Anyone else skipping the show and just watching Dan’s reviews?

My biggest problem with these Disney+ shows is the length. We get an hour experience from something like House of the Dragon. I feel like these Disney+ should be at the level of HBO because of the intellectual property behind it, but instead they are these shallow shows that have zero character development and just don’t get it done.

So many of these Star Wars TV shows feel artificially drawn out and probably would work as a much tighter / leaner 2+ hour movie.

Dan, I don't think most of us consider you a "reaction guy" in the pejorative sense like a lot of freebooters and reactionary critics. I consider you the chart and critical thinking guy.

Lee jung-jae is single handedly carrying the entire show on his back..

The sudden change from Mae is completely jarring. She called them jedi scum and was hunting the wookie jedi, then 7 minutes later she wants to turn on her master of 16 years, turn herself in, and go to prison. Whole episode is a snoozefest and they end it so abrubtly as soon as it gets interesting. I can’t tell if its just horrible acting (besides Sol), terribly written, or a combination of both but the show is laughably bad

We’re halfway through the season, and what have we learned? Not much. What has happened? Not a lot. What do we know about these characters? Not much. The overwhelming feeling? Dissatisfied, and underwhelmed.

I'm not at all interested in watching the show but I'll watch these reviews cause Dan's reviews are just a delight.

The big bad will be her mom so that she can say "No... I am your mother"... calling it now.

Its simple. Their mother is not dead. The Witch mother is the sith master

It's not great and like Kenobi, at this point, it should've been a movie.

I have no confidence in the writing. Besides Andor, most Star Wars shows their biggest weakness is writing. The dialogue is so dumb down that it is awful at times. I have no faith that it will turn it around.

i’m losing interest in these star wars shows. you can’t put out only mid to bad shows for years and expect me to keep caring. wake me up when something as good as andor drops.

we are 4 episodes in and I cant fathom how they spent this amount of money on this show. It looks like a low budget CW show.

I really wish they had made this show an actual mystery rather than a “mystery box”. An actual linear Jedi detective story, let’s say about Sol and Jecki investigating the mysterious murder of either a single Jedi or perhaps two would have been so unique and compelling (obviously if the pay off were done well). But as we reach the halfway point of Acolyte with only expanding questions I’m really pessimistic the payoff will stick the landing.

I don’t think anybody was “fatally offended” by force using witches. The biggest complaint I saw/read was bad writing and things not making sense in 3rd episode as well as not very good acting in the last few episodes.

Murder mistery in Star Wars? You know who should have directed this? Rian Fucking Johnson😂

Wookie jedi!! aaaaan he's dead

With House of the Dragon and The Boys ain't no way I'm wasting life watching this. So thanks for the reviews Dan, keep'em coming!

Comparing this show and its giant budget vs Godzilla Minus One shows that Lucasfilm and Disney are burning through money as they suffer from creative bankruptcy.

Man Lucasfilm is such a mess. They need to take a 5 year (at least) break from all tv and movies. Get an actually good writers room and plan. Build up a tiny bit of goodwill.

People don't generally have problems with Force Witches. Dathomir witches have been a thing for literally decades. It's _everything else_ that's the problem. It's the laziness and disregard for established lore. Anakin's birth being just one of several. They literally changed the lore of Ki-Adi Mundi and the Cerean species _during_ the livestream of Star Wars Theory's watchalong. It just shows you they haven't done their homework. They don't care. It rubs people the wrong way that nothing seems to matter to them. How are we supposed to be invested when they clearly aren't?

I've seen people do this dance with so many mystery box shows where they're willing to "give it a chance" as it plays out and it almost never turns out good. At what point do people just begin to clock mystery box as a red flag?

Dan, you keep it real and professional. You da man

I’m frustrated because I want to love this show.

The so called "streaming era" does not justify a episode that short for a 8 episode show.

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS…..?!?

Dan, you continue to demonstrate why your voice and opinion is so trusted. With all the critical noise for the Star Wars franchise, and as a fan of the original trilogy, your insights are always refreshing and fair.

