For all its faults, The Acolyte has been refreshing the live-action side of the Star Wars universe in a big way. After an uneven two-episode premiere that successfully took fans to a previously unexplored era of the Star Wars timeline, episode 3 has dared to expand the Force-related mythology with a few bold swings. This week, the story finally gains some true momentum, and new twists make us rethink the central conflict.
It increasingly feels like the first three episodes were just the tip of a very large iceberg, as the basic pitch that Lucasfilm had been pushing for most of the pre-release marketing campaign is steadily going out the window. While most of The Acolyte's DNA clearly belongs to George Lucas' divisive (but recently revalued) Star Wars prequels, we could safely say that creator and showrunner Leslye Headland took some pages right out of Rian Johnson's book; the plot doesn't stay still for too long, and points of view and seemingly unimportant character instants are key to understanding what's really going on.
