Are episodes of Disney’s The Acolyte too short? Fans of the latest Star Wars serial are complaining about the reduced runtime of episodes compared to other major shows.
While The Acolyte features episodes that cross into the 40-minute territory, similar to The Mandalorian or Ahsoka, shows like The Boys or House of the Dragon offer longer, near-hour-long episodes. This discrepancy has led fans to express their dissatisfaction with the length of The Acolyte, attributing the series' problems to the reduced runtime.
Are The Acolyte Episodes Too Short?
While some fans discuss The Acolyte Episode 6’s Vader tease or argue over the intelligence of Master Sol, others express frustration over the show's episode lengths. With each episode lasting around 30 minutes, excluding credits, fans are annoyed when episodes end just as they find their rhythm.
“The last 3 episodes have been great, but they are getting irritatingly short,” reads a post on the show’s unofficial subreddit. “The episode gets into a great rhythm and then credits. Episodes 4-6 should really have been 2 episodes.”
A Star Wars fan complained that by the end of the episode they “didn’t even finish eating” their popcorn.
This sentiment resonates with many viewers, who claim that “Disney Plus is literally stealing our money” by stretching the number of episodes in the series. Despite the fact that 40-minute episodes of The Acolyte would still cost users two months of a subscription, the same as the show’s current eight-episode run, fans are unhappy with the shorter episodes.
“Each episode should be at least 40 minutes, ideally 50-60 minutes like with other miniseries,” said another fan. “It’s just bad when you wait an entire week, on that glorious day when another episode is released you come tired but hyped and happy from work, buy popcorn, and then you get such a short episode.”
Died In The 90s
Not everyone in The Acolyte fandom agrees with the negative stance against the show’s shorter episodes. In fact, some fans appreciate the shorter runtime in a landscape where nearly every show aims for hour-long blocks of content with little to fill them.
Some fans joked that the complainers would have “died in the 90s” when nearly every show featured 20-minute episodes. Others disagreed with the original complaint, claiming that the shorter runtime is a godsend amidst so many other long-winded shows.
It’s worth noting that The Acolyte’s episode length aligns closely with that of previous Disney Plus shows. While other streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon, offer shows with longer runtimes, Star Wars TV shows follow a similar pattern to The Acolyte’s episode lengths.
Moreover, as one of the best Star Wars shows yet, The Acolyte utilizes its reduced runtime effectively. Compared to shows like The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte’s episodes keep viewers wanting more rather than making them want to ride off on a bantha.