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Starting with a pair of pants floating across the desert, an RV filled with multiple dead bodies sloshing around, and Walter White carrying a weapon to make his last stand against approaching sirens in just a shirt and underpants, Breaking Bad opens well. It was the kind of opening that viewers yearned to know what would have led to such a situation, and Headland was obviously affected in the same manner. The first scene of The Acolyte achieved exactly what Breaking Bad's did: it drew viewers into a narrative already underway and made them want to catch up as fast as possible.
With the opening to The Acolyte, Headland completely succeeds in terms of startling viewers and dragging them into a tantalizing narrative. She proved Indara's Jedi abilities in just over seven minutes, a mystery relationship between her and Mae, and killed one of the most promoted characters on the show. Like Breaking Bad's opening sequence, everything about The Acolyte's hinted "this show is not what you think it is." Headland said she didn't want to measure herself against Vince Gilligan, but in truth her introduction was on par with his.
Leslye Headland, the showrunner for The Acolyte, has disclosed a startling source of inspiration for her Star Wars project: Breaking Bad. The Acolyte is set during the High Republic era, roughly one hundred years before the Skywalker narrative, therefore its position in the Star Wars chronology allows it to deviate from numerous of the standards of the franchise. Though the program also includes wholly original elements, like The Acolyte's characters, which enables it experiment further, it still has to fit the bigger Star Wars canon. Among those tests were ones involving drawing from tales outside Star Wars.
Headland told Entertainment Weekly that the opening scene of The Acolyte arrived roughly after she was struck by Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad opening scene. "Although I wouldn't want to compare myself at all to Vince Gilligan, one of the best cold starts ever is the one for Breaking Bad. Thus, everytime I go down to create anything, I find myself saying, "Well, I won't be able to top that, but in my show, what's the version of that?" And killing Carrie-Anne Moss seemed like the best I could come up with. I'm sorry; it was icing Trinity and just having everyone leave. What is going on in this?''
Set in the Star Wars world toward the conclusion of the High Republic Era, the television series The Acolyte features both the Galactic Empire and the Jedi at their most influential point. Investigating various crimes, this sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they uncover events all pointing to darkness bursting from beneath the surface and ready to bring about the death of the High Republic.
The program enjoys great popularity for a number of reasons. The Star Wars universe is brilliantly brought to life by the creative team behind the show, and its characters are fascinating.
It's also fascinating to consider Headland's likely non-Star Wars motivation was probably not only breaking bad. Indara's death matched Casey's horrific death in Scream, and Headland might have also purposefully pulled from the venerable horror movie. Those inspirations underline both The Acolyte's and Headland's adaptability. They also point out one of Headland's writing strengths: she's eager to use any source to improve The Acolyte, and Indara's first scene clearly shows the result of that approach.
Disney+ hosts fresh The Acolyte episodes on Tuesday evenings.
It's obvious from The Acolyte's premiere just how much Breaking Bad inspired Headland. Carrie-Anne Moss, one of the most discussed roles in the whole show, died off right away in her opening scene. Many viewers were startled by Indara's passing at the premiere of The Acolyte, and it immediately created a sinister atmosphere for the program showing no one was safe. Although it might not have been exactly like the chilly open of Breaking Bad, it achieved many of the same goals very early on.
The first scene is quite important. If you enjoy Star Wars, the Acolyte is certainly worth viewing. Regarding the Force, the dark side, and the Jedi, the show will provide viewers plenty to consider.