Summary: Kate and Clint prepare for Eleanor’s Christmas party where Kingpin plans to kill her. At the party, the Tracksuit Mafia arrive and Kazi takes shots at Clint. Yelena also arrives and goes after Clint. Clint resolves things with Yelena, Maya arrives and kills Kazi, and Kate defeats Kingpin. Eleanor is arrested. Maya seemingly kills Kingpin. Clint takes Kate home with him to spend Christmas with his family.
The Good: This is your typical campy comic book finale episode. Basically, it is a lengthy action sequence that isn’t particularly tense and is chock full of silly jokes, parodies, and “hype” moments for all of the characters in the show to get some time in the spotlight. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I was entertained by this episode through and through and I thought that it satisfyingly resolved the storylines surrounding Clint, Kate, and Maya. The action was well directed, the jokes landed pretty well, and the pacing was good. The Bad: The problem is that this episode isn’t particularly emotionally engaging. Due to the excessive jokes and campiness, I was never at the edge of my seat with any concern for the characters. That detracted from the experience. I also never quite bought into the emotions of the main climaxes of the episode. Maya didn’t get enough time to develop to make her fight with Kazi have an emotional impact. Kingpin was a much hyped villain but I don’t see what’s so good about him in this episode. He was generic, flat, and boring. Thus his showdown with Kate was dull to watch. Yelena’s decision to continue going after Clint felt contrived, and I never understood why she continued to go after him after her talk with Kate in the last episode. That entire conflict felt a bit forced and led up to a predictable conclusion as Clint makes her see reason. Yelena’s presence throughout the episode should have been a constant source of tension, but instead she is played for laughs. It’s hard to see why she doesn’t just knock Kate out painlessly (obviously she should be able to), and instead goes along with her games. The Unknown: Is Kingpin actually dead? Best Moment: Kate’s speech to Clint on how she was inspired by him and wants to be a hero to do the right thing. Character of the Episode: Kate. Conclusion: This was a satisfying finale, even if it wasn’t as good as I was hoping. For thoughts on the season as a whole, click here for my review of season 1. Score: 59
0 Comments
Summary: Flashbacks show Yelena disappear after the snap and reappear during the blip. In the present, Yelena visits Kate and talks to her about Clint. Kate tells her mother to look into Jack and he ends up being arrested. Kate decides to help Clint anyways and saves him when he directly fights Maya, revealing that her uncle is the one who hired him to kill her father. Yelena discovers that Eleanor hired her and informs Kate.
The Good: There are lots of strong scenes here. I enjoyed seeing Yelena’s experience during the snap and the blip. We have seen many scenes like these by now, but they are still very well done. Yelena’s talk with Kate is a lot of fun. It’s tense, funny, full of character, and well written. Both characters were nicely realized and I thought that the dialogue was surprisingly solid. Clint’s confrontation with Maya was dramatic and entertaining, and I liked the reveal that Maya’ uncle was responsible for the death of her father. I’m curious to see what Maya’s going to do now that she has learned this information. The twist that Eleanor is working with the kingpin works pretty well, and while it isn’t too surprising, it is a good way to shake up the story and I’m interested to see how Kate handles this reveal. The Bad: This episode doesn’t gel together that well. There are too many different things going on which makes this episode feel messy and disorganized. The individual scenes are good, but the episode as a whole is not as good as its pieces. The Unknown: Who is this kingpin? Why is Eleanor working with him? Is she one of the bad guys? Was she always aware of Jack’s shady activities? How will Kate react to this information? Will Maya turn against Kazi after the bombshell that Clint dropped? Best Moment: Kate and Yelena’s conversation. Character of the Episode: I’ll give it to Kate this time. She had a good episode. Conclusion: This is another pretty good episode. The various aspects don’t quite come together in a satisfying way, but this is entertaining and develops the story nicely. Score: 63 Summary: Kate and Clint have dinner with Eleanor and Jack. Eleanor tells Clint to leave Kate out of the hero business. Kate decides to visit Clint at home and they relax together. Kate learns that Clint was the Ronin. Clint and Kate make a plan to steal a watch from one of the tracksuits’ apartments; the watch has information connecting Ronin to Clint. Kate breaks in but it triggers an alarm and a fight breaks out with Maya. Clint and Kate manage to get away.
