Summary
The Acolyte’s Rotten Tomatoes score shows gradual signs of recovery after the review-bombing. Created by Leslye Headland,The Acolytehas proved remarkably controversial. The latestStar WarsTV show was subjected to an intense review-bombing campaign on websites like Rotten Tomatoes, where it briefly acquired a shocking audience score of just 13 percent from a seriously unlikely 25,000+ reviews. Episodes often tended to have negative ratings before they’d even released, proving how unreal these scores really were.
The Acolyteepisode 8 released a week ago, and - with the show finished - the hate campaign seems to have wrapped up. What is striking, though, is thatthe audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is now gradually beginning to climb again. At time of writing, it sits at a surprising 17 percent audience score. That’s still not good, but it’s impressive to see the audience score rise like this given the sheer number of previously negative reviews.
Why Is The Acolyte’s Audience Score Improving?
Partly, the improving audience score reflects the factThe Acolyte’s review-bombing campaignis largely over. The initial backlash always seemed rather artificial, driven by YouTubers and critical fans who objected to its being “woke.” Such campaigns are always only active for a time, becausethe people involved move on to their next hot topic. In these cases, it is only after the show is over - when the fire and the fury has died down - that a more accurate picture begins to emerge.
ForThe Acolyte, there is also one other factor though; Leslye Headland is unused to weekly releases, more familiar with the binge model she used with the likes ofRussian Doll. It’s possibleThe Acolytesimply improves when watched as a block, and that is naturally only possible when the show is over, meaning later reviews are more favorable. Meanwhile, some of the comments on Rotten Tomatoes suggest viewers went in expecting something of poor quality, and were pleasantly surprised. The review-bombing meant their expectations were low, and thus easily exceeded.
Will The Acolyte’s Review-Bombing Affect Whether Or Not There’s A Season 2?
The interesting question, of course, is whether the review-bombing campaign will have achieved what was surely its secondary campaign; to makeThe Acolyteseason 2more unlikely. In truth, Disney seem to have expected the backlash; Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and Headland herself both spoke out against sexism and racism in the fandom ahead ofThe Acolyte’s release, in anticipation of the inevitable controversy. That suggests the backlash had already been factored in, and industry insiders have already noted that studios are increasingly ignoring audience scores on review aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
The Acolyte’s renewal will not depend on Rotten Tomatoes and the like. Rather, it will depend on viewership, and so far all evidence suggestsThe Acolytecomes in at a satisfactory level - albeit not a great one. If a decision on renewal is made, it’s possible that will be announced at D23 later this year.
