Hawkeye – Partners, Am I Right? Review

So, Yelena showed up earlier than I had both predicted and hoped, which in an already over-stuffed episode, may signal that the Hawkeye arc is getting a bit too crowded as the series approaches its final two episodes. But outside of that reveal – and the confusing fight sequence that came about from it – Hawkeye continues to be one of the more steady MCU television installments, continually buoyed by the great chemistry between Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner and the lower stakes story arc at the show’s center.

Let’s get my main worry out of the way early: There are only two episodes left to wrap up a host of storylines – or at least begin seeding them for their next step in the MCU – and we’re introducing Yelena into the mix. Now, we knew Yelena was going to make an appearance, so the fact that she has materialized isn’t the real issue here. It’s that she’s popped in while there is still so much to resolve with regard to Kate, Eleanor, Maya, the Tracksuits, Ronin, and, presumably, the reintroduction of Kingpin, that throwing Yelena into the mix now just adds a massive layer to an already overstuffed conclusion. Clint’s inability to recognize Yelena and her relationship to Nat (outside of recognizing her as a Widow) is another facet of the story that seems too complex to play out over the next two episodes.* We have to at least wrap up the Tracksuits/Jack arc before the series ends and have the reveal that Eleanor is some sort of villain, in order to provide Kate with forward momentum in the MCU. And we, presumably, need to have Fisk appear to tie into Maya’s upcoming series. And then we need Yelena to reveal herself officially to give Clint forward momentum for whatever his next step is. That’s a lot for two episodes to carry.

*One would assume, with how close Nat and Clint were, that she would have at least mentioned Yelena in some capacity, so I’m assuming once she tells Clint that Nat was her sister things will click for him. But it felt odd to have the fight scene go down and Yelena just peace out the way she did. Sure, she was outmanned, but I think she could easily have taken the pair. I’m guessing she stuck some sort of tracker on one or both of them? I did love that Maya saw what was going down and just got the hell out of there. Smart woman.

One of the greatest strengths of the series has been it feeling like a respite from the rest of the MCU. Just a small story about one of the less exciting Avengers tying up some loose ends. But now the MCU behemoth is creeping into the story and it’s possible the series might collapse under that weight. It was exciting to speculate on just who Eleanor is in the grand scheme of things, or laugh at Kate’s attempts to get Clint to like her, but when you begin connecting the dots from the show to the vast array of MCU projects coming our way in the upcoming years, well, the show starts to feel less about a simple, non-world destroying issue and more like a building block for some future film or series. And that cheapens the series on the whole.

But, enough about the disappointments of the episode and on to the positives. The link between Kate and Clint continues to grow, with Clint admitting that he was, in fact, Ronin (and that he lost his whole family in the Blip, which Kate clearly both didn’t know and also didn’t experience). This helps further highlight the importance of him getting home in time for Christmas – he’s lost so much, and yet he’s still willing to take the time to help Kate with the mess she inadvertently got herself into. A stand-up guy, that Clint. The episode also deepened the mystery around Eleanor. Every time Kate tried to tell her mom how shady her new fiancé is, Eleanor abruptly changed the subject (and Kate let her). Eleanor clearly knows that Kate is onto something (and likely knows who Kate was looking up in the security system), and now that she has Clint working alongside her? Well, Eleanor knows her time is limited if she wants to keep her actions under wraps much longer.

But the best twist of the episode? Chekhov’s Rolex made an appearance again – and it’s apparently linked to Laura Barton in some way. Clint said it belonged to someone who was in the game and left – which, considering how tuned in Laura is to, well, everything Clint does, and her language skills, it’s pretty clear that Laura had a crime fighting past that is tied to that watch. Which . . . well, that’s pretty awesome, no? There was always a suggestion that Laura wasn’t just a wife and mother, especially in how she treated Nat (with kindness, trusting her to watch Clint’s back when Laura couldn’t). But just who was Laura back in the day? I really want to know.

So, two episodes left to solve the Tracksuit problem, stop Yelena in her tracks, get Maya sent off to her own series (and introduce Kingpin in some way), and figure out just who Eleanor and Laura really are. That’s a lot of plot to get through. I’m not sure they have enough runway left to pull it off, but I guess we’ll see.

Hawkeye Easter Eggs/Theories

— Ok, so Laura. Traditionally in the comics, Clint is married to Mockingbird (which Agents of SHIELD fans will recall was the code name of Adrianne Palicki’s Bobbie Morse). Perhaps in the MCU, Mockingbird is something like a Widow – or their American equivalent. Or maybe she’s even a retired Widow. Either way, I think it’s safe to say that Laura absolutely has a past as a spy – likely teamed up with Clint in his pre-Natasha days (which could also account for her apparent close relationship with Natasha – she understood some of what she went through). Which is pretty darn cool.

— Is Eleanor working for Kingpin? Is she working against him in some way? Since Jack is apparently running the Tracksuits and Eleanor appears to be well-aware of her finance’s extracurricular activities, she might be under Fisk’s thumb. I’m most intrigued to see how this one plays out in the final two episodes.