# Echo 3
**Echo 3** is an American action thriller television series created by Mark Boal for Apple TV+, in which the kidnapping of an American scientist near the Colombia-Venezuela border sets her brother and husband, both men with deep military experience, on a rescue mission against the backdrop of a secret guerrilla war. It premiered on November 23, 2022, ran for ten episodes of roughly an hour each, and concluded on January 13, 2023.[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/) • [2](https://www.epguides.com/Echo3/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | Apple TV+; premiered November 23, 2022 with three episodes, finale January 13, 2023; 10 episodes, about 60 minutes each[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/) • [2](https://www.epguides.com/Echo3/) |
| Creator | Mark Boal, the two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter of *The Hurt Locker* and *Zero Dark Thirty*; also showrunner, director, and executive producer[3](https://www.moviefone.com/news/apple-tvs-echo-3-cast-interviews/) • [4](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Echo-3__361958.html) |
| Source material | Based on the award-winning 2018 Israeli series *When Heroes Fly*, created by Omri Givon, and inspired by Amir Gutfreund's novel of the same name[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/) |
| Main cast | Michiel Huisman as Prince Haas, Luke Evans as Alex "Bambi" Chesborough, Jessica Ann Collins as Amber Chesborough[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/) |
| Filming | Shot almost entirely on location in Colombia (Bogotá, Cartagena, and jungle regions), with additional filming in New Mexico and Georgia; principal photography ran June 9, 2021 to February 1, 2022[6](https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-apple-tv-echo-3-filmed/) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/locations/) |
| Reception | Metascore 67 from 11 critics; 67% on Rotten Tomatoes from 24 reviews with a 53% audience score; 6.5/10 on IMDb from about 13,000 ratings[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/echo_3/s01) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/ratings/) |
| Rating | TV-MA[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Amber Chesborough (Jessica Ann Collins) is a brilliant young scientist, described by Apple's press materials as the emotional heart of a small American family, who travels to South America to research plants and rituals she believes could treat addiction.[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/) • [10](https://www.avclub.com/echo-3-show-review-apple-tv-plus-1849797582) When she disappears along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother Bambi ([Luke Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/luke-evans)) and her husband Prince ([Michiel Huisman](https://www.edgepedia.org/michiel-huisman)), two men with military backgrounds and complicated pasts, struggle to find her.[1](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/)
The series opens before the abduction: the pilot moves across multiple timelines, beginning with a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan six months before Amber's trip, in which Prince is separated from his unit and rescued by Bambi at a tragic cost that leaves the brothers-in-law at odds.[10](https://www.avclub.com/echo-3-show-review-apple-tv-plus-1849797582) After the kidnapping, the two men learn from a CIA source that Amber was abducted, her colleagues executed, and that she had been working for the agency, and they fly to Colombia to search for her on their own.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/23/echo-3-review-a-hostage-drama-thats-like-band-of-brothers-meets-eastenders) The armed group holding her is made up of children of members of the former urban guerrilla M-19, and the story revives elements of Colombia's armed conflict.[12](https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/el-conflicto-colombiano-llega-a-apple-tv-con-la-serie-echo-3/48155146) Dialogue runs in both English and Spanish.[13](https://www.elcolombiano.com/amp/entretenimiento/television/echo-3-la-serie-que-fue-grabada-en-colombia-con-luke-evans-HP19342261)
The supporting cast includes Martina Gusmán as Violeta Matiz, Juan Pablo Raba as Ernesto Matiz, Bradley Whitford as Eric Haas II, and [Valerie Mahaffey](https://www.edgepedia.org/valerie-mahaffey) as Maggie Chesborough.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/)
## Production
Mark Boal, a journalist-turned-screenwriter who won Academy Awards for *The Hurt Locker* and *Zero Dark Thirty*, created, wrote, ran, and directed the series, his first move from Middle East settings to Latin America.[3](https://www.moviefone.com/news/apple-tvs-echo-3-cast-interviews/) • [14](https://www.lemonde.fr/televisions-radio/article/2022/11/22/this-england-mercredi-echo-3-nos-idees-de-series_6150975_1655027.html) Apple gave the project a straight-to-series order, produced with Israel's Keshet Studios alongside Solid State Pictures and Mark Boal Productions.[15](https://9c519110712a1cc5ffdf-b1b745d17d9877b298ac94fd86f5428e.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/Streaming-Sept2020.pdf) • [4](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Echo-3__361958.html)
**Directing and music.** Episodes were directed by the Argentine Pablo Trapero, who shot the pilot, the Peruvian Claudia Llosa, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and Boal himself; the score was composed by Christopher Young.[4](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Echo-3__361958.html) • [14](https://www.lemonde.fr/televisions-radio/article/2022/11/22/this-england-mercredi-echo-3-nos-idees-de-series_6150975_1655027.html) Trapero described the pilot as the episode that sets the series' style and language, filmed in the United States (Atlanta) and Colombia.[16](https://www.infobae.com/cultura/2022/12/03/pablo-trapero-vengo-del-cine-y-quiero-seguir-haciendo-cine/)
**Locations.** Although set partly in Venezuela, the series was filmed in Colombia, moving from Bogotá to jungle locations, including rural areas near Girardot and the Chocó region, and to [Cartagena](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartagena) on the Caribbean coast; desert areas of [New Mexico](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-mexico) stood in for Afghanistan, and additional work took place in Atlanta, Georgia.[6](https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-apple-tv-echo-3-filmed/) • [17](https://www.sensacine.com.co/noticias/noticia-1000147023/) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/locations/) Michiel Huisman said the production never used a soundstage or green screen, and that the cast spent about eight months in Colombia; Luke Evans said the ten episodes were written to play as one continuous story rather than self-contained installments.