[7.210] “Chafa” is a weird episode for me. It seems like most of the show is trying to be an AMC-style prestige drama, and I love AMC-style prestige dramas! And for a brief interlude, it seems like the show is trying to be the spiritual to those gritty Netflix Defenders shows, and by the end, I got so exhausted by those gritty Netflix Defenders shows.
And yet, when this was trying to be a spiritual meditation on a person experiencing tragedy and finding their direction through homes and father figures both old and new, it felt pretty flat and even tiresome. And when it was doing that now-standard Netflix Defenders unbroken hallway fight scene, it was downright riveting, so I don’t know what to do with this one, or myself really.
I will say that I initially rolled my eyes at Maya and the two Kingpin goons throwing down with a bunch of rival gangsters. I appreciate a solid oner, but the camera work seemed over the top, and there was an odd, almost green screen effect to it that took me out of the moment. But once they got through the melee potion, and it was pretty much just Maya locking horns with various goons, it became much clearer visually and more exciting psychologically. And the late entrance of Daredevil kicked things up a notch on both fronts.
Oners can be gimmicky. And you can see the seams and the cuts in a few place.s That said, I can't tell you how refreshing it feels to see hand-to-hand combat visualized without choppy editing, to where you can easily follow the flow and geography of the fight in a way that most modern action, superhero and otherwise, makes a complete hash of. So if all this first episode gave us was the extended fight between Maya, the bad guys, and Daredevil it would be worthwhile on that front.
That said, I do appreciate “Chafa” bringing us up to speed on what is essentially Maya’s origin story and how she got to the present moment. I seem to recall we got bits and pieces of this in the Hawkeye show that Echo spun off of. But I gotta admit, Hawkeye feels like a long time ago, and I wasn’t super engaged with it, so the details are fuzzy. Recapitulating them here through Maya as a protagonist, not a side character, is welcome, and the additions to the story help situate where she is in the plot and in life.
That said, there’s a ton of cliches here. The kid who loses her parent in a car accident and blames themselves feels very stock. Moving from a rustic locale to the big city and then returning home as an adult is another big cliche. And if you’re a white male age 18-49 (to where everyone listens to you, no matter how dumb your ideas are!), you've seen ten million “gangsters run this town” stories, so it’s hard for Echo to distinguish itself on that front.
Thankfully, there is the Choctaw culture and deaf community inclusions that help distinguish Echo somewhat. I’ll admit, the visualization of the Choctaw legend at the beginning threw me off and made me wonder if I had the right show. But the sense of these communities with their own ecosystems and intersections and concerns does help infuse the series with something to elevate it above the bundle of cliches it offers in the early going.
Of course, there’s also the return of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and what can I say, I’m a sucker for it. The casting remains perfect, both physically and in terms of presence, and I’m interested to see how the show aims to develop the character within the MCU. The idea of him as a surrogate father figure who was responsible for the death of Maya’s actual father motivates the show well, and I’m interested to see where they go with it. Not for nothing, in the light of D’Onofrio’s turn in Ed Wood, there’s a real “older Charles Foster Kane” vibe to Kingpin here, which I appreciate.
Overall, this one flips my usual expectations and preferences for television, with the more languid and meditative parts that could be in any serious drama dragging things down, and the standard issue superhero fighting scene being the thing that maintained my interest. But I’m at least curious to see where the show goes from here, now that it’s done setting the table and can start eating the meal it’s prepared.
The fight scene was cool but thats about it. Skip.
I do not understand the criticism about this episode, my guess is that it isn't mainstream, plus it is a female lead, she's deaf, yada yada excuse.
I thought the show was a really fun extension to the MCU, as it is not in the cookie cutter mold that has made them so successful. This show is fresh, we see a deep dive into a character who was badass for the short time she appeared, and it was so out of the box per MCU standards, it was something awesome to suddenly have appear.
Can't wait for the next episode!
They say those skaters are still rolling around waiting for that man to say “red light” again.
It always pisses me off that marvel shows have like 10min credit scenes.
Anyways this was not a good opener. 20min of recap from Hawkeye. Then an okayish fight scene with a clear body double. Follow that up with 10min of reunion shit all for her to say she wants to be queen. They added that “this season” section to try and pull you in because they know that this episode can’t do it alone.
Echo leaps bravely into place, daring to tread a path reminiscent of the gritty Netflix Marvel streets we all fell in loved with.
The raw, brutal, hard-hitting series deeply rooted in Native American culture offers a refreshing shift from the extravagant, CGI-heavy narratives of recent MCU releases.
