I might be telling secrets, but I’ll say it anyway. Among people of color, especially women of color, there is an implied rule of “one.” In the entertainment industry, that means there can only be one of us, maybe two, in a given show, movie, or book. Otherwise, there is a fear that we’re taking over. Suddenly the production is no longer vanilla flavored but is now jollof, masala, peri peri, adobo, harissa, or (insert your cultural spice here) with a side of fry bread. This is not a joke, the thought of “too” many of us causes panics that could end affirmative action…again. It rarely matters how qualified the character is, the setting, or how ancient the culture is because any suggestion of our multitudes (two or more) seems “improbable” to the mainstream.
Perhaps that’s why, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, certain MCU and What If…? fans are questioning the introduction of a new Indigenous character, Kahhori. These fans are calling the character’s inclusion “repetitive” given that Echo has already debuted. The question itself is stunning. “I don’t even know if it’s justifiable for an answer, but I’ll give one anyway,” said Devary Jacobs, the voice behind Kahhori and the actress portraying Bonnie on Echo. “I think that the story of Kahhori in What If…? is astronomically different from that of Maya Lopez in Echo,” she added. We could wonder why nobody asks white male characters this question, but we already know the answer.
It’s a question other actors seldom confront. Yet here we are. The acclaimed comic book creator Dwayne McDuffie spoke about this odd phenomenon before his death. He said he was not permitted to include more than three Black characters on any team or else it would become a “Black product.“ The rule of one is tough on people of color.
It’s a good thing we’re getting Echo (Disney+) and True Detective: Night Country (HBO) in the same week, especially now that shows like Reservation Dogs, Alaska Daily, and Three Pines are canceled. The axing of those shows suggests the networks think ‘there were just too many outstanding Indigenous women on screen simultaneously’ but we know that is nonsense. We’re glad Issa López, the showrunner, writer, and director of all 6 episodes of HBO’s True Detective: Night Country refuses to acknowledge that nonsense. We’re also glad that creators and directors at Disney+ chose to ignore the rule of one, too.
Here are my short but enthusiastic breakdowns of both shows and why it’s good to see them.
ECHO – Jan 9 (All Episodes)
It was a good shock when, shortly after the premiere of the Hawkeye mini-series, the MCU announced Maya Lopez aka Echo (Alaqua Cox) would soon have her own series. We didn’t expect an Indigenous woman with dual disabilities would be given the spotlight as an anti-hero and deliverer of smackdowns.
Directed, produced, and written by several Indigenous people, Echo is a return to the street-level antics that Marvel made so popular during its partnership with Netflix. Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) is a prominent character and Daredevil shows for a fight that proves Maya cannot be flexed with. As for D’Onofrio’s work, back in 2018, I said, “[cue: ominous theme music] The applause you’re hearing is for Vincent D’Onofrio’s unstoppable, bone-chillingly good bad guy. Kingpin is a blanket of calm wrapped around pure menace. Much like the black and white of his favorite suit, he moves every character on the chessboard as though he has the power of both queens.” That statement holds true but in the Echo series, Maya is a different kind of queen, one who moves like a molten mass of rage, until her family helps her temper herself into a weapon only she can wield.
Choctaw culture is foundational to the show, adding spirituality and also grounding the story organically. Additionally, ASL is seamlessly integrated throughout. Those factors add realness. While, across all five episodes, what works best is the connection Maya has to her family, not only to the living but to the ancestors. That family includes Kingpin with whom she shares a complex and gritty relationship that cannot be categorized. My wish is to know the character better outside of her rage. Without emotional range, your attention might falter at times, but maybe that’s a plot for season 2.
What you take away is that: Those who are vicious to others in your name, could turn and be vicious to you. Seek a hand that holds rather than strikes.
With that said the connection between Echo and the fourth season of True Detective goes beyond their Indigenous women leads; the ancestors, souls reaching back from death, and the power of women united are also prominent.
True Detective: Night Country – Jan 14
This newest season of True Detective is my first, but if Issa López continues to write, direct, and run the show I’ll be there. As the first woman at the helm, López serves up a fascinatingly harsh blend of the original Fargo film and the occult, while adding a pair of leads in Foster and Reis that you don’t know whether to slap or hug. Set during the Polar Night (thirty days of darkness) in Ennis, Alaska, the show centers around lead detective Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and her former partner Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis). The pair ends up investigating the case of eight research scientists—all of them men—who vanish leaving only a woman’s tongue behind.
This show, this show, this show. Haunted and icy describe the setting with the same accuracy as the storytelling. Night Country is a hook, baited with mystery and the supernatural. You cannot pull away. Jodie Foster is a known legend and here her character is an asshole with a heart she doesn’t want anyone to find. Meanwhile, Reis is magnetic and prickly all at once. Her Navarro is driven by the need to protect her sister and other women, and she’ll do it by any means.
Everything about this show works. That includes the dead, who one character says, “get as bored as everyone else,” during the long night. Indigenous Inuit culture is foundational here as well and López deftly layers commentary about corruption, climate change, the bonds between women, and colonialism with such ease you don’t realize they’re there until they’ve kicked you in the shins repeatedly. The music is also a note-for-note match for the tone of Night Country—it is sinister and ephemeral just like the show. Although the plot twists land much harder punches. I haven’t been this disturbed by a collection of dead bodies since that Totem Pole in Hannibal S1 E9 [Google it at your own risk].
RIOTUS 