My goal for this recap was to have it up much earlier than four days after the episode’s release, but given the American holiday we just celebrated, which ended in a food coma and pure exhaustion from seeing so many friends and family, I completely failed. But that should have at least given you plenty of time to catch up on Hawkeye before you dive in here. While my recap of the first episode was light on spoilers, the below does have a few revelations that some fans may want to experience on their own, so consider yourself warned.
Episode Two, titled “Hide and Seek,” picks up where the first left off: with Clint saving Kate from the tracksuited thugs and finding out she’s just a kid. She takes him back to her apartment to give him the Ronin suit back, but the Tracksuit Mafia, as the goons are known, discovers where she lives. They assume that she’s the Ronin, and has been all along, and burn her place down.
To escape the fire, Clint leaves the Ronin suit behind, intent to go back for it later. They lay low in Kate’s aunt’s home, and when Clint goes back for the suit, he discovers it’s gone. He learns that one of the firefighters took the outfit and that he’s part of a group called NYC LARPers.
To get the suit back, Clint investigates the group and finds out what LARPing is. He understands that his only hope to get the suit is by taking part, so he dons a set of shoddily made armor, grabs a fake sword, and sets off to fight against some D&D fans living out their fantasies in a local park.
He finds the man with his suit, and the man is willing to give it back, but Clint has to let the man “kill” him. The pair act out a “battle to the death” in front of everyone, and Clint allows the man, the firefighter named Grills, to win, gaining him authority with the rest of the group. As Grills gives Clint the suit back, he manages to get Clint to begrudgingly admit that he had fun playing pretend in the park. It’s a moment that reveals that Clint likes doing what he does, the fighting and the swordplay, but doesn’t like that people get hurt. Finding an outlet that allows him to use his skills in a safe environment seemed to be a small breakthrough for him.
Clint stashes the suit and explains to Laura, his wife (Linda Cardellini), that he promised Lila that he’d be home for Christmas, and Laura continues the countdown, saying he has five days to fulfill his promise. But before he can go home, he needs to clear Kate’s name about being Ronin with the Tracksuit Mafia, and he has a plan to do that. Unfortunately, that plan involves getting caught.
As Clint does his thing with the Tracksuits, Kate enjoys a dinner with her mother (Vera Farmiga) and her mother’s fiancé Jack (Tony Dalton). Kate is suspicious of Jack, wondering why he would want the Ronin sword from the underground action. So Kate challenges him to a fencing duel, figuring him to be a skilled swordsman.
Jack allows Kate to get the upper hand in their duels, which angers Kate to the point of attacking him as he’s distracted. Jack easily parries the attack, proving Kate’s theory that he’s more skilled than he’d let on, which leads to an argument with her mother. She storms out of the home and tries to call Clint to tell him what she discovered. But Clint doesn’t answer, and when she tries again, a mysterious man answers the phone. Kate tracks the phone’s signal to find out where Clint is.
What Clint doesn’t count on when he came up with his plan for the Tracksuits, though, is Kate coming to his rescue. Or trying to, at least. In Kate’s zeal to prove herself to Clint, she falls through a skylight in the middle of the Tracksuits’ hideout and gets herself captured as well.
The episode ends on an ominous introduction of a new character. With the thumping bass of an EDM song, the character is bathed in red light, her hand caressing the speaker to “hear” the music. Fans of the comics will recognize this as Maya Lopez, played by Alaqua Cox, and she will become an important piece in the Hawkeye canon.
There’s a lot to like about this episode, least of all is how Kate gets starstruck when she meets Clint. She’s infatuated with all of his actions (when Clint looks around him, she excitedly asks if he’s assessing threats), and even asks for his autograph on one of her bows.
The LARP scene is also hilarious. There are very few movies featuring LARP, or Live Action Role Play, as part of their premise, with only Role Models and Knights of Badassdom springing to mind at this time. So to see Hawkeye integrate the hobby into its story was humorous, especially with how Clint looks down his nose at the players. The scene just further illustrates how, unlike the other Marvel shows, Hawkeye doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it can tell a coherent story that fits within the canon of the MCU and still be fun.
The Tracksuit Mafia are great antagonists. They balance the threat of danger with comic relief well. I’ve always liked the idea of bad guys being imposing but absolutely inept at their chosen profession, so the Tracksuits speak to me on a spiritual level.
And Hailee Steinfeld continues to be fantastic as Kate Bishop. There is so much life in her scenes that it’s hard to separate the actor from the character. She’s highly adorable in her scenes geeking out over Clint’s presence, and her reactions to Clint’s cutting criticism are so subtle but so effective. Marvel has a long track record of hiring actors who fully encapsulate the characters they play, and that streak continues with Steinfeld.
Now that more of the series is unraveling, with the hints at Jack’s secrets and the revelation of Maya Lopez, Hawkeye is sure to kick into high gear. And these things are just the tip of the iceberg for what we know is coming. There’s still plenty left for Clint and Kate, and I can’t wait to see Kate come into her own and win Clint’s approval.
Also, we need more Lucky the Pizza Dog. I think we’ve earned that, at least.
