Hawkeye review: Episode 4, “Partners, Am I Right?”

“So Kate is helping you with an Avengers level threat?” SPOILERS for Hawkeye season 1, episode 4 follow.

Kate and Hawkeye continue to work to take down the Tracksuit Mafia, but get caught by Kate’s mom before being able to really do anything. But as they work together, they truly bond.

Hawkeye gets in the holiday spirit

The highlight of every episode of Hawkeye so far has been the interactions between Kate and Clint, and that continues to be the case here. They are the unquestioned stars of the show, as they should be, and “Partners, Am I Right?” does a great job of showing off their developing relationship.

First, we get them interacting with Kate’s mother and Jack, which is way more fun than it has any right to be. It’s cringey in all the right ways and is a really nice, funny way to start off the episode before it takes a darker turn. Seeing Kate try to play up her relationship with Clint as he shuts her down at every turn works really well.

It’s also good setup for the end of the episode when Clint tries his best to keep Kate away from fighting Maya and a Black Widow assassin, telling her that they aren’t partners in order to try and protect her. It’s very nearly the same conversation that the episode starts off with, but with a very different tone. Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld both kill it.

But the best scene of the episode is where Kate brings over a bunch of Christmas decorations and movies so that Clint can at least feel partly connected to his family. It’s a great, incredibly fun scene that allows the two to actually bond in a meaningful way that isn’t just about bows and arrows. And the fact that this scene is capped by Clint talking about the first time he met Natasha makes it feel meaningful as well as fun.

Family

Kate’s family isn’t the only one we get to see in this episode. Clint’s makes a brief appearance, but an important one. The little bit that his wife Laura was in this episode did more for her character than any of her other appearances in the MCU. It’s very clear that she’s immersed in Clint’s world, and I now suspect that she was probably an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., like Clint. The way that he relies on her for intel and they have a code language…there’s definitely more to her.

As for his kids, it’s clear that they understand that their dad is doing important things, but that doesn’t mean it hurts any less that he’s not around for the holidays. The episode effectively uses their brief bits screentime to emphasize the pain they’re going through.

Widow’s Bite

The biggest reveal in this episode is that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) has finally made her way to New York to hunt down Clint for “killing” Natasha Romanoff, as she was tricked into believing following the post-credits scene in Black Widow. She doesn’t have much to do in this episode other than fight, but her arrival is a really interesting wrench to throw into the mix right now.

Clint is terrified of her because she’s a Widow, which makes sense and explains why he’s so desperate for Kate to clear out. He’s beginning to care for her like he did Natasha, evidenced by when she falls off a building and he has a PTSD episode, and he doesn’t want to lose anyone else. It’s a cliche trope that is executed well enough to not just make you roll your eyes.

Hawkeye continues to shine on account of the relationship between its two main characters.

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