WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte!

Summary

• The Acolyte episode 7 filled in essential backstory, but was massively hampered by the short runtime.
• Short runtimes in shows with lower episode counts result in less time for character development.
• Longer episodes in Season 2 of The Acolyte could address these issues.

The Acolyte episode 7 provided audiences with much-needed answers about what happened on Brendok the night Mae and Osha’s family died, but it fell into a similar (and annoying) Star Wars pattern. After getting Osha’s limited perspective of the events that transpired on Brendok, audiences got to see the Jedi’s perspective of what happened in The Acolyte episode 7. The episode did a great job of showing the Jedi as imperfect and as people who made a series of mistakes that cost many lives, including the witches of Brendok.

I enjoyed the episode, even if it wasn’t my favorite of the series so far. However, immediately after The Acolyte episode 7, I kept thinking the same thing over and over again; that was way too short. This particular feeling festered a bit for a couple of days until I realized why the runtime of 44 minutes bothered me so much; all The Acolyte episodes have been too short. With only one episode remaining and no confirmation of The Acolyte getting a season 2, this problem is likely going to mean that many of our questions will go unanswered.

Star Wars Has A Runtime Problem

And It’s Not New

Overall, in the last few years, Star Wars has been turning out many shows, live-action and animated alike; however, most of them suffer from the affliction of short runtimes. Especially in the last two years, many Star Wars episodes have often felt too short, to the point where audiences are noticing. It’s an interesting occurrence considering that while many other franchises are following the same model of putting out series and seasons with only 8 episodes, they aren’t getting the same negative feedback.

Having low runtimes can potentially affect the quality of the show, and as we’ve seen with multiple
Star Wars
series, it limits an audience’s time with certain characters that could’ve been utilized in a better way.

Star Wars shows like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and now The Acolyte have had this issue on full display. When there is this kind of repeated behavior throughout a franchise as big as Star Wars, it poses the question of why this is consistently allowed to happen. Having low runtimes can potentially affect the quality of the show, and as we’ve seen with multiple Star Wars series, it limits an audience’s time with certain characters that could’ve been utilized in a better way.

Seasons With Limited Episodes Are Fine, As Long As The Episodes Are Long

Characters Need Time To Evolve Onscreen

TV shows don’t need to have large episode counts; a limited number eliminates the filler episodes common to network TV shows with 20+ episodes each year. This does, however, mean a shorter series faces a huge challenge in terms of letting characters grow and mature over such a short period of time. That is currently one of the biggest criticisms about The Acolyte. If Osha does fall to the dark side and join Manny Jacinto’s Sith Lord Qimir, there’s been so little development to make it seem convincing.

The purpose of the short seasons is to drive plots forward and avoid “filler” episodes and to stay true to the central conflict. However, with a show like The Acolyte that has so many complex storylines and great characters, it’s hard to give everything its due time and things fall through the cracks. Extending episodes would’ve given audiences more time with fan-favorite characters like Yord and Jecki prior to their demise. Other franchises don’t have this runtime issue, and it’s curious as to why Star Wars hasn’t copied them.

Other franchises regularly release 8 episode seasons; however, their runtimes often land at or near an hour. Bridgerton and The Umbrella Academy often have episodes north of an hour, while Stranger Things had multiple episodes in season 4 that ran over an hour and a half. Engaging shows can keep viewers drawn in for much longer periods of time, meaning there’s no need to impose an artificial 44-minute time constraint.

Star Wars Can’t Keep Having Audiences Left Dissatisfied

Feeling Like An Episode Short Is NOT Good

Having audiences notice how short an episode’s runtime is indicates that the storytelling wasn’t effective. Just in The Acolyte, there have been shorter episodes that felt complete in themselves, such as The Acolyte episode 5; however, there are others like The Acolyte episodes 3 and 7 which felt the opposite. Stories either felt incomplete or rushed in order to make sure the episodes came out below 45 minutes. Extending scenes or adding in a few more would’ve made these episodes so much better and would’ve allowed the storytelling to flourish.

This isn’t anything new with Star Wars. Audiences particularly noticed this after Ahsoka episode 3, where the episode was 37 minutes after a two-part premiere where the episodes were 57 and 44 minutes. The same goes for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 4 where the runtime was a mere 33 minutes. It’s alright if episodes are shorter, but only if they feel complete and aren’t just episodes where a lot of the plot is dumped on audiences. If this trend continues, it’ll be a major annoyance for viiewers who are expecting episodes that are longer and push the story forward.

The Acolyte Is Star Wars’ Latest Victim

But They Can Fix It With Season 2

While The Acolyte has had some missteps in its overall storytelling, it’s clear that many of these issues could be fixed with a little time and attention spent enriching these stories so that they are told properly, regardless of runtime. If The Acolyte gets a season 2, which I truly hope it does, showrunner Leslye Headland should push for longer episodes so that audiences can grow more attached to get a better understanding of these characters.

The Acolyte has a lot of potential for a season 2, especially after what will likely be an exciting season 1 finale. However, in order to keep audiences like myself engaged, Lucasfilm needs to find a solution to their runtime issues. With Ahsoka season 2 officially in development, and hopefully more new Star Wars shows on the horizon, taking a page out of other franchises’ playbooks may not be the worst thing in order to engage audiences. Hopefully, The Acolyte will be the last of a long line of Star Wars titles that suffer from inconsistent and short runtimes.

New episodes of The Acolyte release Tuesdays at 9PM EST on Disney+.