Acolyte is Bantha Poodoo

Every critic wants to dismiss the pandering and focus on the bad writing. But, no critic wants to correlate the bad writing with the writers' focus on pandering. Look at Last Jedi. The focus wasn't on writing well, it was focused on writing subversion. Coincidence? No. Priorities.

I'm sorry but, what past projects have ever made the dark side vs light side shades of gray?? The Original Trilogy? No The prequels? No The Disney Seuels? Nope Rouge One/Andor? No, the force isn't really a part of these stories The Mandalorian? No, the force was barely even brought up besides Grogu's powers Book of Boba Fett? Nope, again really nothing about the force Kenobi? Nah that was pretty much still Light Side vs Dark Side Ahsoka? Nope, still Light side vs Dark Side. Even all the animated series are still Light vs Dark side. That's what Star Wars is about...

The witches of Dathomir are canon. This is something different and worse

I instantly felt like the bugs were set up. Next episode, I fully expect an escape scene where someone leads the bad guys through that area and sets off the bugs to keep the bad guys at bay.

I dont think the Mae turn is out of character or even surprising, it makes perfect sense. For 20 years she thought her sister was dead, everything she has done was to avenge her sister but she realizes her sister is alive (and almost shot her 2 weeks ago) and i think that is enough to make her reconsider some things. BUT ALSO- it seems like they are setting up for Osha to turn Bad and Mae to be good. I was a little surprised throughout the flashback episode to see Osha being so sullen and Mae being so nice and well adjusted. Maybe Maes master was just using her to get to Osha this whole time? Did anyone else think it was wierd that Osha tortures the butterfly a little bit first before letting it go, but then she freaks out at Mae for doing the same thing?

Mae didnt start the fire. It was always burning

If the Sith reveal turns out to either be apothecary dude or the horned mother from episode 3 I’m gonna be really disappointed. But I’m actually drinking some copium hoping that it’s gonna be Carrie Anne Moss.

I gave up on Star Wars after Episode 9, which has to rank as one of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had at the cinema. Looking at the reviews and feedback of subsequent shows, I don't think I've missed out on much!

So let me get this straight, the twins keep the same hairstyle for all their lives while thinking the other dead?!? No changes in styles whatsoever?!? So by this logic, I should still be rocking a high top fade forever😂😂😂😂😂

That scar on Master Torbon's face after the fire suggests that we're likely going back to the fire scene.

I like that you are giving them the benefit of the doubt. I don't have that trust but I do enjoy hearing your positivity. I usually like weekly releases, but I do think this show would've been better served released all at once. Right now. Its frustrating to watch because of the pacing.

"TV show quality on a blockbuster budget!"

It feels like a lot of these Disney Plus Star Wars shows were supposed to be movies. Book of Bobba Fett had its runtime padded with half a season of The Mandalorian, but Obi-Wan and The Acolyte are stuffed with so many silly bits that could, and should, have been edited out. There's just so much filler, it's hard to understand why they didn't punch up, or simply add, some subplots.

It isn't a problem with witches in general that people have, Dathomir Night sisters have been a thing for years and their magic is very visual and clearly dark side based but with a sense of altruism, so already you have aliens which are cool and then flashy magic powers which are also very cool when executed well. This compared to the witches we keep getting presented are primarily just human witches that draw circles on the floor and chant and make vague curses that are in no way flashy that could slot into any other Disney tale about witches, I literally wouldn't be surprised is one of them turns around and says "toil and trouble boil and bubble" lol