Its TV-MA rating allows for a darker tone and sets an exciting precedent for the anticipated Daredevil: Born Again series currently in production.
Marvel Studios Echo gets it done, delivering a strong character-driven story that also honors differently abled people as well as the Choctaw Nation.
The story is somewhat interesting, but the acting overall feels amateurish and both the directing and cinematography feel very cheap. The weird editing and pacing trying to recap her whole story so far also doesn’t help. Overall it feels like watching a canceled TV Show made 15 years ago.
That fight scene was like watching people do coordinated dancing but missing half the timings and had one of the laziest fake “oners” (one take) I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t even properly hide the transitions between each camera cut to make it feel seamless.
I’m sorry what the heck was that?
Was this suppose to be the big masterpiece and return of marvel to the shows.
I’m the only one who was bored to death, completely dislike the girl and her character. The pilot was so incoherent, so messed up in story and I really don’t care what happens to her or want to know how she got there.
What a big disappointment. I’m not following the show, even for only 4 more episodes.
Basically you can fastforward the first 20 minutes. the story does not really make much sense anyway, other then meeting Maya who loses part of her leg. Then she's grown up suddenly. Add some more drama. Fisk takes her in and makes her into a bad lieutenant. Add some fist fighting and some more violence. Add a cameo / cross-over from one series. Then someone else makes a cameo and of course she believes him. Does something. Fast forward 5 months and she goes back home to her roots. Done.
Errrr..... ok.
Some episodes of Iron Fist made more sense. And no of course I dont mean that in a positive way.
I don’t know. It seemed too jumpy. Not impressed after that first episode
umm okay-ish first episode .... the first half umm "well that escalated quickly" !
It's okay. Much better than recent Marvel properties such as Secret Invasion, Ant-Man Quantumania and The Marvels. This episode is heavy on flashback and recap. It's going for the Marvel Netflix street level vibe but I'm still not that endeared to this character. I don't think I ever will be. I enjoyed the appearance of a certain character though.
Funny how almost the whole town still remember sign language even though the little girl left town for 20 years haha.
Nothing great so far after 2 episodes.
The mother didn't have to use the brake pedal once before getting to cruising speed? Come on.
Also, why do I always have to watch other marvel shows to enjoy any other marvel show?
I'm sick of it, and it's what's kept me away from marvel since endgame.
For me, this one was mostly Daredevil and Hawkeye and a bunch of other stuff that I've already forgotten. And of course Maya doesn't triple-tap Kingpin because that would make too much sense, and EVERYTHING builds on that bit of stupidity while negating the episode's synopsis. One and done for me.
Excluding “I’m a really good lawyer”, maybe one of the coolest daredevil mcu scenes so far
Typical marvel. Just average
Funny how every marvel character in these series seems to have the same background Story. These series always start with one of the Parents dying and the main character being sad as a child. Then it Cuts to now and they are adults.
I dont know why im still even tyring to Bother to find a good series on disney+.
Interesting idea to mix new footage with footage from Hawkeye to bring everyone up to speed so although a decent first episode, I am not very optimistic about the show's future.
Score: 4.5/10
the pacing is so bad it felt like a clip show
the camerawork during the warehouse/Daredevil fight just pulled way too much attention to itself, was focusing more on the camera movement than the fight. the 1-shot scene preceding it also felt done just for the sake of having a 1-shot, flashy & gimmicky with no purpose, everything about the fight scene (albeit generally competently staged & executed) felt far too choreographed
Poorly written and paced. Hanging out in a cave and then it collapses after you take a drink of water? Ten year old kid and first thing you do after waking up from accident is check a pulse?? Grown up girl has no qualms killing someone? Good thing it's only five episodes to get through.
As a fan of Reservation Dogs I like the setting and I'm happy to see so many familiar faces in the cast, but I don't enjoy the violence and the fight scenes.
I really loved Hawkeye, which also has those elements, but there it somehow felt lighter. I hope the next episodes will focus more on the characters than the action.
We've seen a lot of 'bad Marvel' recently, but this first episode reminded me of 'good Marvel' at moments. Good music, some raw fights and not trying too hard to fit every agenda there is. A good start/decent start is half the work though.
a show that requires an abundance of nudity right off the Hop is garbage.
Is this the highest quality show Marvel has put out on Disney+? let's find out
Darcy (Wandavision 1x4): "What? I'm invested."
Shout by GlassBlockedParent2024-01-10T21:43:15Z
Love to see all the great actors from reservation dogs - but it's hard to forget their characters rules from there ...