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tv_talk2024-02-01 11:19 am
yourlibrarian) wrote in tv_talk2024-02-01 11:19 am
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Marvel: Echo
I was not expecting much from Echo given the disappointment a lot of people seemed to have for the season. Also, given that Echo has rather limited screen time before this (compared to many of the featured characters in Marvel shows) I thought the show might be hampered by some of the problems I had with Miss Marvel and Moon Knight.
However I was pleasantly surprised. While I wouldn't call it great TV, it was much more interesting than I expected, with a couple of real high points.
For one thing, the show is compactly told in 5 episodes and I didn't feel that the content was stretched out (which was a big issue I had with Loki S2). I didn't think the first episode was all that interesting, partly because it was a bit of a reshash for viewers as to how we first meet Maya, and secondly because the childhood origin thing was just a tired trope about family loss for superheroes.
However it featured the first of two great fight scenes. I liked how they set up Maya's initial job as an enforcer for Fisk, with her being hesitant as the fight breaks out. But then she gets into it and is doing well when Daredevil shows up! I thought the choreography was great and I watched it more than once.
And speaking of Daredevil and hand to hand, I noticed that Marvel now has a new designation for some shows -- Spotlight, which are listed on Disney+ as "dark" shows. I can see why. For one thing, hand to hand and the sort of violence here is much more true to life, rather than magical and over the top fantasy fights. Plus now that the Netflix Defenders-NYC shows are on Disney+, she fits into that segment of the Marvel story, as well as being a bridge character to 1st Phase Marvel in the Hawkeye series.
A few episodes on we have another amazing fight scene in the skating rink. I am not fond of CGI fights but I love seeing hand to hand stuff and the show delivered in this respect.
A side issue about the skating rink -- on the one hand, I really liked it as a setting. On the other, it seemed a bit of a coincidence given the family business in Moon Girl, particularly because Henry is involved with Fisk Industries. So why have this business on the side? If it was because Maya showing up at Henry's other place of work would have revealed her location too soon, well the whole Vickie subplot is set into motion quickly anyhow.
I felt it was the writers' effort to create more of a dichotomy between Maya's allegiance to Fisk and her life in NYC vs her hometown and family. This would have made more sense had Henry no longer been in business with Fisk though, and I feel that whole side of things was barely touched on. Plus, given Echo's attack on Fisk via the railway, I don't see that it was at all necessary for Henry to be connected to them. They could have tracked her down regardless.
There were two other factors in this show very similar to Ms. Marvel -- the segments on Maya's ancestry and the introduction of various family members. As with Kamala, Maya's ancestors prove to be relevant to her powers. However while these early sections seemed like a digression, they didn't go on as long as in Ms. Marvel and so felt more integrted into the overall plotline. Most importantly, although we get to know various members of her family, it never felt as if Maya wasn't the center of this story. Instead, it felt like the family development was important for us to know why Maya feels torn by the 4th episode between continuing her life in NYC and re-establishing her family ties in Oklahoma.
That said, some characters get better development than others. Bonnie is the biggest loser in this as she seems, frankly, more like a placeholder for an important character than a real character. By comparison, even though Chula and Maya don't meet until the 4th episode, she and Biscuit are the best developed of the hometown characters. Biscuit benefits from being the comic relief, but perhaps it's just because Chula and Skully have so much screen presence in their scenes (and they're often so delightful) that it seems we get to know them better than we do.
I noticed that Maya particularly avoids the female members of her family, but I suspect this was also a writing decision because of what happens at the end.
I had mixed feelings about Fisk being in the show for a few reasons. For one, it seems unbelievable he would have survived that shooting but even more so that Maya didn't make sure he was dead. I guess we're supposed to believe that despite her job, she still had such mixed feelings about Fisk that she couldn't bring herself to do more. Nevertheless, she certainly seems to believe he was dead.
Even though I barely saw Fisk pre-Hawkeye, I felt that he was sufficiently developed here to be the antagonist and crux of what happened in the season.
I quite liked the final episode, the way the flashbacks came to a head in explaining the show title and the way it avoided the big showdown one was prepared for. I liked how Henry and Biscuit ended up blocking the attack from happening, while Maya, Bonnie and Chula shared the ancestral power. As some have pointed it out, it seemed very reminiscent of Rey and the Jedi at the conclusion of the new trilogy. But my immediate thought was of Buffy and the slayers. I really liked the idea of Echo trying to heal Fisk to end the cycle of violence, even as she is being given the power by her mother -- a sort of contrast in the begetting of healing rather than of pain.
And I liked the introduction of the woodpecker!
