Originally published on Patreon
So, I've finally finished watching Hawkeye. I was meaning to do two more write-ups for the show, bunching the episodes together in blocks of two, but things went a little squiffy with that, so I'm just going to talk a bit about the final four episodes of the season and my thoughts on on.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story the show told. I liked how it centred on Kate as much as it did Clint, and gave them both room to shine. It felt like a good send-off to Clint if this is the last time we see him, as well as a perfect set-up for Kate to become the new Hawkeye. It also managed to carry on elements from the Black Widow movie, and set-up Echo without it feeling too forced or crowded too.
Kate - I absolutely loved Kate. I've never really read anything with her, so this was my first real experience with her. I love how she's not got a dark past, or anything like that, but simply just wants to be a super hero because she thinks it'd be fun, and that it's the right thing to do. She's so full of energy and warmth in the scenes she's in, is an absolute delight to watch, and really sells that action. I really liked her more emotional scenes too, and found that her relationship with her mother was a really compelling part of the series; especially in that final episode. I also really hope that we get to see more of her and Yelena in the future because their chemistry is just perfect.
Clint - I've always liked Hawkeye in the films, I thought that he was a good human presence on a team with people with personalities and issues that made them feel more than human. He helped ground things a lot of the time. So getting to see more of him, for him to get the focus here, was great. His disability being a part of the story was good, and I'm glad that it wasn't ignored. There have been people who've taken issue with Clint in his Ronin persona, specifically because he was shown killing a lot of Asian people in Endgame. Unfortunately, the only real focus on Ronin in this series does show him killing Echo's father, so it continues on the image of him taking out his pain and anger on people of colour; which is a very unfortunate thing.
Echo - I loved Echo. The fact that Alaqua Cox had never acted before this is astonishing. She's perfect for the part. her acting is great, she manages to make you feel the anger and pain that she's going through just with her body language, and despite never speaking a word in the movie she has some of the most compelling and emotional moments. I love that she's going to be getting her own show, as not only is her character really interesting, but getting a deaf, amputee lead character in a super hero action show is going to be huge.
Yelena - Yelena was my favourite part of the Black Widow film, and Florence Pugh is still absolutely delightful here. She steals every scene she's in, seems to be having an absolute blast playing the character, and has wonderful chemistry with Hailee. But, she also gave one of her best performances for Marvel so far when she confronted Clint in the final episode. To see her go from the confident, fun-loving fighter into someone so in pain, dealing with her grief, was a shocking turn, and she played it amazingly. I can't wait to see more from her, and hopefully with Kate too.
I also liked how the almost too obvious set-up of Jack as the villain was a subversion, and I actually came to really like him come the end of the season and was even enjoying watching him fighting bag-guys with a sword in the final episode. (I really hope he does end up going LARPing). Eleanor was the much better choice for the villain, and I thought it was great for Kate to have to confront her come the end, and to make that choice of being a hero by taking her down. Her mother asks her if arresting her own mother on Christmas is really what heroes do, and of course Kate does, because her mother is a killer, and Kate is a good person.
The surprise return of Kingpin was also an amazing inclusion. Vincent D'onofrio is one of the best villains in the MCU, and getting him back was great. I don't believe for a second he actually died in the final episode, because he's just too good an actor to get rid of. I also can't believe that I didn't pick up on his blink-and-you-miss-it inclusion in episode three; because his chuckle is so unmistakably him. It's a great piece of foreshadowing that I'm sure smarter people caught.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with Hawkeye, and I think it's one of my favourite of the MCU shows so far. I guess next up in my quest to get up-to-date is Eternals.
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