The events of Clint’s (Jeremy Renner) past haunt him to the fullest in the latest episode of HAWKEYE. I love that the MCU is tying HAWKEYE into the larger picture. We get a few huge reveals in tonight’s episode that I wouldn’t dare spoil; outside of Pizza Dog is adorable.
The HAWKEYE series is an A story searching for a B story to support it. The partnership between the series MVP, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), and Clint is hilarious and heartwarming. The middle of this episode pauses the high-flying action from last week to dive deep into who Clint has become post the events of AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Those events allow Jeremy Renner to flex his acting chops, with lines like, “When you do what I do for a living, it’s just a game of managing loss.”
Now on to the B story. I understand that Kate’s mom, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga), and her fiance, Jack (Tony Dalton), are tropes made to service the plot. However, it’s not enough. Clint and Kate’s relationship feels like a memorable buddy-cop film from the ’90s, whereas Jack and Eleanor are possible villains that lesser Marvel films wouldn’t touch. If what Jack says is true, “absence makes the heart grow older,” then I wish for both him and Eleanor to be mostly absent in the remaining two episodes of HAWKEYE.
As Clint is still emotional over the best shot he never took, I’m hooked on this series. As long as I don’t have to watch Jack and Eleanor dance again 🤢 .
Episode four of HAWKEYE is available on Disney+.
