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With its recent Disney+ series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has begun exploring more characters and possibilities the franchise was unable to touch upon in the main movies. Fans of the Avenger Hawkeye were thrilled when a series focusing on the titular archer was announced. The show has finally reached its finale, and MCU fans can finally draw the line and come to a conclusion.
An overall enjoyable series, Hawkeye captures the essence of an independent TV show better than previous Disney+ releases, as its scale isn’t quite as grand as series like WandaVision or Loki. But it has one major flaw, in that the Hawkeye the series focuses on isn’t Clint Barton – who desperately needed it – but the new heroine Kate Bishop. Still, Hawkeye manages to capture Clint’s character and arc better than other entries in the MCU, and the introduction or return of additional characters allows refreshing twists.
6 Episode Two Slows Down The Pace Of The Show Significantly
The second episode, Hide and Seek sees Clint Barton searching for his Ronin suit — lost after an attack on Kate Bishop’s apartment. Seeing Clint travel to a LARP event is amusing since he ends up having to fight mock battles to recover the suit. Like Captain America’s time as a USO star, the addition is a double-edged sword. The humor is nice, but there is a huge discrepancy between the weight of Ronin’s past and the actions of the LARPers, which isn’t always engaging.
Meanwhile, Clint’s would-be partner, Kate Bishop, focuses on revealing the truth about her mother Eleanor’s fiance, Jack Duquesne, whom she presumes killed his own uncle. She fails to convince Eleanor of his culpability, even when their brief duel proves Jack’s skill with a sword. The episode picks up as Clint allows himself to be captured by the Tracksuit Mafia and Kate tries to save him, but overall, it’s slow and not as entertaining as it could have been.
5 The Fourth Episode Sees Yelena’s Return, But Isn’t Quite As Strong As Other Entries
In Partners, Am I Right?, Clint and Kate are confronted by Eleanor and Jack, both of whom are displeased to find the two in the Bishops’ house. Eleanor tells Clint to keep Kate safe, and he promises to do so. Later, he sends Kate to retrieve his trick arrows, lost in a previous battle. He and his wife Laura look into Jack ’s involvement in the money-laundering company Sloan Limited, finding out it is a front for the Tracksuit Mafia.
Laura also gives him a tip about the location of a lost Rolex watch, first mentioned at the same auction where Kate originally finds the Ronin suit. Kate infiltrates the apartment, only to find it belongs to one of their fiercest opponents, Maya Lopez. As Kate is attacked by Maya, Clint has another opponent to face. The end of the episode sees the unexpected return of Black Widow’s Yelena Belova. It’s a good entry, but Kate’s quest to retrieve the arrows feels unnecessary, particularly when a later episode reveals Clint can actually make more.
4 Episode One Provides An Exciting Introduction To The Characters And Plot
The first episode of the show, Never Meet Your Heroes, starts out Hawkeye with a real bang. The beginning captivates the viewer with a flashback from 2012 New York, when the young Kate witnesses Hawkeye fight the Chitauri. The perspective of a horror-stricken civilian is a great call-back for longtime fans of the MCU. Years later, Kate has become a highly trained archer in her own right, though her reckless behavior often gets her in trouble. At a party thrown by her wealthy mother, Eleanor Bishop, she sneaks into an underground auction, managing to stumble into the Ronin suit and using it to fight her way out of a tight spot.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye is getting ready for Christmas with his children. As the family participates in a viewing of the musical Rogers, Clint remembers his loss of Black Widow — a theme that will be very powerful throughout the show. The episode also reveals he now has hearing problems. Later, he sees Kate on the news, wearing the Ronin suit — which he himself had used while acting as the murderous vigilante. He pursues Kate and saves her from the men who are after her. It’s an excellent episode, with tight pacing that sets up the characters and motivations solidly.
3 The Explosive Finale Leaves Some Unaddressed Issues And Deals With Others A Little Too Neatly
The last episode of the series, So This Is Christmas, finally brings about the climactic confrontation between Yelena and Clint, as well as a fight between the shadowy figure behind the Tracksuit Mafia — the Kingpin — and Kate Bishop. It’s an entry packed with both action and emotion. Kate and Clint team up to protect Kate’s mother from the Kingpin’s revenge, while Clint has to confront the weight of his own grief and failures in the form of Natasha’s sister. If the episode has any significant flaws, it’s the fact that it leaves some issues unaddressed and deals with others too neatly.
The mysterious Rolex is revealed to have belonged to Laura Barton — who was presumably SHIELD Agent 19 — but no further explanation is given. Kate defeats Kingpin, and he later seems to be killed by Maya. Eleanor is arrested for the murder of Armand Duquesne. Her punishment is warranted, but at the same time, one cannot help but feel Kate’s attitude is a little hypocritical. As the Ronin, Clint killed far more people. Grief-stricken or not, he was still a murderer. And yet, Kate is perfectly comfortable waving those deaths off, all the while condemning her mother for her actions. Clint receives his happy ending with his family, and his arc as the Ronin ends with no real redemption.
2 Episode Three Delves Deeper Into Echo
Hawkeye’s arc in the series may not be satisfying, but its secondary characters are quite impressive. This is the case with Maya Lopez, who stands out in episode three, Echoes. Despite being disabled and deaf, Maya is the fierce leader of the Tracksuit Mafia. She wishes to avenge her father, killed years prior by Ronin. Her pain makes the consequences of Clint’s actions even grimmer, though she originally doesn’t realize he is the bloodthirsty vigilante.
Clint and Kate manage to escape Maya and the high-speed car chase that follows introduces his exciting trick arrows in a surprising battle that effortlessly holds the attention of audiences. An extra emotional moment in the episode has Clint attempting to speak to his son Nathaniel, but being unable to hear him, and only managing to communicate with him due to Kate’s help.
1 Episode Five Reveals Yelena’s Motivations And Unveils A Shocking Secret
The fifth episode in the show, Ronin, starts with a powerful flashback told from Yelena’s point of view. After the events of Black Widow, Yelena goes to look for other Widows and free them, only to die in the Snap. The eerie moment of her death and return is beautifully depicted, as is her confusion and the moment she learns about Natasha’s death. In the present day, Yelena has a meeting with Kate and explains that she must kill Clint — both for Natasha’s sake and because she has been contracted to do so.
As the Ronin, Clint has a confrontation with Maya, revealing to her that he received a tip from an informer working for Maya’s own boss. The shadowy figure identified as ‘Uncle’ is revealed to be the Kingpin — a villain from Netflix’s Daredevil — and in a shocking turn of events, the true culprit behind the criminal conspiracy investigated by Kate is actually Kate’s mother Eleanor.
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