THE ACOLYTE Episode 8 LIVE REACTION!! | Star Wars | Lucasfilm | Disney Plus 

Saddest part to me is that this episode gave the two story beats that should have been the basis of the show. Quimir exuded confidence except for the moment Vinestra sensed him. Then he was so shook he couldn’t get his helmet on fast enough. That should have been the show right there. No twins, just Quimir as the assassin, and Vinestra as the legendary Jedi with a secret. All of this set against the backdrop of a constantly lurking Plagueis. It could have been epic

Not all the way through yet but pausing to say that my respect for your opinion has increased tenfold. Honest, raw at times but full of integrity. None of us want to dislike The Acolyte but let’s critique sensibly and without agenda. Well done John.

Dont forget Darth Plaegas hiding in the cave closet like Chris Hansen from to catch a predator!!!!

My issues with the show can be summed up with how 11 Jedi have died and nobody cared. No disturbance in the Force, no funerals, no high council meeting, absolutely nothing.

In honor of Lee Jung-jae and the season finale of the show, here are four movies he's been in I recommend checking out! The Thieves New World Face Reader Assassination

So Vanestra, who's supposedly doing this big cover up, instantly tells Mae about Osha and it's then that she decides to talk to Yoda? To paraphrase Han Solo; that's not how cover ups work!

Yeap, couldn’t agree more with you rocha. And here i was thinking that fett was as low as it could get. The level of incompetence shown throughout this show is surreal. How do producers allow a show like this see the light of day. Is anyone even working? The writing is laughably bad, almost like it was on purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they greenlit season 2. Sw is in very bad hands, it is sad to see. Disney needs to fire kennedy and filoni, they need to start from scratch. Kinda what dc is doing with gunn. We’ve hit rock bottom.

I was yelling at my tv “why is Basil wrecking the ship?” Wtf was that? It wasn’t the end of the yelling at the tv for sure. Ocea just becoming a murderer out of nowhere? First Mae is evil, then she’s going to turn herself in, then three min later she’s killing a Jedi, then she’s good again then….my head hurts bro

This felt like a finale for a show missing 5-6 episodes. I thought as a last episode for a different show it could’ve worked. For what we got, none of the emotional beats hit.

Gotta love how they had that loving scene at the end where Mae sends her force-choking, murderous sister, Osha, off to join the bad guys. Like, WTF?!!!

Also you hit the nail on the head, I’m passionate. About Star Wars which is why myself and many others are upset about what they have done! I think it’s also why so many went and gave a poor review of this show. I get called a “hater” and berated when I point out things that did not work or that I didn’t like but if I didn’t love Star Wars I wouldn’t be bothering to write anything….the hate towards anyone being critical of this show is never talked about.

Rocha don’t let ignorance of others get to you bro. You’ve been fair and transparent in your reviews and I for one respect you for it bro. This show had more lows than highs and I’m a Star Wars fanatic. They need to focus making sure that the writing compliments this Ip we love. Right now they are painting a target on their back for all the haters to continue to throw darts at. I’m still optimistic that they can get back to formula. Peace to you brotha.

John " I never get angry" Rocha. Fucking love it

I just LOVE that thumbnail John you nailed it.

I suspect they put Plagueis in there to make it look like the force birth of Mae/Ocea gave him inspiration to create a perfect dark side being from the force….i hope not but that’s what I think.

I still have no idea how ALL the witches die

Yeah Rocha your right on all counts. The show had potential but just alot of head scratches in it. And most of the things being put out and your only really seeing it with Disney related stuff the animation side is getting better but the fact that anime, alot of Warner bros(not all), paramount your just seeing a difference the quality is just better and they are telling all kinds of stories just better and having a message as well. Doesn't make sense.

One unanswered question, how did Qimir meet Mae? Qimir had to be wondering around at the bottom of the mountain? How far could a 6 year old run? That’s a question to answer in season 1.

There is a comptele lack of leadership and competency at Lucasfilm, be it Kathleen Kennedy or Dave Feloni. The fact they deemed this show good enough to be shown to the public and did not order further script rewrites or reshoots (if any) is astounding. It is a mircale that we got something as good as Andor. For all the problems Marvel has been having, at least Kevin Feige is now taking action to address the declining quality by delaying upcoming projects likes of Daredevil and Brave new World until they are hopefully good enough.

