TV Recap – “Hawkeye” Brings a Wide Range of Emotions with its Season Finale

Christmas is here! Well, at least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe it is. That means we’ve reached the season finale of Marvel’s Hawkeye on Disney+ and Clint and Kate are ready to end this holiday madness surrounding Kate’s mom and the Kingpin. There was certainly a lot happening in this finale.

The episode opens with the meeting between Kingpin and Eleanor Bishop, which was alluded to at the end of last week’s episode. The meeting reveals that Eleanor has been working for Kingpin for years because her husband owed a small fortune before he died. Eleanor reveals that she killed Armand and tells Kingpin that her daughter, Kate, is getting to close to all of this and she needs to get out. She walks away from an Angry Kingpin.

Kate and Clint watch the video of the meeting sent to her by Yelena. Kate begins to freak out while Clint tries to calm her down. Kate tells him this is her mess and he should go home to be with his family for Christmas but he refuses and tells Kate she’s his partner. They’re in this mess together.

We then see Maya meet with Kingpin, wearing some battle scars from her fight Ronin. She tries to convince him that she has given up her pursuit of Ronin, of which Fisk seems a bit skeptical. Maya asks for some time off to clear her head and he allows her that. However, after Maya leaves, Fisk sums up his problems, which include Maya turning on him. He tasks Kazi with reminding the people that the city belongs to the Kingpin.

Clint and Kate prepare for their final standoff by creating a new batch of “way-too-dangerous trick arrows.” They get to work on creating a wide variety of arrows, as Kate takes the time to use a label maker so they know which arrow is which. It’s a fun montage reminiscent of the Home Alone films.

Clint tries to explain to Kate that she doesn’t have to do this, but reminds her that it is part of the job and it’s always inconvenient. She tells him about her experience with the battle of New York, which we saw at the very beginning of the first episode. She explains that seeing him fighting the Chitauri taught her that being a hero is for anyone who is brave enough to do what’s right no matter the cost. It’s another emotional bonding moment that more or less cements the relationship between these two Hawkeyes.

The Tracksuits surround the Bishop Security building as the holiday party begins inside. Kate and Clint arrive at the party and Clint, in another teaching moment, asks Kate to tell him what threats and assets she sees. She points out Gary as a threat, a callback to the first episode, and lets us know that they have employed the help of the LARPers for this mission. We also see that Jack is already out of jail and at the party, with a sword on his hip.

We see Kazi lining up a sniper shot from a building across the street. We also see Yelena arrive at the party. Moments later, Eleanor arrives at the party and all the pieces are now in place for a wild finale showdown. Kate pulls Eleanor to the kitchen to talk before Kazi can line up a shot to take her out.

Kate shows Eleanor the video of her meeting with the Kingpin and she tries to defend herself before Jack interrupts them. She assures Kate she has it all under control, but a moment later, Kazi takes a shot at Clint and misses, causing a panic at the party. Yelena watches the madness ensue before pursuing Barton.

The LARPers turn out the lights at the party, removing Kazi as a factor as he can no longer see where he’s shooting. Kate notices Yelena and goes after her to stop her from killing Clint. They share a hilarious scene onan elevator, during which Kate tries to press all the buttons to keep Yelena from getting to the floor Clint is on. These two really steal this finale as all of their scenes are incredibly entertaining. You can bet fans are going to want to see a lot more of the two of them together in the future of the MCU.

Clint sets up at a window to try and take out Kazi. Meanwhile, Kate and Yelena fight throughout an office as Yelena continues to make her way to Clint. She eventually gets away from Kate and takes a shot at Clint but misses. Kate goes after Yelena by repelling down the building and sees the Tracksuits arrive.

She takes out a few of them but not before getting a thank you from the guy she gave advice to regarding his girlfriend and his Imagine Dragons tickets. Another Tracksuit gets Kate in her sights but Jack shows up just in time to save her with his sword. Kate apologizes and Jack appears to be on their side for this fight. It’s a fun twist on the Swordsman character from the comics.

As Clint sets up some Home Alone-esque traps, Kazi shows up and the two trade some punches. Clint detonates some explosives, holding off the other Tracksuits before defeating Kazi. He then ziplines out of the building but his line breaks and he swings into the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

We see Maya at home, packing a bag before seeing a photo of her father and then one of Kazi. She shows a determined look before leaving, seemingly changing her mind. Kate gets the drop on some Tracksuits while stepping on the Big piano and the LARPers, now dressed in their gear, direct traffic and fight off some more of the Tracksuits. It’s a perfect example of how wildly fun this show is willing to get.

