What I’m Watching: Hawkeye (Season Finale)

Hawkeye: Season 1, Episode 6 “So This Is Christmas?” (B+)

I’m choosing to label this a season finale rather a series finale since I think that these characters really should come back for more, and though Kingpin’s introduction into the official MCU is a big deal, I’m not sure that there’s another way to involve the other players, particularly Kate, who was terrific. I’d also love to see much more of Yelena, who was absolutely fantastic when she was complementing Kate and getting her mad that she was making her like her. It was evident that Yelena wasn’t going to end up killing Clint, but that didn’t make the path to get there any less fabulously entertaining. I enjoyed that the LARPers stepped in to help and take on the roles they had always wanted to play, and it was a pretty epic battle with the Rockefeller Christmas tree coming down, though a bit less deadly than say, the many Avengers taking on Thanos and his army of acolytes. I love that Kate was excited that Clint was wearing his new costume, and that she came over to be with his family for Christmas after all the action. The trick arrow she shot didn’t too much to fell Kingpin, though Maya may have taken care of that, even if it’s far from likely that he’s actually dead. Eleanor helped save Kate but she still called the police on her, which makes sense, while Jack got redeemed and even got invited to find his destiny as a LARPer. What didn’t wow me quite as much was the post-credits performance of the Avengers musical since that just isn’t as enticing to me, but I would absolutely return to see the continued adventures of Hawkeye and his as-yet-unnamed sidekick, or, better yet, Kate and Yelena teaming up to take down the next villain. This was fun.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Hailee Steinfeld as Kate and Florence Pugh as Yelena