Echoes: A Delightful Binge That Leaves You Wanting More

Echoes is a mystery thriller about a set of identical twins. Gina and Leni have a deep dark secret: ever since childhood they’ve secretly switched lives. But this is no Parent Trap, there’s no peanut butter Oreos and cute anecdotes in this story. Gina and Leni swapped back and forth into adulthood. Now, they share two lives, two husbands, a child, and many secrets. They’ve perfected their routine to the point where no one would be any the wiser to the swap, until one of the sister goes missing. We start the story with Gina and continue to follow the story down several twists and turns to figure out what has happened to the twins, how well they know each other, and how well they know themselves, 

When hearing the description of this show I was excited. And after watching the whole show I was happy with it, it was a delightful binge. There are some plot holes, issues with pacing that made the story slightly confusing, and Gina and Leni’s secret language, which they spoke in several important scenes, was not translated on Netflix. I also wish the show went a little deeper into certain plot points.  White people also really have to let go of the idea that a french braid and some mascara makes for an entirely different person. But overall, I really liked this show, the plot twists were overall good and ones I was not expecting from this kind of story. In addition the characters in this story thoroughly creeped me out, I would not stand within 12 feet of most of them which added beautifully to the mystery. 

My favorite part of this show however, was how I could never be sure which twin to trust, if either. Echoes shows us very quickly that the audience can’t trust the narrator. The way this show uses the narrator as a tool had me on the edge of my seat at times. The show does a lot of work to make us trust Gina originally. Then throughout the show especially with the episode, takes everything the audience has been told so far and flips it. This is especially true with Gina, which was my favorite episode of the series. Every perspective in the story is told with such conviction that I did not know who to trust. 

Echoes ends with many unanswered questions. The viewer is likely still a little confused on what the answers to the secrets Gina and Leni shared were. Sadly since this is a limited series we will never get those answers to those questions. That won’t stop me from binge watching again to solve the mystery.

For more from Sydney, check out her review of Hulu’s Crush.