Hawkeye
Is it weird that Clint Barton is maybe the least interesting thing in this series? Is that just me? Let's jump right into it.
"Echoes"
Kate Bishop: "We gotta walk the dog."
Clint Barton: [Unable to hear her] "You weren't wrong."
Kate Bishop: "He's been cooped up all day. I'm not sure how long a dog can..."
Clint Barton: "When you called yourself one of the world's greatest archers."
Kate Bishop: "Oh my god, you really think so? I won't lie, I wasn't sure how well I..."
Clint Barton: [Cutting her off] "We probably should walk the dog, don't you think? He's been cooped up all day?"
Clint and Kate are being held by the Tracksuits and their leader, Maya Lopez. A deaf woman with a prosthetic leg who's father used to be the head of the Tracksuits. He was murdered by Ronin and Maya found him as he succumbed to death. The duo escape from the group after a long chase. Meanwhile, Clint and Kate's relationship develops farther as Clint gives Kate more information about the Tracksuit and the man at the top.
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| Where Ronin at? |
When I first watched "Hawkeye," I wasn't sure about Maya Lopez and if she'd be able to carry a series on her own. I see things a little differently after re-watching this episode. The opening montage is really well done. I have to give flowers to the young actress who plays Maya, Darnell Besaw. She was phenomenal in a few short scenes. I think this opening sequence does a lot of great showing rather than telling, giving us a lot of necessary backstory about Maya without hitting us over the head with it. There is one moment where her dad talks to her about living in both worlds, but I'll forgive that. These opening scenes show us things that we don't really see with handicapped people in shows. Maya in school where she is the only deaf child. The reveal that she had a leg prosthetic when she's getting ready to go into her karate match. I think there is a lot here to explore and I hope we dig more into Maya's past and backstory in her solo series next year.
Alacqua Cox does a great job, I feel like part of the issue people, myself included, had with her in "Hawkeye" was that her performance comes off as a little one note. That isn't really her fault though. She's really just given the one note to play. She's angry and bent on revenge. That's really all that she has in this series. It's difficult to find different variations on that to play. So, again, I'm hopeful that "Echo" highlights more sides of her, which I'm sure it will, because she clearly has a ton of potential.
The first couple episodes of "Hawkeye" were sort of light on action, but this episode really makes up for it. The first half is basically a long, non-stop action sequence and it's pretty great. The episode really takes advantage of the setting of an abandoned KB Toys. Whether it's Kate and Clint being duct taped to electronic animal rides or Clint running across the near empty toy shelves. There is Kate hitting Kazi with an empty shopping cart. Maya throwing a stuffed unicorn at Clint. It feels really instinctual and I appreciated it.
It's really the trick arrow sequence that is the highlight of the episode though. I've been waiting for trick arrow since Hawkeye was introduced and these do not disappoint. The best one has to be the Pym Particle arrow. I mean, come on, how can you not love a giant arrow hitting the Tracksuits truck? It's amazing and so comic book. I love it when the MCU really embraces its roots and these trick arrows are definitely doing that. This sequence also helps to bond Kate and Clint. This is where Clint really sees Kate's skills for the first time. And, it is where the mentor/mentee relationship really takes root.
The second half of the episode slows down a bit. There is more Kate/Clint bonding with Kate doodling the classic Hawkeye costume on a napkin. I struggle with Clint pushing up agains the role model/hero title. I mean, dude, you're an Avenger. It can't be a shock that kids would idolize you. Clint gives Kate more background information about the Tracksuits and the big man at the top, which is obviously Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin. Kate is still convinced Jack is involved which is how Clint ends up with Jack holding a sword to his throat in the Bishop apartment.
Grade: A-
"Partners, Am I Right?"
Kate Bishop: "Have you ever heard of boomerang arrows?"
Clint Barton: "What? Why would I ever wan to use a boomerang arrow?"
Kate Bishop: "Because they come back."
Clint Barton: "Exactly."
Kate Bishop: "Yeah, well, if all trick arrows were boomerangs, then we'd have them all."
Clint Barton: "Coming back at us."
Kate Bishop: "You'd have to... You'd have to dodge."
