Kevin Winslow's answer to How is Star Wars: The Acolyte?

Kevin Winslow's answer to How is Star Wars: The Acolyte? - Quora

Supremely bad for a show that costs 22.5 MILLION DOLLARS per episode, (with each episode only being 30–50 minutes long)! And it’s not really “Star Wars”, which isn’t helping anything. ***Also, I’ve updated my answer now that the full show has released.***

Just to be clear: George Lucas made Star Wars in 1977 for 11 million dollars, (about 56 million dollars when adjusted for inflation in 2024.) The profit that one movie made was 775.5 million dollars in 1977, or a little over 4 BILLION DOLLARS when adjusted for 2024’s inflation! So for the price of less than three episodes of The Acolyte, George Lucas made 4 BILLION DOLLARS in ticket sales alone, not including the years of merchandising that followed and two sequels.

So when someone says, “we don’t want it to be like George Lucas’s vision”, my question is always, “WHY!?” I mean, who doesn’t want to spend 56 million dollars and make $3,944,999,999 profit!? Maybe… just maybe… what you think needs ‘fixing’ in his vision is actually you projecting your own issues, because that kind of profit speaks for itself. On his first go with Star Wars, he crushed the box office and made a legacy. If you’re going to change something, you should be damn sure you know what you’re doing because you’re standing on the shoulders and work of a giant and have nowhere to go but DOWN.

I say this because I’m making a serious accusation when I say that The Acolyte is fan-fiction and we’re seeing the inferior quality from the craftsmen. This show bears the “Star Wars” label and has an enormous price tag per episode; to say that it looks cheap and doesn’t feel like Lucas’ Star Wars is pretty much the worst criticism it can get.

The Acolyte strays FAR from Lucas’ works, and despite Leslye Headland and Kathleen Kennedy saying how great that is, the proof is in the pudding: the ideas in this show not only don’t bring anything of real quality in, and it’s actively trying to rid itself of what made Lucas’ work so good. And that list starts with FUN, ADVENTURE, and clear-cut GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS. The Acolyte is devoid of the beating heart of what makes for great Star Wars and it’s spending four times as much on pumping out an inferior product! Nothing tells you more about the inferiority of the craftsman then when they’re spending four times as much to make something that doesn’t hold up. I gave it a shot; 8 episodes later, and you can compare this to either Lucas’ trilogies, the story and characters went NOWHERE. Basically, ‘things happened’ is the best way to sum up the plot. Where are the deep character arcs? Where are the powerful romances, the deep themes, and the banger finish like you get in Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Sith? For the amount of money poured into this show, the end result is a boring, pathetic mess. Seriously, compare it minute to minute to GL’s trilogies, and you’ll ask yourself the same question I did: where was the money spent?!

The writing is terrible: who exactly is the hero? Why are characters who have been chasing one character in the previous episode running away from them this episode? How are people who are trained to sense beyond human sense getting confused by clothing swaps? And most importantly, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS STORY?

This show has 180 million dollars sunk in it and no clear vision. In under 7 minutes of Star Wars, you knew who the good guys were, who the bad guys were, and exactly why to root for the good guys and fear the bad guys. 7 episodes into “The Acolyte”, you’re still wondering, and in the final episode, they’re still introducing new characters.

There are only two things I liked about the show: the fight choreographer worked their butt to make fights look entertaining even if the story being told doesn’t make sense, and the second thing? The show finally ended, and hopefully has exposed why Star Wars needs VISIONARIES to tell these stories who have an understanding of what makes it great: Timothy Zahn, Drew Karpyshyn, and even just random stories out of the MMO “Star Wars: The Old Republic” had better writing in this setting and understand how to make an entertaining story with moral complexity. But the existence of these other writers and stories are proof that the talent and ideas are out there, but Kathleen Kennedy, Leslye Headland, and the crew behind the High Republic aren’t up to par.