Thanks!

I wish that they had introduced more elements of the senate and the Jedi confrontations into the story, cause that one actor who played the senator was really good. Despite the fact that the season finale was lackluster unfortunately.

John, I agree with you on how terrible the character development is. Whether it is Ahsoka, or Acolyte, the character development has seriously been lacking, while Andor in my opinion was right on point. I believe that Andor's strength lies in it's 12 episode arc. None of the other shows have complete arcs....they end at 8 episodes. Until Disney decides to have 12 episodes at no less then 50 minutes each, the rest of these shows will continue to struggle. I loved the fight scenes, and I do believe that this is the first time a Kyber crystal has been "bled" by a character 's pain , thus turning to the Dark side. A 15 minute show huh? 😂 No biggie! I still watched the whole thing. Take care!

Disney teased us like they are an onlyfans model … smh 180 million down the drain

The writing is the biggest problem with this show. You can see the writers pushing the characters through the plot rather than seeing the characters act naturally and organically

Idk if I understood wrong but this was not at all what came to mind when I hear a sith/dark side show I was expecting evil badass sith more explaining of the dark side the inner works of the sith not a teen twin drama

The show had some great ideas and the lightsaber fights were some of the best in all of Star Wars BUT this story was all over the place and I just felt empty at the end. Not that Jedi can’t have faults, but when Luke told the Emperor he was a Jedi like his father before him, this show makes you think that might not be such a great thing. Love your reaction videos!

I liked it. I knew the twins story was never going to appeal to me so I went into it to enjoy the rest of it which I did. I feel this was the closest to a four quadrant classic Star Wars story like the OT and prequels whereas Mando & Boba was more for older fans and Andor is for high brow fans. This was the only live action Star Wars show that reintroduced the entire essence of Star Wars to a new crowd which the other shows didn't do.

could you not be surprised by the last episode ending falling flat on its face again. such a pity for a show like this. Next show now.

Say it loud Rocha!!!!! This finale was HOT GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry bro but I don’t need to watch every episode of a show to know if it is trash. This was the perfect example of how your statement is incorrect.

What happened to Qmir’s bracelets. In episode 5 he was breaking light sabers all the time and in the finale he left them behind

Why was Plagueis peeking out the Cave like He was "Darth Creeper"? that was lame lol

At the end of all of this season , I was left thinking . What was the point of all this story… other than a few cool shots . I was so underwhelmed

So why did Sol feel the need to go back to brendock, when he could have just waited at the previoius planet for the jedi to show up. There was mention about the vergence again but that never paid off.

Darth Plagueis… how did you not know that was Plagueis?!

I thought it was a relatively satisfying conclusion that tied up its major threads while teasing at a wider future. I can find fault in its execution, but for its runtime and shallow narrative setup, it came together rather well

So the season should have been three episodes and now the real story can start lol

Star Wars has taught me that the Jedi failing to be the embodiment of good is the reason for evereything bad that has happpened in the galaxy. They dared to have flaws so things just will go down the worst possible path every time.

It’s got elements of a really cool show but overall, seemed like they rushed the script and went straight to filming.

These seemed to mix two stories into one for no reason. Theres Qumir story and the twins and they mxed both of them for no reason. Think about it how/why Qumir found Mae and trained her? How does that make sense?

I thought it was "fine". A C+ finale for a B- show. A few cool moments. A few cool performances. Mostly underwhelming storytelling for the A plot (Osha-Mae) with questionable decisions and flimsy motivations. Would have liked to see another bloodbath with all those nameless Jedi going to Brendock. Would have liked more payoff for the Vernestra/Qimir history. Would like to see a season 2, but only if they take the valid criticisms about the storytelling and directing to heart. There's clearly more good story to tell, but they NEED to tell it better.

Great show I agree with you 100% Story was just all over the place and confusing as hell

I have come to realize when it comes to Star Wars, if 50% of the fandom like the show / movie, then Lucasfilm is doing well. George Lucas himself could not please everyone with a RU-vid channel or Instagram account who have their own very specific and unrealistic expectations.

