[7.7/10] I love me some gray areas in my Star Wars. Don’t get me wrong, the light side vs. dark side stuff. But as I’ve grown older, I appreciate stories, including Star Wars stories, that acknowledge our communities and our choices are rarely that simple.
So I like the fact that the Nightsisters (or at least some kind of presumably related witches’ coven) are presented as a counterpoint to the Jedi, not the villains of the piece. This flashback serves a number of purposes. It gives us some of that vaunted backstory, to help us understand where Osha and Mae and Sol and others are coming from. It fills in the gaps of the events that loom so large in the histories of our twin protagonists, letting the audience see them (or most of them) after being tantalized by only being told about them so far.
But most of all, it establishes a different, but no less valid alternative to the force-users we know. We’ve seen the Jedi. We’ve seen the Sith. We’ve seen the Nightsisters who, while sometimes sympathetic (hello Fallen Order fans!), also seem to be harnessing some kind of black magic. We’ve seen the Bendu, who’s more neutral than gray. And we’ve even seen the more passive and meditative Bardottans. (Aka, the species Jar Jar’s girlfriend is from -- no I’m not joking.)
But we’ve never seen anything quite like this coven led by Osha and Mae’s mother, Mother Aniseya. I love that they have a different take on the Force. The coven thinks the Jedi view the Force as a power to be wielded, whereas they view it more as a thread, a tapestry between peoples and events, that can be tugged and pulled to cause changes amid that weaving. Their perspective on the Force is a collectivist one, where their connection to it is given strength by the multitude, in contrast to the Jedi’s view on attachments. And they don’t view the Force as directing fate, but rather as providing for choices -- one of the core ideas of the franchise.
That is all neat! One of the best parts of The Last Jedi is the notion that the Force does not belong to the Jedi. It is, instead, something that flows through all peoples. Exploring that there may be different religions out there, different means of reaching and interpreting it, adds depth ot he world and adds complication to the binary. It’s nearly never a bad thing to add that kind of complexity and ecumenical spirit to your universe.
More or less. One of the other things I appreciate is that the Coven and the jedi view one another with suspicion, even though they’re mutually respectful at first. The coven sees the Jedi as arrogant, too focused on power, too individualistic. The Jedi view the Coven as dark, as corrupting, as dangerous. I’m always a fan of shows that don’t present one perspective, but rather explore how the different vantage points affect the different views groups may have of one another. (Shades of Deep Space Nine from the other major star-bound franchise!)
This is all to say that the Coven is different than what we’re used to, but no less valid. The Jedi as we see them here are different than what we’re used to, but not invalid. And their twin approaches, alike in dignity, come through in the fulcrum between the Coven and the Order: Mea and Osha.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room with those two. The young actress (actresses?) who play the earlier version of the twins aren’t very good. That's no sin. Giving a convincing performance as an adult with years of experience remains startlingly difficult. But the reality is that, though these young actors are giving it their all, there is a put on, stagey quality to the performance that can take you out of the moment. I dearly hope the fandom is kind to them nonetheless. It’s tough being a young performer, especially in a high profile role. But despite a nice moment from Osha when she realizes the gravity of what she’s lost, a lot of the acting from the kiddos is apt to take the viewer out of the moment.
Thankfully, the writing helps make up for it. Not for nothing, given Lucasfilm’s current ownership, much of this feels like the first act of a film from the Disney Renaissance. Osha could be your classic Disney princess. She loves her family and wants to do good and be righteous, but she has this yearning for something different, beyond the garden gate. The episode lays it on a little thick in places, but it’s a venerable story beat for a reason. There’s something compelling about someone trying to make the best of a family situation that doesn’t quite fit them but yearning adventure out past the horizon. (I mean, hey, it worked for Luke Sykwalker.) Osha is roughly one “I want” song from joining the little mermaid and company.
What I like about it, though, is that you feel for all sides of this situation. You feel for Osha. She wants to have an existence separate from her twin. She doesn’t feel like she fits in with the Coven. She doesn’t want to disappoint her moms or her sister. But she doesn’t want to lie. She doesn’t want to deny herself. She doesn’t want to give up this thing inside her telling her she wants more, or at least different.
You feel for Mae. She admittedly, has signs of being the “evil” twin. (Though I guess they both seem to use their force powers to freeze that translucent butterfly? I’ll admit, it was confusing who was who there at points.) She feels at home in the Coven. She loves the immediate family and the wider one. She has power and ease, and the confidence that comes from feeling that you’re where you ought to be. In the end, she does a terrible thing, but she’s an eight-year-old lashing out at an unfortunate situation. In the larger than life confines of fiction, it’s an easy thing for me to forgive.
You feel for Mother Aniseya. She is trying to protect her people. She wants to raise her daughters in her own proud tradition. But she also wants them to find their own path to it. But, from the vantage point of being a little older and a little wiser, she knows that what you want can change. What makes sense in the exuberance of youth can fall out of favor when it makes contact with the knots and tangles of that great ethereal thread. Wanting to protect your child, to instill your values in theme, while respecting their autonomy as young people is an impossible balance. Aniseya handles it with understanding and grace.
Heck, you even understand Mother Koril, who is the more strict and belligerent parental figure here. The cultural conditions are mostly implied, but it’s easy to intuit how the Coven has been marginalized, diminished, possibly by Force. The girls represent their future, and it seems to have required a great deal of her and her partner to make that happen. Why wouldn’t she do anything to protect her girls, and mistrust the Jedi who would deign to take their future away from her and her family?
And you also feel for Sol. The Acolyte already conveyed a very fatherly vibe between him and Osha,but this episode cements it. I have my qualms about what happens to the young woman, but Sol seems searnest when he tells her that she could be a great Jedi, when he imparts that courage means pursuing honestly what you want, when he embraces her in the throes of tragedy and wants to take her on as a surrogate child. The estranged relationship between them in the present is counterbalanced by this fraught but touching connection between them in the past.
