Star Wars The Acolyte: S1E5: Night

"Night" features the best lightsaber action since "Revenge of the Sith" and raises the stakes as the Jedi are confronted by a darkness they never expected.

I considered not reviewing the fifth episode of "The Acolyte" this week as I am on the road and time is short. Then I watched "Night," and there was no chance I wouldn't toss some thoughts down because it was a terrific episode featuring some of the best Star Wars action Disney has produced since its acquisition of the saga.

This episode is filled with the best lightsaber action since "Revenge of the Sith," hands down. It's fast, ferocious, and fun as hell, and it will leave you begging to see more. One of my biggest knocks on the films and TV series so far was their lack of good lightsaber choreography, and I wondered how something that should be so simple has been botched from the beginning.

What Leslye Headland and crew do here is nothing short of amazing. This is the first time "The Acolyte' has felt like it belonged in the Star Wars universe, and I hope it continues. My fear is that Disney has been good about giving you a good episode in the middle and then letting the story limp to its compulsion with a whimper. It shouldn't be the case with this series, as creator Leslye Headland and Disney realized what's at stake. I feel like "The Acolyte" is a make-or-break series for some Star Wars fans, and until now, it's done nothing to help its cause.

"Night" changes everything.

"Night" picks up right where "Day" left off, with Osha (Amandla Stenberg) waking up and hearing the distant hiss and clash of lightsabers, then trips over the body of dead Jedi, and then we see what is going down on Khofar. The Stranger (Manny Jacinto) is taking on multiple Jedi at once, dispatching them with ease and such fluidity that it's clear he's been practicing his art for quite some time. At one point, he even makes a Jedi kabob as he stabs one, and the Force pulls another onto the same blade.

During the fight, the Jedi are baffled as their lightsaber keeps shorting out when they touch the metal of The Stranger's (gauntlet and helmet. For folks familiar with Star Wars material outside the realm of just the movies, cortosis is a metal that can absorb lightsaber blows and even short out the weapon for a short time. I loved this deep cut, and it shows that the filmmakers and writers have done at least a little of their homework.

After injuring Yord (Charlie Barnett), he sets his sights on Osha, stalking her through the forest, finding her, and then hurling his lightsaber at her head. She is saved by Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), who deflects the blade, and as it returns, it cuts three trees in half. However, the trees don't obey the laws of gravity as they topple over in the wrong direction.

This leaves Master Sol and The Stranger alone to face each other. They obviously have a past that the Jedi's unable to put his finger on as The Stranger chides him, "You don't remember me?"  with the Jedi responding that he senses something familiar. Sol notes that his opponent carries a Jedi weapon but is no Jedi.

As their fight continues, Sol asks The Stranger what kind of master hides his face from his pupil and gets a reply of "You tell me," striking a nerve with the Jedi Master. This once again confirms that what we think we know about Sol's past on Brendok might not be what we think it is, and The Stranger is intent on using this knowledge to undermine the Jedi Master in the end.

But his focus isn't just on Sol. After knocking him to the ground, The Stranger happens upon Jecki after she subdues Mae (Stenberg) and attacks her with a fury of strikes the Padawan masterfully blocks. At one point, she even wields two lightsabers in a fantastic sequence. But just when it looks like the Padawan will take out Mae's master, he disappears again. He focuses on his fleeing apprentice and ensuring she can't tell any of his secrets.

He finds her, but before he can strike his killing blow, Sol Force pushes him back and then Jecki joins the fray with both Jedi taking on The Stranger. They have the dark Force user on his heels, and when he disrupts Sol's lightsaber with a headbutt, this leads to one of my favorite scenes in the episode.

With this lightsaber unable to power up, Sol engages The Stranger in hand-to-hand combat and literally kicks the crap out of him. I've loved seeing the Jedi use fighting techniques other than just wielding a lightsaber, grounding them with a sense of reality.

As he knocks his opponent to a lower level, his Padawan continues the attack with a series of lightning-fast strikes that break The Stranger's helmet. His lightsaber has a shorter one hidden inside its hilt, and he uses it to strike down the Padawan. As Jecki falls to the ground, Sol realizes The Stranger is who they've known as Qimir.

In disbelief, he asks him what he wants and simply says he wants freedom. The freedom to 'wield my power the way I like without having to answer to Jedi like you." After Mae's failure, he's desperate for a pupil, an Acolyte, and lets Sol know he has to kill them all now that they've seen his face.

