‘Hawkeye’ Recap: ‘So This Is Christmas?’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘Hawkeye’.
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I just want everyone to know that I did cry at the end of this, as it was and forever will be, my most favorite show ever. Yes, this overtakes The Falcon and The Winter Soldier for that number one spot. I would basically cry if a season 2 does not happen. I am, however, also a realist. To say that this was Marvel’s best show, in my opinion, is a huge understatement. Now, it takes a twist on the comics and really gives us a unique story, and I ended up really enjoying every single nuance.

So, Eleanor wasn’t as innocent as we knew she wasn’t. Nobody should be shocked at this turn, genuinely. She’s worked for Kingpin for years. Alright, so her husband had owed Kingpin a lot of money, but she’s paid it tenfold. Also, let’s be completely honest with this, if Eleanor didn’t use Loki’s attack on New York as an opportunity to kill her husband for the insurance money, like we know she probably did, then I really would be shocked. Instead of this meeting being all sunshine and rainbows, though, Eleanor decides she’s done with Fisk. She tells him she quits. I’m not really sure Eleanor understands how the mob works… like at all. There is no quitting unless you die and/or are murdered, and yes those are both two different things and the same.
 
We also find out that it was Eleanor who killed Armand and also framed Jack. Katie Kate finds all of this out from a video Yelena sends her. Clint explains how serious this is, with the Kingpin involved, everything is more complicated. Kate is understandably worried, so they take action. But first, they’re going to need a lot more trick arrows. Clint makes them himself, because of course he does, he’s smart like that. Katie Kate labels them, this time, because she’s the smarter of the two. It’s Christmas Eve and the night of the Bishop Security Company Christmas Party, where they know Eleanor will be in danger. Now, it’s go time.

Grills and his LARP team infiltrate the wait staff as back up, while Clint and Kate dress up and get into the Party. All is almost going as planned. What Kate and Clint don’t know is that Maya has also been working for the Kingpin, except, she’s in the process of leaving. Kazi, on the other hand, has a personal bone to pick with Clint. He’s set up in a sniper nest across from the party and almost gets the drop on the infamous archer but misses. Clint gets away and Grills starts to get everyone to leave. Kate confronts her mom about working for Fisk, and Jack wants to have his own words with Eleanor. We all know she was only marrying him for his money. Ironically, Jack is completely innocent in all this. Or is he? To make matters even worse. Yelena shows up, still determined to kill Clint, maybe because she was hired to, but definitely because she thinks he killed Natasha. It is personal at this point.

As Kate makes a mad dash out to see what’s happening, she spots Yelena, and they even end up in the same elevator together. Yelena, despite being a world class deadly black widow assassin, takes it very easy on Katie Kate. They fight over the elevator buttons, then fight out of the elevator. Kate refuses to let Yelena kill Clint and Yelena refuses to not kill Clint. Either way, the natural banter between Yelena and Kate has all the best set up for a near future best friending. Yelena almost gets the drop on Clint, only she misses when Kate warns him. The Track Suits show up, bro, they can’t be left out of the final battle, bro! This is when we finally see Kate showcasing all that martial arts talent that she’s accrued over her lifetime. Kate is becoming the hero she’s always wanted to be. Meanwhile Clint blows some stuff up and has a one-on-one fight with Kazi.

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During his own escape, Clint ends up stuck in a giant Christmas tree. Leave it to Kate to save the day… or ruin Christmas. She manages to do both when she shoots the giant tree down. Clint would be thankful if he wasn’t nearly crushed to death by the giant star that had been atop the tree or the giant swarm of Track Suit Bros. Trick Arrow time? Oh yes, it’s on. Kate and Clint fight seamlessly together to take out the Bros. Kate even gets to use the new Trick Arrows. Maybe she is one of the world’s greatest archers after all. As the Bros fall, one by one, Kate goes after her mom. She shows up just in time to save her mom from Fisk, and she even fights him! Yes, Katie Kate Bishop takes on the Kingpin himself. Granted, he’s obviously holding back as to not hurt Kate, but she is tenacious!
 
He finally takes all the arrows from her quiver and snaps them all in half at once. Just to prove that he has been playing nice and doesn’t want to hurt Kate. In the end, she hurts him. That little trick Clint taught her last episode comes in really handy when she does it flawlessly and sets off all the arrowheads at once. Fisk is down… ish, for now. He did take an arrow to the chest and a car, and nothing phased him. At least Eleanor is all right… right? Okay, maybe not so much since she does get arrested for Armand’s murder.

Clint would have helped Katie Kate had Yelena not chosen that moment to show up and fight him. He tries to convince her that he didn’t kill Natasha. Natasha made up her mind and died to save the world. Yelena refuses to believe him and proceeds to beat the ever-loving s*it out of Clint. Eventually, she listens to reason, but only after Clint does the secrete whistle she shared with Natasha. He tells her that Nat taught him that, that they were best friends, and he tried everything to save her. Clint would have died for her, he had tried to, but there was nothing he could do. Once Natasha made up her mind there was no changing it. Yelena finally accepts this and helps Clint up. The day is saved for now, right? Ish. Maya had confronted Kazi earlier, asked him to run away with her, and when he refused and tried to kill her, she beat him for it and ran. Now she’s off to face Fisk, families don’t always see eye to eye but Maya showing up to shoot Fisk doesn’t seem like a good idea. Especially since he probably killed her instead. Sadly, we won’t know just yet.
 
With that all taken care of, Clint does make it home for Christmas, as promised, and he brought some strays. Okay, he brought Kate and Lucky, but same thing really. And the watch that was so important, well it wasn’t Tony’s. It was Laura’s. Clint’s wife is more than meets the eye and she just happens to be Agent 19, also known as, Mockingbird. Why the name change from Bobbi to Laura? Who knows! But we do finally have the Hawkeye and Mockingbird marriage story we didn’t know we needed. Or maybe we need more back story to that. Either way, it’s a good Christmas gift. Almost as good as the Ronin costume finally being burned, but not quite as good as the Rogers: the Musical post credit scene.

So, what’s next? We’re clearly being set up for the Young Avengers! Hopefully we get a season 2! And more so, a spin off series of Kate and Yelena’s best friend adventures! Guess we’ll find out in time!

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