Of course, that past is no less slippery. For one thing, there’s still much that's alluded to that we don’t quite see. Presumably there was some conflict between the Jedi and the Coven that Osha wasn’t privy to, which we’ll see down the line. Presumably, it’s part of what spurred Mae to take the actions she did. Presumably it’s why there’s great regret among the Jedi who survived the encounter. And that's before you get into the fact that apparently Mother Aniseya channeled some forbidden magic, or at least did something controversial, to bring the twins’ lives into being. There’s plenty of lore and intrigue yet.
But for now, at least, we have two cultures at odds with one another, in ways that question and complicate our sympathies. This is Star Wars. We know who the Jedi are. We’re apt to side with them, to see them as Osha does, as peacekeepers and heroes of the galaxy. (Even if we’ve seen their ossification and dissolution over the course of the Prequels.) When Osha wants to be a Jedi, and her witch family tells her to lie, to deny herself what she wants in the same of something she’s uncertain about, it’s easy to see Indara and company as rescuers.
And yet, it’s also hard not to see this different means of reaching the Force, that is apparently all but outlawed, and not have serious qualms about the equivalent of religious persecution. The notion that the Coven is allowed to exist, but forbidden from passing on their knowledge to children is startling. It’s clear that there remains animosity between the Coven and the Jedi, born of mutual mistrust, with ostensible peacemakers and instigators. And it’s hard to think of Republic law allowing the Jedi to test and, with some permission, take children away to be taught in their fashion, without thinking of real life colonial schools, and so-called “residential schools” in the United States, that have a checkered history at best.
So while the show makes things a little too blunt with Mae and Osha standing across from one another on a broken bridge, you get the reasons behind the actions and anguish between these two young girls, between their various parents, between Jedi and the Coven. This is not black and white, good and evil, light and dark. This is something more muddled and uncertain than that. And it portends deeper and more interesting things as the mythos of Star Wars evolves before our eyes.
(Speculative spoilers: My bet is that Mae’s master is one of her moms, probably Mother Koril. THough I guess it being the comparatively peaceful and forgiving Aniseya would be a bigger twist. The law of conservation of characters suggests it’s one of them, unless it’s secretly Master Vernestra or something. But one of the moms would be the bigger emotional gut punch, so I presume and hope it’s one of them.)
The author of the book has the worst writing style I've ever read, but there was a mildly enjoyable story beneath the pretentious drivel and grammar errors. I was hoping the show would at least be decent.
So the show added a few new twists and somehow made it even more dumb than the book. Kind of funny knowing the author wrote the script for episodes 1-4 and somehow made his mediocre book even worse. Normally, you blame the adapter for messing up the source material. Make Blake Crouch 2 used a magic box to swap with Blake Crouch to write the show, and he came from a reality where he's somehow an even worse writer.
I also had to laugh when they exposition dumped the reason for Jason2 swapping with Jason. Like, it was implied in episode 1 and then confirmed in episode 2 and redundantly confirmed again in episode 3. In case you were comatose for the past few episodes or are reeeaaaaaallllllly bad at connect the dots, they spell it out explicitly and act like it's a big dramatic reveal.
I'll give this one more episode. Episodes 5-8 were adapted and written by a team of writers, not Blake Crouch. Hopefully they can salvage the back half of the series.
You know fourteen seasons in I wouldn’t have guessed Linda and Louise would be my favorite dynamic, but honestly they’re a strong contender. Louise and Bob are obviously excellent too and home to many a heartwarming moment, but Louise and Linda are catching up. And what make them so rewarding is that it’s changed over time. Bob was always Louise’s favorite, and she and Linda had trouble connecting. What they have now is hard won over the course of the entire show, and now it’s so clear that so much of Louise’s daring nature, unabashed attitude, and unwavering sense of confidence and self comes from Linda. And seeing them vibe is so much fun. Linda is Louise after adulthood has given her (what even Linda would often consider boring) sense and wisdom, but all that means is she’ll say things that’d come out of Louise’s mouth like ‘let’s just hit them over the head with a heavy object’ and the only difference is she’ll reluctantly take it back.
It makes for a funny episode, but also one with a nice emotional throughline of Linda wanting to build upon and maintain this bond. That anxiety is deeply sympathetic, and so is Louise’s sense of betrayal at finding out what she thought was a partnership being her mother indulging her. This matters to Louise too, and nothing riles or hurts her more than being treated like ‘just’ something- just a kid, just a girl- instead of as Louise. And again they meet each other halfway. Linda believes in Louise’s convictions and lets her go after the jellyfish, and Louise indulges in both her mother’s and her own hidden but well established deep sentimentality for her family by hanging up seventeen whole dollars as a beloved memorial of something cool she did with her mom. It just hits for me. It pays off of 14 years of investment in the two’s relationship.
Also rewarding is the continued acknowledgement of the movie, for devoted fans. The B plot is just plain fun and more of Bob’s Burgers loving passionate and quirky weirdos. The pipe sequence is a surprisingly affecting capper to it all, and the show is unashamedly gleeful about each performance. It’s infectious, especially from Bob and Teddy. And to top it all off, a bit of Fischoder with killer delivery and lines. What more could you want from a Bob’s Burgers episode?
I'm exhausted. This tension, the politics, the intrigue, even to the last second. So much is happening in this episode. So much concealed under such elegant garments.
In one way I look forward to the finale next week, however I'm not sure how they are going to fit what I was anticipating to be in this episode into the last, unless it is a 3hr episode, but I think it won't be such.
The other way I'm looking forward to the finale, is I no longer will need to invest all my emotion and attention in this concentration of spectacle and the craft of each Actor performing to perfection their role, and appreciating each word, glance, and interaction with their counterparts in such a magnificent, stunning location.
I'll be ready for this finale but until then I'll be soaking in what I've watched today. What a pleasure it is to witness what the Arts can deliver if given a proper opportunity.
Thank you to the Creators, Actors, Crew, and Those That have painstakingly brought this masterpiece to us.
