From the start, The Acolyte has positioned itself as something brand new for Star Wars. Yes, it has all the hallmarks of the franchise – Jedi wielding lightsabers, the Force, and complicated Master-Padawan relationships. But it's also set 100 years before the prequels on the Star Wars timeline, is billed as a murder mystery, and promises to investigate the question of power and who can wield it, rather than the binary light vs. dark that much of Star Wars revolves around. You might, then, be expecting a Jedi show in the vein of Andor, Star Wars' gritty political thriller.
Ultimately, though, the first four episodes of The Acolyte play more like Andor meets Obi-Wan Kenobi. The new show revolves around dark sider Mae (an excellent Amandla Stenberg), who has a past with Lee Jung-jae's kindly Jedi Master Sol. Jedi are being killed off one by one, and it's up to Sol and a handful of others to get to the bottom of the crime spree.
