Hi! It’s Annie!
Merry Christmas everyone! Definitely my favorite holiday content this year was the ‘Hawkeye’ series. I already miss it even though it just ended a few days ago. This was one of my favorite things I’ve seen from Marvel in a while! I loved the lighthearted and personal nature of it and all of the characters were amazing. I would absolutely love if they decided to do a season two. And this is one of those shows where the ending was just as good as the rest of it. I have quite a bit to cover from the last couple of episodes, so I’m just going to get into it! I’ll go through each episode and then do an overall thoughts section at the end, but just know that I highly recommend this. Go and watch it if you haven’t already! And I’m not going to say any negatives because I really can’t think of any. As always, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!!!
Episode 5:
Clint Barton: In the last episode we saw Clint kind of lose it and send Kate away. In this episode it really occurs to him that he needs Kate. Not only does he feel pretty lonely on his own, Kate reasserts herself and saves his ass. But more than that, we saw Clint fully embrace the fact that he was the Ronin. He puts on the full suit and everything to try and tell Maya that the real person behind her father’s death was actually her uncle. Seeing Clint finally put on the suit so that he could possibly help Maya was a great moment. But really, this episode was more about Kate. Though the moment where Clint goes to the Avengers memorial plaque to talk to Natasha absolutely made everyone tear up.
Kate Bishop: This was the actual episode where Kate decided her future. Even after seeing how difficult everything was going to be and how much the job has affected Clint. Though she is initially pretty brought down by Clint’s outburst, she knows that he still needs her. And after an amazingly hilarious conversation with Yelena, Kate goes after Clint. And then proves her marksmanship yet again. But though this was an episode that included Kate’s resolution to do what Clint does, the highlight was the beginning of her friendship with Yelena. And this has to be one of the things that most excited me about this entire series. Kate and Yelena work beautifully off of each other and are hilarious together. Kate’s nervous politeness and sarcasm contrasted with Yelena’s morbid positivity and hilarity was perfect. I just want to see more of it!
Yelena Belova: So we finally figured out what happed to Yelena after all these years. Yelena was one of the victims of the blip, right in the middle of her attempting to un-brainwash all the Black Widows after the events of ‘Black Widow’. Continuing the work of her sister. And once Yelena is blipped back into existence, she immediately goes to tell her sister that she’s fine. Only to find out that Natasha is gone. This is immediately heartbreaking and it follows why she would want to kill Clint. She blames him for Natasha’s death. But we find out that this isn’t the only reason she wants Clint dead. While Yelena is hilariously paying Kate a visit, complete with Mac n Cheese and complaints about her cutlery, she heavily implies that she’s been hired. And towards the end of the episode we can tell that she’s taken a liking to Kate because she sends Kate a picture of who hired her. Yelena’s backstory in this episode was needed and heartbreaking.
Echo: Maya finally finds out the truth this episode from Clint himself. And we can already tell that she can’t help but kind of believe him. Even though she really doesn’t want to.
Eleanor Bishop: She arrested her fiancee to cover up her tracks only for us to find out that she was the one who hired Yelena. And she works for Kingpin. I didn’t mean to call her villainy this perfectly, but man I was not expecting Kingpin.
Episode 6:
Kate Bishop: This was one of my favorite episodes in the entire series. But one of the things it really was, was the beginning of a coming of age story for Kate. This episode is where Kate’s heroism begins. Not only does Kate take point on infiltrating her own mother’s Christmas party, she also makes some really important decisions that illustrate to her just how difficult the job is going to be. In finding out that her mother’s life is in danger, Kate, Clint, and the LARPers try and protect her. From being killed at least. Throughout this episode we see Kate teaming up with Clint in one of my favorite action sequences in all of Marvel, fight Yelena and declare that she just can’t help but like Yelena, and eventually even take on Kingpin. And at the end of it, she puts her Mom in jail for her crimes. Clint asks Kate if she’s ready to do the right thing at the beginning of the episode, and here we see that Kate is most definitely ready. Even if it’s difficult. I almost cried when Clint took Kate and Lucky home for Christmas to his family at the end. And I can’t wait to see Kate going forward. She’s lovely and hilarious and Hailee Steinfeld really made her so lovable. And if the ending where Clint rejected the name Lady Hawk at the end tells us anything, she’s also our new Hawkeye.
Clint Barton: Delivered one of my favorite lines in the entire finale. Yelling “No shit” when someone told him his aim was good. Also being incredibly confused by Kate throughout the episode and getting stuck in, and eventually knocking down, the Rockefeller tree was a highlight. (Let’s give it up for the adorable owl who also stole some tracksuits at the end. Thank you Pym!) Clint was a comedic and warm presence in the finale, and once again demonstrated that he’s still that one Dad that adopts all of the kids in need. He fully explained what happened with Natasha to Yelena in a very touching moment. And then of course brought his new child and dog home to the rest of his family at the end. Everyone needs a Clint Barton in their life.
Yelena Belova: She was a scene stealer while fighting Kate. Even complimenting Kate on some of her tactics and also being very annoyed when Kate pressed all the buttons in the elevator. I just want to see more of this duo. And to see her finally come to terms with what happened to Natasha was very emotional. To hear Clint and know her sister well enough to know that his version of her was the truth. The way Clint looked almost happy to see her despite the fact that she was trying to kill him was also heart wrenching. Yelena is so hilarious but also a character with a lot of emotional depth that I love.
Echo: So we know that she’s getting her own spin off, and this finale took every moment to remind us of it. Echo kills who has been her best friend up until this point after pleading with him to join her. She does it completely out of self defense, but you can see that it breaks her. And then she seemingly kills Kingpin at the end, but I don’t really believe it. We didn’t really get to see him die. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of him in the spinoff. And we certainly can’t leave Maya this emotionally vulnerable. Come on now.
The LARPers: Hilarious. And they are all firefighters and cops, so their help in the giant culminating fight is needed. I also love how people don’t listen to them until they’re dressed as their LARP characters. I love how much love this show treated these characters with.
Jack: He took out his sword and just started hilariously helping Clint and Kate at the end. He started out as creepy but ended the series being downright precious. He was so happy and suave kicking ass and his biggest concern is getting blood on his tie. I didn’t think the series could make me like him, but they somehow managed it.
Eleanor Bishop: Tries to convince Kate at the end that she committed all those crimes for her and that it was needed. Then guilt trips Kate for wanting to put her behind bars. Definitely a gaslighter if you ask me. I know I’ve already said this a thousand times, but I was so happy that this allowed Kate to go with Clint for Christmas.
Laura Barton: We do get a confirmation at the end here that the Rolex belonged to Laura, which I was hoping for! I was so excited when we saw the ’19’ under the SHIELD symbol. Laura Barton is Mockingbird! I freaking loved this reveal!
Rogers the Musical: I really didn’t need to see the full version. And since when are Broadway costumes that bad? They were all wearing T-shirts and hoodies. But so many Broadway people were involved with this and they all did an excellent job! I just couldn’t help but cringe through all of it.
Final Thoughts:
I just want a season two starring Kate and Yelena. Is that too much to ask? I feel like the rest of Marvel right now is going absolutely insane with the multiverse storylines. Which, being honest here, the idea of this really isn’t my favorite. The multiverse can allow absolutely anything to happen, and that’s a killer for any concise storyline. This is an easy way for Marvel to call anything ‘not canon’ because it happened in a different universe. Not that they were not doing this before. ( See ‘Agents of SHIELD’ and ‘Agent Carter’. I only like the latter though, not so much the former.) But I’m not sure how much of the chaos I can take on a bigger scale. I much prefer more personal stories like this one, so I have a feeling these are the kinds of Marvel content I will be clinging to going forward. Especially with everything going on, having a lighthearted show is everything that I want right now out of content that I watch. Having a lower stakes and more personal Kate and Yelena show with hints of Clint would make me so happy. I know a lot of people were expecting them to kill off Clint at the end of this, and I’m so glad that they remained consistent with the tone and didn’t do that. It focused more on character development and making all the characters lovable and it more than succeeded at that. This is now one of my comfort content watches. I can already tell. And they better just retire Clint and never kill him off! He and Kate are partners now, and he’s also basically her adopted father at this point. I wouldn’t be able to take it.
Seriously, if you haven’t already, just go over to your Disney + account and watch this. I went into this not thinking I was going to like it much and seriously fell in love with every aspect of it. I love this show with all my heart and I will be rewatching this over the next couple months. And I will now be consuming all content featuring Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop. I regret nothing. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas just like how I’m sure Clint and Kate’s was!
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 