The conundrum has set in... I desperately want to see the last episode now, but I don't want it to be the last show. 10/10
Another solid episode to reward viewers who stuck through the slow start and made it this far. I'm glad they didn't try to adapt the incredibly lame "chat room" multi Jason reveal from the source material. The gun shop tease at the end of the previous episode left those who haven't read the book boiling over in suspense, and this episode delivered the payoff.
For the sake of the show, we'll ignore the fact that Blake Crouch doesn't comprehend the concept of infinity. If only a small fraction of an infinite number of Jasons made it back, the result is still an infinite amount. For example, half of infinity is still infinity. If 0.000001% of infinite Jasons made it back, then infinite Jasons made it back. That's just how it works.
Nonetheless, this makes for good "popcorn sci fi" if you don't think too hard about it. Don't even get me started on the quantum mechanics errors.
Anyway, all your questions should now be answered, with a big new question remaining. How do they handle all the Jason 1s? From their perspective, each one of them fought impossible odds across numerous realities to finally make it back to their family, following a similar journey as "our" Jason 1 with different decisions made along the way. Each of them are the "good Jason" and rightfully deserve to be with Daniella. So who gets her, and what about the others? Despite already knowing how the source material plays out, I find myself really looking forward to the finale.
It does feel normal in it's creatures and plot structure with the historical setting, but i don't think it's a typical kind of episode. It's very Doctor focused, like the one with Madame De Pompadour where the Doctor had a romance with the guest character while his companions investigated the spaceship where they didn't have much to do. I feel the same with this episode with Ruby where she mostly lead around that woman, and while she gave her advice and they seemed to become friends, she turned out to be a villain anyway? And their friendship had no impact? It all felt a bit wasted, while the Doctor gets deeper development in his relationship with Rogue.
I like the episode, i think it's good and fun with the dancing and historical setting, but there are some caveats to it like what i mentioned, and i thought the villain creatures and their characters were generic. The relationship between Rogue and the Doctor did feel a tad bit rushed, and it was harder to connect with it since they have strikingly different personalities and Rogue was rude to him at first, and isn't very expressive as a character.
But i did like and buy their development overall. I loved the music scene in the spaceship and thought that was good flirting, and i liked the Doctor and Ruby immersing themselves in the historical setting. I really felt a strong sense of Ncuti's unique characterization of the Doctor this episode.
After 2 eps:
There is no way I'm waiting a week for an ep that lasts barely 30 min. This is the stupidest sh** entertainment does with fantasy/sci-fi. What can you get during 30 min? Definitely not a proper story.
I'm only watching this bc I like couple actors (I just watched them in sth else and I wanted to see more of them, I barely know them tho).
Amandla I saw only in The darkest Minds, which I loved and her role got me into reading the books, I have some of her movies on watchlist still. I could believe her two roles here BUT... some of her mannerisms got me so out of the story and for 2 eps I couldnt get past it. Sometimes the way she walks is like not one foot after the other but like she had a stick between the knees xD And sometimes when she stands, her body above the waits is so forced to be forward before the legs it looks so weird. Idk if it's just something she thought would work for the charcters or what happened...
I'm not gonna say anything about Charlie... well, I hope it's actually Yord that is so awkward and supposed-to-be-but-not-really-funny.
And I really like Master Sol, cool to see Lee Jung-Jae in a different role. I was invested in ex teacher-ex student relationship which is what will keep my interest in waiting for the season to finish so I could watch it whole.
[7.7/10] Let’s start with the superficial and work our way to the substantive.
There is something inherently cool about a Jedi Master who has taken such a vow, showed such discipline, reached some level of enlightenment to where they can basically levitate in place,n protected by a seemingly impenetrable force bubble, that can withstand even the most fervent attacks. We’re only two episodes in but what I like about the Acolyte is that it’s already expanding what we think and know of the Jedi. Using the HIgh Republic era as a playground for new and unique uses of the Force, that pose different challenges for even a trained assassin like Mae, helps make the Jedi feel amazing again, rather than rote and known.
The same goes for Sol’s fight with Mae on Olega. Maybe I will get tired of the wire fu approach at some point, but for now, it remains a thrill. Watching Mae fight with all her might, while Master Sol displays an economy of movement akin to master Indara from the last episode, remains incredibly cool. The nigh-literal dust-up between them, with furious attacks and calm blocks, again displays the differences in disposition between studied master and hungry student.
What I appreciate, though, is that neither of these exist just for the sake of coolness or sheer thrills. (Which, if I’m being pointed, is a criticism that can be leveled at J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars films, even the parts I like.)
Master Torbin’s force bubble isn’t just a unique obstacle for Mae. It means she has to find a way to get to her target beyond the sheer force that is already her calling card. The fact that she doesn't kill Torbin, but rather provides him poison to kill himself and end his guilt over what happened on Brendok is a piercing, fascinating choice. The moment where she offers him an exit, and after so much stillness and silence, he descends to accept this offering, feels monumental. And his uttering one more apology before drinking the poison sells the magnitude of what must have happened in mae’s past tremendously.
Credit to the writers. I can get really tired of mystery boxes in genre fix. (Thanks again, J.J.!) But in moments like this one, where characters’ choices are informed by a past we’re not fully privy to yet, the magnitude of those choices makes us care about and anticipate the reveal of Mae and the Jedi’s history without needing to know it right now. As someone who came of age during the Prequel movies, it’s easy to see the Jedi as a flawed institution. But meeting four Jedi who were a party to whatever happened ito Mae and Osha, and who are all clearly haunted by it, to where someone like Torbin would go to these extremes, gives you a sense of how significant that event must be, and why Mae must be so desperate for revenge.
That ties into her fight with master Sol. He’s less interested in defeating her than disarming her, both mentally and physically. From a sheer plot standpoint, the fact that even Mae doesn't know the identity of her master is an interesting little twist. But more to the point, Sol trying to get through to Mae, to help her move past what happened, gives their fight more meaning than even the most thrilling of fisticuffs could.
