The Acolyte Teach/Corrupt Review: Manny Jacinto shines in an episode lost in space

The Acolyte‘s Teach/Corrupt fails to match the action-packed pacing of the last episode. Better dialogue and terrific, subtle performances by Manny Jacinto and Lee Jung-jae make up for an episode that’s biding time.

Qimir’s storyline with Osha is the best part of the episode. He believably reveals how he started from a place similar to Osha’s as a Jedi youngling. Osha doesn’t go full dark side, but she’s clearly intrigued by Qimir’s message. Osha’s submitting to the temptations comes a bit too easily, but everything Qimir does is meaningful.

Meanwhile, Mae’s attempt to trade places with Osha on Sol’s ship predictably fails. He spends the whole episode promising to explain what happened on their home planet. Then, the episode ends just as he begins to reveal the real events on Brendok. It takes too long for Sol to realize Mae is Osha, but at least he figured it out.

Then, there’s the even more useless story on Coruscant. Vernestra receives word of the failed mission in Khofar. She heads to the planet with a young Jedi and appears to be leaning towards pinning the dead Jedi on Sol. There’s nothing interesting about Vernestra. Her dull delivery sucks the life out of the show every time she’s on screen. This is not a shot at Rebecca Henderson as an actor and is more of an issue with how the character is written.

More than any of the other Star Wars series, The Acolyte is struggling with these short runtimes. Outside of Osha-Qimir, nothing of consequence happens. In the last episode, Sol promised to reveal the truth to Mae. Fast forward to the end of Teach/Corrupt, and still, he hasn’t told the story. Even though the dialogue is better, the story stays in place when it needs to move forward.

With two episodes remaining, here’s hoping Sol finally reveals the events on Brendok.

After the overview and ranking Teach/Corrupt 5 out of 10 (Average), let’s dive into Qimir’s backstory, his interpretation of Osha’s relationship with the Jedi, and Mae’s failed subterfuge. The Acolyte is streaming on Disney Plus.

Eager to Teach/Corrupt

Qimir’s transformation in Teach/Corrupt is even more impactful than his reveal in the last episode. The anger and aggression shown are replaced with understanding, vulnerability, and compassion.

When Osha wakes up, she finds Qimir bathing and grabs his lightsaber. Qimir isn’t worried at all and simply says it must be nice for Osha to hold a lightsaber again after many years. She first questions whether she’s Qimir’s prisoner, to which he points out she’s the one holding the weapon.

Osha believes she left the Jedi of her own volition. Eventually, Qimir reveals his story which begins to soften Osha’s stance. Like Osha, he was a Jedi trainee betrayed by his master. He also explains his impervious critosis helmet and relates it to Jedi training. The helmet has sensory-dampening properties that force young trainees to depend only on the Force.

One of the best aspects of the script is how Showrunner Leslye Headland and Jocelyn Bioh connect the desires of Osha and Qimir. Both want to belong, which makes their pairing stronger than Mae’s. Osha saw the Jedi as a place to belong and felt she had to leave. Meanwhile, Qimir seeks a pupil to whom he can pass on his teachings.

Mae’s Failure

Back on Sol’s ship, not much is happening. Sol is trying to send a distress call to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but the connection is too weak to send the message. Meanwhile, Mae is sneaking around and again not actually committing to a plan.

Sol embraces who he believes to be Osha, but before he can explain more, he tries to fix the ship’s communication system. Bazil, the large squirrel-like creature, knows something is up, but Mae subdues him and fixes the ship’s power.

Later, Sol has another conversation with her. This time, she presses a little too much, and Sol figures out Mae is pretending to be Osha. He stuns her. He promises to tell her the truth when she wakes up. The episode ends before anything is revealed.

Through his facial expressions, Jung-Jae is excellent at showing the toll the recent and distant past is having on him. Unfortunately, there’s nothing else interesting about the storyline. Mae’s character doesn’t progress from the last episode and her plan predictably fails. While the power is off on the ship, Sol doesn’t have much to do either.

Teach/Corrupt Final Thoughts

Jacinto’s performance and tighter focus on the dark side carry The Acolyte. The Jedi storylines in Teach/Corrupt don’t move the story forward enough.

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