*** Also, as an interesting note: Quora’s algorithms have pushed my answer to the bottom of the list, not just below the other answers to the question but also below at least ten ‘related’ answers to other questions at any given time despite having the most upvotes and comments. Despite this, I think it’s because my criticism is harsh but true: when you compare this to even George Lucas’ worst Star Wars film, you can see the vast divide in quality between the craftsmen. If you spend four times as much and have this poor of an output, it shows your lack of ability as an artist, leader, and visionary.

By the way: thank you for your views, upvotes, and comments! I deeply appreciate you reading my answers and the upvotes and comments have made me feel appreciated. Much obliged!

Sorry about the tangent. Let me get back on track and talk about the money.

Reacher on Amazon Prime cost less than half as much per episode, (10 million per episode) and has great reviews and views. People actually told their friends about Reacher and new subscribers came to Amazon Prime to watch the show. And in a wildly, ‘it’s-so-crazy-it-just-might-work!’ fashion, the show actually dares to TRY to follow the source material and the designs of the original author! Both seasons are a wild thrill ride and I think very well balanced and paced. I have to mention this because this show had a ton of success by doing the opposite of Headland and Kennedy: instead of trying remake the franchise, characters, themes, and stories in some new image, Reacher just took the good parts of the books and tried to bring it to life as best they could.

The Acolyte, on the other hand, is Leslye Headland’s story that she has outspokenly said is geared to try to appeal to her demographic, (queer) that’s set in a fan-fiction version of Lucas’ Galaxy Far, Far Away setting, “the High Republic”. And this show is a terribly acted, terribly scripted whodunnit that is supposed to be a mystery to the audience, but is laughably predictable. Granted, Star Wars’ is going to take more money to make each episode due to the setting, but note that money doesn’t automatically equate to views, likes, and quality. George Lucas’ films and shows like Reacher didn’t buy their way to fame; Lucas broke new ground and Reacher tried to follow the formula of the popular books.

The Acolyte, from Headland herself, was supposed to break new ground. And LET ME BE CLEAR: what the show pitched and was supposed to bring had elements I have wanted: namely, more martial arts in Star Wars and more Jedi to watch on screen! I’m a martial artist myself and I love dynamic, explosive fight scenes and the world is FILLED TO THE BRIM with people chomping at the bit to be a part of Lucas’ Star Wars. We grew up with the films, the books, the comics, and wanted to be Jedi or Sith, or even just have a place in that setting. And this is the single biggest missed opportunity in my mind because a New Jedi Order under Luke and Leia could have easily had their pick of the litter from thousands of actors and stuntmen & stuntwomen from around the world who’d give their right arm, (no Jedi/Sith puns intended) to be in this universe!

In fact, my ideal “New Jedi Order” pretty much looks a lot like the “Legends” version of the Jedi Order, which, if Chirrut had a lightsaber instead of staff, Chirrut would have been the poster child for.

However, The Acolyte takes these ideas and flushes it completely down the toilet by ‘breaking ground’ in all the wrong ways. The biggest of which was aiming for moral ambiguity and making The Jedi, (the GOOD GUYS from Lucas’ films and stories) out to be the BAD GUYS for most of the season. On top of that, the fight scenes that should be a big draw are a big snooze because the writing for the characters is so bad, you’ll see two characters fight and just not care. Or trained Jedi Knights, (masters of combat) will stand around like muppets because their lightsaber got bashed, or characters will choose not to use lightsabers on their hip when an assassin makes their presence known. These are Knights, not pacifists, and even Obi-Wan sliced a dude’s arm off for starting up on Luke, yet they’re not going to pull a lightsaber and defend themselves from someone trying to kill them?

I love the idea of more martial arts and fist fights to show how awesome a Galaxy Far, Far Away can be as a setting, but not when you’re making characters lethally stupid.

On top of that, Masters who should be wise and smart, are shown to be dumb, corrupted, egotistical, or moronic, while apprentices are shown to the smart ones with the right answers and tactics. This is the classic “Disney Dad” inversion, where the father is incompetent and the kid is hero making all the right decisions.

I do give the show one piece of credit for killing off the writer’s pet, but I have to take it back when you look at how the writers filled up an entire season of people you don’t really care about and all get killed off anyway.

Let’s talk acting.

