Posted in: Disney+, Hulu, Marvel, TV | Tagged: Alaqua Cox, Echo

Echo First Impressions: Marvel Spotlight Series Off to "Meh" Start

The first three episodes of Echo make some baffling creative decisions, and they really drag a promising show down into mediocrity.

Marvel Television is in a transition period. Heading into the pandemic, it seemed like no one was better equipped to embrace streaming than Marvel and maybe Lucasfilm. However, things began to go downhill as the quality of the shows went from pretty consistent good to being all over the place. 2023, in particular, was a rough one for the studio that had once seemed too big to fail. Several movies underperformed at the box office and critical, and the three shows were also a mixed bag. So things were already unsteady for Echo to be released in 2024, but now it is also kicking off a new corner of Marvel storytelling with Marvel Spotlight. This is where shows like the critical and award-winning Netflix shows would be hanging out now. So Echo now has to show that there is still strength to the Marvel brand after a rough year and help kick off a new corner of storytelling. That would be a lot for an established show with massive actors to carry, but this is a show with a character people don't know and a newcomer actress. Unfortunately for everyone involved, some creative decisions in the first three episodes of Echo drag it down into the mediocre territory. It will be tough for the last two to pull itself back up.

Echo Appears To Be Actively Trying To Make Maya Unlikable

There is nothing wrong with starting a story in media res, and we know some of Maya's story from episodes of Hawkeye. However, even though they only have five episodes and extremely limited time to tell a story, the creatives of Echo decided to dedicate nearly the entire pilot episode to flashbacks. While it's good to see where Maya came from and establish the family she is returning to, but that is a lot of time spent in the past. There had to be other ways to show don't tell us about Maya's complicated relationship with her family following the death of her family. The show is being released as a binge instead of weekly, but it means the first episode mostly catches you up and barely establishes what Maya is doing and why.

The real problem comes later when, in episodes two and three, it's still very unclear exactly why Maya is doing what she is doing. That is a problem for a show when you're three episodes in, and your main character's motivations remain unclear. If Maya is supposed to be an antihero, then they are doing a very poor job of establishing that, and if her motivations really are what they appear on paper, then it just makes her unlikable. All sympathy the audience might have goes out the door. This isn't Jessica Jones being an asshole level of stuff, it's much bigger, and she doesn't seem to care about the possible ramifications for those around her, which, once again, makes her unlikable. Maya's change of heart about Kingpin in Hawkeye is solely focused on just Kingpin, and it appears that is the only form of character development they are allowing her to have. She hates Kingpin now, got her revenge by shooting him in the face, wants to take over Kingpin's crime ring, and apparently doesn't seem to care who she drags down with her. Echo is walking right over the line of making a focal character you don't want to root for.

Solid Direction, Acting, And Stuntwork Can Only Help So Much

So when you're left wondering why the people behind Echo are making the decisions they are and being baffled that Maya is making the decisions she is, the show around it looks pretty good. These are the best fight scenes we have seen in a Marvel property in a long time. Alaqua Cox got this show for a reason, and her screen presence, even when Maya is being the worst for no reason, makes you believe that she could kick your ass without any problems. It's clear why Marvel saw her and thinks that she could carry a show on her own, and with better writing behind her, Cox could carry a show, but the one she is presently in isn't doing her any favors. The rest of the cast is also doing good jobs with what they are given, and you can understand why they are so frustrated with Maya because she is also frustrating to watch on screen.

The thing that is probably the most interesting aspect of Echo is how they approach Maya's deafness and the use of ASL within the universe of the show. The hearing characters do a combination of speaking while signing and also remaining silent. It will be interesting to hear from deaf people how the cast did in terms of the signing and how natural or unnatural it looks. The show also uses the fact that everyone in Maya's family knows ASL in interesting ways, such as communicating when they are being watched or giving directions when someone is listening in. There is never a hint that anyone sees Maya differently for her deafness, and we have yet to see a character who isn't Kingpin make a big deal about learning ASL. The show doesn't shy away from the fact that this man, who was supposed to be as close as family to Maya, never bothered to learn to communicate with her properly.

Marvel is becoming infamous for not doing much for 80% of its shows and then trying to pack as much as possible into the final episode or two, and, unfortunately, it looks like Echo isn't going to be breaking that mold anytime soon. At the moment, the amount of character work and story they need to take care of in less than two hours is likely too much, and something massive will fall through the cracks. We can hope that there is some conclusion to this series and that they aren't using this as a springboard for Daredevil: Born Again or something like that, but there is a chance that is happening. If that is the case, praising Cox's talent only to give her a stepping-stone show feels even more insulting. You either trust in the talent of your actors, or you don't, and a stepping stone show or an extended epilogue to another [Hawkeye] does not show trust in the actors or your audience to tune into a new hero who isn't a white man. Even if these last two episodes are incredible, that doesn't undo the issues of the first three, and the show as a whole feels like a massive missed opportunity for a new, talented actress.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!