I also appreciate how Master Sol is in the middle of two extremes here. On the one hand, he seems frustrated by the Jedi strictures and bureaucracy. He bristles at Master Vernestra telling him the Jedi must convene a committee before he can follow-up on Mae’s fugitive run. He rejects Yord’s warning that sending Osha in to deceive the apothecary would violate various precepts. He seems annoyed at best at how Jedi practice doesn't always align with real lif needs.
But at the same time, he tells Osha to let go of her grief, of her attachments in the past, in a way that seems as though he’s telling her not to be human. On the one hand, you can sympathize. He sees how these complicated feelings about what happened have harmed both Osha and Mae, and wants to offer a method to attain peace with them. On the other hand, he still seems haunted by them, as do his colleagues. So it’s rousing when Osha basically tells him, You're not my master anymore; you don’t get to tell me what to do .”
I’m surprisingly receptive to notions that, as cool as the Jedi are, they are a terribly flawed body. (see also: their morally questionable use of invasive mind control tricks, including on Mae.) The idea that they made a grand error on Brendok, covered it up or minimized it, and are facing the choes of it in Mae and Osha is a resonant throughline.
I also appreciate how we have some structure here. Mae has a Kill BIll-esque list of the Jedi she wants revenge on. She has a particular challenge -- to defeat one without using a weapon -- that puts her at an additional disadvantage but gives her a cause and an objective. And the way these aren't random targets, but rather people she feels have wronged her adds extra juice to the proceedings.
So do the side characters. I kind of enjoy how much of a dick Yord is, but I also appreciate that he’s not actively evil or anything, to where he stands up for Osh when she’s accused of murdering Torbin. I’m increasingly entertained by Jecki, her willingness to call Yord’s plan stupid, and her cleverness in coming up with a much better and more effective one. And as a Good Place fan, it’s nice to see Manny Jacinto as Qimir, a feckless apothecary aligned with Mae who feels appropriately rough around the edges.
This is also a good episode for Mae. It’s not easy for her to be around Sol again, or to have him judge the life she’s made for herself since leaving the order. The tender and fraught rekindling of their partnership is one of the best things about the show so far. It adds a certain charge and sadness to every scene where they’re together.
Likewise, it’s nice to see Osha and Mae confront one another, after each believed the other was dead. (And, not for nothing, it neutralizes my theory that maybe Mae is the dark side taking over Osha’s subconscious or something.) The fact that after everything each has been through, the connection shared and lost, Osha ultimately provides for Mae’s escape rather than bringing her in, portends more interesting things to come.
Overall, once again, The Acolyte blends compelling intrigue, exciting action, and meaningful character work to produce another pleasing episode of television.
[8.5/10] Well, if you want to get my attention with a new Star Wars show, kicking things off with a badass wire-fu fight with none other than Trinity herself, Carrie-Anne Moss, as a Jedi Master, will absolutely do it!
What a breath of fresh air this is! From that action-packed opening sequence, The Acolyte grabs your attention with verve and character. There are lived in touches, a sense of mystery and excitement, and most of all an immediate whiff of who every major character is and what they mean to the story. It’s easier to set up interesting things than it is to pay them off, but if this first hour is any indication, it’s going to be easy to be along for the ride.
I cannot say enough good things about the opening sequence. Maybe I’m a sucker, but so much modern action, including in Star Wars media of recent vintage, is chopped up all to hell in the editing bay. That kind of choice neuters the impact of the fights for me. So taking a cue from Moss’ turn in The Matrix and not only embracing those wire fu influences, but letting us see the fight in longer shots and a more measured pace and cinematography really lights my fire.
Plus man, for all of the Japanese cinema influences in Star Wars, I’m not sure we’ve ever gotten a legitimate kung fu fight on screen in the franchise. (“The Duel” from Star Wars: Visions has a bit of that, and I guess we get brief glimpses of Qi’ra from Solo doing a bit of martial arts as well.) The frantic motion of Mae and the more measured movements of Indara’s response help sell the difference between one who’s still learning and full of emotion versus a centered master. The fight itself is glorious, with well-staged action and strong visual storytelling and choreography. And the clincher -- that Indara falls not from mistake or being bested in combat, but from saving an innocent, makes her a noble and tragic figure, while justifying how this skilled but comparative amateur could take her down.
And that's just the opening scene! Dayenu -- it would have been enough.
From there, the episode splits into two story threads that eventually intersect: Osha, a former padawan being questioned and detained for the murder, and Sol, her former master, deciding to track her down. Both stories work, and the place they weave together is especially meaningful.
I appreciate the twist here. The show does a good job of suckering you into thinking that Osha committed this crime on her day off from being a “mechnik”. She has the ability, given her former training. She has the reason for resentment, having seemingly been expelled from the order thanks to Master Indara. And she has a tortured past, of great loss of her family that, as we saw with Anakin, can lead a young force-sensitive person to some inner demons. So it’s entirely plausible, even expected, that she’s the one going toe-to-toe with Indara in the opening.
I’m not always a fan of big twists, but I appreciate the reveal that it was, in fact, her twin sister who went against Indara for a few reasons. One, it’s meaningful for Osha. To learn that the sister she thought was long dead is still out there and assassinating her former allies leads to complex emotions. For another, it portends an intriguing opportunity for “for want of a nail” storytelling, showing where the different paths of daughters from the same family led them.
Most of all, it puts is in the position of Master Sol and the other Jedi, being intuitively sympathetic to this young woman who seems friendly, funny, and earnest, while wondering if the difficult things she’s been through have caught up to her in some way. Playing with the audience’s sympathies and expectations like that, to connect them to the characters’ perspectives, is the right way to use a twist, instead of just using a reveal for shock value.