I was never sold on their reunion. The Sol vs Qamir fight was pretty awesome. The bleeding of the Kyber crystal and Plagueis was awesome. But overall, this episode was underwhelming.

With you all the way on this one. None of it made sense to me , character motivations chopping and churning

I liked it through episode 5. They killed the best characters off and kept ones no one cared about alive.

Why didn’t The Force Awakens get this kind of criticism? Still so many things were unexplained from that film and the plot was driven by coincidence and convenience…Enjoyed The Acolyte personally (except for the mind wipe) but similar to TPM, the focus was on not on the elements that worked. Have no issue with quick turns to the dark side, ROTJ implied that was possible (Luke would turn if he got angry enough?), the dark side is a switch that goes off in your head, like a drug kicking in.

Rebecca Henderson is the spouse of Leslie Headland Maybe the series would have worked better if it was animated

All of these Jedi are the most unstable Jedi we've seen in Star Wars Other than Anakin. 100 years ahead of the prequels and they seem more out of touch then the Jedi from the prequels. We should have seen a better Jedi then what we saw in the prequels. These were worse. And your right John. I shouldn't have to read an article or an interview to know what's going on in this show. This thing was all over the place. $180,000,000, and I could never really see it. I think I'm done with Star Wars for a while. I'll come back to it in a few years and see if anything has gotten better. I'll still watch Georges Star Wars every year, but this Disney stuff just seems like high priced fan fiction. And in many cases not done as well as the low-priced ones.

Why is Sol in love with a child?

Qimir couldn’t beat Sol after killing a group of 10 Jedi and beating Sol in episode 5?

I gave the show until the third episode. It didn’t work for me, so I just quit watching it. I think that was a reasonable amount of time for the series to get me invested.

I had no idea about the wookie using their claws! That would have actually been interesting. Vanestra is a nasty piece of work! I basically checked out on the SOL character around episode 6 but he was murdered without being able to explain himself and then tossed away like garbage by Vanestra. Completely wasted/unneeded cameos….this must be the tragedy in the tragedy of DP the wise 😂 why?!? Why do it? Save him for something relevant, not to shoehorn him in here to have him witnessing a Vergence birth and give him the idea perhaps? Meeeeeh. Utter waste.

Poorly writen overall, but as a finale, it pretty much all had to end something either like this (given what the other 7 set up), or others dead who "know" a Sith surfaced. I wonder if the writing was hampered by notes coming at a bad time in the production (i.e., a pivot(s) that would have required going back to the drawing board without the actual time to do so to make a satisfying and cohesive narrative). That said, there are several things the show gave us that we believe we were owed more about, that aren't really that. Sure we don't how Mother Aniseya used the Vergence to create the "twins" but if we really think about it, IF she used the Force/Thread to do so, what can anyone tell us that will explain anything more than: *A powerful enough force-user went to the place with the right conditions to achieve this.* What people are honestly curious about is what was involved: was cloning involved, was some other science involved, was a Sith text or actual Sith involved, or was it just some ceremonial spell performed by Mother Aniseya to put her life essence in Mother Koril? With Bazil, I thought he was just preventing Sol from recklessly damaging the ship pushing through the planetary ring asteroids, not taking Mae's side. With the choice at the end to leave Mae behind: we forget Qimir is not a good dude. He is not interested in Mae any longer who failed his tests, was willing to betray and escape him, etc. He gave a choice based on making Osha agree to specific terms so he gets her as a proven acolyte. Osha's giving in to hate and killing a Jedi with the Force instead of a weapon cemented her in the trial, and her aura "bled" the saber's crystal. He met her requirement and Mae is something he no longer had interest in. The mind wiping was way too fast, even as a convenient development, but I guess with a willing participant it doesn't take much. Either way, the show was always going to end with [virtually] no one around the Jedi knowing that Sith are a thing. Understandable with the frustrations and it is still badly written, but what could be answered (outside of setup for a second season they will probably never get) was answered. And ultimately, this was a show about Jedi at a time when their flaws led to coverups to keep their station and clean image.