Dan, you didn't mention that Episode 3 also breaks Canon with the Conception of May and OSHA. Remember when in The Phantom Menace, Anikin was conceived by the Force? The whole Mediclorions that George Lucas established? Well he was seen as the Chosen one to bring balance by Qui Gan Gin and the Jedi Counsel to some extent. But with these witches, it makes it less unique. It's why Qui Gan Gin Saw Anikin as unique because Unusual phenomenons like that don't happen. It's been established in Canon. So when you do that, you're going to get the ire of Fans unless you have a very good explanation on why it doesn't lesson Anikin being the Chosen one. But another thing that's alienating to fans is the depiction of The Jedi themselves. No one said that the Jedi were perfect. Some like Mace Windu have that ignorance that taint the Jedi's Reputation. Here's the thing, I don't mind being challenged morally about the Jedi and how their ridged ways were their own downfall. It's like one of my favorite games in the last five years Ghost of Tsushima. Spoilers if you haven't played the game. In Ghost of Tsushima you play Jin Saki who's molded into a Samurai who believes in their Busedo Code. One of those codes are no dirty tactics like killing enemies when their heads are turned. However, the fight the Mongols who break them and win by eliminating a lot of Samurai. Jin realizes that they can't when the war the samurai way. So he has to deviate from the Samurai path and fight them dirty. At no point did it villainize the Samurai. The Mongols started the war with the Samurai on their own land, lines, and home. The Mongols are in the wrong. If the story was well The Samurai are the antagonist so they need to be eliminated, people would be pissed, Japanese people would view it as offensive to Japanese culture. They're already pissed off at AC Shadow. So it's no different here. Challenging people's perception of the Jedi is one thing. But trying to villainize them and make these Witches who were in the wrong the entire time, that's when you just cross the line. You don't do that. You don't alienate fans who have been there since 1977 and George Lucas Canon. That's disrespecting the source material. Shouldn't there be a rule where if you're new to Star Wars, you have to Watch every single Episode 1-6, The Clone Wars, Read Timothy Dalton's novel, play KOTOR or anything related to Prequels not only to appreciate SW, but to have a clear concous on your own vision of SW knowing that you shouldn't deviate from Canon? That's the problem with SW now. You have to care enough to make sure it doesn't alienate fans. Challenge our perspective. Do that. But don't deviate from Canon is what I'm saying. So that should be enough for you and hopefully you don't care about the woke culture either. So there it is. There's my answer.

Dan's false plan idea is beyond the combined Acolyte writer's abilities.

How they spent $180+ million dollars on this show is insane. When you look at the amount of money per minute, Disney seems to be trying to beat their own record for burning cash as quickly as possible.

My feeling after every episode so far is "well, I didn't hate that". Writing is definitely suspect. Direction is pretty good. The show looks better than Ahsoka or Kenobi.

I'm not watching the show at all, only absorbing it through reviews and breakdowns and ironically its really fun and interesting this way haha

Yeah, I was really disappointed with not seeing more Carrie Ann Moss. Her death was so out of the blue. This looks like Disney is checking boxes just to have more "content" published. Are we sure this is not written by AI?

They have once again made a long, slow paced, movie that they just chopped up into bits to make episodes.

How do you spend $180 million and wind up with a show that has pretty equivalent writing, SLIGHTLY better visuals, and SLIGHTLY better acting than a fan film? Maybe Dan's right and this thing turns around in a big way in the 2nd half ... but it's going to have to be one Hell of a turnaround.

Dan, if you don’t mind but I will say it Disney can’t make proper television for their premium Disney plus content. Mando s1,2 Wanda vision , Andor will come once in a moon

When she said she was going to hand herself over to the Wookie, I thought, "Oh, maybe they are gonna have the sisters swap sides", and Osha will turn after learning the truth of what the Jedi did but then they just killed the Wookie anyway lol.

I'm a very casual SW fan so I don't have enough background to have a strong belief for or against the Jedi. But drawing from other works, I feel the strongest have been where the show takes a very determined side of good vs evil but writes in such a way that you can understand how flawed characters can end up making the decisions they do, and can even feel for them. I'm thinking the likes of Breaking Bad, Succession, Better Call Saul, and Andor. There's no shades of gray -- in no way are the shows saying both sides are the same or evil is justified. But the flawed characters can be sympathetic, you want to see them redeemed. I think if you can't write nuance well, you should stick to a more tried and true black/white and use your talent in exploring other themes. That can still be very powerful writing.

The short runtimes are absurd. This is clearly a script that could have fit down into a feature length movie and it's jarringly cut between in a poor attempt to get subscribers to stay. It's so stupid

Dan, I suggest you wait till the last episode for a review. The show so far has been disappointing and I don't want you to go from 1-2 episodes to make a review saying we'll wait and see. I don't know if they will change anything in the series from week to week. It's done. Just save yourself time.

