Echo 3

Everything feels like a retread of something previously done several times over--a woman gets taken in a foreign country, family struggles to get support from official channels, takes things into their own hands, using their "special" skills and resources. And it's Colombia/South America, so there are rebels, civil unrest, and social commentary involved. Throw in the CIA, military, and special forces, you basically have Echo 3 and every other story like it.

The story starts in Afghanistan, though I'm not sure there's that much relevance there, other than to establish that the leading male characters are members of Delta Force. An incident happens that is meant to create some tension between the characters, but if that's all there is, the audience could have just taken that as a given backstory of their past through a few lines of dialog and flashbacks if needed, without wasting screen time.

Nevertheless, once the story gets going, it begins to take shape, as the situation and circumstances start to spiral and escalate. It is from here that, despite the tired themes, it manages to become entertaining. Is it believable? It struggles to be, but once fully engaged, you'll suspend that disbelief and go along. It helps that Luke Evans is a good actor, and the most likable one in the cast. There are enough action sequences and adventure and production quality to make it worth watching it through to the end of Part One (first three episodes) and look forward to the next installment.

First the positives - it looks great, it's shot beautifully. Evans (especially) and Huisman are excellent. The big action set pieces are terrifically staged, tense and compelling.

The negatives - the character of Amber is fundamentally unsympathetic and basically irritating from the start, which is a problem when the whole point of the show is that these people love her so much to go to war to get her back.

Also there is no need for 10 episodes- this feels like - a 4-6 part series stretches out to 10.

Fundamentally flawed but just about worth it for the action set pieces and Luke Evans was a standout throughout.

Two elite soldiers forced to collaborate. I still miss Strike Back, so I had hoped for some well choreographed action.

The wooden acting I can live with. The wobbly camera sucks, but okay. The stupid choices the lead characters make... well, it's starting to hurt. The strange military theater that does not look at all real confuses me.

I don't know what this is. It doesn't cater to me (I'm just here for the action) so maybe for the drama people out there? Look what happened to Seal Team - it also turned into a drama, so maybe it's me that's wrong.

It might be a good show for you! Check it out.

They really tried making something good here The actors are good, story is half decent, but it could have been told much better. It's slow paced so the thrill is taken out of it, everything just feels like a drag, like you'd enjoy it better if you play the episodes at x2 speed. Every episode feels like it could be 20 minutes shorter because of how long some sequences and scenes are. I don't know if they're trying to build tension or suspense but it just ends up being dull. I'd say the concept is similar to terminal list, except more politics and it's a rescue mission not a revenge one. A military political thriller. It's just missing that edge of the seat feel. It sucks because the actors are doing a pretty good job, and this series could've been good but it has me literally begging for something, anything; it's like poking a sedated bear or going to the zoo and seeing a lion sleeping, it's capable of great action and awe but it's just lying there instead, like what a waste. Looking at the way the story is progressing, 5 episodes in, it's clearly building layers and getting interesting but the narration is so slow. There are scenes over a minute long were nothing substantial happens. Not every thriller needs shootouts or the like, but have some suspense and tension maybe. Just do something. Please.

I'm going to start with the positives here, the action is excellent and every episode that I saw has at least one thrilling action sequence that's worth watching. Luke Evans is playing a very serious role here and I think he's the star of the show, he makes a solid pairing with Michiel Huisman as two co-workers with a family bond. The show starts with Huisman's character (Prince) marrying Luke Evans' (Bambi) sister played by Amber Chesborough, they are both black ops working together. They get a call to jump on a mission, and things goes south from there.

The sequence in the snow had me on the edge of my seat and I was on board for a great show, the sound design is really on-point and I always think it's bonus point when it's shot on location, which they do a lot here. This leads me to some of the issues I have with the series so far, keeping in mind that I've only seen three episodes. Everything else surrounding those action sequences can be lackluster in parts, it's a very cold series and not all characters are likeable which makes it tough sometimes to be attached emotionally. It has some strong moments but not all of it is working, it's at its best during the action sequences.

The story involves a lot of characters because of the political intrigue and I don't think everyone gets their moments to shine so when the action kicks in, there's a certain lack of emotional connection to the spectacle unfolding. Despite some solid acting & directing, I can't help but feel like this is not reaching its full potential, yet. I feel like it's not hitting the target with its political commentary. After 3 episodes, I still want to see where this is going and even if the only reason I'm still on board is because of the impressive action sequences, that's enough for me to stick around a little bit more because they hit with a bang.

My score after 3 episodes: 6.5/10.