STAR WARS: The Acolyte (Season 1)

 

The Acolyte sums up the good, the bad, and the ugly of Disney era Star Wars streaming shows. While I enjoyed the show more as the season progressed, there were a lot of rough patches to suffer through on the journey. I'm not going to be able to point out the issues with the show thoroughly, but all you have to do is read a review for any of the shows season 1 episodes, and you'll quickly realize the holes that exist in the show. However, it wasn't all bad, and some parts were quite good. To begin with, let's start with the aspects of the show that I enjoyed.

After seeing the first preview trailer for the show, I was excited. It is the first live-action show or movie in the Star Wars universe to take place outside of the Skywalker saga. I've always thought Star Wars had a bit of a Tatooine problem (meaning too many storylines center around the desert planet), and so I welcome any change of scenery. I've read a book featured in the High Republic era, but otherwise am completely unfamiliar with this part of the Star Wars timeline. With this in mind, the scenery and planets that were visited on the show looked fantastic. The action was great as well. There were unique light sabers, including a light saber whip, as well as saber throwing techniques as seen in Jedi: Fallen Order. One of the main antagonist fights with small knives. While I'm not a fan of over the top violence, I do like the more intense and mature fighting styles seen in The Acolyte. 

Now for the bad and ugly, but first, a brief overview of the plot. In the High Republic era, 100 years prior to the Skywalker saga, the galaxy is in a state of peace. However, after a Jedi is murdered, the council investigates the murder to determine who the killer is as well as their motive. They quickly discover that the murderer is the twin sister of former Padawan Osha, who was trained by Jedi master Sol. As the plot progresses, it is revealed that Sol killed Osha and Mae's mother, who was a witch and feared for their safety, which provides the motive for the murder. Actually, Mae has an entire hit list of Jedi she wants dead, everyone who was present on the planet Brendok when their mother was killed. It's also revealed that Mae is training with a Sith and that Mae and Osha are actually the same person, created from a vergence. 

All of this sounds like it should work to tell a story of the rise of the Sith, but unfortunately this is all built on a very weak foundation that just doesn't work out in the end. To begin, the episodes are too short. Most of them are in the 25-40 minute range (if you don't count the lengthy credits), and this just simply isn't long enough to have any character development or to develop any real attachment to the characters. More Jedi die in this show than possibly all other Star Wars shows combined, and for the most part it just doesn't matter because we don't even know who the characters are. The writing is pretty bad, as well. This could be a side effect of the short episodes because the plot is pushed forward at a quick pace, but the dialogue and interaction between the characters is oftentimes bad and cringe worthy at some points. It's difficult to cite specific examples in retrospect, as many of them were minor, but a large example is around the entire Osha/Mae character. 

Osha is originally framed as the murderer, until we find out that Mae exists, and then we learn that they are the same people. Osha is originally portrayed as the "good" sister while Mae is the "bad" sister. Their interactions are awkward throughout the season, and once we learn they are the same person and they learn that Sol was responsible for killing their mom (although didn't Mae already know that? It's confusing), Osha is immediately able to kill Sol without a weapon. This was a challenge the Sith gave Mae at the very beginning, one in which she was not successful. At no point during the season did I really create any type of attachment to either sister. I thought their acting was not great, and the writing around their story was not great either. They are the main characters of the show, and you can't have their acting and the writing both be bad for the main character. Their interaction with the Sith was just weird, and at times pseudo-sexual. While their story provides motivation for the murders, and may go on to further explain the power of a vergence, I feel like this season would have been better without them. Again, this is a problem since they are the main character. 

I could go on and on about my issues with this show, and it would have been easier to provide specific examples had I written a post about every episode. As it stands, I'm writing a big post after finishing the season and honestly it is difficult to remember all of the annoyances. If you want more specific details just pull up any of the reviews online. They all basically say the same thing. There were parts of the show that were good, and it is setup for a season 2 which could be interesting based on where this season left off. If season 2 happens, I just hope that the episodes are a little longer for character development and attachment, and I hope the writing gets a lot better. Star Wars fans deserve it.

Dave the Diver

 

I'm a sucker for games with 16-bit graphics, so I was intrigued by this game the first time I saw a screenshot. Then I started seeing favorable reviews and my interest grew. I first played a demo on the Switch, which I enjoyed. However, I was a little afraid the game was going to only focus on catching fish for the restaurant. I knew the game was 30+ hours long, and didn't know if I would last that long simply catching fish. Once the game became available on Playstation Plus, however, I was able to progress beyond the prologue available on the Switch demo and experience the entire game. This game took me 30 hours to complete (longer than Final Fantasy VII Remake), and I was actually a bit sad to see it end. There were surprises around every corner, and the game became much more than just catching fish. Dave is my favorite independent game that I've played, and one of my favorite games overall that I've played in the PS5 era. It is entertaining and quite fun and well worth the $20.