Why dont you think the bugs are going to pay off in another episode? People are judging each episode as if they are self contained films This is a SERIES.

The writing feels a bit like damon littloff in the letting the audience fill in the gaps of clunky writing so the story can take leaps foward

Star Worse is all about power

I think Smylo Ren is a manifestation of the slain coven, as in “The power of many”, maybe through a survivor witch practitioner. Probably the grand puba Jedi played by Leslye’s wife. Qimir is way too obvious. There’s been some Dark Side foolishness in the Jedi. Force Lightning would explain a lot of episode 3 But man, the writing is awful. Being a mystery doesn’t excuse logical inconsistency and contrivances . If anything, a good mystery has to be extra careful with the pieces and nuances. This show has no nuance lol. You can’t be a sociopath all your life, kill Jedi, align with a ‘Sith’, and then just decide that you’ll do the right thing. All the while your goody two sister just decides to not give af anymore. Like, what? It feels like some stuff has been edited and rearranged, as Dan alluded

What do you think of the visuals? I find the color pallet to be late 60's or early 70's inspired. The show also seems to have some kind of grain layer applied to it. I typically watch the show on my laptop, and it was so pronounced in some scenes I thought something was wrong with my device or I had dropped to a lower resolution due to streaming issues.

Spice is a drug in Star Wars. So “spice cookies “ are like pot brownies. Um, they gave spice cookies to 8 year old kids. Wtf.

I feel a lot of disappointment comig Dan's way in the next few weeks based on this

Dan's voice change near the end was hilarious 😂

Dan i absolutely agree with you once again. I love how you watch movies and shows, how you evaluate them. I always look forward to your reviews❤

Unfortunately i think it's option A not clever enough. After all we're dealing with Disney SW

The fact that the story is being laid out as a slow drip fed mystery (30 mins a week) doesn't work. The acolyte should have been a movie. Even if it was a bad movie i think star wars fans could get over the disappointment easier than living with it over 6 weeks. Each episode is too short for you to develop any attachment for the characters. Even if some arcs pay off in the end the journey being frustrating as it has been might not make it worth it.

Ki-Adi Mundi's age and lifespan have never been established in any canon source. Wookiepedia previously (lazily) pulled his "canon" age from a non-canon source, but they've since corrected that oversight.

I wonder if the twins not being identical as children, but identical later will become a plot point. Or a massive oversight from the showrunner

As interesting as this entire "The Acolyte" situation is... I'm more intrigued by your Buc-ee's plushy in the background 😆

My biggest issue with the show is that I don't really like or even understand these characters. I checked out personally in the second episode when Osha wandered off to stumble on the dead jedi master's body and just awkwardly stood there. Like. Have a reaction. A dude is dead right in front of you. You're already on the suspect list and you just VERY awkwardly wandered away from your group. There's just all these moments like that which are infuriating. People just stop acting like people in order for a plot thing to happen.

When the Jedi get called back to talk about whether or not they should go after Mae, they were hot on a her trail, and then they get to the planet 5 minutes after Mae. It’s just bad writing and I can’t believe the editor didn’t pick up on it. I just think it’s a badly written show.

Star Wars fans don't admit it, but Hayden was more able to show his acting skills in the Obi Wan series because the dialogue was better than the Prequels. The show may have had its flaws but so did the Prequels.

Well... the witches of Dathomir were introduced in the Courtship of Princess Leia book in 1994... so force wielding witches is nothing new in Star Wars lore. The problem is yet again the writing. It feels like they put cool ideas on post-its, threw them on the wall, then try to reshuffle them to make it sort of makes some kind of sense.

I had the same thought about who the mystery Sith is, and while the age doesn't quite line up I'm afraid they're going to make an excuse for that that doesn't match some of the star wars lore. If they have the money for the show, hire the people who actually know about the lore, the worlds, and the characters.