Osha’s misadventures along the way are fun and sympathetic. I love the sense of her scraping by as a low-rent nomadic mechnik after leaving the order, keeping her spirits up but just getting by. I like that, through Yord at least, the Jedi seem like smug cops rather than noble monks, who are railroading Osha. I like her excitement on the prison transport, where she’s bitten by her altruism, but empathizes and saves others, which should be our proof that she’s not the one who took out Indara. All these scenes reveal character in a compelling way, and Amandla Stenberg does a stellar job inhabiting the role.
There is also such exquisite texture! The opening scene has a real old world village cantina vibe, and should make Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fans cheer. Her talking tool droid, Pip, is frickin’ adorable and endearing, and I can easily imagine every nerdy kid watching this show wanting one of their own. The ship designs are memorable and distinctive inside and out. (I especially like the droid-run prison transport.) And the different species represented are memorable and original. (The cyborg dude is especially striking.) Plus hey, the Trade Federation aliens are well done and familiar to anyone who watched the Prequels growing up.
Speaking of which, this version of the Jedi feels particularly indebted to the Prequels. There’s great discussion of the danger of attachments, of training someone who’s too old and has been through too much, of the Order’s political enemies. Setting this show a century before Revenge of the Sith frees you from a lot of the continuity shackles other Star Wars stories have to contend with, so it’s interesting that The Acolyte seems to be picking up themes and concepts from the Prequel era.
That not only includes Yord, who already seems to be the show’s stick in the mud, but from Master Vernestra, who seems more interested in wrapping up this matter quickly than in seeking justice. Heck, Master Sol even feels a bit akin to Qui Gon Jinn, someone who’s patient and wizened, but who allows himself a more emotional connection and less rigid view than the Order.
I like Sol a lot. Making the deuteragonist a master who still cares for his padawan, and is trying to balance that care and trust against his obligations to his order, makes for a compelling mix. He’s a good match for Jecki, his quietly caustic current padawan. And he’s a good counterpoint to Osha, someone who represents a difficult part of her past, but who still plainly has her best interests at heart.
The moment where he seeks her out is well done too. There’s a real The Fugitive vibe to the confrontation, with an appropriately Jedi twist. And most importantly, Sol believes his former pupil. When she’s desperate and running for her life and confronted with destabilizing surprises about her past and her family, he still trusts and accepts her. That is powerful, and portends worthwhile things to come.
The Acolyte leaves us with teases of potential sith-adjacent interlopers and weaponless threats and internal politics within the High Republic. Those are tantalizing enough as teases. But what I appreciate most about this opening hour is the good nuts and bolts work we get: in the cinematic craft, in the well-defined and sympathetic character dynamics, and in the way the script plays with our expectations. If The Acolyte can keep this up, it has a promising future ahead.
(Spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars: There’s many ways in which Osha’s story seems like a reinterpretation of Ahsoka’s. Everything from the fugitive hunt to the master who still loves and trusts her, to the Jedi Order dealing with political pressures give you the sense of what Anakin’s padawan went through. Obviously Ahsoka never had an evil twin, but it’s interesting to see the franchise revisit that story shape in a different time and place. I’m not complaining! I love that storyline, and I’m excited at the notion of exploring Osha’s relationship with the Jedi and the Force through this lens.)
The staircase plan was even more stupid than I thought...
Already noted that when they sent the bombs they didn't know when they would send the module, so how could they have planned their positions ?
There's "a couple hours" before reaching the first detonation after launch. But the bombs can only have been left behind (you can't position them on Earth orbits because orbital speed is fixed, so there would be no way to line them up), and Earth moves way faster on its orbit than we can send spacecrafts. So if they sent them two days before, it would need at least 3 times that to reach the first one. Anyway the first one needs to be far enough from Earth that its EMP does not affect existing satellites, so several thousands kilometers from geostationary orbit at the very least. This alone is days.
And with all that they need the sail to pass exactly centred on the bomb. And no way to adjust (extra propulsion on the module won't have any effect if it's dragged by the sail). Which means really 0 margin for calculations errors (like a few extra grams ?).
But anyway the worst thing, since it's centred, it means the explosion occurs between the sail and the module (otherwise the module would just bump into it). Which means that not only does the module gets the full blast (so need to be armoured to take it + radiation protected so that the brain survives) it also fully pass through the explosion.
And that means the explosion simultaneously pushes forward on the sail, backwards on the module, sideways on the cables... Really a shitty design.
No wonder it breaks... But I assume Will is not lost, because this was the only point of the character, so... that'd be pretty annoying to have to endure his storyline for this.
The Wallfacer part was pretty fun. Though I still don't know why the San Ti would not be able to read our minds (they can manipulate extremely precisely what our brain sees but they wouldn't be able to read it ? When they actually communicate by telepathy between themselves ?). But this simple realization and efficiently turning it into this worldwide project shows again how amazing Wade is.
And the whole bit with Saul saying he refuses, and everyone being "yes sir, of course sir", was hilarious. I guess his brain is still on weed and can't realize yet :)
But however smart and fun that is, as a project it is probably not much better than the staircase one.
1) They can be killed easily. Do they get 24/7 protection like Saul ?
2) The attempts at his life were pretty weak. They have the means for much smarter, either precise, or with massive collateral damage, attacks. They could also chain them non stop with backup over backup plans. And just for starters, why the hell are they always on plane (taking him to UN, and Wade afterwards) ?? Just mess up the bits with the instruments and it's done. Smart saying that they want to meet Wade, that gives a plot armour that takes care of (a bit) of this plothole.
3) Even without outside plans to kill them, apparently just seeing the countdown drove some people crazy. They could do so much worse (maybe a bit like Wade's horror visions) 24/7, see how much they can think of a plan with that, and how long they survive without being able to sleep.
4) Even if they're safe, they can't keep a 400 years plan in their mind. Specially as the other two are already pretty old. They can't even transmit secret plans to their successors.
5) And even at their own time scale, they can't communicate between themselves either, so they could have similar (hence useless) plans, or even worse interfering ones.
The bug analogy was a bit on the nose and corny, but yeah, I'll buy, was a good way to end.
Mixed feelings as a book reader.
