‘Echo’ Episode 1 Recap & Review: Maya Lopez Has a Checkered Past

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Echo Episode 1.

All five episodes of Marvel Studios’ latest series are now available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu, and Episode 1 is a fantastic start for the Marvel Spotlight program. Stories told under Marvel Spotlight will be both more personal and focus less on furthering the overall MCU narrative, and Echo proves that model can be an astounding success.

Echo Episode 1 leans heavily into Maya Lopez’s (Alaqua Cox) childhood and her struggle with grief and identity. It wastes no time rehashing some important details from Maya’s appearance in Hawkeye for those who aren’t familiar with her previous story. However, the episode adds a plethora of new details about her character and her history outside of Hawkeye, so let’s dive into all the details in our Echo Episode 1 recap.

‘Echo’ Episode 1 Details Maya’s Life Before Kingpin

The first episode opens with a young Maya Lopez (Darnell Besaw) and her friend Bonnie (Wren Zhawenim Gotts) as they relive the story of the first Choctaw, Chafa, who saved their people from certain death. The current setting is Tamaha, Oklahoma in 2007, where young Maya and her family reside. Maya and her mother head to the store for some ice cream, but the brakes of the truck give out, and they get T-boned.

This is the accident that cost Maya her leg and her mother’s life. In the hospital after the accident, Maya’s father William (Zahn McClarnon) reveals that someone sabotaged the brakes, but they have since been dealt with. Young Maya has a heart-to-heart with her father at the hospital before they head back home to their grandparents and pack up their stuff to start a new life in New York.

William tells Maya he wants her to grow up and lead a different, better life than him. We now move into the present day when Maya relives the events of Hawkeye and has to watch Ronin (Jeremy Renner) murder her father. Police catch Maya stealing a motorcycle, but Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) shows up at the scene and bails her out of trouble. Fisk offers Maya a job to help her release some of her rage brought on by the grief of her father’s passing.

Daredevil Makes a Stunning Appearance To Throw a Wrench in Fisk’s Plans

For her first job, Maya meets two men at an empty club where they clear out a warehouse of people looking to move in on Fisk’s territory. When the fighting begins, Maya freezes but has no choice but to act when the men attack her. The fight seems to be all but over when Daredevil (Charlie Cox) bursts through the window, makes quick work of Fisk’s two goons, and sets his sights on Maya.

Echo and Daredevil get into a brief fight that leads to Daredevil escaping after gaining the upper hand by dropping a shelf on Maya. Fisk’s new job is proving useful to Maya and he tells her that they’re family now. Shortly thereafter, Maya gets into a fight with Ronin and he reveals it was Kingpin who wanted her father dead.

A brief retelling of the Hawkeye finale sees Maya shoot Fisk in the head once again, and a five-month time jump follows to get the audience up to the current day. Maya is severely wounded in her side, but she toughs it out and heads to her hometown in Oklahoma. Upon arriving at her old home, she sneaks in the back door and patches herself up with dental floss.

Maya’s Friends and Family Don’t Prove As Useful as She’d Like in ‘Echo’ Episode 1

Before she can settle in, her cousin Biscuits (Cody Lightning) busts through the door and greets her with open arms. Maya doesn’t want anyone to know she’s back home and makes Biscuits promise to keep it between them. Maya briefly spies on her old friend Bonnie (Devery Jacobs), who is now working at the fire department, before setting out to visit an old friend.

After her spy session, Maya goes to the skating rink and finds an old friend who we later learn is her Uncle Henry, (Chaske Spencer), who works as the DJ, but not before the desk clerk texts a random number an ominous message offering information on her whereabouts. Uncle Henry brings in a doctor who helps to clean up and mend her wound and they head to an overlooking location for an intense conversation.

It’s here where Maya once again spies on Bonnie and also on Fisk’s men who are occupying a warehouse. She lets Uncle Henry in on her plan to take Kingpin’s place — the city has had a King, now it’s time for a Queen. Before the episode concludes, we see Fisk survived the gunshot to the head and is breathing heavily in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around his face.

‘Echo’ Episode 1 Sets a Dark and Violent Tone for the Rest of the Series

The first episode of Echo is everything great about what Marvel Spotlight can be. It’s violent, self-contained, and feels remarkably personal to the title character. With more stories like this, Marvel Studios will surely rediscover the formula to get people to truly care about their characters again. A talented performer like Alaqua Cox bringing Maya Lopez to life, means there’s no limit to where this series can go.

All five episodes of Echo are now streaming on Disney+. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.