Desire

The Acolyte Episode 6 "Teach/Corrupt"

SPOILERS ARE NAUGHTY

Last week I responded to the new episode of The Acolyte with what was basically a joke about The Good Place and a surprised-face-emoji. “Night” was an all-timer, proving that Leslye Headland is not only the biggest Star Wars dork of all (mansplain canon to someone who just whipped out cortosis, I dare you); but that she also brings the pain with merciless verve.

It also touched on the mission statement of our villain, which was “freedom to use his power as he sees fit.” While freedom is certainly something to strive for, in the wake of a week where the United States Supreme Court placed the President outside of the reach of the law, freedom to have unrestrained power takes on quite a different meaning.

This week’s episode, “Teach/Corrupt,” also made my jaw drop, but for a completely different reason. It was hot.

The word seduce is frequently visited upon the Skywalker Saga. Vader was seduced. The Dark Side is ‘seductive.’ Ben Solo was seduced by the Dark Side. But it’s almost exclusively used in the context of Star Wars to describe someone being drawn in by power; not by desire.

But no longer. When The Artist Previously Known as Qimir goes through the list of powerful emotions that can be accessed for great power without responsibility, he starts with the trilogy of sins that Yoda introduces in Episode I: Fear, Anger, Loss. But he adds, with a glance over his well-defined shoulder, “Desire.” And with that, everyone in the galaxy’s pants were blown off by the Force.

The Stranger isn’t just offering power. He's emerging from the spa-treatment waters of a rocky cove, fully naked, and asking if it’s okay if he puts his clothes on? (And the answer is… um, give me minute.) He might as well say “I can feel your…I want to say anger? No, actually, that’s not it.”

He’s offering something steamy to eat on a rocky shore. He’s being rather forcefully understanding. He’s not railing against the unfairness of the world, he seems like he’s figured something out and he’s got a secret to share. He’s surprisingly contemporary and disarming. I did not expect to hear someone use the word “semantics” in Star Wars, but we have arrived on an Unknown Planet.

One thing I enjoyed about “Teach/Corrupt” is that everything The Stranger uses to bring Osha closer to him has been laced throughout the show. Yes, she’s the ‘good’ twin, but something did happen that alienated her from the Jedi Order. That whole story sounds extremely complex even if we only get hints at what happened. In the first episode, Yord (RIP Yord) reminds Osha Jedi Master Indara herself recommended Osha’s training end. So, in this strange place, unable to figure out what her captor wants, likely curious and vulnerable, he’s able to string her along in a way that I thought was persuasive in the telling. (And it doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes, which, I mean, you, have you seen his arms?)

In fact, this episode is full of attention to detail. For example, we’re given a reason that Sol is unable to sense the Sith who are right in front of him, even though he’s a powerful Jedi. The answer: his feelings are unclear and unbalanced. He’s only seeing what he wants to see.

Sol’s behavior in this episode crosses over into full-on questionable. We see him run from the Jedi Order moments after he says he is going to turn himself over the High Council. He traps Mae and then ominously tells his prisoner that she is “going to listen.” That he’s going to unburden himself (looks like we’re going to get the Destiny episode retold from a revealing perspective next episode). It’s all very UnJedi as far as we’ve seen them before.

There’s a wonderfully trusting take of Sol just feeling his feelings and then suppressing them. We see the show wrestling with its themes in his face, not the dialogue: he is roiling, and then, he calms himself. Are we to interpret this as overcoming emotion? Or suppression of his inner truth? What is a healthy amount of self-control and what is simply burying your pain? It’s a difficult balance to strike, even in a Jedi dedicated to balance.

As the writer of a newsletter called Ahch-To Baby, it’s impossible for me to ignore how this episode inverts and swoops around The Last Jedi. From the Unknown Planet, with a vein of cortosis, that looks remarkably reminiscent of Ahch-To, to the way in which The Stranger emits Kylo Ren radiation (and not just because they share a music cue). He’s got a penchant for showing off his chest, he’s clearly the kind of boy your parents warned you about, but you still want to kiss him, even if it’s going to mean trouble and maybe the Ruination of the Galaxy. Even if he’s shouting “YOU NEED A TEACHER!” at you after he just killed someone you love.

But unlike Kylo Ren, we’ve yet to see anything redemptive in the Stranger. He’s not struggling with a pull to the light. He dismisses the light entirely. And even when he’s asked why he wants a pupil his answer isn’t because he wants to help someone see the truth, or to pass on his teachings. Again, it’s about his own power. He wants The Power of Two.

And finally, the writers land on an image that I think is brave and bound to make younger viewers have trouble sleeping. Osha herself, our hero, puts on the villain’s terrifying mask, and we see, as the show closes, the blackness inside it, and hear her own labored breath within. It’s a nightmarish moment, merging the symbol of horror with The Acolyte’s purest character. And it’s made all the more fraught because of the seductive, alluring nature of her would-be teacher.

The Acolyte is just such rich interpretation of Star Wars themes. Many familiar elements are here, but remixed, pushing the boundaries of what Star Wars can express. There are just two episodes left (sounds like a flashback and then a final confrontation) and I already can’t wait to start the series from the beginning and see how it works as a whole.

Oh and yes, I yelped and pointed at the lightsaber whip! I’m only human.