Star Wars The Acolyte: S1E4: Day

Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca is next on Mae's list. Will he survive to fight another day?

The good news is episode 4 of “The Acolyte” is better than the previous three episodes, but that isn’t saying much. “Day” is a step in the right direction, featuring better pacing and a slightly more cohesive story, but it falters as its lead struggles to their footing.

The fourth episode is straightforward, with a small team of Jedi led by Master Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) and the baddie duo of Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and Qimir (Manny Jacinto) racing to get to the Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) first. The raised stakes are a nice change, and we get a little more character work fleshed out, but there are a few moments that will leave you shaking your head in disbelief.

Osha (Stenberg) is leaving Coruscant and letting the Jedi take the lead on finding her sister Mae. She bids Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) farewell and has no plans to let Master Sol know she’s leaving, noting she’s already caused him enough trouble.

The Jedi convene to figure out what to do about Mae’s mysterious master, with Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) once again worrying more about the outside perception of the Jedi’s failings than the actual failings themselves. We also find out she believes that a Jedi and not a Sith has trained Mae. These scenes feature a cameo from a prequel-era Jedi Master that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around.

Master Sol convinces Osha to join him and his team on their quest to find Master Kelnacca before Mae. She’s a pawn in the Jedi’s plan; the worst part is that she knows it and is still willing to go along with it. Little does she know what awaits her on Khofar.

On their trek to the Wookiee’s lair, Mae and Qimir’s dialogue reveals that neither of them has seen their master’s face, and that their ultimate goal is still unclear. It’s obvious that Mae’s trust in Qimir is waning, and her quest to please her master is beginning to waver.

As they grow nearer, Mae feigns the need to rest to regain her strength, and their exchange is telling. We find out that her final trial is called the “Final Lesson” and is one she will teach herself, and that “You will kill a Jedi without a weapon.”

Earlier in the episode, she refers to Osha as “Jedi Scum,” so could her final lesson be killing her sister? She’s not technically a Jedi, but what if the master identifies her as a Jedi? Maybe someone who she betrayed to become a Jedi? This might open some more possibilities as to who the identity of her master is. This could actually be some fun.

But when they start making things interesting and fun, they have to go and muck it all up.

As both parties get nearer to Master Kelnacca, the story goes sideways, and out of nowhere, Mae does a complete 180, traps Qimir in a snare, and informs him that she’s going to turn herself into the Jedi. It happens in the blink of an eye, and it just doesn’t work. One of my biggest complaints about this series so far is its inconsistent storytelling, and this is a prime example. I’m okay with the choice itself, but its execution is amateur at best.

If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I highly recommend you watch it before proceeding because I will spoil the hell out of things from here on out. Last warning… here we go.

When the “The Acolyte” trailers dropped, I was so excited to see a Wookiee Jedi in action. He looks like a complete badass, and I couldn’t wait to see what he could do with a lightsaber. Would his form be powerful as expected or would we see a more acrobatic Wookiee? Unfortunately, we’ll never have the chance to find out.

Mae ends up beating the Jedi to Master Kelnacca’s sanctuary, but as she rushes in, ready to confess her sins, she finds the Wookiee dead. A smoking lightsaber slash across his chest is all that remains from his assailant. Say what you will about why people don’t like this series, but again, for me, it’s story, story, story. Why would you tease the fans with a Wookiee Jedi and then do nothing with him? It makes no sense unless they are following the sequel trilogy formula of taking a cool idea but having more overall arc in mind. I wonder how much of the failure of this series simply boils down to that.

The episode closes strong with our first up-close view of the main baddie. The entrance is wicked, and I loved it, but the mask is a little goofy to be honest. It’s not menacing at all and serves no purpose that we know of. Like I said before, it’s a lot of recycled ideas that aren’t well executed, as I’ve said before.

“Day” is definitely an improvement but is still mired in weirdness that’s hard to explain. How can a series with a budget close to $200 million suffer from so many shortcomings? Why are performances from the leads all over the place? Why do sets look so cheap? These are legitimate questions, and I’d love to hear some answers from Disney and Lucasfilm. None of it makes sense for a show that’s been as heavily hyped as “The Acolyte.”

This episode does a good job of making you second-guess your previous theories about the main baddie. I hesitate to call them a Sith because it’s inferred they could be a Jedi and because our prequel era cameo character professes “the Sith have been extinct for a millennium” in “The Phantom Menace. Pssst, that’s a hint as to who it is.

My money was on Qimir and still is, but “Day” has me exploring other options, at least. It would be great if, in the last four episodes, they take everything we thought we knew in the first half of the season and completely turn it on its head. I’d be the first to applaud them and praise them, but I don’t see this series rising to that challenge.

Last but not least if I were Joonas Suotamo I would be one pissed off dude. He did a great job as Chewbacca in previous Star Wars films and earned his time to shine and they robbed him of it. Plain and simple. I can’t imagine any reasonable excuse to why they wouldn’t showcase the hell out of this character. Kelnacca could have become an instant classic character and they just tossed him away and it’s inexcusable.

While the fourth installment of “The Acolyte” isn’t as bright as its title suggests, but “Day” is an improvement that gives me hope that the best is yet to come.