About this episode
- Episode 6 (of 6), 'Is it Christmas then?'
- Written by Jonathan Igla and Elisa Clement
- Directed by Rhys Thomas
??
Below are spoilers for the entire Hawkeye season. You have been warned.
If someone had told us six weeks ago that a TV show about the guy with the arrows would be arguably the best small screen deal in the MCU, we would have assumed they were kidding. But, while WandaVision arguably wins in terms of inventiveness and emotional depth, Hawkeye leads the way when it comes to vision coherence and character development.
Breaking the tradition of its more outspoken Disney Plus predecessors, this entertaining season finale feels like the end of one story rather than the beginning of another. Since the beginning of his career, Hawkeye has been seeded with ideas and intrigues that, with a few exceptions, are satisfactorily resolved here. And, in the interconnected worlds of the MCU, it's the closest thing to a standalone adventure there is.
'So it's Christmas?' picks up where Episode 5 left off, with a video of Eleanor Bishop meeting the infamous Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. Vincent D'Onofrio, in the famous white suit he wore in the Netflix Daredevil TV series, wastes no time reminding us that Marvel's villains don't need the power to wipe out half the world. Life in the universe to be intimidating.
(*two*)
Proof that you don't need an Infinity Gauntlet to scare people in the MCU... (Image credit: Marvel Studios)It turns out that Eleanor Bishop put herself in his service to pay off her late husband's debts, and now she's buried so deep that she had to orchestrate the death of Armand Duquesne, framing her hapless fiancé, Jack, in the process. Now that Kate has been sucked into this criminal underworld, she can't wait to leave Wilson Fisk's business, but that will never happen, as the Kingpin later tells Kazi: “She thinks she can quit her job like she's working for Goldman. Sachs! ? Whether or not this Kingpin exists in the same timeline as Daredevil, his terrifying presence instantly shows why Marvel could never have considered handing the role to anyone other than D'Onofrio: he's just as good.
And, while Fisk's screen time is relatively brief, his sizeable shadow dominates throughout the entire episode. As soon as Maya asks for "a break" from the criminal world she's been involved in for years, he realizes his adopted daughter is about to turn on him, and his perfectly tuned emotional manipulation shows that his success in the The world of crime is not based solely on intimidation.
Eleanor's business relationship with the Kingpin also ensured that it was indeed Kate's mess but, with his Ronin issues seemingly resolved, Clint isn't going to let her sort it out on her own, even if the doors on the advent calendars of their children are almost all open. She's his mate, she finally admits, in a truly lovely moment she came back to him a few minutes later when she tells him how watching Hawkeye "fighting aliens with a stick and rope" taught her that anyone can be a hero.
And so, after a MacGyver / The A-Team inspired edit that sees the duo put together a new arsenal of trap arrows (using Dymo tape labels is a wonderful DIY touch), they head to the Christmas party. the guest list. In fact, despite Kate's insistence that this is a formal act, the door policy is lax enough to allow tracksuits, LARPs, Russian assassins, and even Jack's sword to be unleashed. So far it's a small mark on Hawkeye's starsheet but, in the grand scheme of things, we're willing to let it slide.
(*two*)
Kate and Clint show off their new outfits and some awesome arrows. (Image credit: Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © Marvel Studios 2021.)As befits the lavish Bishop Security night, it feels like no expense was spared, leading him to think that the relatively quiet fourth and fifth episodes were just money-saving exercises before this showdown in Rockefeller Plaza. There's a lot going on here too, whether it's Kate's hilarious fight with Yelena (Kate's turn to hit all the elevator buttons is fun and youthful) or Clint breaking up with Kazi, who apparently rose to full-blown villain status. . Go find out.
And of course the aforementioned arrows come into play. Much like Marvel did with Black Widow, the studio is playing out its Bond and Mission: Impossible fantasies with some very nifty gadgets. How 007 would love the opportunity to play with arrows that freeze a villain's legs, or shrink a van to the size of a toy, we can only guess.
(*two*)
Clint and Kate put their Christmas plans on hold. (Image credit: Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © Marvel Studios 2021.)While the beautifully choreographed action sequences, including Kate taking on the formidable Kingpin, show Marvel having fun, the episode continues Hawkeye's tradition of keeping his character's rhythms at the forefront. Maya tearfully bids farewell to Kazi, who admits that she doesn't want to leave the life of crime behind, while Clint's strategic deployment of Natasha's signature whistle allows him to face a Yelena determined to kill him. Her heart-to-heart allows them both to find some peace over the loss of a woman they both loved and, unsurprisingly, given that Yelena has followed her for three episodes, to go their separate ways.
While it's refreshing to see a Marvel story tackle some issues, however, it also seems like everything has been wrapped up in an incredibly neat arc when Christmas Day makes its debut.
