retainer
Disney
Even though The Acolyte has a pretty good review, probably as good as Ahsoka but not as good as The Mandalorian and Andor, I still didn’t like the entire central premise of this episode.
This is not a spoiler, as before the show even came out, a TV commercial and an interview with the star herself confirmed that Amandla Stenberg is playing the Force-wielding twins on the show. Here’s what she said to The Electric Playground:
“I play twins in the show. Their names are Osha and Mai and they lean towards different sides of the Force. Although that’s debatable and hopefully will be debated after you watch the show. Mai is on a path of revenge – she’s on a path of war. Something that happened in childhood separated these twins and now Mai is out for revenge. Osha, who is a mechanic, and who used to be part of the Jedi Order but was abandoned as a padawan, is accused of seeking revenge and has to defend herself while also discovering that her twin sister is still alive.”
I…don’t like it so far. I don’t think it worked well in the first two episodes, and I don’t know what it’ll look like going forward, but I think I should give it another chance.
There are a few problems with this one. The show tries to pull a “gotcha” in the first episode by having May chase down and kill JD (Carrie-Anne Moss, who should be in some flashbacks so she’s not completely wasted). Then, we see a happy-go-lucky, much-less-murderous-looking Osha in the next scene, who is arrested for the crime and everyone quickly figures out that the twin sister she thought was dead is actually alive, and now hunting JD. It feels like a kind of cheap trick.
retainer
Disney
One little thing that really annoys me, and again, it seems like they had to bend over backwards to make this concept work, is that both sisters have the same hair, with red braids arranged in the same way (Mai’s braids are longer at the sides, I think). As I watched, I thought “oh, maybe Mai is purposely disguising herself as Osha” except no, it turns out that Mai doesn’t even know Osha is alive. But still, the same hair, adds to the confusion and gimmick that everyone thinks Osha is the killer initially. I guess it also helps to change wardrobe during filming…
I also hope that the story doesn’t go in exactly the direction I think it is going, i.e.:
- The four Jedi being pursued, including her old master, have some level of responsibility for the fire that killed their family and separated the two girls. And/or they purposely left May to die, thinking she was bad for starting the fire while saving her sister.
- Osha eventually convinces Mae to turn from the dark side so they can be sisters again (especially since this all seems like revenge for the sister she now knows is alive?).
Again, it’s only two episodes, but I’m hoping things get better from here, since I didn’t like the double premiere, and the twin thing just felt annoying and forced. But we’ll see how that goes.
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