The Acolyte's 'annoying' episode-ending tactics begin to irritate 'Star Wars'fans
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'The Acolyte' Episode 6 aired on Disney+ on July 2, 2024, and excited fans who religiously follow 'Star Wars' were left agonizingly frustrated yet again with an episode that ended on another cliffhanger.
'The Acolyte' has been receiving immense criticism for many reasons ever since it premiered. The 'Star Wars' series has been criticized for an extremely loose plot that has been lazily executed to make the show a snoozefest.
From its episode length to its gaping inconsistencies with the 'Star Wars' canon, people have been up in arms since the series began and now the outrage has shifted to the infinite number of cliffhangers this show has.
For the first five episodes, the show teased the identity of the masked master who was finally revealed as Qimir (Manny Jacinto) after teasing it for four episodes. Now for the previous two episodes, it is Master Sol's (Lee Jung-jae) past that has been teased and just when the revelation is about to happen, something distracts the characters and the audience has had enough now.
Fans outrage over suspense-building tactics of 'The Acolyte'
Fans took to the internet to express their frustration over the suspense-building tactics of 'The Acolyte' to keep the viewers hanging and moving on to other plot points.
A Reddit user said, "They’re overusing the “let me tell you everything” interrupted by external event. I get that they’re building suspense but there’s better ways to do it without overusing this “I’ll tell you everything” only to be interrupted bit. I’m sure the last two episodes are going to answer a lot of questions, but I wish they could have found a more clever way to answer some questions along the way while still leaving mystery and suspense."
Another Reddit user commented, "Yeah other than some editing issues this is definitely my biggest gripe with the show. I understand why they want to draw it out but this isn't the way to go about it."
A Reddit user added, "Seriously. It's a self referential trope at this point. A meme. Imagine if you suspected something about your significant other and they kept pulling this move. You'd be gone."
Most of the suspense bits have been related to Master Sol and his past in the last two episodes. Fans aren't happy about this part of his character particularly because he has been built as someone with strong morals.
A Reddit user said, "The truth is that Sol doesn't want to tell anyone anything, much less everything. So he's procrastinating and finding excuses not to do it. That's one of his big flaws. He's unwilling to own up to the truth even though he knows that he should."
Why does 'The Acolyte' have so many cliffhangers?
Well, apart from being a narrative decision, having cliffhangers is often a business decision that the producers and broadcasters consciously take.
In Episode 4, the makers introduced the masked master and gave a glimpse of his identity without revealing who he was. This increased the viewers' curiosity about the Sith Lord's real identity and increased the chances of them tuning in next week.
Similarly in Episode 6, Master Sol teases revelations about his past and the episode ends soon after that tease. Viewers who have followed the show for the last six episodes are heavily invested in the series and will likely tune in for Episode 7 to find out about his past.
How to stream 'The Acolyte'?
'The Acolyte' Episodes 1-6 are streaming on Disney+. To watch the show, you will need a Disney+ Subscription. To stream 'The Acolyte', you'll need a subscription to Disney+.
The basic membership plan with ads costs $7.99/month while the premium plan (with no ads) comes at $13.99/month or $139.99/year.
The 'Acolyte' trailer
'The Acolyte' Episodes 1-6 are streaming on Disney+.