The Acolyte Episode 5 - Lightsabers in the Night: The Acolyte's Epic Showdown

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Calarogu Shark Media. Hey there,
basement dwellers, it's your host Journey Joe

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Mitchell back with another deep dive into
the galaxy far far away. Today we're

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unpacking episode five of The Acolyte,
aptly titled Night and Holy Sith. Did

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this one deliver the goods? First
off, let's address the bantha in the

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room that syth reveal. Our suspicions
were confirmed as Camier turned out to be

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the mysterious Masked Master. While some
might say this was predictable, I think

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the real surprise was how epic the
reveal scene played out. Manny Jacinto really

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brought his a game, transitioning from
goofy sidekick to menacing Sith Lord in the

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blink of an eye. That moment
when his mask comes off and we see

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those piercing eyes chills, folks,
absolute chills. Now, let's talk about

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the action. This episode was basically
one one long, gorgeously choreographed lightsaber battle,

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and I am here for it.
The fight scenes were kinetic, intense,

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and beautifully shot. The show's creators
weren't kidding when they said they wanted

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to top the Darth Maul duel from
The Phantom menace. While that's a high

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bar, I'd say they came pretty
darn close. The way Camie or should

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we call him Damon now moved was
unlike anything we've seen from a Force user

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before. It was unpredictable, almost
feral, and it really drove home how

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different the Sith fighting style is from
the Jedies. We also got some shocking

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deaths this episode. Poor Jeckie and
jord We hardly knew ye Daphne Kenes.

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Jecky in particular, went out in
a blaze of glory that moment when Kmir

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stabbed her three times with his hidden
Shodo saber. Brutal but so effective in

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establishing the stakes. While these deaths
packed a punch, I can't help but

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wish we'd had more time with these
characters in earlier episodes. It might have

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made their demises even more impactful.
The episode did a great job of ramping

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up the tension throughout, from the
eerie atmosphere of the nighttime cofar jungle to

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Camee's creepy entrances and exits. Everything
worked together to create a sense of dread

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and excitement. Michael Abel's score,
while not quite reaching John Williams levels did

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a solid job of enhancing the mood. One thing that stood out to me

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was the use of cortosis armor.
This deep cut reference to Star Wars lore

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was a nice touch for us hardcore
fans, and it added an interesting wrinkle

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to the lightsaber combat. It's always
fun to see elements from the expanded Universe

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make their way into live action Star
Wars. Let's break down some of the

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smaller moments that really stood out.
May's call back to OSHA's bad blocking from

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their childhood training nice bit of continuity. There a scene where the precise lightsaber

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duel between Saul and Camee devolves into
an all out brawl. It felt raw

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and desperate in all the right ways. OSHA's sacrifice of Pip to save everyone,

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pour one out for our little droid
buddy. The way May changed her

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gait when approaching Soul as Osha a
man. La Stenberg is really selling this

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dual role. Now, I've got
to address some of the criticisms I've been

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seeing online. Yes, the twin
swap at the end was a bit predictable,

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and you'd think Saul would be able
to sense the difference between Osha and

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May. Some folks have also been
complaining about the pacing of the series up

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to this point, and I get
it. The first four episodes were a

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slow burn, but I think this
episode justifies that build up. All that

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tension finally exploded in this epic confrontation, and it felt earned. I also

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want to give a shout out to
the visual effects team. The lightsaber work

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in this episode was top notch.
The way they lit up the misty jungle

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gorgeous, and Camie's mask Seriously,
can we talk about how cool that thing

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is. One thing that's still bugging
me is the mystery around what exactly happened

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on Brendoc. Both Camie and May
keep alluding to it without actually spilling the

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beans. I'm hoping we get some
answers soon because at this point the teasing

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is getting a bit frustrating. Overall, I think this episode was a major

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step up for the Acolyte. It
delivered on the action front while still moving

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the plot forward in interesting ways.
We're finally seeing the Scyth in action during

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this era, and it's as terrifying
as we hoped it would be. I'm

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excited to see where the show goes
from here, especially now that May is

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masquerading as Osha. That's all for
this week. Star Wars fans, until

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next time, May the Force be
with you and keep your lightsabers charged and

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your basements full of lively TV discussions. This is Journey Joe signing off from

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the depths of the TV Dungeon.
See you next time.