Hawkeye review: Episode 6, “So This Is Christmas?”

“Kate, you’re my partner! Your mess is my mess.” SPOILERS for Hawkeye season 1, episode 6 follow.

The truth is revealed and the Kingpin has entered the picture. He’s been who Hawkeye has been worried about the entire time. Now, he and Kate must find a way to bring him, the Tracksuits, and Yelena down.

The King returns

Wilson Fisk has made his way back to New York City. Naturally, he’s the mastermind behind everything that’s happened. He’s Eleanor Bishop’s boss. He’s the head of the Tracksuit Mafia. He’s the watcher in the wing. It’s so great to have Vincent D’Onofrio back in the role that he absolutely owned in Daredevil.

However, as great as it is to have him back, the show doesn’t quite use him as effectively as it could. He’s overexposed. Yes, he’s very intimidating and yes, things are coming to a head, but he really shouldn’t have done as much in this episode as he did. His overuse here makes him less intimidating than he should be, because he’s constantly getting beat on the entire episode.

So while his interactions with Eleanor, Maya and Kate are all good, the fact that they all seemingly beat him so easily — emotionally, physically and in business — makes him feel like someone different than the guy we met in Daredevil. And then Maya seemingly kills him at the end of the episode? Very, very poor choice.

Trick arrows

As with the rest of the show though, the true standouts are the two main characters. The relationship that has been built between the two over the past five episodes is absolutely paid off here. Clint is still mentoring Kate, but he’s starting to see her as an equal. When he finally calls her “partner,” it feels very deserved.

Kate also finally tells Clint why she’s obsessed with him and why she became an archer, and a hero, in the first place. This is such a great scene, played exceptionally well by Hailee Steinfeld. It also feels kind of meta. In the real world, Hawkeye has been the butt of a lot of jokes since The Avengers came out. So having a very likable character within the same universe realistically look up to him, it shows that Hawkeye deserves to be in the Avengers, powers or not.

But the real fun comes when the two of them make some trick arrows for the final battle, which is a lot of fun. They help make the fight on the Rockefeller Center ice rink a very enjoyable final showdown against the Tracksuit Mafia.

Widow’s sting

But not only are Fisk and the Tracksuits there to cause problems, Yelena has arrived to finish the job of killing Clint. Obviously, Kate tries to stop this in the most Kate way possible: by stalling an elevator like she’s Buddy the Elf pushing all the buttons. This is a very humorous scene as Kate is just so outmatched by Yelena when it comes to fighting that it’s not even funny. Yelena doesn’t even break a sweat.

But then Yelena has her fight with Clint, which is brutal. There’s no humor like most of the fights in the series. It’s just a brutal throw-down. Yelena isn’t listening to the truth that Clint is telling her and when she finally does, her breakdown about missing Natasha hurts. Florence Pugh does an incredible job.

While slightly disappointing, the finale of Hawkeye is still a solid send-off for the series and a springboard for Kate Bishop.

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