The Good: The dinner scene to kick off the episode is a nice piece of tension that further elevates the mystery going on with Jack and Eleanor. I’m glad that the previous episode’s cliffhanger was just a red herring and that the mystery is being developed further. I thoroughly enjoyed the lengthy montage of Kate and Clint bonding. I’ve grown to care about the relationship between these two characters, and scenes of them both being kind to each other, learning more about each other, and growing closer only enrichen this relationship more. The best part about TV shows is that time can be afforded to deepen relationships like this. “Hawkeye” is not much longer than a movie, but it is using the extra time wisely to feel more like a TV show with deeper emotional resonance, instead of feeling like an extended movie like “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. The Bad: This show still feels somewhat flat. Perhaps it is the MCU effect, because I have seen far too many MCU movies by now to be particularly impressed by the plot lines, action, and shallow exploration of themes. I enjoyed this episode and it was entertaining, but I was missing that next level of engagement. Last episode accomplished that engagement with superb directing and creative action. This episode doesn’t have that, and nothing else stands out enough to make up for it. The Unknown: What is on the rolex? How will Clint handle this new assassin? What is Jack’s role in this story? Best Moment: Clint reflecting on Natasha during his conversation with Kate. Character of the Episode: Clint. Conclusion: This was a solid episode. It felt like it was missing something, but I enjoyed the interactions with Clint and Kate quite a bit. Score: 62 Summary: Flashbacks introduce us to Maya, the deaf leader of the Tracksuit Mafia whose father was killed by the Ronin. Clint and Kate escape from the Tracksuits after a tense car chase that sees Kate fighting with her bow. Clint gets a new hearing aid after his old one breaks. Kate and Clint use Bishop Security to inspect Jack but Jack suddenly arrives with a sword at Clint’s throat.
The Good: This episode did a remarkable job of portraying deafness. It was a recurring theme with the newly introduced character being deaf, and with Clint having to get by in several scenes without being able to hear, with the most tragic being a conversation with his son that had to be translated to Clint by Kate. These scenes were superbly directed. Even better directed was the action. The lengthy action sequence ran the risk of being overdone and losing tension, but that never happened. The gritty and more realistic action scenes were fantastic and a joy to watch. Even though it was clear that Kate and Clint would get away, the episode did a great job of engaging me through fantastic directing (including a spectacular oner), and creative choreography (trick arrows, some clever action moments). These choices made this action scene stand above what we usually get in the MCU. Even if it wasn’t extremely tense, it was exciting and impressive to behold. Furthermore, this action sequence allowed me to finally engage with Kate. I have been wholly unimpressed with the story she has been given, but actions always speak louder than words, and seeing her bravery and resourcefulness in action made me connect with her much more than anything in the last two episodes. I continue to enjoy Clint and Kate’s dynamic. They have some engaging conversations and it is nice to see them both come to a better understanding of each other with Kate accepting how annoying she has been, and Clint recognizing her talent and cautioning her from becoming a hero. The Bad: There is plenty of campy and corny comic book cheesiness throughout this episode, and it often took me out of the moment. That also dampened some of the Clint/Kate interactions whenever there was a forced joke. It’s hard to imagine that chase scene not becoming huge news. Surely Kate would have been identified instantly since she was so exposed shooting at the Tracksuit Mafia. The Unknown: What is Sloan Ltd? Who is the mysterious uncle in the Tracksuit Mafia? Is it Jack? Or somebody else we don’t know? What will Jack do now that he has the jump on Clint? Best Moment: While I usually like to go for the emotional high moments, I simply can’t ignore the spectacular feat of cinema that the one-shot during the car chase sequence was. Character of the Episode: Kate. Conclusion: This was better than the first two episodes, and an engaging experience overall. Score: 65 Summary: Clint saves Kate and helps keep her out of trouble, but Kate’s apartment is burned down. Clint leaves to go find the suit, which he tracks down to a LARP group. He then focuses on the tracksuit mafia. Kate returns to normal life but cops are after her now and she is suspicious of Jack. She realizes Clint is in trouble and goes to help but gets herself captured.
