Episode 4 of Star Wars: The Acolyte fills time with a walk in the forest

After last week's episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte took a detour with a flashback to Mae and Osha's childhood, we're back to the present day and the real storyline in Episode 4, "Day"; our heroes are still trying to stop Mae from killing Jedi and we're all still wondering after the identity of Mae's mysterious Sith lord.

Mae has traveled to the planet of Khofar, the hope of Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca, hoping to kill him. Meanwhile, at the Jedi Temple, they decide to send a strike team to the planet to capture Mae and bring her to justice.

A big thing this episode has going for it is that the bad guy finally does something. Whether he's a Sith, a Kylo Ren cosplayer or just a guy in a helmet isn't yet clear, but he's made the decision to reveal himself to the Jedi and even fight them. Who is he though? If he's Qimir wearing a helmet then that will be something of a let-down. It's the obvious choice, and the events of this episode make it even more likely, as Qimir is nowhere to be seen when the Sith villain shows himself. Qimir seems to swing between being a sly, cunning villain and a bumbling idiot, which feels like a red herring. If Qimir is the villain, the fact he killed Kelnacca seems odd, since he set that task for Mae. A theory I saw online suggests that the Sith lord could be Mother Koril, who may have a thirst for revenge after what happened during the flashback episode, though why she would put Mae through so much is unclear.

Review: Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 4, "Day"

Speaking of Mae, a big problem here is the sudden character change she undergoes. She's spent the last few episodes killing off Jedi, and even tried to kill Osha as a child, but all of a sudden she decides to give up on her mission to be with her sister again, and is even willing to turn herself in to the Jedi. Family is important, I guess, but this transformation came out of nowhere. She's pretty much ruined her life already by killing Indara, and will likely spend decades in a Republic prison for her crimes. All her motivation has been revenge, and now it's right in front of her and she's giving up.

I can understand why she would want to be with Osha again, but that should be woven in better than this, giving her time to change, to waver in her conviction. Why not try and turn her sister to the Dark Side as well? Is her training so bad that she can just give up on her mission so easily?

Despite Disney telling us that there would be no fan service cameos in The Acolyte, this episode included the legend that is Ki-Adi Mundi, a member of the Jedi council we met in the prequel trilogy. It's only natural he would appear in an episode where a Wookiee was attacked. Perhaps this series is really the story of how he developed such a fondness for the inhabitants of Kashyyk.

This episode features a lot of walking through somewhat dull-looking jungle environments, but we do get a sense of the show's potential, and what's holding it back. There could be a decent enough mystery plot here. The problem is that a lot of time is spent with the wheels spinning, filling time with pointless conversations and wandering. This episode was a slim 28 minutes without credits, which is short for a Disney+ show. That reveals a problem: there just isn't enough story here to fill eight episodes. It could easily have been cut down to six without any harm done. The fact that The Acolyte can devote an entire episode to an unnecessary flashback proves it isn't fighting for time. Beneath the awkward dialogue and lackluster story, there is something waiting to be uncovered, and if it was made to work harder with a tighter plot and better pacing, it would be a lot more entertaining.

As it is, we're at the halfway point of the series and haven't really got anywhere yet. Large parts of the "mystery" were obvious from the start, killing the tension, and I can't see what's left to keep the plot turning over for another four episodes, unless it tries to fill time with more flashbacks. It feels like you're waiting for the hyperdrive to kick in, but it never does.

What's wrong with The Acolyte

Like so many episodes of streaming shows that don't follow the episodic format of network TV, "Day" doesn't accomplish much. It's part filler, part getting people where they need to be, without giving much in the way of entertainment on its own merits.

Maybe the second half of the show will be able to pull things together, now that the big bad has revealed himself and Mae's character has taken a turn, but either way it's a waste of a lot of time and potential up to this point.

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