After having a conversation with Kate and Clint, Eleanor privately asks Clint to drop his investigation so Kate doesn't get hurt. Clint says he can't drop it but will protect Kate. Laura and Clint are very concerned with retrieving a watch that was part of the black market auction from Avengers Compound. Kate and Clint learn that Jack is the CEO of Sloan Ltd, a Tracksuits shell company. The two archers bond over Christmas decorating and frozen cocktails and after a visit with the LARPers and threats to Kazi, end up at the location of the watch, which just so happens to be Maya's apartment. Maya shows up and it's not too long before another dark suited enemy enters the fray, an enemy using a Widow's Bite.
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| Family meeting. |
I'm just going to say it. This series could use a lot more Laura Barton. Who doesn't want more Linda Cardellini on their tv screens? This episode makes it very clear that they are giving Laura some Mockingbird vibes. If you aren't familiar, Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird was Clint's wife in the comics. She was a badass SHIELD agent, a West Coast Avenger who was seemingly killed. It turns out she was actually replaced by a Skrull and returned to Earth during the "Secret Invasion" event. Bobbi appeared in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," played by Adrianne Palicki but since that isn't canon anymore, why not give Laura some Bobbi vibes. It's fun to watch her and Clint speak in code and in German over the phone and see Laura flex some of her secret agent muscles. I really hope this thread is picked back up on in the future. I need to see Cardellini just be a super bad ass instead of being relegated to the thankless job of being Clint Barton's wife.
This episode fleshes out the character of Jack a little more. The interplay between himself and Eleanor is really charming and fun to watch. And you kind of see Kate slowly warming to this man who is making her mother happy. Steinfeld plays the emotions that play on Kate's face perfectly. Here's this guy she was so gung-ho to take down and maybe she's hoping he's actually innocent in all of this now. this all definitely helps Jack feel like less of a joke. I did laugh out loud when he called Clint Archer.
This is the episode that really sold me on the partnership between Clint and Kate. Clint stops being a jerk and let's Kate in when she shows up with pizza and Christmas decorations. I feel like the chemistry between Renner and Steinfeld goes in and out but it is firmly in during this whole sequence. It all just hits all the right notes. The jump cuts of the differently colored fruity drinks being blended. Kate writing a plan of attack on a glass picture in permanent marker in her aunts house. Clint teaching Kate the trick with the disk. It all really works and it makes Clint opening up to Kate feel really organic. He comes clean with her about Ronin. He tells her about the time that he met Nat and how he couldn't kill her. And I think to his surprise, none of these reveals that he self flagellates over diminish any of the admiration that Kate feels towards him. It is a really genuine and nice moment between the two of them.
The LARPers return and this is for sure a convenient plot device for Clint to get his trick arrows back and for the duo to get new costumes, but I'm not made about it. I love seeing LARP in a series like this where it isn't like made fun of or shit on. So, give me more of this group anytime. Kazi continues to be laughably inept and I think Fra Fee really nails this character. When Clint throws his gun, the "aw man" is just pitch perfect.
The episode ends with Kate and Clint teaming up to retrieve the Rolex which just so happens to be in Maya's apartment. I love how they are leaning in to the chaos of Kate Bishop and how Clint is even just going with it at this point. The reveal that they are in Maya's apartment isn't shocking but it is handled really well.
The fight scene that ends the episode is top notch and it's nice to see Marvel getting back to these more street level fisticuffs. I haven't been super complimentary of Jeremy Renner in any of these recaps, but I will give him some flowers. He plays the moment where the Widow's Bite is used just right. You see his whole body tense up and in that moment, before he says anything, you know the game is changed. Also, good for Maya, to taking off. Might as well live to fight another day and she clearly knows when she's outmatched. The Yelena reveal won't come as a shock to anyone who watched "Black Widow," but I'm excited to have her energy injected into the series.
Grade: A-
Next up we close out "Hawkeye" with a confrontation between Yelena and Kate and the Bishop Security Christmas party.
How do you all feel about "Hawkeye?" Am I being too hard on Jeremy Renner? Is he anyone's favorite MCU character? Let me know in the comments.
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