Echo 3 – Season 1 Episode 4 “Upriver” Recap & Review

Upriver

Fami’s death has left Garciela fuming at Amber during episode 4 of Echo. She desperately wants to kill her but is dissuaded from doing so by her next in command. They make her walk toward the edge of a cliff but ultimately she decides not to kill her.

Prince has recovered from the spot and lives, against all our fears after episode 3. He wakes up in Atlanta in a hospital with his father sitting by him. Prince expresses his love and desire to get Amber back, although his father is disturbed by her secret of working for the agency. Pereira, his men, and Bambi have tracked down the facility where the guerillas are keeping her.

It is a cocaine drop spot that has the patronage of the Venezuelan government. Without the orders of the Colombian government, they cannot intervene and raid the place. Bambi stays out and says that he is not bound by any laws. He will stay and raid the place on his own and Periera wishes him luck. He tries at night but the guard is too strong for him to take them all on alone. He retreats toward the city – which is honestly more of a village or town – and roams around in his vest. The locals notice him at once. Bambi stops at a local bar and looks at a woman.

He calls Mitch, his operator at the agency, to ask what they are doing to get Amber out. Mitch informs him that the “seventh floor” is aware and concerned about the situation but the government does not want to touch Amber. Bambi threatens him and vows to do it all alone and kill Mitch and those hesitating to take action. It turns out that Mitch and his partner have known Amber for years (owing to her working for the agency) and see her as family. But Mitch’s hands are tied and there is nothing he can do for her in this situation.

Bambi has a night out drinking away his sorrows. He reflects on his past, and childhood, and flirts with the bartender, who looks after him. It is revealed through flashbacks that Bambi killed his father with a rifle in the house when he was little. There is no exact confirmation if that happens or not. So put a pin in that for now. The entire flashback charade happens simultaneously as Bambi sits with the bartender and drinks heavily. He is brutally beaten by a group of locals whom he antagonized at the bar.

He wakes up in the bartender’s house the next morning, who informs him that he had passed out on the road. She tells him about her cousin, Javi, who is a fisherman. When Bambi sees how much fish he has caught, she tells him that he fishes near the bridge where the current is lesser. Bambi promises Javi to make him a lot of money if he teaches him fishing and makes him a partner in the enterprise. We see a montage of Javi and Bambi fishing together and selling it to different marketplaces. They get drunk every night and work all day. But what is the bigger purpose here?
At Haas Global, Prince’s father has accepted defeat.

He has contacted sources in the White House who tell him it is impossible for Amber to be retrieved. He is convinced that she cannot be brought back and urges Prince to accept it and move on with his life. He has also set up a meeting with the Senator, not just to offer up a new drone weapon his company has created, but also to pitch Prince as a prospective politician.

Prince is taken aback by how good the Senator is while giving him tips for a speech. She characterizes it with all the veiled misdirections and sweet lies politicians use to woo the voters. Is this his new reality, he wonders standing in the corridor.

Mitch confronts his boss with the idea to help Bambi run over the place. He is indifferent to it but warns Mitch not to put any of the paperwork on his table. Reese, who works for Haas Global, is flirting with Prince and he reciprocates, indicating that maybe he has moved on from the idea that Amber can be rescued. They have dinner together at his house and are about to have sex when Prince pushes her away. He changes his mind and asks her to leave. Reese does not give up and walks up to him, proceeding with the original plan.

The Episode Review

Episode 4 was quite a big disappointment to kick off part II in season 1. The momentum that part 1 gathered over the course of three episodes seemed completely lost here. It almost seemed like Boal wanted to recreate the pace for this part on its own terms.

But his choices seemed unevenly executed in the context o the plot. Jessie Collins (Amber), who has been such a central figure until now, did not have a single line in the episode. Luke Evans (Bambi) had plenty. He spiraled in his drunken state and we got keenly developed insights from his background and childhood. The rough and tough man we see now was molded in burning fire and with iron.

He will not give up so easily on his sister with whom he grew up. It remains to be seen if the CIA will get behind Bambi or not. If they do, we can hope for a raid at the cocaine facility in the next episode.