The Good: The action is well choreographed and a fun aspect of the show. I enjoy it. I also appreciate the tracksuit mafia being laughably incompetent. It provides the show with much-needed levity, especially since there was never any chance of the mafia being a credible threat. Clint and Kate are a welcome pairing and their scenes are decent. There’s a nice story being told about Clint’s general lack of fame because he closes himself off so much. The Bad: This show feels flat so far. A lot of the ideas here are based around tropes and feel uninspired. The story feels very simplistic. Kate is still a big problem. Her charisma works badly against her because she never takes any situation seriously, which massively underplays any sense of tension that the show is trying to establish. If the characters don’t care, why should I? Clint did such a poor job of preparing Kate for her return to regular life. Surely he should have anticipated many of the problems she would be facing. The Unknown: What is Jack up to? What’s his plan? Who is this new character introduced at the episode’s end? Best Moment: Clint exposing the mafia’s incompetence during the “interrogation” was very funny. Character of the Episode: Clint. Conclusion: I enjoyed myself watching this episode, but the show still feels flat. Score: 56 Summary: Kate stumbles into a robbery at her mother’s charity event and ends up taking Clint’s ronin suit as her own to fight the bad guys. She gets away but is tracked down and saved by Clint.
The Good: I liked parts of this. The references are all pretty nice. The avengers musical is funny and it nicely encapsulates Clint’s trauma. The scenes with Clint and his family are good, and it feels significant when he leaves them just before Christmas to help Kate. The action sequences are well done. The Bad: Kate is thoroughly unlikable so far. She was introduced with a generic, poorly realized backstory and the character is no fun to follow. She has that typical campy comic book personality, but she’s missing aspects to ground her in reality, which is present in the best MCU superheroes. I don’t feel enough of a connection with her to root for her in any of her scenes, making her scenes a chore to get through. This episode was also frustratingly slow, so it became really tedious to watch. The Unknown: Who was Armand? Who killed him? Was it Jack? Why was he threatening Eleanor? Who were those robbers? Why were they after the watch? What is the significance of this dog? Best Moment: Clint seeing the ronin costume again and realizing that he has no choice but to get involved. Character of the Episode: Clint. Conclusion: Everything surrounding Clint was pretty good, but the episode’s slow pacing and Kate dragged this down a lot. Score: 55 Summary: Clint is dragged away from his family during the holidays when a young girl, Kate, wears the Ronin suit to fight off a robbery at a black market auction at her mother's charity event. This puts the Tracksuit Mafia after Kate, led by Maya, whose father was killed by the Ronin. Clint saves Kate from them and tries to resolve the problem himself, but Kate continues to stick around with him and they grow a bond with each other. Kate is suspicious that her mom's fiance Jack has ties with criminal activity and is responsible for the death of another man Armand and she investigates him with Clint. Clint's identity as the Ronin is discovered by Maya who fights him, but Clint defeats her and reveals that her boss is the one who hired him. Yelena arrives to kill Clint and talks with Kate. She informs Kate that she was hired by her mother, who is connected with Kingpin, who is the man behind the Tracksuit Mafia. Eleanor severs ties with Kingpin, and he responds by attacking her. Clint and Kate save her, and fight the Tracksuits. Clint encounters Yelena and tells her about Natasha's death. Yelena chooses not to kill him. Kate defeats Kingpin, who is seemingly killed by Maya, and then has her mother arrested. Kate goes with Clint to his family for the holidays.