For 22 million dollars PER EPISODE, there is NO excuse for the terrible casting, wooden dialogue, and poor direction in each episode. And to be frank, people want to pull a “Rose Tico” and criticize the character writing and not the actors by saying, “it’s the script and direction that’s bad”, but I’m going to say it: it IS the script and direction, but (especially in the case of the twin girls) they’re also not very good actresses. At all. In their defense, most of the actors in this show aren’t. For sure, their scenes aren’t helped by dumbass logic such as, “if you don’t do what I want, I’ll kill you”. (I’m paraphrasing, but that actually happens, and as a twin myself, you couldn’t have written a worse line, because that was pure stupidity on the part of the writer.) But still, compare these two to say, Dakota Fanning at the same age, or Natalie Portman; there are some kids out there who are brilliant actors at that age, and these two aren’t it. I hate to be blunt, but most of the casting in this show was based on looks, not talent, and man, the show suffers for it!

For a show this expensive, (180 million dollars, AT LEAST, not including marketing!) the acting, writing, and casting should have been top tier. And it isn’t. I’m not saying “brand names”, like expensive A-listers, I’m saying the actors hired should have been able to act with authority, talent, and passion.

And before you defend the show’s writing, for the same run time, I dare you to compare how far the story has progressed compared to A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back.

Honestly, this show is completely forgettable. I can’t even remember the names of the characters after I’m done watching the show, whereas it’s been 30 years since I read something like “I, Jedi” from the Expanded Universe/Legends and I could still tell you my favorite moments with Corran Horn, because the writing and characters were INTERESTING, and it felt more like Lucas’ Star Wars.

This doesn’t. and if you love it, great, but I’d question why by any objective measure. If you remove all emotion from your critique, this is a slowly paced, badly acted, illogical mess that doesn’t match or fit Star Wars by George Lucas. This honestly could have been set in some other setting entirely and been just as terrible.

***FAQ’S/FMC’s - Frequently Asked Questions, Frequently Made Comments***

I had to update this section with two new bullet points I’ve put here at the top.

• The Appeal to Mediocrity:

“It’s not great but I also don’t think the level of hate directed at it is warranted.”

“I haven't seen the show so no idea what I would think of it, but comparing making star wars now to making it when George Lucas made the original isn't sensible…

“The show is fine. Not great, but fine.”

I’m seeing these and variations of this and it’s turning me into Gordon Ramsay on an episode of Hell’s Kitchen. This is the defense of this show?! Admitting it’s not good and saying I’m unfair? Or seriously, admitting you’ve never watched the show but defending its quality anyway to people who have? Obviously, you’re proving my point on the poor quality of the program if your best defense is, “it’s meh”, and I question why you’re trying to defend it. And hell, someone even admitted they’d never even seen it and had the gall to say I’m being unfair with my criticisms!

WHERE IS YOUR PASSION?! Where are your standards? Would you go a restaurant that served you dangerously undercooked meat and had hair in the food and just say, “Oh, but the cooks were trying really hard, we shouldn’t complain!” “Well, the food isn’t anything good, but I think the critics are being too harsh.”

You’re paying money for this on Disney+! This is STAR WARS. Capital letters, BOLD PRINT. John Williams music underscoring! This is the most dynamic and exciting fantasy universe brand name created in the last 50 years, with hundreds of talented authors across comics, novels, and video games who have written outstanding non-canon work: how can you accept anything less than GREAT when Disney has consolidated it and is spending top dollar?

This is Disney/Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm’s problem! They’ve pumped enough money to make TWO Godzilla Minus One FILMS for the price of any ONE episode of this series, and this is the result?

This is like paying $300 bucks for filet mignon and what comes to you is two-buck-chuck, and it’s BURNT. I don’t care how long the cook spent on it or how much perceived effort was utilized, the results are speaking for themselves, and what it’s saying isn’t good.

• You just don’t like lesbians!

