Manny Jacinto is hot; that’s known. But The Acolyte takes advantage of that by putting the 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 looked better.
Episode 6 of The Acolyte“Teach/Corrupt,” continues the dueling stories of Mae and Osha (both played by Amandla Stenberg), with the twins swapping 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 so she thinks. She follows him to his swimming hole, watches him undress, tries to grab his lightsaber (not a euphemism), almost tries to kill him, but then… listens to him.
And how can you not listen to this man who is so calm, cool and collected. Maybe he is on to something – he is a self-proclaimed Sith (basically), so yeah, he probably is. But it is understandable that Osha wants to get to the core of his existence. He continues to place himself in her orbit, undisturbed except when he is intensely focused on her her and get her to embrace her power.
Image: Lucasfilm
But all that Manny Jacinto-smothering isn’t just for show; the creators know what they’re doing. Beyond anything the use of the Kylo Ren motif in Episode 5 might imply, it directly evokes the Dark Side’s latest bad boy. Having the song play while Qimir caresses Osha’s arm while she’s unconscious feels like exactly the kind of moment that fuels headcanons that extend far beyond the series – particularly with Jacinto approaching the re-education of the Sith the way Jess Mariano talks about books; a real temptation to the Dark Side if I ever saw one.
On the way to The AcolyteStar Wars had a problem with the Sith – who ostensibly represented the free-spirited, hedonistic (and therefore dark) side of the Force – who were pretty much sexless. There was no real heat to their cause other than “evil”, and certainly not one that seemed like it was the only thing to tempt.
But what makes Qimir’s seduction so powerful is the way he looks at her and sees Osha, the way a romantic lead might gaze longingly at his co-star. While Jacinto Qimir doesn’t play as amorous, he does seem capable of perpetually surfing the halfpipe of bad-boy energy, telling you how you’re a person so full of rage and pain that it’s driven people to “throw you away.” He peers at Osha, seemingly piercing some inner part of her (even if that inner self is “exploitable fear”), and speaks truths with smooth-tongued precision. It’s a seductive kind of attention, and one that Osha clearly never quite got from the Jedi.
And while he may be a corrupting force, the scar on Qimir’s back, combined with the whiplight saber we see elsewhere in the episode, seems to suggest he has good reason to hate the Jedi. The Acolyte continues to dance between the Light and Dark sides of the Force, it is important that the Dark Side has a face, and that that face has as much appeal as Jacinto’s — otherwise what is the appeal of Osha or Mae performing so poorly?