I like how they stuck to source material for the Wallfacers bit, even quoting lines from the book verbatim. It was kind of like an apology for episodes 6 and 7 being 100% original material, not in the books, and both episodes sucked...
Spoilers from this episode below - - - - - - - -
Ok, I'm really confused what the writers were thinking. They made up the entire brain rocket plot, only to have it fail. Why make up a bunch of dumb shit up only for it to be entirely inconsequential? Were they trying to make it more emotional? The book was plenty emotional if they didn't strip away all the depth and nuance in their adaptation. Also, the author goes into detail about how nukes don't work in space, so they can't just nuke the alien fleet. Then these moron writers make an entire plot line around nukes in space. While writing adapting the very book that says that's impossible.
I'm glad they at least included the bug scene at the end as a nice way to wrap up until next season. Like, ok, maybe we are bugs, but we still have hope for survival.
I think this was a reasonably good episode overall, it somewhat brought the spark back after extinguishing it in episodes 6 and 7.
Now I'd like to see the show directors forced to write "Stick to the source material" on a chalkboard 900 times before they work on Season 2.
What a Bloody outstanding show! This is the first time I've ever wanted to give a show a genuine 11/10!
The writing brings out all of the respect, honour and dignity, even in deception. I love this epic and especially this episode (although once I see next week's episode I'll no doubt rave over that too), there is no dumbing down for the audience, you need to be immersed.
When 'Mariko' translating as she does 'Blackthorne's' words to 'Toranaga' and the sublime transition turning to 'Blackthorne' with eyes the sharpness of a sword, to ask "Shall I translate this too, or is this directed to me". Outstanding.
Each and every actor, no matter who they represent in this epic 'goes all in', for their character, their craft in acting is flawless. If there was any legitimacy in the Academy or in any entertainment award for actors, crew and show, Shōgun would do a clean sweep without exception, even though we still have two episodes to go.
Shōgun is definitely the pinnacle of any show I've had the privilege of watching in my six decades of life. This is not a throw away comment as I am an enthusiast in quality entertainment for most my life.
I cannot wait to own this on UHD Bluray boxset when it's released. Outstandingly Brilliant. 11/10
[7.2/10] Star Trek: Discovery does a better job of telling the audience that a relationship is important than spurring us to feel that importance. Your mileage may vary, of course, but across the series, characters have these soulful conversations about how much they mean to one another, and it’s rare, if not unprecedented, for the show to have earned that emotion through lived-in dynamics and experiences that believably bring two characters closer together.
But Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Saru (Doug Jones) are one of the big exceptions. They’re the two characters on the show who’ve arguably changed the most over the course of the series. Michael went from disgraced mutineer to respected captain. Saru went from a timid, by-the-book stiff to a more open and adventurous officer. And,as is Star Trek tradition, along the way, through hardship and heroism, they went from being mutual skeptics of one another to trusted friends.
Where so many of the friendships in Discovery fall flat, Michael and Saru are among the few who play with the ease and care of genuine confidantes. So an episode like “Under the Twin Moons” comes with the power of (supposedly) being Saru’s last hurrah as a Starfleet officer and, more importantly, his final mission alongside Michael Burnham.
In truth, the mission itself is no great shakes. The latest break in the Progenitor case sees the duo beaming down to the planet of the week, a lost world protected by one of those ancient technological security systems that Captain Kirk and company seemed to run into every third episode. The art direction work is laudable, with some neat designs of the weathered statues and other remnants of the fallen civilization, and a cluttered jungle locale that comes off more real and tactile than most of Discovery’s more sterile environments.
But this largely comes off as video game plotting, even before the show reveals that the Progenitor mission is essentially one massive fetch quest. The sense of skulking around old ruins, avoiding weathered booby traps, and using special abilities to avoid obstacles and find clues will be familiar to anyone who’s played Jedi: Fallen Order from the other half of the marquee sci-fi franchise dichotomy, or even precursors like the Zelda series of games. The challenges the away team faces feel more like perfunctory obstacles than meaningful threats to be overcome.
Still, these obstacles accomplish two things, however conspicuously. For one, they show Saru’s value to Starfleet in his alleged last mission. He shoots down ancient security bots with his quills. He attracts and evades their fire with his superspeed. He detects the hidden code with his ability to detect bioluminescence. And he’s able to use his strength to move a large obelisk back and forth to find the last piece of the puzzle. On a physical basis, it’s not bad having a Kelpian on your side.
More to the point, he also looks out for Michael. There’s a nice low-simmering conflict between them, where Michael wants to save Saru so he can enjoy the bliss of his civilian life with T’Rina, and Saru wants to fulfill his duty as any other officer would and protect his friend. In an episode themed around frayed connections between people, it’s nice to see that tension play out in an organic, selfless way between these two longtime comrades. Their ability to work together to solve problems, figure out puzzles, and most importantly, put their necks out for one another (in some cases literally), does more to honor Saru’s place in the series than all the Kelpien superpowers in the galaxy.
For another, they give Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Adira (Blu del Barrio), and eventually Captain Rayner the chance to do something science-y to help Michael and Saru down on the planet. Granted, their “Why don’t we use an ancient electrio-magnetic pulse?” solution strains credulity a bit, and Rayner’s advice boiling down to “You need to think like an ancient civilization” isn’t that insightful. But it gives a couple of the show’s players something to do, and reveals, however ham handedly, not only Rayner’s facility in the field, but his willingness to help out even when he doesn’t have to.
That's a good thing, since he’s joining the cast as the new first officer (something portended by Callum Keith Rennie’s addition to the opening credits. The dialogue to get him there is clunky, with thudding comments from Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) and Burnham about Rayner being a good man despite some poor choices born of tougher times. But after only a couple of episodes, Rayner is a welcome addition -- a fly in the ointment for a now-cozy crew, bolstered by Rennie’s vividly irascible performance.
