Marvel’s ECHO Recap (S01E04): Taloa

Noetta Harjo

Updated on:

Sometimes family are the ones who hurt you the most in Marvel‘s Echo. In “Taloa,” Maya (Alaqua Cox) reaches a turning point in her journey after a visit from Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). This episode is directed by Syndey Freeland (Diné).

FACING THE PAST

Wilson Fisk cared for Maya from the time she arrived in New York City. He has always been protective of her and took care of her every need. One day after school, young Maya (Darnell Besaw) found an ice cream vendor. Fisk watched as the vendor yelled at Maya for not being able to communicate with him. As soon as she was in the car, Fisk got out and dragged the vendor into an alley. He beat the guy to a pulp, splattering blood all over his white suit. Fisk called his driver to bring him a new jack so Maya wouldn’t see the blood, but she was watching from the street. Maya wasn’t scared though.Instead, she ran into the alley and kicked the vendor a couple of times. Fisk was pleasantly surprised. 

Fisk and Maya used to have Sunday family dinners. The time had come for Maya’s final lesson … She and Fisk could only trust each other. He says she’s finally ready to move from the theoretical to the practical. He dismisses Maya’s interpreter. His guards escort the interpreter to the door and kill her. 

RELATED: Marvel’s Echo Recap (S01E03): Tuklo

NOW

Maya is uneasy seeing Fisk alive. Two of his men grab Maya and a third one holds her eyes open. Fisk puts a contact in her eye and an earbud in his ear. The contact allows Maya to see what Fisk is saying. And the earbud allows Fisk to hear what Maya is signing. Something that Fisk had made for the two of them so they could communicate without an interpreter. 

Fisk brings a picnic basket, wanting to have dinner like they did in New York. Maya invites him inside, but she is on guard. Fisk says he’s not angry with her for shooting him in the eye. He thinks she’s a little happy and relieved that he’s alive. But he’s hurt that she shot him. Fisk says he always had her back and couldn’t stand it when she got hurt. That hasn’t changed. Fisk closed the curtains in the kitchen. They sit down at the dinner table. Fisk unpacks the picnic basket and says he has a proposition for her. He is willing to give her everything. He will give her his empire, but she has to go home with him. Fisk plans to leave for New York the next day. 

Maya goes to the skating rink to tell Henry about Fisk’s visit. She says he offered her a “queenpin.” Henry knows she can rule, but he doesn’t want her to end up like him. He says he’s alone because everyone he loved was taken away by Fisk. After William died, Henry tried to get out of Fisk’s rule, but Fisk threatened to kill him if he did. That’s why he returned to Oklahoma, even though he still does Fisk’s dirty work. Maya isn’t so sure that Henry is concerned for her. Henry left Maya alone in New York when she was not okay. He apologizes, saying he was confused and scared. 

RELATED: Check Out the New Schedule for Marvel’s Upcoming TV Slate

ECHOS

Set up for the Choctaw Powwow begins. Chula (Tantoo Cardinal) is helping a vendor set up when she sees visions of Chafa (Julia Jones), Lowak (Morningstar Angeline), Tuklo (Dannie McCallum) and herself as a young woman. Maya sees the visions at the same time. They see the cave collapsing and Chafa holding it up. Henry (Chaske Spencer) is concerned about Maya and drives her to Chula’s house. Maya snaps out of her vision when they get there. 

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Marvel Studios' Echo,
(L-R): Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Marvel Studios’ Echo, releasing on Hulu and Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Henry says Chula can help Maya and tells her to go inside and talk to her grandmother. Chula stares at her granddaughter for a while before inviting her in. She pulls out a plate of cookies and offers Maya a drink, but Maya doesn’t want to pretend this is a casual visit. Chula asks her to sit down. Maya tells Chula about her visions. She feels like she is losing it because the visions happen when she sleeps and when she’s awake. And it’s been happening since she got to town.

Chula knows exactly what’s going on. She saw it too, the night she gave birth to Taloa (Katrina Ziervogel), Maya’s mother. Chula had complications when she gave birth to Taloa. The doctors at the hospital couldn’t do anything for her, so her family took Chula to a Choctaw midwife. She had a vision of Chafa, Lowak, and Tuklo while giving birth. Chula can’t say they were always with her, but had an ability to when they were truly needed. Chula says Taloa was special. She could lift the pain of others. Taloa was a healer. 

RELATED: Marvel’s Echo Trailer – Kingpin, Daredevil and Plenty of Gore

Chula says there’s a unique unbreakable connection between mother and child. When Taloa was killed, Chula’s heart shattered. Maya gets angry. William told Maya that Chula destroyed their family and wanted nothing to do with them. Chula says it was hard to be around Maya because she was so much like her mother. Now she thinks generations are echoing and reaching out to them at a time when they need their ancestors the most. Maya is still angry. She says she was a child and she needed her grandmother, but Chula chose herself. Maya leaves.

PICKING SIDES

Chula and Maya all think about each other. Chula goes to her sewing room and looks at a garment she started making but never finished. She starts working on it again to pass the time. Biscuits (Cody Lightning) also thinks about his family. He goes to the junkyard to find parts for Chula’s truck.  

Maya goes to Fisk’s hotel room. She pulls a gun on him and he says he expected her to come kill him eventually. Fisk says he always thought of Maya as a daughter and asks if she remembers that they only had each other. Maya says her memories are a bunch of lies. Like a child fantasy turning a monster into a hero. Fisk says she knew what she was a part of. She killed a lot of people for him and never pleaded for their lives. So who’s the real monster?

RELATED: Catch up with Maya in the Marvel’s Echo recaps!

Maya says Fisk isolated her, convincing her that he is the only person she can trust. Fisk gets angry, saying he was there for her. He knows he failed her the same as his father failed him. He tells her how his father died. Fisk killed him with a hammer to stop him from beating up his mother. He says he killed his father to be free and move forward. He brought the hammer with him and gives it to Maya, telling her to free herself. Maya takes the hammer, but sets it down. Fisk says they have come full circle. He leaves in the morning and asks her to come home.

The next morning, Maya thinks about Fisk and everything they’ve been through. She truly cares for him. But she also thinks about her family in Oklahoma and how much she cares for them too. Fisk is on the plane waiting for Maya when he receives a call. His men followed Maya, but lost her. Maya left town. Fisk gets so angry he rams his head into the wall. 

Marvel’s Echo is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. 

https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/madame-web-official-trailer-sony-marvel-dakota-johnson/

Noetta Harjo
Follow me

Leave a Comment