With the decision to go with another flashback episode last week, ‘The Acolyte’ season finale had a lot of work to do to wrap up all the loose threads left dangling. Unfortunately, the series largely didn’t leave itself enough time to conclude those plotlines in a satisfying way. Yes, the lightsaber combat continues to be amazing, and despite some very good character work in episode 6, the series continues to lack the patience (and runtime) to give the major emotional beats time to breath. The finale was no better, as it blew through some pretty big character moments, especially for Osha, without take a moment to really let them sink in. Despite that, there are still some standout moments here and some intriguing breadcrumbs to follow into a possible season 2 (which has not yet been confirmed). Julian and Rachel unpack every revelation, head-scratcher, and character cameo as they break it all down scene-by-scene.

Unfortunately, the flashback format worked against this episode from the start. Not enough interesting new information was revealed to justify breaking the momentum the show had leading into this week. After an incredible action episode, 'The Acolyte' followed that up with a great character episode that teased a fascinating finish, despite there still being many threads left dangling. Due to the decision to place this second flashback episode, this time from the Jedi's perspective, in this penultimate slot in the season, we're now left with only one episode left to wrap everything up. The episode itself does feature some beautiful shots and some intriguing ideas, but it's a little too shaggy, given how much weight was put into these reveals earlier in this season, to ultimately feel satisfying. With a steep hill yet to climb, plot-wise, it'll be interesting to see if the show can stick the landing.

After last week's action-heavy episode left our jaws on the floor from the sheer spectacle and shocking character deaths, 'The Acolyte' uses this follow-up episode to give us a breather. With the main characters now split between three different plotlines, we spend our time jumping between a series of one-on-one conversations, reminiscent of 'Game of Thrones' when it was at it's best. The most interesting of which is Osha and The Stranger/Qimir, as we see the beginnings of the temptation to the dark side. Never before has the Star Wars leaned into the "from a certain point of view" concept more in live action than in this episode. We finally start exploring that "Sith" perspective that has been teased by the creators. Some may call this "filler", but for our money, this is some of the best Star Wars you can get. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack every nuanced line of dialogue and character beat in this week's Small Screen Star Wars podcast!