Another month, another MCU property. We know the drill by now, I post my reactions whenever an episode of Hawkeye comes out and I'll sum up the season once the finale airs. All I'm hoping for from this one is some comfy Christmas vibes, so let's see if we'll get them.
Never Meet Your Heroes: Okay, so right from the get-go it's clear that this is not Clint Barton's show, it's Kate's. And you know what? I'm okay with that. As much as I enjoyed Hawkeye's arcs in Age Of Ultron and Endgame, Kate Bishop has already established herself as a much more dynamic character and Hailee Steinfeld makes for a likable protagonist. There's definitely something endearing about a character that gets themselves into difficult situations and have to bumble their way out, so it was really fun to watch Kate stumble into the black market and into trouble with the Tracksuit Mafia. Similarly, I like how grounded this show is so far, and not "grounded until the big CGI stunts" like Black Widow. The main antagonist so far is the mafia, there's no greater world-ending threat, and the action is definitely the best in an MCU show so far entirely because it feels tactile and real. My only big issue with Kate's story is the parental drama, which didn't really work for me. As for Clint, this episode mostly just establishes what he's dealing with and how he meets Bishop, so I do hope he gets some more screentime next episode. Overall, this was a solid pilot that does a good job at introducting Kate and has some pretty good action. I'd say it's a better pilot than Wanda and Falcon, but not as good as Loki's. Even then, I also think that if we got 50 minutes of Rogers The Musical instead, it would be the best thing the MCU ever made.
Hide And Seek: This was a bizarre episode. Fun, and probably an improvement over the pilot, but still very bizarre. This episode establishes the dynamic and banter between Kate and Clint, and it's really entertaining right from the get-go. This entire episode was pretty funny, but I feel like the dialogue and humor is more consistently on point whenever the two are on screen together. Their separate storylines on the other hand are a bit more uneven. Clint's subplot about going to a LARP event to get his Ronin suit back is hilarious. It gives Clint the screentime I wanted from the first episode, the "choreography" is fantastic, and it overall just feels like the right kind of bizarre. However, Kate's subplot about getting into a fencing fight with her new step-dad was a bit contrived and felt like the wrong kind of bizarre. The fencing fight was also just not as good of a setpiece than the auction, molotov, or LARP fights. Thankfully, the characters reunite by the end of the episode, and we get a pretty neat cliffhanger introducing the character Echo... who I don't know anything about. Regardless, my big takeaway from this episode was the fact that Hawkeye seems to really be nailing the things that FatWS kinda messed up in, with a much more charming dynamic between its leads, a much less forgettable antagonist group in the hilarious Tracksuit Mafia, more grounded action, and surprisingly solid pacing by MCU show standards. Let's see if the show will keep up this solid momentum.
Echoes: I enjoyed most of the action in Hawkeye so far, but the centerpiece chase sequence in Echoes is movie-quality. This episode has around 13-14 straight minutes of nonstop action, and it's all fantastic. From the fun usage of the environment in the Tracksuit Mafia's lair, to the cool long-take from inside the car, to the many crazy trick arrows shown off, the action is Echoes was just plain fun. It's also pretty great story-wise too. Maya Lopez (aka Echo) is a very sympathetic antagonist, her potential connections to Fisk is intriguing, and I like that her presence really hammers home that the consequences of Ronin's actions are catching up to him. Clint and Kate continuing the bond is great, especially when the former loses his hearing aid for parts of the episode forcing them to communicate in unconventional ways. Between Hawkeye and Echo, I think it's great that the show is trying to comment on deafness, and I'm excited to see how those themes develop. Unfortunately, I'm not really sold on the Duquesne stuff, which meant the last few minutes were a bit meh compared to the rest of the episode. Still, this was the best Hawkeye outing yet and I hope the show continues to improve.
