Once again there was a new series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe released on Disney+. Unlike previous series, this time all episodes were made available in one day, which made it possible to complete the whole season immediately. OK, let's get to it then.

Brief Story Line

After the events in the Hawkeye series, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) decided to return to her home town in Tamaha, Oklahoma. There she met with her kind hearted cousin Biscuits (Cody Lightning - Four Sheets to the Wind etc) and her uncle Henry (Chaske Spencer - The Twilight Saga movies etc) who was still working for Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio - Death Wish, Law & Order: Criminal Intent TV series etc).

Maya who had estranged relationship with her grandmother Chula (Tantoo Cardinal - Killers of the Flower Moon, Stumptown TV series etc) and her other cousin Bonnie (Devery Jacobs - Reservation Dogs TV series etc) was trying to avoid meeting them while she was in town. But due to her actions that might endanger her home town, Maya's family were caught in the cross fire.

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in the series.

End of Brief Story Line

When I watched the pilot episode, I thought it was pretty interesting with some hard core action sequence that was pretty violent. In fact it was the first MCU series to be getting TV-MA rating due to its violence and brief nudity (before you get any ideas, it's not from some sex scenes). And with the unexpected appearance of one character, it made the episode more exciting. It also provided a bit of background story of the lead character Maya Lopez which I thought was good to give perspective.

In the second episode, we were shown the other side of Maya when she was in her home town and the other people in her family. It was quite OK and I actually liked the character of cousin Biscuits a lot. He provided lightness to an otherwise grim feeling by providing some comical relief. It was just fun watching him trying his best to comply with Maya's request though he was afraid of his grandmother Chula and accidentally said something he should not have. But personally I was not that enthusiastic with the more and more scenes of hallucinations/visions. 

As the series progressed, it was clear that the story was focusing on Maya's personal dilemma of choosing what was more important for her. Throughout the whole 5 episodes of this mini series, there were some action sequence that was quite entertaining like in the pilot and in the second & third episodes. But it was a bit disappointing seeing the finale which was rather anti climactic to me. And after finishing the whole series, sadly it did not leave me with the satisfied feeling. Once again it just became another one to tick mark for complete experience of MCU. Although there was a mid end credit scene in the final episode, it did not provide any surprise at all. I did read on the internet that Daredevil: Born Again series would be set after this one, so I have a strong feeling that Maya Lopez aka Echo would show up again there.

The cast though did a great job to me and the casting department definitely had to be applauded for finding so many Native American talents to fill up the roles. And the many scenes showing the culture and people especially the Choctaws with its language being spoken was definitely something to be respected and I am sure appreciated by the Native Americans. I thought Alaqua Cox was brilliant and she was really perfect for the role of Echo from the comic books plus Vincent D'Onofrio whose presence always had great impact. The other cast were good as well with the addition of Zahn McClarnon (Doctor Sleep etc) as Maya's father William Lopez and Graham Greene (Antlers etc) as Skully the owner of pawn shop and few others.

Overall to me despite the understandable praise from critics, I was not able to completely enjoy the series. There was no clear indication at first where the story was heading and the very dark scenes at nights made it difficult to see lots of things (even after I tried to brighten the picture). The violent action that was heavily promoted was OK but not frequently enough shown, and was disappointing as well with such kind of climax fights. So if you expect something of a Daredevil or The Punisher series quality, I do not think you would find it here, although Marvel Studios is getting in that direction at least for this one. And for fans of MCU, this might be a bit too dark as well. Whether it is going to entertain you, I'll leave it to you to decide after watching it.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars