Hi! It’s Annie!
I know this is probably just a little on the odd side considering that my sister started this series review, but I have absolutely fallen in love with this series. So far, it is definitely my favorite Marvel series (and series in general) to come to Disney+ since the release of ‘WandaVision’. It’s just the right amount of lighthearted and action-packed and I already love the bonding between Clint and Kate. And Kate Bishop is one of my favorite characters I’ve seen in anything in a while. While the first two episodes were mostly just lighthearted fun, it’s the last two episodes that really picked up the story and the action. And though I was definitely a fan of all the lighthearted fun, it is definitely interesting to see all the characters in a more serious light where it feels like the stakes are a little bit higher. To be completely frank, I don’t have anything very negative to say about these last couple episodes, so I’m just going to talk about my reactions and theories with everything going on. As always, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!!!
Episode 3:
Kate Bishop- As always, I freaking love Kate. Her sarcasm and more lighthearted attitude is amazing. But the way she acted towards Clint in this episode was absolutely my favorite part. I loved when she was firing the trick arrows while Clint was driving and her quips throughout that scene. But the standout moment for Kate for this episode had to be when Clint couldn’t hear during the conversation with his son and Kate helped him by writing out what his son was saying. This was such a heartwarming bonding moment between the two and one that I was very happy to see. Their bonding is paced well in that it’s gradual, but it’s always adorable and I like the way that it’s building up.
Clint Barton- I think it was very important to explore Clint’s hearing after they established the use of his hearing aid and that he is now learning sign language. Having Echo break his hearing aid was a brilliant choice and explored a lot of what I was really looking forward to them exploring! I love the miscommunication with him and Kate both in the car and later when they were in the train. Them having the same thoughts about walking Pizza Dog and not being able to communicate them was one of the funniest bits in the entire episode! And we’re starting to see just how desperate he is to get back to his family here. My heart broke when he started crying after talking with Nate. I’m definitely here for some more Clint and Kate bonding time though!
Echo- I already absolutely love the character of Echo and what we’ve gotten from her so far. I think representation like this in any media is incredibly important and it makes me so happy to see it. Echo is the most badass antagonist I’ve seen in Marvel in a long time and her combat skills could even rival Natasha Romanoff. Her breaking Clint’s hearing aid was a brilliant move for her character as well as Clint’s because of her own beliefs about hearing aids and I loved how smart she was for doing it. But most of all I really liked delving into her backstory. I have a feeling that the person who killed her father was not Clint based off of how little we saw. We saw someone in a hood, but we didn’t even get close enough to see if that was the Ronin costume, and knowing that Jack is ‘The Swordsman’ from the comics is enough to put some speculation on him. There’s also that mysterious uncle of hers who seems likely to actually be Kingpin, but I guess we’ll have to see as this goes on.
Episode 4:
Kate Bishop- This had to be one of my favorite episodes of Hawkeye so far and it definitely picked up more than the last episodes. But, once again, my favorite part of this had to be the bonding between Kate and Clint. When Kate’s mother starts talking about wanting to be around her family at Christmas, Kate immediately thinks of how miserable Clint must be. What follows is one of the cutest montages of a Christmas celebration night that I have ever seen in anything ever. Kate decides to bring pizza and Christmas movies, accidentally writes on a picture with permanent marker, and Clint teaches her how to knock someone out with an ornament. The most wholesome Christmas themed episode I have ever seen. I also loved to see Kate get more badass scenes in the rest of the episode. This was the first time we really got to see Kate and Clint completely fight together in a hand to hand combat situation, and I love to see that Kate can really take care of herself. Clint did try and send Kate away at the end, but let’s be real, we all know she isn’t going anywhere. And I loved that Kate figured out that Clint was Ronin without him even having to tell her. She’s incredibly smart and I love it!
Clint Barton- Clint really had a difficult time this episode reminiscing on Natasha and other things. We know that Clint is still scarred by Natasha’s death, but seeing Kate fall off the side of the roof really brought things back for him. Not only that, but we got to hear Clint talk about what he thinks of his past, and we learned that he views himself exactly as Natasha viewed herself. Clint believes that his only job has been to hurt other people and the only reason why he’s viewed as a good guy was because the right people got a hold of him and aimed him at the right enemies. He even calls himself a weapon. But the thing that interested me even more about his past was the Rolex and what it might mean for Laura. If anything, this show proves that Laura Barton is much more capable than any past appearances have made her out to be. Laura, when speaking to Clint, starts speaking in German and also gives Clint the location of the mysterious watch. When Kate asks what the watch is for, Clint tells her that the watch could give up the identity of someone who has been out of the game for a while who is also a very close friend. He even sounds pretty terrified when relaying this information. I can’t help but think that this has something to do with Laura herself. I would love to see more of what Laura was up to before we met her and how she and Clint met. I honestly kind of hope that the watch is tied to Laura.
Kate’s Mom- There was something very suspicious about her this episode particularly. She’s always been suspicious, but I think we’re starting to see more of it. Like the fact that when she was seeing Clint out of the house, she asked Clint to let go of the case he and Kate are working on entirely rather than just asking him to not involve Kate in it. And then there was that shady call that I think might have had to do with how Yelena was able to find Clint and Kate at at the end of the episode. But that’s just me theorizing. With how secretive she is, she could turn out to be even more shady than Jack. I hope Kate at least goes back to Clint’s family with Clint at the end of this if her Mom ends up being as much of an antagonist as I think she’s going to be.
Jack- He’s just plain creepy. And what was with the random dancing and kissing in front of Kate? Gross. But, more importantly, we learned that Jack is actually working directly with the Track Suit Mafia. Is anyone really surprised? Probably not.
Echo- We didn’t get much of her this episode except the kicking ass part. I loved that she was the first to recover from the sonic arrow. But she did leave pretty early on in the fight. And she’s also keeping tabs on Clint’s entire family, which seems like a dick move to me.
Yelena- Yelena finally arrived this episode! She’s here to do what she said she would in the end credits scene for ‘Black Widow’. Take out Clint. And she definitely unsettles him. It’s unclear whether or not Clint knows what her relationship to Natasha was, but he definitely does know that she’s a Black Widow assassin and he’s very shaken by this. In all fairness, he could have gotten this information simply by her weaponry and that’s what I’m assuming for now. We’ll have to see what happens when he figures out that she’s Natasha’s sister. We also saw a mirroring moment with Kate and Yelena and Clint and Natasha. Earlier in the episode Clint talks about the shot he never took; the time he couldn’t take out Natasha. Clint somehow could feel that she was a good person and wanted out, so he didn’t take her out. This time we got to see Kate look at Yelena as she was about to get a clean hit and then lower her bow. Probably because she felt the same thing that Clint did. It was an adorable moment and I loved its inclusion. I can’t wait to see the bonding between the new Hawkeye and Black Widow as the new MCU goes forward.
And that’s it! I love having a lighthearted Marvel show about mentorship and bonding every week. It just makes me so happy! And I’ve always loved the glimpses of Clint’s caring nature we’ve gotten in the movies, so I’m so happy to see all of that more fleshed out. And most of all, I absolutely love Kate Bishop. She’s everything I’ve always wanted in a female superhero character and also relatable as hell. She’s a joy to watch every week! I can already tell that this show is going to become a comfort watch for me. I’ve already watched every episode that’s already out twice! It’s not even over and I can tell you that it’s re-watchable. I can’t wait for the next couple episodes to see how it ends! And then I’ll continue to rewatch!
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 