Tossing an episode-long flashback into the penultimate entry of your show’s first (and, so far, only confirmed) season is nothing short of a bold strategy, especially in the case of The Acolyte; at this point in Leslye Headland’s Star Wars story, it’s hard to imagine how just one last episode will manage to wrap things up here.
Moreover, the show hasn’t quite recovered from the writing slump it hit around the third episode, so this season finale will be even more of an upward climb as it endeavors to stick this landing. But for all its faults, there’s one aspect about The Acolyte that no one can criticize: it always made a point of having fun with its setting, up to and including coming up with brand new powers for its Force users on the fly.
During the Jedi sect’s accidental attack on the Brendok witch coven in the seventh episode, both Koril and Aniseya demonstrated the ability to transform into a thick cloud of black smoke, becoming intangible.
Even if Aniseya and the rest of the coven have access to more individual magic powers, their abilities and culture have so far been rooted in the Force, and this fog technique is probably no exception. This will probably anger some (this is The Acolyte we’re talking about here), but considering one-off Force powers have been popping up since The Empire Strikes Back, the ripping of the rule book is honestly a tamer sin than the rule book’s creation at this point.
The Acolyte is currently streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes releasing every Tuesday until the season finale on July 16.
