Manny Jacinto is hot; this is known. But The Acolyte is making great use of that fact by leaving the show’s demonstration of the seductive nature of the Dark Side of the Force in his very capable hands (and very strong biceps). And honestly? The Sith have never seemed better.
Episode 6 of The Acolyte, “Teach/Corrupt,” continues the dueling narratives of Mae and Osha (both played by Amandla Stenberg), with the twins having swapped places. Now, Mae is on a ship with Sol (Lee Jung-jae), whom she plans to kill, and Osha has been kidnapped (or “rescued”) by Qimir (Jacinto), whom she hopes to kill — or, at least, so she thinks. She follows him to his swimming hole, watches him strip down, tries to take his lightsaber (not a euphemism), almost attempts to kill him, but then… hears him out.
And how can you not listen to this is man who is so calm, cool, and collected. Maybe he’s up to something — he’s a self-proclaimed Sith (basically), so, yeah, he probably is. But it’s understandable that Osha wants to get to the root of him. He keeps putting himself right up in her orbit, unbothered except when he’s intently focused on her and getting her to embrace her power.
Image: Lucasfilm
But all this Manny Jacinto smoldering isn’t just for show; the creators know what they’re doing. Aside from anything else episode 5’s use of the Kylo Ren motif might mean, it most immediately calls back to the Dark Side’s most recent bad boy. Playing the song over Qimir stroking Osha’s arm while she’s passed out feels like exactly the kind of moment that fuels headcanons far beyond the run of the show — particularly with Jacinto approaching Sith reeducation the way Jess Mariano talks books; a true seduction to the Dark Side if I’ve ever seen one.
Heading into The Acolyte, Star Wars had an issue with the Sith — ostensibly representing the free-wheelin’, hedonistic (and, thus, dark) side of the Force — being pretty sexless. There was no real heat to their cause beyond “bad,” and certainly not one that seemed like it had any allure.
But what makes Qimir’s seduction so potent is how he looks at and sees Osha, the way a romantic lead might gaze longingly at their costar. While Jacinto doesn’t play Qimir as amorous, he does come off as seemingly able to surf forever on the half-pipe of bad-boy energy, all while telling you how you’re a person so full of anger and pain that it led people to “throw you away.” He peers at Osha and seems to pierce to some inner part of her (even if that inner self is “exploitable anxiety!”), speaking truths with smooth-tongued precision. It’s an enticing sort of attention, and one that Osha’s clearly never quite received from the Jedi.
And while he may be a corrupting force, the scar on Qimir’s back, in conjunction with the whip lightsaber we see elsewhere in the episode, seems to suggest that he has a good reason for hating the Jedi. As The Acolyte continues its dance between the Light and Dark sides of the Force, it’s important that the Dark Side have a face, and that its face have as much pull as Jacinto’s — otherwise what’s the appeal of either Osha or Mae being down so bad?