“Hawkeye” - Episode 4 Review
If audiences were excited to see a surprise guest appearance, this episode surely delivered.
“Hawkeye” episode four proved to be the most thrilling episode yet, as it was packed full of action sequences while simultaneously pulling at the heartstrings of audiences.
The fourth episode picks up right where the third episode left off on a cliffhanger.
Jack, Kate Bishop’s soon-to-be stepfather, was holding Ronin’s sword up to Clint Barton’s neck, thinking he was some intruder. He comes to realize there’s a heroic avenger standing in his living room, and the altercation fizzles out in a light-hearted way.
Kate and Barton sit down with Kate’s mother and Jack to talk about Kate’s recent erratic behavior. Her mother, while walking Barton out the door, reassures that Kate is not a superhero and that superheroes die, like Black Widow. Barton coldly walks out.
In doing so, he steals back The Ronin sword. Then, he calls his wife who’s home with the kids regarding some information he needed.
He learns that Jack is the CEO of a company that launders money for the Tracksuit mafia — the bad guys that he and Kate have been fighting in the previous episodes.
Knowing what is now at stake and that the clues are starting to come together, Barton is forced to stay longer, yet again being forced to stay away from his kids around the holidays.
The episode cuts to Kate, Jack and her mother talking in the living room in what looks like the first time the three of them are getting along and being friendly.
Kate hears Jack say there is nothing worse than being alone around the holidays, leading her to go find Barton as an act of companionship.
Kate arrives at the apartment to find Barton sleeping. To help keep him in the Christmas spirit, as well as to be a friend, they start decorating and watching Christmas movies together, adding to the overall festive theme of the entire show.
The episode takes a dark turn when Kate asks Barton what the best shot he ever took was, to which he responds, “The one I didn’t take.”
Reminiscing on how he and Black Widow met, he tells Kate that he was tasked to hunt her down and take her out because of a mission but decided against it because he knew she wanted out of the crime organization she was a part of.
Instead, he spared her life.
When he begins to talk about how he lost his family in the “Blip,” when half the population was wiped out in “Avengers: Infinity War,” Kate asks if that’s where he met Ronin. She then puts the pieces together and concludes Barton himself was the Ronin.
The conversation ends, with Kate’s views on Barton as a hero unchanged.
The next morning, Barton tasks Kate to retrieve their arrows from the attack from the previous episode, and he goes on to find Maya’s associate of the Tracksuit mafia, who was also introduced in the previous episode.
Telling him that Maya is chasing a ghost, finding the Ronin, he issues a final warning to back off.
Then, Kate and Barton go to an apartment at night to retrieve the Rolex watch. This was stolen at the black-market auction from the first episode, and audiences learn it belongs to someone Barton used to “work with.”
Kate, going rouge, breaks inside and, while finding the watch, discovers that it is Maya’s apartment and that she has been taking notes on Barton and his family. Events begin to quickly unfold. Barton is attacked by a masked figure, and Kate is attacked by Maya.
This all happens in an epic showdown, with the episode ending on a huge cliffhanger when it is revealed who the masked figure fighting Barton was. (Spoiler Warning: it was Yelena Belova, Black Widow’s sister.)
Barton tells Kate that he now has to go on this mission alone and that they were never partners. With her feelings visibly hurt, the episode ends.
By far the best episode yet, “Hawkeye” has shown that it can incorporate emotion with action successfully and creatively.
While there were heavier scenes in the episode regarding the loss of Black Widow, they were balanced by the comedic events that transpired when Kate retrieved the arrows, or while she and Barton were decorating for Christmas.
The show does a fantastic job with the choreographed fight scenes. The end of the episode was the most action-packed and exciting, especially while it was happening as audiences were trying to figure out who the masked figure was.
At times, the comedic scenes can be slightly corny, leading to a decline in a character’s acting. However, it’s overshadowed by the excellence of the episode overall.
Altogether, the fourth episode of “Hawkeye” leaves audiences on the edge of their seat waiting for the next episode, especially after that cliffhanger. The anticipation for the fifth episode is extremely high.
Madison Imber is a second-year majoring in public relations. To contact her, email mbi5065@psu.edu.
