If Marvel could please string together two consecutive releases that are entertaining and of high quality, that would be great. Coming off the back of Loki season 2, the MCU’s best season of TV, we’ve been gifted Echo, a series with so much potential to be different that ultimately fails to deliver. The story follows Maya (Alaqua Cox) as she attempts to reconnect with her Native American roots while facing the consequences of her past.
Before we kick into the series’ flaws, I’ll emphasise that while Echo isn’t good, it’s not terrible either. It’s just very average from beginning to end, never really capitalising on its strongest assets and presenting a muddled, uninspired narrative. Sitting at a short five episodes, it initially seemed that Echo might be a tight, intense affair with plenty of hard-hitting action. Yet somehow it’s still bloated and bogged down, with a meandering narrative that could have easily been cut down into a two-hour Disney+ film. The pilot kicks off with almost 30 minutes of catch-up, speeding through the entirety of Maya’s life from when she was a child all the way through to a recap of her Hawkeye appearance. There’s a lot of cool stuff in here, but it’s breezed through so fast that it’s hard to effectively digest and appreciate all of the information. Presenting it like this feels strange – either sprinkle her backstory throughout the season or make it a focus of a bottle episode later on.
In contrast to the blistering pace of the opening, the rest of the pilot and the two episodes that follow move way too slow. It’s clear they’ve tried going for a pace more akin to Netflix’s Daredevil, but what this show is lacking is tension, action and deep characters. These elements are what ensured Daredevil remained thrilling and engaging even at such a slow pace. Just having a slow pace isn’t going to result in a better, more thought-provoking series, there needs to be substance. Speaking of substance, while there are admittedly pockets of solid character development in these first three episodes, there’s almost no actual story development. There’s a lot of teasing of the hero/villain conflict, but the core narrative isn’t properly introduced until episode four… the penultimate episode. Whatever character establishing and development there is in these three episode could have been condensed into an hour-long episode, with the content of the final two episodes drastically expanded on.
The final two episodes aren’t great either, but they’re better for capitalising on the series’ biggest asset – Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). Being the villain of the series, it’s baffling how the pacing and editing of the story sees him have minimal screen time. I understand that it’s Maya’s series, but even her best moments are the scenes where the two of them interact. Those scenes are where we learn the most about who she is as a character and what she’s fighting against, so it’s blasphemous that there’s not many of them. The sense of tension that was lacking is out in force during these episodes as there’s actually a threat at play. There had been talks of the threat, but no real evidence of it – it was a mostly breezy trip to Oklahoma with some family dramas. While still oddly paced and edited together, the narrative to close out the series works, but it’s too little to late to fix the lack of plot progression early on.
With the story gone out the window, the main elements holding the series together are some key characters and the performances behind them. Firstly, the man of the hour – Kingpin. His appearance in Hawkeye was fine – he was very watered down and didn’t give off the same intimidating vibe he did in Daredevil. This time, his presence is felt from the moment he first shows up. He’s a menacing figure who strikes fear in everyone around him just by being present. The duality of his personality is perfectly represented, especially in the scenes he shares with Maya. As I mentioned above, the scenes they share help build and develop Maya as a protagonist – it forces her to act and to overcome the inner battles she’s facing. There’s a few key scenes in which he’s just talking… not doing anything fancy… just talking, and they’re the best scenes of the series. His dialogue is compelling, very well written and delivered powerfully by D’Onofrio. He’s played the character on and off for eight years, so it’s no wonder he’s fantastic at disappearing into the role.
There’s a few solid performances in the ensemble that go a long way in making their respective scenes somewhat enjoyable. I’m entirely unfamiliar with Chaske Spencer, but his performance as Maya’s uncle Henry is brilliant. He brings this really earnest yet strong-willed persona to the character through nuances in his dialogue and sign language delivery, making him instantly likeable. Tantoo Cardinal plays Chula, Maya’s grandmother, and does well to inject some heart into the series, especially in her scenes interacting with Maya. I can’t say I was enthralled by her character specifically, but I admire the emotional touch she adds to some big moments. Lastly, Alaqua Cox is a great lead, putting in a solid performance that could have been received even better had the narrative delivered. As I was after Hawkeye, I’m looking forward to where the character goes from here as there’s so much potential for gripping storytelling.
One aspect of the series that’s present but not as strong or impactful as it should be is the action. The promos painted this series as having a dark and gritty vibe with some brutal action to boot. Out of everything this series could have offered, the action is the one thing I was most excited for… unfortunately theres maybe four brief action sequences across the entire season. They’re shot well enough, taking inspiration from Daredevil’s signature one-shot action scenes, they’re just not executed as cleanly. Not only is there far to little in the way of action, it’s really not as brutal as it was eluded to be. That being said, there’s more blood and on-screen deaths than in any other MCU property, so it’s a baby step forward. They’re fine scenes as they give the episodes something to remember them by, but they’re not the standout moments they could have been.
In the end, Echo struggles to hit the ground running and never recovers enough to be considered a good MCU entry. It’s plagued by uninspired pacing and editing, with a narrative that’s largely absent and has not much in the way of tension or suspense. The final two episodes are a decent course correction, but they’re unable to make up for the slow-building waste of time that is the first three episodes. A solid lead performance, a few compelling side characters and the presence of Kingpin are the biggest highlights, with the latter saving the series from being a dumpster fire. While it’s hardly terrible, it’s not an essential MCU watch, so don’t go losing sleep over it.
5.2/10
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