I'm not sure if I've ever watched a limited series before and equally felt that it was good, but also left me disappointed. Echo is Marvel's latest television release on Disney+ and all five episodes are now streaming. For those who are unaware, this is a spinoff show from a character who was introduced in the show, Hawkeye. I found her to be uninteresting in that show, but I still gave this one a shot. Surprisingly, her character is far better this time around, but the show itself feels pointless in the grand scheme of things. Here's why I liked it, but also why it has no reason for existing.
This series is simply about the fact that Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) returns to her hometown and learns more about her heritage. Her Native American tribe, long ago, had some kind of magical powers bestowed upon them and she may now have them as well. That's basically the plot of all five episodes, aside from Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) being a secondary character and sending his people after her. There are also small cameos, which I did enjoy because they made it feel connected to things, which this universe has been severely lacking these days. Still, from where her character begins in this series, to where she ends up, there doesn't seem to be any progression. Yes, there is a family discovery and the show wraps up its family story nicely, but as far as being a piece of the Marvel puzzle, it has zero reason to exist.
Alaqua Cox does a really solid job portraying this character with what she is given, it's just that I don't foresee her having a future in this franchise, outside of a cameo maybe in the future. I think as a standalone thing, without the Marvel branding, this could've been a cool little ancestral show, that also involves superpowers. It being a Marvel property actually hurt this project in my opinion. It's not that it had the most sophisticated writing or anything, but it was good enough to hold my interest. Also, for being Marvel's first R-rated TV show on Disney+, there wasn't much R-rated about it. If they cut away on a few shots, it would've passed as PG-13. This whole show just felt off in certain ways.
Still, Echo is a decent series on its own, so I'll give it a pass. It was nice to see Vincent D'Onfrio return as Kingpin and his backstory involving Maya was very good as well. His character revolted the show when it began to drag or lose focus, so I appreciated his presence. This is a duo of characters I would revisit, but I also don't have to. I didn't dislike watching it by any means, so I recommend it to those looking for a decent show, but there are also far better shows out there to watch. I feel this show is going to get buried and forgotten about very quickly, which is neither a good nor bad thing. Overall, Echo is okay and that is better than I was expecting.
This series is simply about the fact that Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) returns to her hometown and learns more about her heritage. Her Native American tribe, long ago, had some kind of magical powers bestowed upon them and she may now have them as well. That's basically the plot of all five episodes, aside from Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) being a secondary character and sending his people after her. There are also small cameos, which I did enjoy because they made it feel connected to things, which this universe has been severely lacking these days. Still, from where her character begins in this series, to where she ends up, there doesn't seem to be any progression. Yes, there is a family discovery and the show wraps up its family story nicely, but as far as being a piece of the Marvel puzzle, it has zero reason to exist.
Alaqua Cox does a really solid job portraying this character with what she is given, it's just that I don't foresee her having a future in this franchise, outside of a cameo maybe in the future. I think as a standalone thing, without the Marvel branding, this could've been a cool little ancestral show, that also involves superpowers. It being a Marvel property actually hurt this project in my opinion. It's not that it had the most sophisticated writing or anything, but it was good enough to hold my interest. Also, for being Marvel's first R-rated TV show on Disney+, there wasn't much R-rated about it. If they cut away on a few shots, it would've passed as PG-13. This whole show just felt off in certain ways.
Still, Echo is a decent series on its own, so I'll give it a pass. It was nice to see Vincent D'Onfrio return as Kingpin and his backstory involving Maya was very good as well. His character revolted the show when it began to drag or lose focus, so I appreciated his presence. This is a duo of characters I would revisit, but I also don't have to. I didn't dislike watching it by any means, so I recommend it to those looking for a decent show, but there are also far better shows out there to watch. I feel this show is going to get buried and forgotten about very quickly, which is neither a good nor bad thing. Overall, Echo is okay and that is better than I was expecting.