Hawkeye

Up until the last episode the show was looking like it was going to be the most consistent of the D+ shows so far. However, the last episode was so messy and poorly handled that it unfortunately retroactively undone some of the greatness the show managed to give us prior. Thus Hawkeye follows the trend of the other D+ shows by falling at the final hurdle, but this time might be the worst offender.

Let’s start positive though because there’s a lot about this show to love. First off, Hailee Steinfeld is an absolute delight as Kate Bishop and a welcome addition to the MCU. The way this show handles her being a legacy hero and tying that back to The Battle of New York was such a delightful piece of storytelling. The dichotomy between her relentlessly optimistic outlook on life and Clint’s more battle scarred, worn down view was such an interesting choice. Not to mention the pair have such an endearing chemistry that it was hard not to be having fun while watching the two just speak to each other.

The way in which this series handles the continuation of Clint’s story within the MCU was far more involved than expected. Getting to explore Clint’s time as Ronin and the regrets he faces now due to the dark path he followed was fascinating. Linking this to Natasha’s decision on Vormir and how that moment still weighs heavy on him was beautifully handled, especially in the first few episodes. Having the draw of the series be that he just wanted to get back to his family and have a normal Christmas for once was sweet, then him finding that familial relationship in Kate was such an inspired choice.

The inclusion of Yelena in the series too was such a brilliant choice, more so because of how great Florence Pugh is in this role, any scene with her just had an elevated energy to it that was always enjoyable to watch. Having this tie back to the relationship with her sister and learning to get over that grief and stop blaming Clint was a good side plot for the show that enhanced its central story.

While all the interpersonal character dynamics for the most part worked well, the story is where the show suffers and this only really became apparent in the final episode. The show had managed to build up multiple mysteries and storylines that were engaging to watch week to week but most of them amounted to unsatisfactory results. The problem goes down to pacing, as by the final episode there was so much going on that all had to be resolved in that episode. This resulted in most of the plot lines being rushed simply to be tied up.

Having a “big boss” looming over the entire series to then be revealed as Kingpin to then simply give him no character development in the show at all and requires you to have watched a show that hasn’t even been confirmed to be canon to understand who he is seems like such a dumb move. Then to unceremoniously kill him off in one episode of a D+ show when he’d been built up to be such a menacing villain over three seasons of a different show is such a waste and takes a lot of weight out of how big a threat he was built up to be.

There was just too much going on from the Kingpin plot, to the Yelena and Clint story, to Kate’s mother’s involvement, to the watch plot point and the show just crumbled under the pressure of giving satisfying conclusions to them all. Kate’s mother had been so heavily involved in the crimes that were going on in the show and the final episode sort of just tells us that this is what happened and doesn’t make a big deal out of this revelation. We just accept that Jack is actually a good guy and was framed by his wife, it all just felt way too convenient and clean in a completely unsatisfying way.

Also the watch is the dumbest plot point in any of the D+ shows, as it’s built up to be this incredibly important item that will have consequences for Clint and his family and is just a watch showing that his wife was an agent of SHIELD. Moreover, it’s agent 19 which hints that Laura was Mockingbird but the show does no effort to convey this to the audience, you need knowledge of the comics to know this. Normally this could be ok, like a little hint to fans, but it’s the fact that the show spent so long on a plot device that amounting to nothing.

This could’ve been a Christmas classic for Marvel. The heart of show is maintained throughout, the dynamic by Clint and Kate really sells it but the story just isn’t good enough to warrant six episodes of hit or miss action and mysteries that don’t have good conclusions