Within the last 15 years, screenwriter Mark Boal has written three first-rate military/political thrillers: The Hurt Locker (2008), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Triple Frontier (2019). There’s no denying that of those three, Triple Frontier was the least well-received, and it also marked a shift in focus for the writer, with his eyes now locked on South America. Staying in the region with Echo 3, his first foray into television, Boal had not two but ten hours to work with, courtesy of Apple TV+. You might expect that to be a blessing for someone like Boal, who’s clearly able to attract talented creatives to aid him with his projects. Nevertheless, what seems like a blessing ends up being a curse for Echo 3, an ambitious series that attempts to cover a lot of ground but ends up floundering in the muck of its own making.

Based on the Israeli series When Heroes Fly, Echo 3 centers around a trio of protagonists.* Amber Chesborough (Jessica Ann Collins) is an ambitious scientist whose research expedition in Colombia goes horribly wrong when she’s kidnapped by violent militants. Back in the states, her brother, Alex “Bambi” Chesborough (Luke Evans), and her husband, Eric “Prince” Haas (Michiel Huisman), don’t hesitate to hop on plane south. Fortunately, Bambi and Prince are veteran Delta Force operators who can organize a rescue themselves, resolving to do whatever and kill whomever it takes to get Amber back. Meanwhile, political maneuverings are afoot in both Colombia and Venezuela, transforming a simple kidnapping into something with much broader reverberations.

Split into four acts, the ten-episode run of Echo 3 is a mixed bag, to say the least. The first act is its most straightforward, covering the kidnapping and initial rescue attempt, as well as some backstory and side-plots. It’s via these backstory and side-plot scenes that the show starts exhibiting its deficiencies. Sure, there are some interesting bits in there, like the heated argument between Amber and Prince just before the former leaves for Colombia. There’s also an eye-catching action scene involving a special forces operation on a snowy mountain that ultimately puts a strain on Bambi and Prince’s friendship. That said, there are even more of these scenes that don’t really add much, like those that attempt to expand on the romantic relationship between the two female militant leaders.** What makes this fact even worse is that these scenes should be the ones that color the main storyline, supplying much-needed context about the dire situation near the Colombian-Venezuelan border that affects its inhabitants on a daily basis.

After an action-packed but inconsistent first act, Echo 3 moves on to its second, which includes both its best and worst moments. Episode four is the worst of the season, showing Bambi and Prince at their lowest points over the course of an entire episode. I’ve seen skilled filmmakers present the same thing just as effectively in a tenth of the time. Just as this show seems to be running out of steam, it gives us episode five, a quasi-bottle episode that illuminates Amber’s experiences in captivity after she’s been moved into Venezuela. Buoyed by a great supporting performance from Franka Potente as well as Mark Boal’s competent direction, this episode reinvigorates the series. Collins and Potente have really good chemistry, and watching these two committed actresses navigate the complexity of being imprisoned in such a lawless place is enthralling. At the same time, the episode demonstrates how effective Echo 3 could’ve been had it opted for a more personal, less sprawling approach.

Then there’s the third act, which does carry the momentum forward from episode five, albeit in an awkward manner. When Bambi and Prince devise a new plan to rescue Amber, one that involves abducting the DJ brother of a high-ranking Venezuelan official, they infiltrate the stadium at which the brother is playing. These scenes are undoubtedly engaging, sometimes reminding me of the Hitman video games, in that the characters are sneaking through a location in which they don’t belong and swapping outfits in order to blend in. Simultaneously, this sequence is overly extended, and so it never feels as taut as it could have. The following episode is bit better in terms of pacing, but it also includes the abrupt appearance of the most irritating character on the show. This development was clumsy and added nothing to the story except perhaps some runtime padding, which was likely the point. But hey, at least we got a bit of Temuera Morrison in this segment.

Finally, there’s the fourth act, which comes through on the promise of big-time action that you’d expect from this show and showrunner. For us action buffs, there’s a ton to savor in this final three installments, especially episode nine. I’d describe it as the SEAL raid from Boal’s Zero Dark Thirty but on steroids, as there’s wall-to-wall violence for nearly 40 minutes straight. My only complaint about this final act is in regard to its editing. Some of the action was cut rather jarringly, negatively affecting the overall flow. Also, the audio was distracting, with bizarrely quiet suppressed rifles sounding more like pew-pew lasers, especially when juxtaposed with unsuppressed weapons. The music was similarly poor at times, as they used a horror movie-esque soundtrack in an attempt to amplify how horrifying the violence was. Not only was this music unnecessary, it also counterproductively drew my attention to it rather than to the images on screen.***

Ultimately, the worst failure of Echo 3 is that it neglected the very people that Bambi and Prince victimized in their pursuit of Amber. None of the Colombian or Venezuelan characters were given more than a rudimentary story arc, reducing most of them to archetypes. There are the requisite corrupt, powerful men that we’ve seen before, and done better, in Narcos. And there are the individuals those men oppress, but they’re mostly ignored. The journalist Violeta Matiz (Martina Gusmán) is the only Latin character given some depth, but her character makes decisions based more on what the plot requires rather than what an actual human in her position would do. In the end, all of this means that when Echo 3 grasps for nuance, hoping that the audience feels sympathy for these people, it instead feels apathy. Or worse, that audience is glad to see some of them harmed, since it probably means that Bambi and Prince are achieving their aims.****

With Echo 3, Mark Boal and his writers admirably strove to concoct something sharper and more realistic than the average political thriller. They tried to wade through the muck of Colombian/Venezuelan relations and American interference, but instead got bogged down in the meaningless minutiae of it. It wouldn’t have been meaningless, had their attempt at depth been less shallow. Even so, I applaud the attempt, as I’d rather see filmmakers try and fail than not try at all. And yet, I’m still astounded that someone as accomplished as Mark Boal could underwhelm me so. After launching his career with triumphs set in the Middle East, he’s now withering away in South America. Perhaps it’s time he globetrots elsewhere.

If I had to score it, I’d give season one of Echo 3 a 5/10.

Notes:

* In my reviews, I normally find a place to comment on the main actors, so I’ll do so here in the notes. Jessica Ann Collins, Luke Evans, and Michiel Huisman are all fine in Echo 3, with Collins standing out the most of the three. Disappointingly, they all lack chemistry with one another, which often leads to wooden, unmoving interactions between them. Had the three of them been more electric together, it would’ve made it easier to forgive some of the show’s other flaws.

** These two women should’ve represented the frustrated populace of the region, but they instead came off like naïve teenagers. I could see the intent of their subplot, but the writing fell short and was even a touch xenophobic.

*** I really dislike it when movies and shows overuse music to amplify emotion. After all, they’re visual art forms. If you don’t trust your visuals to convey certain emotions enough, or worse, you don’t trust your audience to feel them enough, then no amount of music can fix it. The sad fact is that Echo 3 had the visuals, so quite simply, they were gilding their proverbial lily.

**** I think the problem that Mark Boal and Co. run into is that they establish Amber, Bambi, and Prince as the “good” guys at the beginning. By the time the focus deviates a bit toward the Latin characters, it’s too late; the audience’s loyalty is set. Therefore, when the shooting starts and bodies begin piling up, most of us will see that as an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of Amber’s rescue, rather than the tragedy it’s suggested to be.