Marvel’s ‘Echo,’ Back to ‘La Brea,’ Siege on ‘Fargo,’ Pete Davidson on Netflix

Series Premiere

An encouraging trend within the entertainment industry, featuring Indigenous characters in lead roles (Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds, Killers of the Flower Moon, Alaska Daily, the upcoming True Detective: Night Country) extends to Marvel, with a five-episode action series (available for binge-watching) built around Hawkeye’s Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox). Breaking ground among Marvel headliners as a deaf and Native American heroine, Maya emerges from the criminal shadow of her mentor, the villainous Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), returning to her estranged Choctaw family and roots in Oklahoma for an uneasy homecoming. Striking back against the Kingpin’s organization—“It’s time for a queen,” she declares—Maya is a fierce warrior, and Echo’s strongest moments occur when we experience her battles from her non-hearing perspective. She’s a fascinating character in a fresh setting, even when the series lapses into Marvel cliché. The strong supporting cast includes Reservation Dogs’ Devery Jacobs, Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene and Dark Winds’ Zahn McClarnon as Maya’s ill-fated father.

Season Premiere

9/8c

There goes the neighborhood. An attack by feuding CGI dinosaurs leaves the sinkhole survivors scrambling for new digs in the upside-down world of 10,000 B.C. when the deliriously silly sci-fi adventure returns for a third and mercifully brief six-episode final season. While the Harris family looks for clues to where and when Eve (Natalie Zea) disappeared when she was sucked into a portal in Season 2’s cliffhanger, more lives are in jeopardy after the dinosaur attack, and by the end of the first hour, those pesky portals claim a few more time travelers—some willing, some not—sending them to times and places that are likely to make these final episodes more complicated than necessary.

10/9c

The night’s best bet. The penultimate hour of the crime anthology’s terrific fifth season is largely set on the ranch of renegade Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), who has imprisoned his abused runaway wife Dot/Nadine (Juno Temple) in a ramshackle cabin while rallying his makeshift militia to take a stand against an impending FBI raid. “Dig in. This is our Masada,” Roy declares in apocalyptic terms. Also biblical: the fate of his hapless son Gator (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) in the vengeful custody of mythical, mystical Ole Munch (Sam Spruell). You’d think by now they wouldn’t underestimate Dot’s resolve to escape and survive when trapped. Once again, she lives up to her “tiger” reputation.

Special

The rarely predictable Saturday Night Live alum takes the stage for his second Netflix comedy special, adopting what sounds like a new persona. Pete riffs on turning 30, but whether that means this man-child has grown up upon retreating to life in the woods is anyone’s guess.

INSIDE TUESDAY TV:

• NCIS: Sydney (8/7c, CBS): AFP Liaison Officer Evie (Tuuli Narkle) taps into her background as a former undercover narcotics cop during an investigation into the overdose death of a man wearing a concealed U.S. Navy jacket.
• Finding Your Roots (8/7c, PBS): One Day at a Time’s Valerie Bertinelli and Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (The Whale) explore their family histories.
• Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta (8/7c, MTV): The docuseries returns with the music crew hoping to find harmony in their personal lives. Followed by back-to-back episodes of Caught in the Act: Unfaithful (9/8c and 10/9c).
• The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (8/7c, Bravo): Andy Cohen moderates a heated reunion airing over three Tuesdays.