Leslye is an outspoken lesbian. She was hired in part because she’s a lesbian. She’s specifically stated that she wanted to write a story that spoke to lesbians, (like herself). There are characters in the piece that are clearly lesbians. Kathleen Kennedy and Leslye are on record saying that they have been trying to insert more identity politics into the work as a main ‘voice’. And when a writer other than the original author is writing a story in the original author’s setting, it’s called a fan-fiction. At best, the wording might change to, “a lesbian’s fan-fiction” instead of “lesbian fan-fiction”, but at this point, it’s semantics. When the creators put this as the center of their design for the project, then it’s completely fair game to analyze and question whether it adds or detracts from the quality of the build.

You don’t see me complaining about Isaak Sirko from Dexter because he’s a freakin’ awesome character and acted to perfection. NoHo Hank in Barry is a brilliantly acted and written to both lift up and have a tongue in cheek laugh with the gay community in LA while satirizing organized crime. They’re successful and brought something great to both shows because these are done really, really well. There are tons of examples of LGTBQ characters done really well and that people like me never make a peep about… because the writing for the characters is on point. They fit into the universe and story they are in and have three dimensions to them that give them an appeal beyond just a singular piece of identity politics. Good writing takes talent, and nothing in the Acolyte shows that the talent is there.

If you want insert an element into someone else’s setting and fiction, it needs to be brilliant and it needs to fit; and just like any other design choice, it’s just as open to criticism as any other part of the production. If I said, “there’s not enough pink lighting in Lucas’ films, and I’m aiming to correct that”, and the pink lighting made the entire production worse by killing the color palate of the costumes, making the actors sweat profusely, or running up the budget, then there’s a case to be made it’s a bad decision.

If Leslye was pumping out something on par with Rogue One, the first two seasons of the Mandalorian, or even an equal quality to something like the Jedi Knight games, this would be a very different review because we’d be enjoying the results. As it is, it’s shockingly bad, and the fact that she was hired over identity politics and tried to infuse her identity politics into the story to a detrimental effect make it 100% fair game to criticize.

• The Jedi being evil isn’t new to this show. They were evil in [Fill in the blank EU/Legends work][Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy]

Let’s clear the air:

”The novels and comic books are other authors' interpretations of my creation. Sometimes, I tell them what they can and cant do, but I just don't have the time to read them all. **They're not my vision of what Star Wars is.”**

- George Lucas 2004

"The terminology of "Expanded Universe" was a careful one; it expanded on the world created in the core stories, but was never officially meant to be Star Wars canon, according to the Maker himself, George Lucas."

~ Dave Filoni 2017

Saying the Jedi were evil in something like Knights of the Old Republic is a bit of stretch, but even if it was true, it has no bearing on Lucas’ works. When the creator of the franchise (generously, I might add) allowed other people to write for his setting with the stipulation that it isn’t canon, then guess what? It isn’t canon. It’s clearly labeled as “inspired by” Star Wars, but not part of Lucas’ official lore.

As for the Prequel Trilogy, the Jedi aren’t evil! In fact, you seem them fighting the people who are actually evil. Lucas showed the Jedi Order as flawed, (at worst), but not evil, and their worst flaw was something that is actually a noble virtue: they were loyal to the Republic. That strength becomes a massive vulnerability when Sheev Palpatine managed to manipulate his way to the top of the organization they were sworn to protect.

The Acolyte, on the other hand, actually wants to depict the Jedi as morally evil for at least the first half of season: they are the ones who are insinuated to have committed evil deeds and being painted as hypocrites. That’s not Lucas’ vision, and clearly a reinterpretation and revision of these noble warriors through the lens of Leslye Headland.

• It’s not fair to compare The Acolyte to Star Wars: A New Hope/It’s a different time and place.

Au contraire; The Acolyte bears the Star Wars brand and is using Lucas’ setting for the TV show, so it’s 100% fair to compare how much has been invested in the show and how much was invested in the original movie to look for how much QUALITY that money produced. If you’re putting out a new flavor of Coke, that’s under the brand name and there is an expectation of quality that goes with it. There is a reason New Coke and Crystal Pepsi died horrible deaths: if the new product doesn’t hold up to the original OR the bulk of buyers don’t like it/want it, then it’s back to formula, boys! Conversely, if what you made was a hit, (Diet Coke or Cherry Pepsi), your buyers will let you know through the sales.