Although Eleanor ends the episode under arrest for murder, everyone who deserves a happy ending gets one, whether or not Yelena learns the truth about Natasha's death, with swashbuckling that Jack might find a way out for his abilities. with the sword, or Clint, Kate and Lucky. the Pizza Dog returns to Barton Farm just in time for Christmas. Maya can even shoot the Kingpin in revenge for her father's death, though the fact that we don't see Fisk die on screen suggests that he will likely live to fight another day.
And that's probably a good thing: After all, you're not going to the effort of bringing back one of Marvel's most iconic villains only to kill him off an episode later. He's a man with a long history of pulling himself together, and he'd surely make a great antagonist for the next Echo spinoff. The MCU therefore did not see the end of Wilson Fisk...
The best Disney + deals of the day
Our veredicto
(*two*)
(Image credit: Marvel Studios / Disney Plus)Hawkeye doesn't change the course of the MCU like WandaVision and Loki did, but the standalone nature of the show has arguably been its biggest strength from the start. While the expanded 'Save the City' version of Rogers: The Musical is a Christmas present from Marvel, the fact that it doesn't set up an upcoming movie or TV show is a drastic change of pace for the MCU, where well- The sting credits are an integral part of the brand.
Beyond proving that Marvel is as adept at street miniseries as it is in blockbuster movies, Hawkeye's greatest legacy may be based on the characters.
Maya Lopez's brilliant portrayal of newcomer Alaqua Cox has already done more than enough to get us excited about the Echo TV show, while Jeremy Renner belatedly led Clint Barton to the top of the Avengers. Meanwhile, in Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop, the series uncovered one of the MCU's most exciting talents. Hopefully it won't be long before we see her aim again. Maybe alongside Florence Pugh's Yelena in a new series or a new crime movie? We can only dream.
Wonderful facts
(*two*)
(Image credit: Marvel Studios / Disney Plus)- The title of the episode, “So this is Christmas? It refers to a line from John Lennon's Eternal Christmas hit Happy Xmas (The War is Over).
- Vincent D'Onofrio's most famous pre-Kingpin roles include the hapless Private Pyle in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Edgar the Bug in the early Men in Black.
- It's heavily implied that the licensed kid who taunts Jack at the party, the one who peed his pants in the Hamptons, is the Kingpin's son. (Presumably that makes him Princepin or even Kidpin?) It raises more questions about whether Wilson Fisk's Daredevil appearances are part of the MCU continuity. Daredevil's final season debuted in 2018, while Hawkeye is set in late 2024. Although he looks a bit older than six, it's conceivable that the child was born after we last saw Fisk in Daredevil, assuming, for Of course, he was not missing Thanos...
- There's a Dragons of Despair poster in Grills' apartment, a reference to a 1984 Dungeons & Dragons script written by Tracy Hickman.
- Kate and Clint's new outfits are clearly inspired by their outfits in the Matt Fraction / David Aja Hawkeye comic, which had a huge influence on the series.
- With Kate Bishop jumping off a skyscraper at Christmas, I'd be remiss not to mention the parallels to Die Hard, especially since it was one of the movies Kate brought in for the movie marathon in episode 4.
- During Kate and Kingpin's fight at FAO Schwarz toy stores, we briefly caught a glimpse of the store's giant piano, made famous by Tom Hanks in Big.
- Jack steals a slogan from River Song, a Doctor Who regular, when he announces his arrival with a "Hello, honey!"
- When Clint says, "I'm going to have to ask Scott about that" regarding the Trust a Bro scaled-down van, he's referring to Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man.
- The SHIELD logo on the back of Laura Barton's watch confirms that she was a former operator known as Agent 19, who also uses the pseudonym Mockingbird in the Marvel comics.
- Will any of Kate's suggestions for her new superhero pseudonym be accepted? Ladyhawk has some Marvel history, as the twins Rosetta and Regina Morgan used her as a shared identity. (Ladyhawke is also the name of a 1985 fantasy film and the stage name of New Zealand singer Pip Brown.) Hawk Eve and Hawk Shot appear to have sprung from Kate's imagination, but Lady Arrow could be a devious reference to the Competition. Distinguished in DC. Emiko Queen, Oliver 'Green Arrow' Queen's younger sister worked as Red Arrow.
- If you're wondering why the camera keeps focusing on a guy who seems to like Rogers: The Musical too much, there's a good reason: it's Marc Shaiman, the true composer of "Save the City."
- This episode contains the first on-screen confirmation that Pizza Dog is named Lucky, the dog's name in the comics.
- Yelena's Episode 5 reference to the renovated Statue of Liberty implies that Hawkeye takes place a few weeks before (or after, which she means, remodeled) the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- No Way Home also has a poster for Rogers: The Musical - it's clearly a big Broadway hit throughout the MCU.
The entire season of Hawkeye is available to stream on Disney Plus now.