The Worst Fight Choreography Of The Year
Episode 1 of Echo starts with a whole bunch of strange men and women rising up from pools of water underground. They circle around an ancient pool and drink the water inside, causing their hands to glow orange. Unfortunately, the whole place starts shaking and crumbling apart. Despite their best efforts, they’re sucked down to the depths… or are they?
The men and women are inexplicably teleported out into the wilderness, where their skin cracks to reveal Native Americans underneath. Chafa takes the lead and leads their people forward… as a young Maya (Echo) and her cousin Bonnie discuss this origin story. We’re in Oklahoma 2007, and a family sit around signing together. When Echo and her mother head out together on the road, they end up in a car accident. A car ploughs into the side of theirs, killing Maya’s mum outright. It turns out someone had cut her brakes, hence why she couldn’t slow down… but who?
Chula blames William but Maya too blames herself for heading out to the store that night and causing this sequence of events to play out. Unfortunately, Maya is taken away from the house, and is separated from Bonnie and Chula. Their destination is New York, where Maya struggles to fit in. William reinforces this to her, telling Maya she needs to learn to navigate between two worlds. He wants her to have a better life than what he has… but some of that stems from shady dealings with none other than Kingpin.
Fast forward to the present and Maya Lopez, with her prosthetic leg, is in the ring and sparring. Impressively, she manages to stick with the same facial expression for most of the series. She happens upon a swordsman killing William and his men, but Maya gets there too late. She almost emotes while he’s dying, before paying her respects at his funeral. Even Bonnie’s messages, telling her she’s here for her if she needs her, aren’t enough to quell that raging storm bubbling inside her.
Maya breaks into a bike dealership and steals a bike, putting on the accelerator and destroying a cop car in the process as it whizzes outside and smashes the windscreen. She’s arrested for her troubles but while she’s in handcuffs, the Kingpin shows up and decides to save her. Fisk is concerned and understands her rage, bringing up how his own dad was killed when he was 12. He wants to help release her rage in a constructive way… with a job.
Maya is to accompany a couple of goons working for Fisk to get rid of a gang looking to move in on his territory. Suddenly, Daredevil shows up and immediately starts sparring with Maya in what can only be described as one of the worst fights in Marvel history. It’s basic, clumsy interpretative dancing. But Fisk is impressed… somehow. Fisk calls Maya part of his family after she goes toe to toe with Daredevil and decides they should work together from now on.
This brings us up to Hawkeye, and the events that took place in that show. However, if you didn’t see that series then you’re going to need a recap to understand all that. However, we eventually pick up with Maya confronting Kingpin and pulling the trigger. This then sees us cut forward 5 months later.
Maya has a nasty gash across her stomach and she patches herself up by the side of some trucks. A tight bandage does the trick, and just like in a videogame, her HP is replenished and she’s back on the road again. That is, until she arrives at Oklahoma and back home. Here, visions of the past – and namely that of the Native American ancestors – start to bleed through.
Maya is distracted by Biscuits showing up, her old pal. His dog, Billy Jack, is here too and he signs to the dog. Maya spies Bonnie from afar but decides not to get involved. Instead, she ends up at the skate rink looking for Henry, who happens to be DJing. As the pair head off to talk in private, the assistant, Vickie, behind the counter messages someone and asks about an alleged bounty for the “King Killer”. This is, of course, Maya.
From high up on the water tower, Henry and Maya spy Fisk’s Shipping business. She wants one train so she can send a message to him. Henry refuses to bring a war to their town but Maya is convinced that Kingpin’s time is up. Now it’ time for a Queen to take over. So she’s blinded by vengeance, revenge and power, desperate to avenge her father.
As the episode comes to a close, we cut across to the hospital where Kingpin actually happens to be alive. He’s lost his eye though but he’s breathing, which is big trouble for everyone.
The Episode Review
So Echo has burst (see: dumped) its way onto Disney Plus and if this first episode is any indication, it’s perhaps for the best that it’s all releasing in one hit.
It’s insane that Alaqua Cox (Maya Lopez) is the lead star of this show but yet she looks bored and awkward in almost every single scene she’s in. While that’s perhaps indicative of how the audience are likely to feel watching this slow-moving, cobbled-together patchwork of action and drama, her ability to not emote is almost impressive. You could replace her with a cardboard cut-out and nothing of value would be lost here.
Even during the fight scenes, like the one at Fisk’s gang, she just looks like she wants to be anywhere but in front of the camera. But then perhaps that’s a welcome alternative to the “choreography” for that fight between her and Daredevil which was… yeesh.
The rest of the season looks like it’s going to dabble heavily with flashbacks to flesh out more of Maya’s past, while similarly diving into her ancestry and lineage. There’s nothing wrong with that of course but given the trailer made it seem like this is going to be a dark, gritty action thriller… so far this is anything but. This is not going to save the rapidly declining MCU anytime soon.
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Episode Rating
Was interesting to watch, and though half-episode was prologue, partially retelling what we already knew from “Hawkeye”, still was interesting to see it in perspective
Hey, thanks for commenting! Of course we always strive to give every show/movie a chance and our review is based on impressions for individual episodes where we focus on: writing, characters, choreography, directing and visual design. Unfortunately, Echo fails in every single category just from this first episode.
Even if it’s a show we’re not enthused with, we endeavour to finish it completely and our full season review then gives our thoughts on the show s a whole. If you enjoyed Echo then I’m really happy for you but unfortunately, we did not!
Really appreciate you taking the time to read our recap and comment though!
-Greg W
Why even review it when you so clearly didn’t even wanna watch it? Seems like an enormous waste of time for this “journalist”
You literally came into this wanting to hate it, fake journalism