This momentary break in the action gives us just enough time to catch our breath before we witness one of the most savage deaths we've seen on screen. The Stranger continues his monologue because that's what all good villains do, right? We finally get to see a two-dimensional Jedi finally have a moment of awesomeness, but it's fleeting.

As The Stranger talks to Sol and readies to kill Mae, Yord appears out of nowhere to scoop up The Stranger's helmet and use it to disable his lightsaber. That is a very cool move from a very boring Jedi, but his time in the spotlight is brief. The Stranger spins him around, gaining the advance and breaking the Jedi's neck before casting him aside like trash. There's no blood, and it's not particularly graphic, but the savagery is jarring.

We're treated to more hand-to-hand combat between Sol and The Stranger and it's beautiful. I could watch an episode of nothing but this and be satisfied beyond belief. Sol is one pissed-off Jedi and kicks the shit out of The Stranger, but just as he's about to strike a killing blow with his saber, Osha stops him.

As the duo are face to face, The Stranger alludes to Osha that she doesn't know the whole story, and Sol says his mind is twisted by darkness. The Stranger responds, "I've accepted my darkness. What have you done with yours?" And as the awesome moments keep mounting up, they have to go screw it all up.

Osha uses her droid Pip as a light to draw in the umbramoths to take out The Stranger. This is such a baffling story choice. Sol just kicked the snot out of The Stranger and had him weaponless. They would have easily taken him into custody, and that would have been it. Or they could have had another excellent battle and somehow, he escapes. Instead, we get umbramoths whisking him away like flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz."

This happened because we spent almost an entire episode with little seen or heard from Osha and Mae. They had to wedge their lead character back into the story, and instead of finding a novel cool way to do it, they came up with this. I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the best episode of the series, and it was the episode where it wasn't focused on Osha and Mae. That storyline is the one I'm the least invested in and find the hardest to watch.

Osha confronts Sol about what The Stranger refers to, and just as she and we are about to find out, Mae zaps him with a stunning shot, silencing him. This leads to a pointless gabfest between the two sisters that ends with Mae assuming Osha's identity to expose the Jedi for what happened on Brendock. She even gives herself a makeshift haircut with a lightsaber, and yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds.

As the episode closes, The Stranger is alive and well. Sol finds "Osha" waiting on him. As they board the ship, Bazil (Hassan Taj) sniffs the air, sensing something isn't as it seems. The Stranger stumbles up on the real Osha, where her sister left her in the woods, healing her wounds and covering her.

This episode raised so many questions, and I'm loving them. Is Osha the pupil The Stranger truly wanted, and was he only using Mae to get to her? Will he reveal Sol's true past, and how will it affect Ohsa and the rest of the Jedi? I hope they take their time and let the story reveal itself in these final few episodes because I want to know all of it, especially everything regarding The Stranger.

We all knew The Stranger/Qimir was the dark Force user (note that I'm not saying Sith?) and Mae's master. It was telegraphed from the moment he appeared on screen, and I thought it was some very lazy storytelling. Now I wonder if they didn't care because Jacinto is so damn charismatic as Star Wars latest baddie that it doesn't matter.

Jacinto better stick around for a while because The Stranger is a great character and his performance is stunningly good. Even killing Jedi after Jedi, he’s still so damn likable. It’s also clear he has some sort of a connection to Mae and Osha, but what could it be? Could he be a failed first attempt by the twins’ mothers, basically their brother, and was cast out?

My only complaint was the mask. Why did we have to have another villain in a mask. I thought the mask was dumb as heck, but we learn that it actually serves a purpose, unlike Kylo Ren's in the sequel trilogy.

Speaking of Kylo Ren, could we be witnessing the origins of the Knights of Ren. Could he be the first Ren? The Stranger fits the look, doesn't refer to himself as a Sith, and the fact that Kylo's music played at the end when he's with Osha could be a clue. The only issue is that I don't think it fits established timelines, but as we've seen earlier, altering timelines is something this series is OK with.

Jung-jae is still brilliant as Master Sol, but I worry that they've set up an amazing Jedi only for us to watch his past paint him as something other. It will have to be something significant because, at this point, he's one of my favorite portrayals of a Jedi on screen.

Keen was spectacular in this episode, and I hate that she's gone just as we get to see Jecki become a complete badass. Her action scenes are amazing and some of the best in the episode. This character could have had some legs and been an excellent bridge between Sol's past and present, but that reality will never be unfortunately.

"Night" is easily the best episode of "The Acolyte" thus far and shows that when the creative team wants to, they can wow the fans. Now that we're past the halfway point, let's hope they've found their stride and "The Acolyte" goes from forgettable to a fantastic fan favorite.