"idk if they had the money for a puppet or CGI yoda" 180 million dollar budget 😅 they could've hired George Lucas to write the show with that amount of dinero

Stilted I think is the best way to describe this series

You wanted this to last longer!?! I was praying it would end...as soon as possible.

I wonder if it’s like the Scream movies, and one actor didn’t find out they were secretly the Sith until they read it in the episode 8 script?

Am I the only one who thinks "kill a Jedi without a weapon" means it's the Jedi who's without a weapon? It seemed obvious the way they keep repeating that line.

People are complaining about women/witches using the force? We already had that and did no se complains: The Night Sisters.

I wouldn't hold my breath about getting more answers.. 😅😅😅

I like your theory of the "no weapon" challenge. Of course, I personally would argue that convincing a Jedi to kill himself should qualify as no weapons being used. She had the poison, yes, but Mae wasn't the one to administer it.

i was in when they admitted Jedi steal children and they might not be the "good" guys but if they aren't really going to hold to it and examine some of the real themes I'm not sure I care

The writing on this show is so so rough. Spoon-feeding as a red herring certainly would be a Choice if that’s what it turns out to be, but like you said it really puts the pressure on the reveals to be next level, otherwise it just is terrible writing about plot points you see coming from miles away or you’re surprised in the worst way, with the story feeling random and character turns like Mae’s coming out of nowhere. There are threads of interesting material, such as the hypocrisy of the Jedi, the coven’s view of the force, but it’s all surface level and clumsily done. Calling it now - Mae and Osha are going to switch places - Osha’s going to actually be the Acolyte and join this Sith-like master.

I’m still at “It’s Fine” as well, but episode 4 was my favorite of the 4, so I am intrigued to see where it goes. Oddly, I’m also glad the Internet is finally revolting against the general mediocrity of Star Wars (and Marvel?), but I feel like they’re targeting one of the least awful shows of the bunch.

Dan, as we all know...Ryan started the fire.

would love to see you do a special collab episode review/discussions on the series with you and a friend

Ki Adi Mundi's age comes from Legends only.

It’s the green Jedi master lady.

8:20 - It would explain there is a high % of postive critic reviews on Rotton tomatoes (around 85%). It seems a lot of critics were very lukewarm based on the first 4 episodes, However, as critics cannot give a score out of 10 l(example metacritc), and simply a postive or negative review, many critics could have given a postive review only as a benefit of the doubt based on 4 episodes. This is similar to what happened to shehulk and rings of power, after all the episodes aired, critics were overall more negative then when they reviewed the first few episodes. It raises the question, whether critics should only submit their RT scores when the season is complete. It is like revewing only 50% of a moive.

There’s a it’s fine meme that suit this review like a glove …

As usual, I completely agree with your thoughts on the show Dan. Your Superman reference was great and made me laugh too. Looking forward to your review of the next 2 episodes. Safe travels to NYC!

So let me get this straight, Wookiees chose to walk around naked or does the Jedi Wookiee preferred to wear the robes?

It’s fine

The ability to sense other force users are quite unstable.

When someone who works on the show thinks that Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Death Star, you know there's a problem. Also, I'm willing to say that the Sith Lord is her sidekick. As my brother says, "Scooby Doo rules." Many shows & movies go by these rules, but some follow them a whole lot better than this show if I'm right. If it's not the sidekick, I think the show will just mangle things worse & get Anakin Skywalker. I mean, we might actually see him blow up the Death Star in the second season. 🤣

is it just me or did Dan just do a Goofy voice in this video? 'Oh no Guys, keep watching the Acolyte.' lol

Dan . . . you had a really good point about Mae tricking her "master" into doing the job for her . . . But why would she assume he would do it for her and not just kill her for the betrayal? She seems genuinely fearful to find out he is nearby. They also need an explanation for this . . . but you are right we need to wait and see.

And is it not a valid assessment to say is a bad show when 50% of it has been filler kinda bad episodes and throwing characters letf and right with out having been able to connect with any of them? I'm personally not invest in the twins storyline mainly bc so many tries to establish characters for them to get killed with so little screen time and we as an audience are supposed to care abt them? I think is safe to say is a bad show just like the book of Boba fett, kenobi and many others.