"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, November 28, 2022

Echo 3 1.1-1.3: Bondian Flavor and Pure Adrenalin



Hey, if you're in the mood for some high-octane adrenalin, surprises at every turn, colorful locales, and thoughtful characters -- and I'm always in the mood for that -- check out Echo 3 on Apple TV+.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

The series has a Bondian flavor, with a little Narcos mixed in, served in a rich tapestry of places and characters.  Amber Chesborough, recently married to Delta Force operative "Prince," gets taken hostage doing research into tropical cures for drugs, in Colombia.  Except she's also on some kind of CIA mission which her husband didn't know about it when he slipped a high-tech tracker into her luggage so, well, he could track her if she got into trouble.  Which she does -- becaused being kidnapped is of course big trouble -- and when the kidnappers find the tracker, things get much worse, because they think (correctly) that she's a spy.

Also, she has a brother,"Bambi," in the same unit as Prince, and they start from being good buddies at Amber and Prince's marriage, to being at pretty serious odds over a mission that went pretty bad in Afghanistan.  But you know they have to bury that hatchet and join forces to rescue Amber, which of course they do (join forces, that is -- she's not yet rescued), and though that's obvious, it's good to see it happen, anyway,

Other characters (so far) include Colombian military guys at all levels who are excellent, and a pack of kidnappers who seem to produce a succession of new leaders as some are picked off by the good guys.  This might seem a little too much to believe, but the action is so good, I have no problem at all with it.

There's also a woman journalist who tries to negotiate for Amber's release, but gets taken prisoner by the kidnappers, raising terrible memories of what actually happened to Diana Turbay, a renowned journalist who was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar's cartel, and was killed in a government rescue attempt gone wrong in 1991.

My only disappointment with Echo 3 is that after seeing these first three episodes, I of course wanted to see more.  But the good news is I'll be able to remedy that when the fourth episode comes up this coming Friday.



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