Although I think the ending was somewhat inconclusive in terms of what Maya will do now, I think the stinger about Fisk and the mayoral race suggests there are future plans for where the NYC heroes are likely to go in the coming years.
However I was pleasantly surprised. While I wouldn't call it great TV, it was much more interesting than I expected, with a couple of real high points.
For one thing, the show is compactly told in 5 episodes and I didn't feel that the content was stretched out (which was a big issue I had with Loki S2). I didn't think the first episode was all that interesting, partly because it was a bit of a reshash for viewers as to how we first meet Maya, and secondly because the childhood origin thing was just a tired trope about family loss for superheroes.
However it featured the first of two great fight scenes. I liked how they set up Maya's initial job as an enforcer for Fisk, with her being hesitant as the fight breaks out. But then she gets into it and is doing well when Daredevil shows up! I thought the choreography was great and I watched it more than once.
And speaking of Daredevil and hand to hand, I noticed that Marvel now has a new designation for some shows -- Spotlight, which are listed on Disney+ as "dark" shows. I can see why. For one thing, hand to hand and the sort of violence here is much more true to life, rather than magical and over the top fantasy fights. Plus now that the Netflix Defenders-NYC shows are on Disney+, she fits into that segment of the Marvel story, as well as being a bridge character to 1st Phase Marvel in the Hawkeye series.
A few episodes on we have another amazing fight scene in the skating rink. I am not fond of CGI fights but I love seeing hand to hand stuff and the show delivered in this respect.
A side issue about the skating rink -- on the one hand, I really liked it as a setting. On the other, it seemed a bit of a coincidence given the family business in Moon Girl, particularly because Henry is involved with Fisk Industries. So why have this business on the side? If it was because Maya showing up at Henry's other place of work would have revealed her location too soon, well the whole Vickie subplot is set into motion quickly anyhow.
I felt it was the writers' effort to create more of a dichotomy between Maya's allegiance to Fisk and her life in NYC vs her hometown and family. This would have made more sense had Henry no longer been in business with Fisk though, and I feel that whole side of things was barely touched on. Plus, given Echo's attack on Fisk via the railway, I don't see that it was at all necessary for Henry to be connected to them. They could have tracked her down regardless.
There were two other factors in this show very similar to Ms. Marvel -- the segments on Maya's ancestry and the introduction of various family members. As with Kamala, Maya's ancestors prove to be relevant to her powers. However while these early sections seemed like a digression, they didn't go on as long as in Ms. Marvel and so felt more integrted into the overall plotline. Most importantly, although we get to know various members of her family, it never felt as if Maya wasn't the center of this story. Instead, it felt like the family development was important for us to know why Maya feels torn by the 4th episode between continuing her life in NYC and re-establishing her family ties in Oklahoma.
That said, some characters get better development than others. Bonnie is the biggest loser in this as she seems, frankly, more like a placeholder for an important character than a real character. By comparison, even though Chula and Maya don't meet until the 4th episode, she and Biscuit are the best developed of the hometown characters. Biscuit benefits from being the comic relief, but perhaps it's just because Chula and Skully have so much screen presence in their scenes (and they're often so delightful) that it seems we get to know them better than we do.
I noticed that Maya particularly avoids the female members of her family, but I suspect this was also a writing decision because of what happens at the end.
I had mixed feelings about Fisk being in the show for a few reasons. For one, it seems unbelievable he would have survived that shooting but even more so that Maya didn't make sure he was dead. I guess we're supposed to believe that despite her job, she still had such mixed feelings about Fisk that she couldn't bring herself to do more. Nevertheless, she certainly seems to believe he was dead.
Even though I barely saw Fisk pre-Hawkeye, I felt that he was sufficiently developed here to be the antagonist and crux of what happened in the season.
I quite liked the final episode, the way the flashbacks came to a head in explaining the show title and the way it avoided the big showdown one was prepared for. I liked how Henry and Biscuit ended up blocking the attack from happening, while Maya, Bonnie and Chula shared the ancestral power. As some have pointed it out, it seemed very reminiscent of Rey and the Jedi at the conclusion of the new trilogy. But my immediate thought was of Buffy and the slayers. I really liked the idea of Echo trying to heal Fisk to end the cycle of violence, even as she is being given the power by her mother -- a sort of contrast in the begetting of healing rather than of pain.
And I liked the introduction of the woodpecker!
Although I think the ending was somewhat inconclusive in terms of what Maya will do now, I think the stinger about Fisk and the mayoral race suggests there are future plans for where the NYC heroes are likely to go in the coming years.