[6](https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-apple-tv-echo-3-filmed/) Boal said he chose Colombia because Latin America receives relatively little cultural attention relative to its importance and because he had fallen for the country and its complicated history.[6](https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-apple-tv-echo-3-filmed/) The production also consulted survivors of kidnapping victims in Colombia to make the story as authentic as possible.[18](https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/cine-y-tv/echo-3-asi-se-rodo-la-serie-estadounidense-de-accion-en-colombia-720535)
**Preparation.** Evans and Huisman underwent about three weeks of military training in Atlanta before traveling to Colombia, sleeping on the floor and working as a team in preparation for the eight-month South American shoot.[19](https://www.quien.com/espectaculos/2022/11/24/luke-evans-serie-echo-3-elenco-apple-tv-colombia) The production featured motorbike, firearm, and fight stunts, with a dedicated health and safety team deployed throughout.[20](https://gfsglobal.com/our-work/echo-3-2022/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to favorable. The season scored 67 on Metacritic from 11 reviews, categorized as generally favorable, with five positive, six mixed, and no negative reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/) • [21](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/critic-reviews/?dist=neutral&season=season-1) Rotten Tomatoes recorded 67% from 24 critics against a 53% audience score, with the critics consensus saying that if the series does not meet Boal's ambitions for multilayered drama, it succeeds as a lean action adventure.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/echo_3/s01) IMDb users gave it 6.5/10, with episode ratings ranging from 5.8 for the finale to 8.2 for the ninth episode.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/ratings/)
Reviewers divided over the writing. Paste Magazine gave the premiere batch a 90, praising a rare balance of riveting action and poetic rhythm, while Empire gave an 80, calling it a deeply grown-up thriller.[21](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/critic-reviews/?dist=neutral&season=season-1) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club)'s Max Gao found the action strong but the characterization thin, noting that the grief and post-traumatic stress themes prominent in *When Heroes Fly* receive little exploration.[10](https://www.avclub.com/echo-3-show-review-apple-tv-plus-1849797582) The Guardian's Stuart Jeffries criticized the series as another culturally colonialist production in which Western heroes face underscripted local antagonists, while acknowledging that Amber emerges as a protagonist in her own right.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/23/echo-3-review-a-hostage-drama-thats-like-band-of-brothers-meets-eastenders) [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde)'s Thomas Sotinel argued that the Latin American directors and bilingual staging did not conceal an outdated plot whose guerrilla antagonists are never given a defined cause.[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/televisions-radio/article/2022/11/22/this-england-mercredi-echo-3-nos-idees-de-series_6150975_1655027.html)
## Aftermath
No second season has been produced. The episode guide epguides lists the series as canceled/ended after its single season.[2](https://www.epguides.com/Echo3/)
## References
1. [Echo 3, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/echo-3/)
2. [Echo 3, a Titles & Air Dates Guide, epguides](https://www.epguides.com/Echo3/)
3. [Apple TV+'s 'Echo 3' Cast Interviews, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/news/apple-tvs-echo-3-cast-interviews/)
4. [Echo 3, TV Series, Crew United](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Echo-3__361958.html)
5. [Echo 3 Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/)
6. [Echo 3: Where Was the Apple TV+ Show Filmed?, The Cinemaholic](https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-apple-tv-echo-3-filmed/)
7. [Echo 3, Filming & Production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/locations/)
8. [Echo 3: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/echo_3/s01)
9. [Echo 3, Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12762512/ratings/)
10. [Apple TV Plus' Echo 3 delivers on action—but falls short on characterization, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/echo-3-show-review-apple-tv-plus-1849797582)
11. [Echo 3 review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/23/echo-3-review-a-hostage-drama-thats-like-band-of-brothers-meets-eastenders)
12. [El conflicto colombiano llega a Apple TV con la serie "Echo 3", SWI swissinfo.ch](https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/el-conflicto-colombiano-llega-a-apple-tv-con-la-serie-echo-3/48155146)
13. [Por fin se estrena la serie que Luke Evans grabó en Colombia, El Colombiano](https://www.elcolombiano.com/amp/entretenimiento/television/echo-3-la-serie-que-fue-grabada-en-colombia-con-luke-evans-HP19342261)
14. [«This England», «Mercredi», «Echo 3»: nos idées de séries, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/televisions-radio/article/2022/11/22/this-england-mercredi-echo-3-nos-idees-de-series_6150975_1655027.html)
15. [MSO Streaming, September 2020](https://9c519110712a1cc5ffdf-b1b745d17d9877b298ac94fd86f5428e.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/Streaming-Sept2020.pdf)
16. [Pablo Trapero: "Vengo del cine y quiero seguir haciendo cine", Infobae](https://www.infobae.com/cultura/2022/12/03/pablo-trapero-vengo-del-cine-y-quiero-seguir-haciendo-cine/)
17. [Esta serie con Luke Evans se grabó en Colombia, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com.co/noticias/noticia-1000147023/)
18. ['Echo 3', la serie de acción, drama y muchas arepas, El Tiempo](https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/cine-y-tv/echo-3-asi-se-rodo-la-serie-estadounidense-de-accion-en-colombia-720535)
19. [Luke Evans tiene una gran experiencia de vida al grabar 'Echo 3' en Colombia, Quién](https://www.quien.com/espectaculos/2022/11/24/luke-evans-serie-echo-3-elenco-apple-tv-colombia)
20. [Echo 3 (2022), GFS Global](https://gfsglobal.com/our-work/echo-3-2022/)
21. [Echo 3 critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/echo-3/critic-reviews/?dist=neutral&season=season-1)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Remakes and foreign-format adapted series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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