The finale to Echo commences with another flashback. This flashback is of Maya’s childhood before she left Tamaha. Young Maya tries to test her aiming abilities and she injures a bird. She brings the wounded bird to her mother who heals it with her powers that Chula had mentioned.
Back to the present day, Chula goes to the post office and as she’s entering, she drops some mail on the floor. Wilson Fisk is there to help her pick it up. A conversation sparks up between the two of them and Chula begins to tell Fisk about her granddaughter. Fisk quickly realizes that the girl she’s speaking of is Maya, and he connects the dots himself. The scene carries an ominous tone as it ends.
As Biscuits is setting up for the fair, he texts Maya that Bonnie was supposed to arrive an hour ago, but she still isn’t there. Maya immediately feels that something is wrong so she quickly heads out on her way. Then, we get a beautiful vision scene for Maya involving her mother.
Maya sees her mother and this gives her a chance to explain. She tells Maya that all of her ancestors and loved ones that came before live within Maya. They will guide her when she’s lost, and heal her when she’s hurting. She also states that because they live within Maya, it is her responsibility to carry the traditions of her people, and protect them, just as her ancestors did. This scene was absolutely beautiful and one of the best in the entire series when it comes to the writing and the performances here, especially from Alaqua Cox. After this moment, Maya is shown a suit that was made for her. A suit that represents her people and her culture very well. Maya suits up and heads for the fair.
She sneaks into a barn area where she encounters Fisk face to face. Fisk doesn’t have the device he had last time that helped translate between him and Maya. This time he forces Bonnie to translate. Maya stands up for her family and Fisk threatens to kill them, just like he did her father. Finally openly admitting to Maya that he in fact, killed her father. Afterward, something incredible happens. All of the ancestors’ powers echo through into Maya, and Maya echoes the newfound strength into Chula and Bonnie.
In this moment, Maya becomes the best version of herself. She uses her powers on Fisk to get into his head, and she tells him to let go of the pain and anger from his past and his childhood. She still sees Fisk as her Uncle, and the man that cared for her when nobody else would. But first, he needs to let go of the anger and pain.
The series ends with Maya returning to her Grandmother’s house, where the whole family is enjoying a meal. Maya is welcomed back into the family, as she has finally embraced who she is, where she comes from, and who her family truly is.
In typical Marvel fashion, Echo has a post credit scene. This scene shows us Wilson Fisk on his plane, watching the television. The news anchor on the TV is talking about the Mayoral race in New York City. She mentions how wide open the race is and how it would be the perfect opportunity for an anti-establishment candidate to enter and potentially win the race. This hints at a potential Wilson Fisk mayoral campaign in a future Marvel film or TV series.
Overall, this particular episode was a good way to round out the series. While the pacing was off and they jumped from scene to scene a bit too quickly, they checked all the boxes, tied up all the loose ends, and wrapped up the series in a satisfactory fashion. Alaqua Cox got her chance to shine as the lead of this series and she excelled in this role.
Echo was not a perfect series by any means, it had its writing flaws, its pacing issues, and some lazy creative decisions. However, this was a story filled with heart, and it was different from a lot of the typical Marvel shows and movies that we see nowadays. Representation done the right way, filled with heart and an authenticity that the audience can feel while watching.
Rating: 8/10