly better has gone from 5% last week to 0% now. I'll keep watching just to keep up with new star wars stuff but I really couldn't care less to be honest.