Echo Review (Mild MCU Spoilers)

Okay, fine, I *get* the hate. This isn't my first day on the internet. I just wish most reviews weren't either sensationalist schlock or uncritical praise. So, here's my take.

Tl;dr, it's okay. Think... Moon Knight meets Punisher. Average Disney+ MCU faire.

Pick your plot:

(1) Mobster's goddaughter on the run after what she did to him; in the tone of Punisher season two. Energetic fight scenes, decent action, some plot armor.

(2) Big city woman comes back home, starts seeing visions, reluctantly reconnects with her estrange family and Native American heritage in a fantastical way; in the tone of What If...? Some creative visuals and story mechanics, decent catharsis.

Guess what? You don't have to pick!

The first is hampered because they didn't commit to it more. They bill it like she was groomed to be Kingpin's successor and that's her goal. She really wasn't and it clearly isn't. At best, she was raised as a high-level enforcer and none of what she does is empire-building. She's a good brawler! Stick to that!

The second needed more time to flesh out and more of a hook. We spend a lot of time in Maya's environment and little in her head (the flashbacks in this storyline aren't really hers), so the changes feel abrupt. The ending of this arc also kind of undercuts the other.

I'm not overly familiar with the character in the comics. Going in, all I knew was that she was deaf and Daredevil-adjacent. Looking it up, they kept half her story. She's still Kingpin's goddaughter, and they play that up. She has Native American heritage, and they play that up more. They drop her photographic reflexes (maybe two female Taskmasters was a tough sell?) in favour of powers related to her heritage. The former would've been cooler, imo.

Alaqua Cox does well in the role of Maya Lopez/Echo and we see good performances from the supporting cast. I like the character and how they incorporated deafness not only into how the character fights and sees the world, but into the storytelling. You're pulled into her world at points, and it's great.

The main issue is it's two pretty good shows in a trench coat. It aims at synthesis, but falls a little short. They also could've had more faith in the series. It's only five episodes, you probably heard about the cameo before it aired (it is admittedly cool fight scene), and the marketing is a bit misleading: it's not Daredevil 2.0.

But the fighting is cool, the concepts are cool, and the execution is o-kay. 7/10.