Native representation has been fairly lacking in the various comic book worlds. While I’m more of a DC guy than Marvel, at least as far as the comics go, I have to say there are far more Native characters in Marvel Comics than DC (don’t get me started on “Apache Chief”). Marvel’s best known Native at this point would have to be Echo, from her appearances in Hawkeye and now in her own series. Echo’s story continues in “Lowak.”
The episode begins with an event from long ago in Native history which is, by the way, a much more “civilized” way to settle territorial disputes then most of what the modern world does. In the present, Maya wakes up to the door alarm that’s customized for her particular needs. With everything going on in her life, I don’t blame her for being cautious, but in this case it’s just cousin Biscuits dropping off some groceries. Maya starts getting ideas, and I suspect Biscuits is going end up being a lot nicer than is good for him.
Next up, we get a look at what Skully, Maya’s grandfather, is up to. He’s running a tourist trap/repair shop, and Graham Greene is perfect in the role as he rooks a few gullible white tourists. The scene is also interesting as there’s a joke about him importing stuff from Madripoor. In addition to that being funny as a dig about the merchandise in most tourist traps, Madripoor is a Marvel creation, an island founded by pirates centuries ago. In the comics, it usually crops up in the X-Men books (Wolverine was based here for a time), and in the MCU, we’ve seen it in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Biscuits drops by and orders some very specialized equipment, no doubt part of what Echo asked him to do earlier. Grandmother Chula is helping with plans for an upcoming event, and finds out about Echo being back. She’s obviously not pleased her granddaughter has returned without a word.
Irritated, she heads over to the skating rink for some words with Henry. You know, in a lot of ways, you could argue Herny isn’t exactly a good guy, but I do kind of feel sorry for him in this instance. I’d hate to be stuck between Maya and Chula in an argument. Chula very strongly expresses her opinions about Maya being back, and the effect that might have on both Bonnie and Biscuits. The grandmother doesn’t have a high opinion of her granddaughter, that’s for sure. Henry does his best to reassure her, but she clearly has her doubts. The next scene proves Chula was right at least to an extent, as Maya talks Biscuits into helping her with an idea that even Indiana Jones might think twice about.
Trains make for great action scenes, and Maya has some adventures while Biscuits tries to play backup. This is not at a role he was born to play. He also wisely ducks a call from Chula during all this. Eventually, Maya completes her mysterious mission, and Biscuits manages to help her, although at some cost to himself. He makes a comment about hoping all this was worth it, and Maya’s answer makes it even less clear what she’s been up to. In the next scene, we learn what she was doing, and it makes for a bad day for Henry. I have to say, it was a clever trick on Maya’s part. Maya didn’t escape entirely unscathed, and goes to Skully for some help. While she’s there, she gets a call from Henry, who isn’t at all happy with her. Maya still thinks she was in the right, but she also doesn’t seem to want to think about what will happen in the aftermath. After that conversation, Maya gets a history/ancestry lesson from Skully, who is making subtle hints about Maya patching things up with Chula. Maya leaves with a temporary fix, Skully promising a better fix when he’s had some time.
Biscuits makes an effort to fix some things in the aftermath of Maya’s outing, and manages to piss off Chula and worry Bonnie. The poor guy is way out of his depth here, although he’s trying really hard. The episode ends with Henry paying a visit to Maya to try and explain to her just what she’s making happen, but she doesn’t want to hear it. She tries to take the dramatic loner role to prove her point, but a phone call she ignores shows Maya isn’t that, even if part of her wants to be.
What I Liked: It was great that in a series with a very limited number of episodes, they spent some time dealing with family relations and character development. Alaqua Cox is doing an amazing job as Maya. The action sequences are really well choreographed and filmed. I would watch Graham Greene in just about anything, and his Skully is great here. His scene in the shop was great, and the mention of Madripoor was interesting. Chula is a force to be reckoned with.
What I Didn’t: I get that she’s alone and embittered, but Maya really needs to think about what she’s doing. This is not the place to start a war. I was hoping for another connection or two the wider MCU, but I can see that being limited way out here.
I’ll give this a high 4 out of 5. I’m looking forward to the inevitable showdown with Fisk.