The Good: I really admire how this show handles its main characters. The MCU isn't particularly adept at giving compelling character arcs to its charming cast of characters, but "Hawkeye" hit the nail on the head. The core of this show is the developing relationship between Clint and Kate which starts at the end of the first episode, and take significant steps with each ensuing episode as the characters learn more about each other. Kate appreciates spending time with her personal hero and is forced to learn about and accept the darker sides to him that she was unaware of, while Clint is slowly charmed into forming a mentor relationship with this girl who is eager to become a hero, while also cautioning her from the perils of this line of work. The growth that these characters undergo is remarkably satisfying to watch and it is paced to perfection. It's helped by the fact that "Hawkeye" places emphasis on the growth of the characters over the development of the plot. In numerous episodes we get to see scenes where the two characters simply spend time with each other and learn about each other, which is integral in developing this relationship. We understand why Kate wants to spend more time with Clint, and we also understand why Clint chooses to take Kate under his wing. The story develops organically and ultimately ends with a lovely scene as Clint invites Kate to his house, likely planning to give her the Hawkeye name and to go into retirement. "Hawkeye" did a remarkable job of making me care about the relationship between these two characters. And of course, it helps that the acting and writing is really solid, allowing these two to have excellent chemistry. Their interactions are a lot of fun, and it's always a joy to see them on screen. For a relationship to be effective, I have to be invested in the characters individually first. This is why it is so important that "Hawkeye" has effective characterization and development, because without it, the relationship would be dead in the water. I'll start with Clint, who continues to be one of the most relatable characters in the entire MCU. He brings to the table a level of humanity that you don't get from the other superheroes in the show. Unlike everybody else, Clint is quite literally just a guy. He has no powers, he has to rely on his intelligence because there is a very real risk of death for him, and at his core, he's just a simple man trying to live out his days with his family. This makes him far more effective than most superheroes in the MCU. Thankfully, his potential is not squandered and Clint is given some lovely conflicts to contend with in this show. Of course we get to see him introducing Kate into the hero world, but on a more personal level, he is still contending with the grief of losing Natasha, which is introduced early in the season as Clint is uncomfortable during a musical, and it culminates with a nice moment of acceptance as he talks Yelena out of killing him. Furthermore, we get some nice smaller scale conflicts for him, such as accepting who he is and what he has done as the Ronin, and contending with being deaf, which is highlighted especially well during an emotional scene as Kate has to transcribe a conversation with his own son because Clint can't even hear him. Clint is handled superbly all season. I had an interesting experience with Kate throughout the show. During the first few episodes, I honestly did not like her at all. She was bratty, annoying, unrealistically talented, and it was hard for me to connect with her in any meaningful way. This put a block in my initial interest in my show. As said above, it is important to care about the characters involved when you see them have a relationship together, but I just did not care about Kate at all. Ordinarily that would be a problem, but I think that the show came up with a clever way to turn this flaw into a strength. Because Kate actually is a compelling character; the show specifically misleads you early on to disprove of what we see from her. Instead what happens is that we learn of Kate's virtues while Clint learns of Kate's virtues, allowing us to go through the same experience that Clint does, turning the development of their relationship into a more personal experience. The way that we connect with Kate is by seeing how she handles the problems that she is faced with, and it's through her choices that aspects of her character shine through. Initially, she seemed bratty (destroying a clock tower), irresponsible (investigating Jack with no real plan), and stupid (continually provoking Jack). Looking back at it after seeing the way she handled scenarios throughout the season, I can now see that she is actually righteous (she commits to her mother's arrest), honest (she doesn't opt to lie even though it would benefit her), empathetic (she connects with Yelena), and brave (she is willing to take risks to do what needs to be done). Without fundamentally changing the character, "Hawkeye" gives us a new perspective of her by showing the positive side of her personality through her actions. Outside of the strength of its main characters. "Hawkeye" is still pretty solid. The action is excellent in thsi