The new series “Echo,” on Disney+ and Hulu, combines heartbreak and action to create a thriller that depicts the life of a deaf child.
The series is about Maya Lopez, a deaf young girl who goes through many tragedies. As she grows up she goes on a mission to reconnect with her family, her Native American roots and her past.
“Echo’s” backstory is depicted in the first episode: When Maya was a young child, she begged her mom to take her to the store. While they were on their way, they got into a deadly car crash which killed her mother instantly and sent glass into Maya’s leg, damaging her arteries and resulting in the loss of that leg.
During the show, Maya blames herself for that accident every day, which affects her life and eventually starts to control her mentally. However, she also became fearless.
At the beginning of the first episode, I was very confused about the storyline because it switched from a cute little girl in a hospital bed to a grown woman fighting people. But not to worry, it all comes together.
Maya has powers such as photographic reflexes, which is the ability to copy fighting moves that she has seen, and she’s also portrayed as a force of nature when it comes to fighting in general.
A lot of killing tends to happen in this show, hence it fits into the thriller genre. Yet Maya channels all of the powers from her Choctaw ancestors and “echoes” them through some of her family members, specifically Chula (Maya’s grandma) and Bonnie (Maya’s cousin), to stop Kingpin (Maya’s adopted uncle) to save the townspeople where she’s from.
To make things even crazier, Kingpin feels betrayed by Maya for actions she takes during the show and makes the executive decision to hold her entire town hostage to make Maya as angry as he was.
A big question I asked myself before watching was, is the sign language going to be accurate? Lucky enough, I have been around sign language all my life and I am quite the pro at it, since my grandfather is deaf and my mom is a sign language interpreter.
I can conclusively say that yes, the sign language in this series was very accurate. However the signing seemed to be much slower than the normal speed.
This could be for many reasons, such as actors needing to learn the language themselves or directors being worried about clarity. But even if you don’t personally know sign language, you don’t need to worry. There are closed captions that will translate many conversations in the show for you.
Through its characters, “Echo” tackles perspectives that are often underrepresented: Native American and deafness. On top of the well-portrayed characters, Alaqua Cox, who plays Maya Lopez, is also an amputee so she is able to better connect with the character she portrays. The series also has the well-choreographed fight scenes that are standard for any Marvel TV show.
Overall, “Echo” is definitely a show I would recommend to others because of the freshness of its writing, its action and characters that make this show different from others in the Marvel universe.