While the signposting is a little much, the idea that Burnham does not just want a first officer who’s capable, but one who’ll have the guts to challenge her and her perspective is a good one. That approach puts her in the good company of Captain Picard, among others, and shows a humility and an openness in Michael that's commendable. Her willingness to give someone else a second chance, given what the one she received allowed her to accomplish, speaks well of the still-new Captain, and adds some poetry with Discovery’s first season in its unexpected final one.
On a meta level, this is also an interesting thematic tack for the series. Rayner is coded as conservative, battle-hardened, even sclerotic in a way that clashes with traditional Starfleet principles. The idea that he has a place on the bridge, that his viewpoint is worthwhile, and most notably, that he can be brought into the light of Starfleet’s new dawn, fits with the aspirational tone of Star Trek. It’s worth watching how the character arc, and the ideas and subtext in tow, play out from here.
The same can't be said for Book’s (David Ajala) interactions with Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis). The show wants to make some trite yet strained point about bonds between individuals in the already-tortured estrangement between him and Michael. The tired pop psychology from Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) doesn’t help on that front. But worse yet is the acknowledged unlikely coincidence that Moll is the daughter of Book’s mentor and surrogate father, a contrived familial connection that attempts to gin up through genealogy what the show can't from character-building alone.
Except when it can. The mission may be stock, and the surrounding plot threads may be underbaked, but the goodbye between Michael and Saru is legitimately touching. From Michael nursing Saru through his harrowing transformation, to Saru counseling Michael through good times and bad in her ascent up the ranks, the pair have blossomed into genuine confidantes over the course of the last four seasons. It did not always come easily, but that's what makes their connection now, and the parting poised to strain it, such a poignant, bittersweet moment between two friends.
Who knows if it will stick. Dr. Culbert came back from the dead. Tilly’s back in the fold despite leaving for Starfleet Academy. Saru himself returned to the ship despite ostensibly leaving to become a “great elder” on Kaminar. Discovery doesn’t have a great track record of sticking to major character exits.
For now, at least, Saru gets a swan song not only worthy of what the character, and Doug Jones’ impeccable performance, has meant to the series over the past seven years, but also of what, unassumingly, became one of the series’ strongest relationships. Michael will keep flying. Saru will hopefully enjoy some wedded bliss. But as “Under the Twin Moons” reminds us, they’ve both left a mark on the other that will stay with both of them, wherever they finally end up.
[6.1/10] The knock on Star Trek: Discovery is that everything is too big. Everything is a world-ending calamity. Every emotion is cranked up to eleven. Every mission is the most serious and important challenge Starfleet has ever faced.
“Red Directive” does nothing to shed that rap. We open with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) yahoo-ing while surfing on the back of an enemy ship in warp drive, before cutting to a cliched “four hours earlier” bit of drama-mortgaging. A pair of smugglers named Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), with the MacGuffin du jour, get into a standard issue bout of fisticuffs with some nameless/faceless goons. Burnham, Book (David Ajala), and new frenemy Captain Rayner (Battlestar Galactica veteran Callum Keith Rennie) dodge boulders and other debris in an immersion-breaking artificial sandscape pursuit of the pair of pirates. And the ensuing rockslide which threatens to crush a nearby village is only halted by Discovery and another Federation vessel diving nose-first into the sand to block the onslaught, with neither the ships nor their crews seemingly any worse for wear.
Look, this is a season premiere. Some fireworks are expected. And in a stretch for the franchise where new kid on the block Strange New Worlds seems to have stolen much of Discovery’s thunder as the franchise flagship, you can practically feel the creative team pulling out all the stops to keep viewers excited and invested, even if it means leaning into accusations of always going big.
That includes invoking The Next Generation. The item Burnham and company are chasing is no mere trinket or weapon. It is, instead, the technology used by the Progenitors from 1993’s “The Chase” to create all humanoid life as we know it. This top secret mission, issued by Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg), mirrors the one embarked upon by none other than Captain Picard centuries earlier, with clues to follow laid by an important Romulan scientist/background player from the decades-old episode.
In that, “Red Directive” falls into two familiar traps. The first is one shared by Strange New World, specifically the need to tie nearly everything into some familiar piece of franchise lore rather than starting fresh. Only, Discovery’s issue is that much more damning given its “millennium into the future” timeframe, with the whole point being a chance to refresh and reset rather than staying constrained by canon from fifty years earlier.
This episode is not above such pandering connections. In fact, the seedy antiques dealer Moll and L’ak do business with is a Data-esque synth named Fred who shares the famous android’s aesthetic and penchant for speed-reading. In a painful scene, Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) even remark that Fred’s serial number reflects the initials of Altan Soong, a long lost Soong baby and Star Trek: Picard’s most unnecessary character (which is saying something).
Earned canon connections are the thrill of existing within the same storytelling universe, particularly one that has lasted more than half a century. But these ties come off more like cheap fanservice and strained ties to more beloved properties than organic connections to Discovery’s ongoing project.
That might be a forgivable excess though if “Red Directive” didn’t fall into the second trap, of near constant escalation in Discovery’s stakes. Kovich remains cagey about Burnham’s mission for most of the hour, beyond a “recover this item at all costs” sense of dramatics to it all. Even Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) isn’t under the tent on it. And when Kovich finally spills the beans, after more blunt underlining of what a big deal this quest is, he calls it a search for “the greatest treasure in the known galaxy.”
The best you can say is that the season 5 premiere aims to keep the volume lower for its interpersonal relationships. A cringeworthy scene where Tilly (Mary Wiseman) awkwardly attempts to flirt with a wet rag colleague she has an obvious crush on is about the worst of it. But the adorably chaste romance between Saru (Doug Jones) and T’Rina (Tara Rosling) continues apace and fares much better. The Kelpien chooses to resign his commission to take a job as a Federation ambassador that would keep him closer to his lady love, and in response, T’Rina offers a Hank Hill-esque marriage proposal. The writing isn’t subtle, but the sweetness and underplaying from the performers wins out.