Seeing Roca sour and express negative opinions is telling how bad Acolyte has been

I am with you all the way...I could really use a mind-wipe for this whole series.haha

I remember how excited I was for this show when I heard words like Jedi, Sith, Murder and Trinity is a Jedi. Now I'm so disappointed.

Great podcast! I enjoyed parts of the episode but overall very strange writing.

Sadly this show felt like The Matrix sequels. Great concepts, amazing fight choreography, but very poorly executed writing that damages the reputation of the franchise.

These last two episodes are condemning to not just these few Jedi but the Jedi Order overall from this point in SW history all the way through prequels apparently. I think this episode goes beyond flawed. One huge cover up already and then a murder spree investigation in secret, and then scapegoating Sol to create another cover up. That’s years of corruption.

After watching, I have to admit that Sol is one of the most tragic figures in Star Wars history. If you follow his arc, see the depth of his emotion and the pain created by his misguided intentions, you cannot deny it

Osha and mae were supposed to be the main character and they were one of the least interesting parts of the show

The resolution to Osha’s story never came across as ‘empowering’, given that tragedy, betrayal, grief and revenge produced such a ghastly outcome for all involved (bar Qimir). There certainly wasn’t a girl power angle to it either.

I feel like Yoda knew about Green Lady training Smilo Ren and thought he was dead too. She is going to tell him he is alive. But also, who the fuck cares. This show is bad fan flick that wasted $180 million dollars.

Not the best sw live action show but have to say, ep 5,6 and 8 had some really cool fights and some interesting scenes. when we got a quick shot of that cave dweller and the little dude in the chair at the end, ma pants came of lube every where. So good sooo good.

What a whelming show

This show was garbage.

The showrunner is always to blame. 💯

Yeah I'm upset this show was as flacid as it was (guess it needs some Joy Mode!). Early on I figured this is what we were gonna get and I agreed with your sentiment that we need to watch all the episodes before we can judge it fully because that's also how I feel... but my pattern recognition skills for other D+ and SW content made me think this would be how we would feel at the end of it... a whole bunch of half baked ideas and a whole bunch of poorly written situations.

I really, really have given this show the benefit of the doubt. I have waited till the end to give my opinion and I agree with you John! This show is awful! It wasn’t believable and the story was uninteresting. A real disappointment! The fight scenes were good but that was about it. The sith just peeking through the rocks just made my eyes roll so hard. The end was unsatisfying. No season 2 please. Time to move on from the 8 episodes too. Stories can’t develop like they should. Only Andor can make the 8 episodes work.

How the hell is this 1 hr 30 after this intro

Yup, this season finale “wrapped up” the main storyline. And the main storyline was the worst part of the show! It was horrible and didn’t make any sense.

This show deserves the Willow treatment. Complete ERASE from existence. Utter embarrasment.

Such a waste of time show, killed all the characters that were interesting and so many dumb/inconsistent moments. My 2nd least favourite Star Wars series only Obi-wan is worse because of how much it disappointed me.

Algorithm comment

12:40 Guy, you should have known why the wookie Jedi became a recluse just by watching the show. That is what visual storytelling is but unfortunately modern audience need everything to be explained to them because their brains aren't wired for nuanced or creative thinking.

I hope at this point we're good to be done with this show. No holding off judgment until we've seen all of season 2, no more "let's see where it's going," this is enough. It was bad from episode 1. Here's hoping Skeketon Crew pulls off a palette cleanse and flies past low expectations, I'm ready for it.

How can I agree with everything Rocha says and still find him so unlikable 😂😂😂

I can’t accept this stuff as cannon. Sorry

1st

This is just a circle jerk of hate. Some people like that I guess.

SW again...she need no training and can use force choke

Oy! It was so blah. In every other episode, I was able to find the meaning behind all the odd directing/writing choices. This finale just tanked. Boo! Hiss! Boo! 👎👎 2 thumbs down.☹️

I'm giving this a dislike. So you know, because likes/dislikes are hidden.

This soy boy I swear but I agree this show sucked lol

Haven’t seen one single episode of this show for 100 diff reasons, Yet I feel like I’ve watched it at the same time 😂. Anyways now it’s time for u to watch a REAL show John. Attack on Titan 🫡