Let's start with a little background about the story. Dave is a retired diver who is recruited by businessman Cobra to catch fish for a sushi restaurant with chef Bancho. During the day you dive into the ocean to catch fish, and during the night you help at Bancho's restaurant by serving guests. Hence this is why I though the entire game was going to be about catching fish. It quickly becomes apparent that unusual activity is occurring in the Blue Hole where Dave is diving, however. While catching fish is always a part of the agenda, the majority of the plot shifts to discovering what is occurring in the Blue Hole. Along the way you meet a ton of side characters, from Dr. Bacon who is researching the Blue Hole, to a photographer who asks Dave for pictures of unique fish. You even discover a secret village of sea people that is being destroyed by the activities in the Blue Hole. As I said above, there are surprises around every corner and you never really know who you're going to meet.

The format of diving during the day and serving at the restaurant at night remains throughout the game, and Dave contains a robust restaurant simulator. In the beginning you serve food and drinks, as well as clean up after guests. As the game progresses, you are able to hire staff to help out Dave. Additionally, you gain the ability to create a fish farm to breed fish so you don't have to spend all your time capturing them, as well as a farm to grow vegetables to make more unique dishes. The restaurant portion of the game alone is in-depth enough to be its own game. 

As the game progresses, your restaurant business grows and you discover the secrets of the Blue Hole, eventually rescuing the sea people from the monster that is causing the earthquakes that is disrupting their civilization. In addition to the intriguing story and memorable characters, the soundtrack is fantastic. I'm listening to it as I type this post! Also, I don't remember a game where I enjoyed the cutscenes as much as this game. With the exception of a few tedious gameplay moments, this game overall is just amazing. I'm a little sad to have finished it and be moving on. However, my kids are still playing it so I can enjoy the game vicariously through them.

Game of Thrones (Season 5)

 

Seasons 1 & 2 of Game of Thrones followed books 1 & 2 perfectly. Seasons 3 & 4 of the TV series followed book 3. Up to that point it was relatively easy to discuss the books and TV series as I progress through them. However, George Martin's decision to have parallel timelines in books 4 & 5 makes it more challenging to compare the books to the TV show, because the TV show doesn't do this. It progresses forward on one timeline. Not that the purpose of reading the books and rewatching the show was to compare the two. I've been reading the book first then watching the corresponding season of the TV show, so that what I've been watching I've already read. But as I watched season 5 of the show, things became a bit confusing because for the first time since I started this, I was seeing things in the show that I have not yet read.

In addition to the two different timelines, events that occur in the show are starting to be a bit different than in the books. Seasons 1-4 followed the books almost perfectly. There is a scene where Lady Melisandre takes Gendry in the show, and that event did not happen in the books. Other than that, I don't really remember anything else that occurred in the show that did not occur in the books. Season 5 changes that, however (and possibly parts of season 4 as well). For better or worse, the most memorable scene in season 5 is Cersei's walk of shame. It's probably one of the most memorable scenes in television that I've ever seen. The religious zealots the Sparrows play a big part of the plot in King's Landing in season 5, and they imprison Cersei for having extramarital affairs with her relative Lancel. In the books, Cersei is imprisoned by the Sparrows due to a plot accusing the queen Margaery of having extramarital affairs. Sansa Stark marries Ramsey Bolton in the show, but in the book Ramsey marries a fake Arya Stark. Tyrion makes it to Daenerys in season 5. In the books, the part that I am reading currently has Tyrion on his way to Daenerys. The way he gets there in the books, however, is slightly different than in the show. He is kidnapped by Jorah Mormont in both, but in the show he was traveling with Varys. In the book, he was traveling with Jon Connigton and a Targaryen who is a son of prince Rhaegar, which would make him the heir to the throne over Daenerys. I'm sure I could go on and on about the differences, and a lot of them are subtle, but you can see how it becomes easy to jumble the details of the story when the books have one telling and the show has another. Oh, and Jon Snow dies at the end of season 5. That's kind of a big event. That has not happened in the books thus far, but more to come because I am only about 40% through the fifth book.

Hannah Waddingham plays one of the members of the Sparrows. I recognize her from Ted Lasso, otherwise I would have no idea who she is. Her character in Game of Thrones is a bit scary, and honestly I probably wouldn't have recognized her if Sarah had not pointed out who she was. Instead of posting a picture of her scary character, I decided to post a nice picture of her from a Ted Lasso event. Much like Pedro Pascal, who plays Oberyn Martell, the show has some big name actors who appear throughout the series.