Hell, even the reunion between Michael and Book is relatively restrained, if not necessarily overwhelming. In truth, since Book hasn’t been away from the show for any period of time, the sense of distance between them doesn’t fully land. But the sense of simultaneous familiarity and alienation between them does. While a situation involving couriers that just so happens to require Book’s expertise comes off a tad contrived, and the quips about past jobs and plans are a touch forced, I appreciate Discovery taking some more time to unpack their relationship after the schisms of season 4.
Who knows if their exchange about how there are some things you cannot move past will stick. The show has generally seemed intent to jam the couple together from the first time they met. But either way, the restraint in this early hour is admirable.
The same can't be said for newcomer Captain Rayner. If you’ve watched Star Trek for any length of time, Rayner is a familiar archetype. Rayner preaches risk-taking while Burnham wants to take caution. Rayner will do anything for the mission while Burnham will do anything to protect innocent lives. Rayner puts the objective first while Burnham puts her principles first.
There’s something to be said for the clash of ideals between a Starfleet captain who lived through the era of The Burn, versus one weaned on the headier days of the Federation. And Book’s joking pronouncements of what they have in common suggests a “We’re not so different, you and I” reconciliation somewhere down the road. But for now, the philosophical and personality conflicts between them come off as stock and shallow.
Nevertheless, the mission is set -- follow the clues to the Progenitor tech before it falls into the wrong hands. The players are in place, from Burnham and the Discovery crew, to Rayner and his team, to the pair of chummy smugglers racing to find the same prize. And rest assured, humble viewers, terrified at the prospect of serene outings full of boardroom debates and ethical meditations, there’s plenty of explosions and firefights and feats of derring-do to keep you occupied.
But as it embarks on its final season, Discovery stumbles over some of the same hurdles it struggled with from the beginning. Season 4 was a big step in the right direction, with a strong central idea and themes that vindicated the heart of the franchise. That earns this show plenty of leeway to prove it can do the same in its last at-bat. But with “Red Directive”’s hollow action, world-ending stakes, and strained canon ties, the ultimate leg of its five-year mission gets off to a rocky start.
@Miel - I guess you kind of have to score it like the Olympics. An athlete attempts some hitherto before "impossible" quadruple, fourple, double backflip in the pike position phantasmal layout, and, while they make the move, they are wobbly on the landing so, they get scored on the move, but, have a "difficulty" points adjustment which can boost their actual final score. Then, another athlete does a relatively "simple" move, but, executes it PERFECTLY which would seem to deserve a higher score, but because it is considered less difficult, they place behind the athlete that seemingly flubbed their routine.
This is IMO the quandary that "Constellation" faces. Other shows have executed the timey, whimey, wibbly wobbly conundrum more flawlessly, however, they weren't also juggling chainsaws, spinning plates on poles, and hula hooping at the same time. Therefore, do we penalize them for not sticking the landing without the extra step or two to maintain their balance, or, can we overlook that because of the difficulty of trying to pull it off in the first place?
Part of this schizophrenia is also due to the writers and producers having to write a show that MAY get renewed for another series, or, may end up being "one and done". So, they can't give all the plot away, lest they have nothing for round two, yet, have to give the viewers a cogent and compelling enough storyline to warrant them tuning in. Thus we have drawn out segments like the Coleman twins bantering back and forth with each other via a kiddy tape recorder whilst crammed into a dark closet staring into a mirror. I half expected one of them to start saying, candyman, candyman, candyman, and the "Valya" to suddenly appear. (which it kind of did in the end when the ex cosmonaut fessed up)
Jonathan Banks turns in another yeoman performance as Henry (Bud) Caldera, valiantly attempting to keeping the cray cray away, but just barely. Noomi Rapace is rapidly becoming the go to gal for IDK but I might be losing my mind in space dramas. She has a way of being both compellingly fierce, yet at the same time vulnerable and melancholy, which works well for her character Jo Ericsson. However, IMO it's "buckwheats" for James D'Arcy's Magnus as well as William Catlett's Paul Lancaster, the former for gaslighting his wife, and the latter for gaslighting an entire space agency cuz he got the ick sitting next to a (mostly) dead coworker, leaving her lost in (a) space (station).
Hopefully, the bean counters will greenlight an additional 8 episodes, which would give the writers a chance to fill in a bit of Irena's back story as well as the fate of the two Henry's.
In the meantime.... Take a Pill:
Film 108 (Goal: 300) of 2024
I've loved Adam Sandlers more serious fare, whether it be the recent Hustle, Uncut Gems, Reign Over Me, Punch Drunk Love, etc. And it feels like after a decade of near garbage releases through the NETFLIX deal, that Sandler is focusing on more serious fare. So I was very interested in Spaceman, a project I admittedly only knew about a few weeks before release onto the streaming platform. I didn't know much about the film, other than the title and the actor.
But Spaceman doesn't work for me. I really wanted it to but, and I'm deliberately not saying much but there's a pivotal moment early into the film, and if you don't buy in, I don't think you'll be able to enjoy the film. In case it wasn't obvious, that was me, I couldn't buy into this plot addition. I've seen some out there things in films and I think it comes down to direction and set-up as to how well you as a viewer will accept it. From that point on, the film was a struggle.
Another pivotal part of the film is the story of a failing marriage between Sandler's Jakub and Carey Mulligan's Lenka. It's essentially the underlying narrative from start to finish. And even though we are giving plenty of time to focus on their romance, I did not care. I don't know exactly what didn't work, maybe I needed some time together prior to the space flight happening, maybe I just don't care for Carey Mulligan. I say this every time he does serious fare but Sandler is good. Now this is no Uncut Gems or anything, but a lot of the film is anchored on Sandler's performance, and he's able to convey a lot as his character goes on a journey. This film doesn't come close to the rating I get without his performance.
Spaceman is an ultimately disappointing 2024 release that will likely be forgotten within weeks. Some will love it, others not so much. Which way you fall will likely depend on how much you accept the 2nd character onboard the space station. For some, that may just be a deal breaker.
2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024-12-31T23:59:59Z