Right now, this show has had four times as much money poured into it than the movie that started it all, and what’s coming out the other end is BORING to watch. Or when there is action in it like in episode 5, what we get is the slaughter of characters we didn’t care about or really know, and a show that can’t decide the difference between good and evil. Seriously… who is the good guy in this? Because Star Wars is fundamentally about good vs. evil.

This isn’t comparing movies to TV, this comparing craftsman to craftsman. We’re looking at two chefs, one working with 1/4 of the budget of the second chef, both of whom have access to the same recipes and materials, and yet the person who is spending vastly more on their creation is pumping out an inferior dish. It’s undercooked, it lacks flavor, and what they billed as “new” about their version of the recipe isn’t bringing anything that actually increases how good the dish is.

To put it another way: if The Acolyte was released in 1977, completely as-is, would this have made 775.5 million dollars, (4 billion dollars in 2024 adjusted for inflation) like Star Wars did? And if not, could The Acolyte AT LEAST be comparable in quality if looking at both side-by-side?

Quality matters, and it’s the defining characteristic between the master and novice craftsman!

• You just don’t have an open mind.

One of these actually came from someone who confessed they hadn’t even the show yet! That’s like me defending the food at a restaurant I’ve never eaten at when articles are coming out about people eating there and getting food poisoning, just because they like the idea of what’s on the menu!

If anything, the majority of commenters and myself have one thing in common: over 40 years of investment into Star Wars and a shared love of the original films, the prequels, and all the EU lore. Saying people who have devoured that content for 4 decades don’t have an open mind when they criticize these new works is very debatable. And like I mentioned before, some of the people giving this criticism to me, (that I don’t have an open mind when) haven’t even watched the show themselves, which is beyond the pale! How you can even start making that accusation if you haven’t seen it yourself?

I think long-term fans have way more of an idea of what makes for good versions of stories in that setting and poor ones since we’ve seen a lot of it. And with that said, we’ve also watched, read, and absorbed thousands of hours of other content as well that isn’t Star Wars, and can differentiate between what makes for a good show and bad one, even without Star Wars as the setting.

I was talking about Spider-Man comics recently and brought up “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #118” as a textbook example of what makes the character so beloved. That issue came out 40 years ago and smokes anything written in the last 10 years. I can reference it and remember it because I read it when it first came out. I have a basis of comparison that’s really broad when it comes to Spider-Man.

Likewise, a lot of people complaining about “the toxic fandom” of Star Wars seem to overlook the quality argument being made and tend to label critics as “narrow minded”. I’d argue there is a lot of wisdom in the fanbase because we’ve been exposed to a lot more Star Wars content. We’ve even criticized George Lucas himself when he fell short of his own bar. I’d further argue that many of the modern creators in TV, film, and comics pride themselves too much on NOT knowing what came before. “New” isn’t necessarily “better.” But quality will always speak for itself.

• “I’m enjoying it and like it. So tuff.”

That was it, the entire comment. Quite the rebuttal. I see different flavors of this every day on critiques I’ve written, ranging from these kinds of one-liners to full on essays. Either way, the purpose is really clear: it’s about the commenter feeling some form of catharsis for saying, “Nuh uh!” to what I’ve laid out, without actually presenting any real argument themselves. Or proof of that argument.

For the record, I’ll probably just end up downvoting/ignoring/or deleting comments like this since really, it’s not adding anything to the conversation, and it tries to internalize what I’ve said about the show as some personal attack. I never said anyone is not allowed to like something, but I DID say that I’d question why by any objective measure. And comments like this are pure subjectivity. You can ‘like’ anything for any reason you choose, even illogical and irrational reasons: maybe I want to choose to like a show because the protagonists wore a blue tie and I like the color blue, or because an actress on screen reminds me of the girl I had a crush on in high school. No one can debate your personal subjectivity, but the quality of a show based on its plot, setting, characters and design elements can absolutely be debated, and found wanting if it doesn’t measure up.