Most of my recaps for Hawkeye have been just that: recaps. But so much happened in the finale that a recap would easily run over 2,000 words, and no one wants to read that much. Luckily, I have enough thoughts about the episode that a simple review will suffice. So let’s get started.
As I’ll be talking about the final episode, just a warning that the below will contain spoilers.
Titled “So This is Christmas?” the last episode of Hawkeye was an action-packed extravaganza. It makes total sense why the last couple of episodes were more focused on the plot and the drama, and that’s because they were saving the action for this.
The final episode focuses on Eleanor Bishop’s (Vera Farmiga) Christmas party in the center of Rockefeller Center. The location is perfect for the final showdown, as it encapsulates all that the holiday is. Between the giant tree in Rockefeller Center, famous toy store F.A.O. Schwartz, and the light show on the Saks Fifth Avenue building, every frame oozes with Christmas spirit.
More than that, though, this scene is just a lot of fun. It was almost cartoonish in how Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) fended off the Tracksuit mafia, and I say that with the highest honors. The use of trick arrows made the scene lively, and it also perfectly illustrated Kate and Clint’s creativity in a fight. A magnetic arrow to pull the Tracksuits guns away, a teargas arrow, an ice arrow. The scene was wild and frenetic, and I loved every second of it.
The finale offered more than just action, though. It showed how far Clint has come in his feelings for Kate. At almost every step, he tells her that she doesn’t have to be a part of what’s to go down, illustrating his concern for her feelings and her safety. But it was when he called her his partner that really hammered home the change in his character. Then, to see him hold her hand at the end, tell her he’s proud of her, and bring her (and Lucky) home for Christmas, it’s clear that they both got what they were looking for; Kate found a surrogate father figure, and Clint found someone he can trust as much as Natasha.
Yelena (Florence Pugh) also makes an appearance in the finale, still intent on killing Clint. Clint is able to break through to her, convincing her of Natasha’s sacrifice. It’s nice that she was able to get some closure for the loss of her sister, and I really hope this isn’t the last time we see her.
And speaking of closure, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) sees an end to her storyline. Her vendetta against Clint shifted, and she instead turned her vengeance against Kazi (Fra Free) and the Kingpin. As a driving force behind the majority of the series, it was a little disappointing that she didn’t get as much screen time as the rest of the cast. However, she does get a satisfactory conclusion to her arc, finally tracking down the men responsible for her father’s death.
With all the hype surrounding the return of Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin, his appearance didn’t disappoint. I loved Kingpin’s connection to Kate’s mother, and how most of Kate’s life was somehow influenced by the Kingpin himself. That connection made their final fight so much more satisfying than if it had been Kingpin versus Clint.
The Kate/Kingpin fight was pretty intense as well. We’d seen Kingpin be physical before, but the way he threw Kate around like a ragdoll was something else. He brushed off each of her blows, even took an arrow in the chest and swatted it away like a fly. Hawkeye showed that Kingpin truly is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s no surprise he rules the New York City underworld.
I did have an issue with his ending, though. After Kingpin drags himself out of the toy store, he meets Maya in a back alley. At first, he’s happy to see her, thinking he’s found help, but she pulls a gun on him. He seems to plead for his life, and as the camera pans away, there’s a gunshot.
It’s odd to me that Marvel would go through all the trouble to bring back Vincent D’Onofrio only to kill him in his return episode. This feels like a swerve to me, and the Kingpin will come back at some point down the road. With his physicality in the toy store, where an explosion is the only thing to incapacitate him, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Fisk was some kind of Life Model Decoy.
I also would have preferred a post-credits scene that set up some sort of future for the franchise. Instead, Marvel included a four-and-a-half musical number from Rogers: The Musical. It was a cute scene, and I appreciated the detail they put into the number. And I’m sure I was in the minority of those who didn’t want more Rogers: The Musical, but yeah. I would have preferred something with more substance.
There are so many things I didn’t even mention here: Jack Duquesne’s (Tony Dalton) pivot as not-a-bad-guy. The LARPers and their hero shot. The reveal that the watch that started this whole thing belonged to Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) and that she was a SHIELD agent (which I totally called).
When the Hawkeye series was first announced for Disney+, I thought it would be just another in a long line of Marvel series. Of course, I was going to watch it, and I probably would enjoy it. But I never expected it to rocket to the top of my favorites of the MCU. The decision to set the series during Christmas gave it a charm that a lot of the other MCU/Disney+ series lack. The comedy was top-notch, and the characterizations were completely on point. There isn’t a single thing that I would have changed regarding this series, and that makes it a winner for me. I am sad that I no longer get to look forward to new episodes every Wednesday, but I am excited to see what the MCU has in store for Kate Bishop.
Also, I probably will be watching the series in its entirety every Christmas, and I have no shame about that.
