Echo S01E02 Review: Gangs and Glowing Hands

Echo, Season 1, Episode 2: Lowak

After a rather recap-heavy and slow first episode, "Lowak" gets a bit more into some action. Now the main plot of this episode isn't anything particularly new for superhero material. Maya goes off and does a daredevil (heh) stunt to charge in and attack Fisk and his allies. A good chunk of the episode involves Maya and her poor, confused cousin Biscuits who doesn't even realize his cousin's going to go on a crazy train-bombing exercise. It's pretty simple action movie stuff, with Maya jumping on board a train with your typical stunts, placing a bomb that later blows up one of Fisk's bases, and Maya's uncle Henry getting worried that Maya's bringing in a war to their otherwise quiet, status-quo town. 

Oh, and through it all, Maya's hands glow with some strange power. In the comics, Echo's powers are copying (or 'echo-ing') the fighting style of other fighters, and this is a new reinvention by the MCU. Her hand glows and allows her to... dislodge a train's couplings? I'm not sure how I feel about this. There are some connections to Maya's ancient Choctaw ancestors, which the episode spends a good chunk of the prologue showing us, but it all remains vague. 

I'll reserve judgment on how the Choctaw ancestors are handled, because what we saw here is just them being competitive in a sports game that decides the ownership of the land; and some discussion from the people in the town about their ancestry. Again, I'm not sure if it's just going to be table-setting, or if we're going to have more "our ancestors' magic will be a major part of this show" like Shang-Chi or Ms. Marvel, neither of which feel fitting with Echo's more grounded theme. 

A lot of the episode still moves quite slowly, though the characters introduced in the first episode have started to feel more 'lived-in' as they interact with each other. Biscuits being the beleaguered cousin roped into Maya's insane heist obviously gets the bulk of screentime here, and he bumbles his way into accidentally informing about Maya's arrival in town to his sister Bonnie (who's a cop, and also has a lot of unresolved drama with Maya). Uncle Henry and Grandma Chula seem to be generally unhappy with Maya's arrival, with Henry getting a rather great confrontation with Maya at the end about how she's bringing war into their small town. Oh, and there's also Skully, pawn-shop owner who tries to sell off stuff to ignorant tourists and the one responsible for giving Maya some upgrades for her prosthetics. I really don't think the side-cast here are quite as energetic or memorable as, say, Kamala Khan or Matt Murdock's supporting cast, but there's certainly a lot more energy and distinctiveness to them that makes the town actually feel alive.

Most importantly, Maya's more playful interactions with Biscuits and Skully, and her all-business confrontation with Henry, gives both her and her actress much more to do than stalk around and give sullen glowering looks.

Again, a good chunk of this episode and the previous one highlights the whole 'vengeance is bad' storyline that has been trod before with characters like the Punisher, but where Punisher's war against crime -- at least in the MCU/Netflix shows -- hurt people that he has just befriended, Maya's little crusade is being brought back to her people and family and small town. The setup and premise is pretty basic, but I do like that we're going to have to figure out what path Maya's going to take. 

There's really not a whole ton else to talk about. Blowing up an entire warehouse is pretty anti-heroic stuff, there's some bit with the police investigating it, and based on his swagger, this guy that the subtitles identify as 'Zane' will probably be an antagonist if we don't take Kingpin down in this season. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• The fictional Asian country of Madripoor is mentioned by Biscuits and Skully. Madripoor was established and seen in the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.