Apple TV Plus' Echo 3 delivers on action—but falls short on characterization
In Mark Boal's Echo 3, brothers-in-law embark on a South American rescue mission

Echo 3, the upcoming Apple TV+ series from two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Mark Boal, has been billed as a black ops thriller and tale of international intrigue.” And it is certainly that: an ambitious, multilingual show that attempts to combine elements of action thrillers with military, political, and survival dramas. But ultimately—and frustratingly—the series’ whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Created by Boal, Echo 3 follows Amber Chesborough (Jessica Ann Collins), a research scientist in pharmacology who decides to travel to South America to study plants and rituals that she believes could be used to treat addiction. But when Amber goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Alex, a.k.a. Bambi (Luke Evans), and her affluent husband, Prince (Michiel Huisman)—two men with a shared military history and their own share of personal trauma—struggle to cut through the bureaucratic red tape to find her against the backdrop of a secret guerrilla war in the region. The series, which was shot primarily on location in Colombia, paints a nuanced and maybe slightly heightened portrait of the current sociopolitical climate in South America (one of the American characters even takes a swipe at the current president of Venezuela) while also celebrating the close-knit nature of Latin American culture.
After beginning with a stirring shot of Amber being held at gunpoint in South America, the pilot plays out across multiple timelines. Six months earlier, and the day after Amber and Prince’s dream wedding, Prince, Bambi, and the rest of their military unit were sent on a hostage rescue mission, where they suffered a devastating loss. (The show’s greatest strength lies in its ability to craft action sequences that make you feel like you’re right in the elements of an active war zone or dangerous neighborhood—but the level of intrigue from episode to episode surprisingly runs hot and cold.)
Three months later, Prince and Bambi remain at odds about who should be held responsible for their loss, leaving Amber, who is preparing for her trip abroad, caught in the middle. The pilot effectively sets up the dynamics between Amber and the two men in her life, with Collins and Huisman portraying a young couple adjusting to the ups and downs of married life, and Collins and Evans playing close siblings raised by a drug-addicted single mother who have seen (and inflicted) their fair share of bloodshed.