show. It is directed in a really flashy way, and it contains a good deal of tension because the characters aren't ultra powerful heroes that have no risk of death. These are just two people holding a bow. The fight scenes are pretty dramatic, with a nice mix of creative silliness. Which brings me to the comedy in the show, which is mostly effective. Sure, it is still corny at times (see: The Bad), but it is almost always a welcome bit of levity. The mystery is another strong aspect of the show. It doesn't end up playing a particularly important role in the show, but it definitely makes the earlier episodes more interesting and intriguing than they would have been without it. With how formulaic the MCU is, I always appreciate the injection of a different genre like mystery to make the stories more engaging. The Bad: Of course, with this being an MCU product there is inevitably going to be a feeling of flat emptiness in the show. What do I mean by that? Well we have seen so many MCU superhero movies and TV shows over the years, and they all have a very similar tone and style. Even with some bursts of inspiration in this show, I am still burned out on the campy tone, formulaic storytelling, and shallow exploration of themes that always feel tacked on rather than being the centerpiece of the show. These problems persist with "Hawkeye", and while I am happy to see some innovation, I can't help but wish for more radical changes in the MCU universe so that the same flaws can stop persisting over and over again. I'm going to discuss the campy tone further because I think that this is a major problem. The constant comic-book lines and jokes in places where they don't belong always destroys my immersion in these stories. It's a problem because there are genuinely serious emotional moments in this show, but they are undercut when the very next scene has these unnecessary moments of levity that only serve to destroy the tension and make me question the realism of the world and its characters. I would like to see the MCU changing its tone more often, as I think that the stories can become far better as a result. While I still enjoyed May and Yelena's roles in the show, I can't help but feel that there could have been more done with these characters and their storylines. Their development was rushed and they never had enough focus to make their stories feel like more than simplistic, 2-dimensional stories. And that's a shame because there was very real potential with these characters, especially Maya who occupies such a unique role as an aggressive mob leader with a sympathetic past. I wish that we had seen more from her. Kingpin as the main villain was a total disappointment. I'm starting to wonder if the MCU would be better without any villains at all, because this show, as well as "WandaVision" are two shows that were hurt by the surprise villain reveal coming at the end of the season. I think that with Maya, Yelena, and Eleanor playing significant villainous roles, there was no need for Kingpin to be shoved into this finale. Best Episodes: E03 Echoes: This episode began with an outstanding action setpiece that was the very best of the show. This was also where I finally started to connect with Kate and appreciate her relationship with Clint. E05 Ronin: Even though the episode doesn't quite feel cohesive, there are some wonderful scenes here like Clint's showdown with Maya, the Eleanor twist, and Kate's talk with Yelena. Worst Episodes: E01 Never Meet Your Heroes: This first episode was painfully slow-paced at times, and everything involving Kate was uninteresting at this point. E02 Hide and Seek: The characters not taking things seriously, and Clint failing to give any real support to Kate after what happened were major problems that hurt this episode. Character of the Season: Clint. Conclusion: "Hawkeye" surprised me. Going into this show, I was thoroughly uninterested. I hadn't watched any of the trailers and I honestly forgot that the show was even happening until the first two episodes dropped. I was expecting the standard MCU fare and nothing more, but this show rose up to become something more. The directing, acting, editing, and writing had extra effort put into it, and the emotional core of the Clint/Kate relationship worked tremendously well, making what I think is one of the most compelling character pairings in the MCU so far. By the finale, I was surprised by how invested I was in this show, since I fully expected to not really care about what was going on. This show is mostly dumb fun, and it does that well, but the emotional core helps elevate it to be better than I was anticipating. My scores may seem a bit low for this first season, and that's because as positive as I am being, this is still an MCU show that suffers from the many problems that the MCU has. As a TV show overall, this is still just decent, but for an MCU product, it is quite good. However, I believe that the show as a whole is better than each individual episode. This was a solid, and fun, 6 episode experience. I would not mind at all if there was a second season, as long as it has as much passion as the first. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|