Kate takes it a step further when she uses arrows to cut down the tree, dropping Clint into the ice rink below. He is quickly surrounded by Tracksuits before Kate slides in and gives him some backup. He then uses a trick magnet arrow to get the guns out of their hands and then reveals that he is wearing his new Hawkeye suit, to Kate’s delight.

We then get a long action sequence of Kate and Clint fighting off the Tracksuits, with a wide variety of trick arrows. After they finish off the fight, Kate takes off after her mother while Clint deals with Kazi and more of the Tracksuits. That gets derailed quickly though when Yelena ambushes Clint and Maya shows up to take on Kazi.

Yelena asks Clint what happened to her sister. Rather than trying to tell the truth, Clint tries to explain that she wouldn’t believe him and tells her Natasha sacrificed herself. Yelena doesn’t believe him and goes back to fighting. Maya tries to convince Kazi to leave Kingpin but her refuses and their fight continues as well.

Elsewhere, Eleanor gets into her car and is shocked to find that her driver has been killed. Kingpin rips the door off of her car and tries to convince her not to leave before Kate arrives to help her. In a matter of seconds, Kate shoots him with an arrow, he breaks it off while it’s stuck in his chest, he violently throws Kate and Eleanor manages to hit him with the car and launch him through a window into a store. It’s a short, messy sequence that doesn’t make a lot of sense and goes largely unexplained.

The fight between Maya and Kazi continues until she eventually stabs him with an arrow. His death is very reminiscent of her fathers and she warns her that Kingpin will be coming for her. Kate and Kingpin continue their fight in a toy store, giving us far more action with Fisk than most would have anticipated. Clint and Yelena continue to fight as well as Clint tries to explain Natasha’s sacrifice to her.

Kate eventually wins her fight by flicking a button, like we saw Clint teach her, into a trick arrow, causing an explosion. She then embraces her mom, who tells her things will go back to normal. Police arrive and it becomes clear that Kate set her mother up to be arrested for the murder of Armand.

Yelena goes in for the kill on Clint but before she can, he does the secret whistle her and Natasha used to share. Yelena stops and asks more questions about her sister and Clint tells her that Natasha used to talk about her all the time. Yelena becomes emotional and decides to spare Clint’s life, leaving him on the ice. It’s an incredibly emotional scene and a perfect example of how well the show has been executed, bouncing between humor and heart so seamlessly.

The police search the toy store for Fisk but can’t find him. He escapes to an alley where Maya pulls up in a van. Fisk is surprised to see her and even more surprised she she draws a gun. He tries to tell her they’re family and we get a view of the street as we hear a gunshot and a body drop. Either Kingpin was just killed and his MCU run was very disappointing, or that’s what Marvel wants us to believe. Either way, it was not a great arc for Wilson Fisk.

As things wrap up, one of the LARPers tries to convince Jack to join their guild. Clint and Kate share a heartfelt moment where Clint finally admits that he is proud of her. We then jump ahead to Christmas day and see Clint arrive at home. He is joined by Kate and Pizza Dog, who has now finally been given the name Lucky.

Clint introduces Kate to his family as they prepare to celebrate Christmas. He also sits down with Laura and reveals that the watch belonged to her. She examines it and shows us that there’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the back. Turns out Laura was very much a part of this world all along. If you’ve been watching Marvel Time or listening to the Zzzax of Life Podcast, you know that we’ve discussed the possibility of her being the MCU’s Mockingbird. We don’t know if that’s the case for sure, but she was an agent of some sort.

Kate tries out some superhero name for herself but Clint shoots them all down. He tells her he has a different idea and the episode comes to a close with the Hawkeye logo hitting the screen, implying that Kate will take up that mantle. Of course, that’s not really the end though, as we do get a post-credits scene, sort of. We get a “happy holidays form Marvel Studios” message before getting to see the full song and dance number from “Rogers: The Musical.” It’s a funny moment, but honestly kind of a letdown.

This season finale of Hawkeye delivered in a lot of ways, while also slightly missing the mark in some others. The usage of Kingpin was disappointing here, especially if this truly is all we’ll see of him in the MCU. However, there was more than enough good to outweigh the bad, with Kate and Yelena stealing the show. It will definitely be exciting to see what the future holds for a lot of these characters, including Maya, who we know will be spinning off into her own Disney+ series, Echo.

You can watch Marvel’s Hawkeye on Disney+ now.

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Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."