Partners, Am I Right?: Hawkeye has pretty surprisingly restrained for an MCU show in a lot of ways. Coming after Loki where it felt like every episode with an entirely different show, Hawkeye has been a bit of a slow burn, and is the first MCU series to completely avoid the "shocking Episode 4 twist". The big moment in Partners, Am I Right? is the reveal that Yelena is after Hawkeye too, which we kind of already knew was going to happen. That final four-way-fight was cool, though I'm not sure I love the fact that her entire motivation is based on a misunderstanding. Otherwise, Kate and Hawkeye's friendship continues to be the best thing about the series. Seeing them having a holiday celebration together was adorable, and they had a heart-to-heart that went to places I really didn't expect the show to go. Although, their falling out at the ending was fairly predictable since this is technically the end of the second act. Meanwhile, the stuff with Kate's family continues to be the worst thing about the series and led to a pretty rough start to the episode. But now that we have two episodes left, I'm having a pretty similar concern to when I was watching WandaVision: How are we going to resolve everything? We have Jack Duquesne, Echo, all that foreshadowing for a potential Kingpin appearance, and now, Yelena and potentially Madame Hydra. It's seeming more and more like Hawkeye is going to have to stick the landing, and that worries me a bit since Marvel isn't very good at that part.
Ronin: I really liked this episode. It's definitely one of my favorites along with Echoes. I forgot how much fun of a character Yelena is. The opening that revealed she got snapped was pretty great, and I loved seeing her casually have dinner with Kate. Seeing as they're both going to be future Avengers I'm glad this episode established a dynamic between the two of them. I was genuinely worried that Hawkeye would fall back to old habits as Ronin, which made me glad that all he meant to do was plant the seed that there may be more to her father's death than she initially thought. And then there's the ending. It's obvious that Kate's mom would be the true mastermind here, which is why I'm glad that they paired it up with the reveal that Kingpin is involved! I really need to get started on my Daredevil reviews because I love that show, and I love Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. I'm excited to see that he'll be showing up in the finale, and I like that he's going to be the thread that ties all of the characters together. I've really been enjoying how slow-paced Hawkeye is, it rarely feels like the show is doing too much for its own good (looking at you FAtWS), and it all seems to be building for an explosive finale. Let's see if Marvel can finally end the season on a good note.
So This Is Christmas?: This was... decent. It still feels like Marvel kinda did the bare minimum here, like nothing really surprised me at all, but it still worked as the big finale for the show. It brought all of the characters together in this big final battle in Rockefeller Center with a bunch of really fun setpieces, and resolved all the conflicts on a fairly satisfying note. I think the setpieces this episode were particularly fun, like Kate trying to stop Yelena from reaching Clint, the evergreen tree being destroyed, and Kate vs Kingpin in the toy store. Vincent D'Onofrio still absolutely kills it as Kingpin, and I forgot how much I missed his growly, overly serious voice. I think he was nerfed a bit, he's nowhere near as intimidating as he was in the Daredevil series, but it's still fairly understandable given that was TV-MA meaning we can't have him smashing people's brains with car doors. My biggest concern about the finale is the fact that Echo shot Kingpin. If Marvel killed him off right after reintroducing him, I would feel pretty burned. However, it was off-screen and mimicked a comic scene that Kingpin did end up surviving, so I'm pretty sure he didn't die there. Yelena and Maya seem like they've firmly settled into the good side, which is nice, and I liked the ending where Kate celebrates Christmas with the Bartons. I noticed a lot of people were disappointed with the lack of major set-ups for future MCU stuff, but honestly, I loved that there wasn't any of that. Hawkeye really does feel standalone, and the only real bit of set-up here is the pretty solid reveal that Laura was a Shield agent. Overall, this finale was solid. A bit predictable, but I wouldn't say it screwed up in any major ways.
Overall, Hawkeye was alright. It didn't quite reach the high points of episodes like The Nexus Event or Previously On, but it lacked the disjointed structure of Loki, overstuffed feel of FatWS, and disappointing ending of WandaVision. Hawkeye is a well-paced show with likable characters, fun action, and a cute Christmas vibe. I think Kate Bishop will be a great new Avenger, and I can't wait to see her again in later MCU properties. I'm not entirely sure if this or Loki is my favorite MCU show so far, but the fact that it's so remarkably solid and lacking in frustration definitely gives Hawkeye a solid edge.
4/5 Stars
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