‘Echos’ Recap: ‘Die Suche’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Three of ‘Echos’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One unfortunate truth that we learn in life as we grow… is that tough times will truly show us who are real friends are. Because people that genuinely care about us… will stick with us through thick and thin while the ones that are only friends with us because it benefits them in some way, are happy to fade when the going gets tough and they’re not getting what they want, and what makes this lesson so difficult, is that it is hard to reconcile the discovery that someone was using us and pretending to care about us when we genuinely cared about them. But it is an important lesson for us to learn and it is one that Nellie has to go through in the next episode of the Sundance Now series, Echos.

For when we catch up with her in ‘Die Suche’, she is desperate to speak with Janosch about his decision to swing by the cops and potentially ruin the search for Max and well… that brings her to his home where she sees the façade that he lives behind and being embarrassed in that manner… forces him to explode and reveal, that he’s genuinely friends with her for his own benefit. Which breaks Nellie’s heart to no end since she truly believed that Janosch was that proverbial ‘brother from another mother’, but her standing in society and her ability to help him appear to be from the right side of the tracks was all he ever wanted and well… that revelation leaves Nellie alone and unsure of how to proceed.

But that certainly doesn’t stop her from searching for her brother, it merely gives her a moment to grieve over this betrayal and once she does… she goes after the truth with a vengeance. First by offering Tyler an apology and a blank check to help her find Max and second… by doing something quite bold. For she stumbles upon video evidence of Lisa and Max’s affair, one that took place in the very spot of that fateful rave and armed with the knowledge that she could blackmail Lisa into letting her into the catacombs, she attempted to, with poor results. Simply because Lisa didn’t think Nellie was capable of that kind of malice and called her bluff, providing Nellie with another powerful lesson. In that, people are harder to control than one might think.    

However, while Nellie’s journey could have carried this story on its own, there were other important moments present within this tale. Since this story also informed us of the fact that Officer Kaltbrunner is willing to risk everything to close the case that she is far too close to. Since she actually took the time to swipe critical documents off of the District Attorney’s desk to try and further the investigation on her own. A move that will undoubtedly lead to more trouble for her from a career standpoint and we also came to learn that Tyler is ready to play quite the risky game with Nellie in order to help others. Since she basically agreed to give Nellie more access to the tunnels, for the price of exorbitant medication that will help her friend. A move that could easily backfire if Nellie gets any inkling of the fact that her ally is the one that is hiding Max away in the darkness.

In the end however, this was just another engaging chapter in this already engaging tale. Simply because this one made the emotional fallout of Max’s disappearance the focus of this story and that allowed for some powerful moments to take place. The kind that genuinely humanized Nellie and Janosch, for better or for worse and what’s equally as impressive is that this episode still managed to keep the mysterious nature of the plot going. Since we are still eager to know exactly what is driving Kaltbrunner in such a dangerous manner and of course, what Lisa’s real motivations are here and what kind of trouble awaits Nellie’s mother and once again, this story compels us to push ahead… so we can see how this intricately woven journey is going to come together. Until next time.

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