The first thing I noticed was that this clocked in at 62 minutes with credits, about 15 minutes longer than most of the other episodes. So we are getting a super-sized episode.
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains slight spoilers for Hawkeye Episode 6! Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- Eleanor killed Armand and also hired Yelena to kill Clint
- Maya apparently shot Kingpin and killed Kazi
- Kate has been welcomed into the Barton family
- The Ronin persona has officially beenput to rest
- Laura does indeed seem to be Mockingbird
- Jack is on his way to be Swordsman/Swordmaster
The episode begins with Eleanor meeting with Wilson Fisk himself. She is breaking off whatever deal she had in place with him. Fisk warns Eleanor about what she is doing. Kate sees this clip via her phone and realizes Eleanor is the one who hired Yelena to kill Clint.
Maya also meets with Fisk to tell him she’s ending her quest for vengeance. After she leaves, Fisk sternly tells Kazi that so many people they care about have now turned against them. He states that it is time to remind these people that he owns the city.
Clint and Kate prepare for their mission by building a slew of trick arrows. Unbeknownst to Kate, one of the “Too Dangerous” arrowheads falls off the bench.
Later, Clint and Kate attend a holiday party thrown by Eleanor. Clint scouts the room while Kate moves her mother away from the party to confront her about her dealings with Fisk. Eleanor pleads to Kate that she did not know of her husband’s mob connections until after he died.
Meanwhile, Kazi assembles a sniper rifle and tries to kill Eleanor. He then notices Clint and Kate are also there and begins shooting at them as well. Jack grabs a sword to fight while the LARP friends get into positions. Kate spies Yelena at the party and chases her down to prevent her from killing Clint. Clint tracks down Kazi and knocks him out. He escapes the Tracksuit Mafia by jumping out the window and landing in a giant Christmas tree.
Kate frees Clint by knocking over the giant tree. The two then take out much of the Mafia with trick arrows. Kate then runs off to find Eleanor. Kazi and Yelena reappear but Maya shows up and has a showdown with Kazi, leaving Clint alone with Yelena.
Kingpin himself appears to take Eleanor away. Kate tries to stop him, only to be manhandled by Fisk. She is able to subdue him by triggering a bunch of trick arrow explosions. Eleanor tries to convince Kate that they can escape and get life back to normal. Kate refuses, stating that it has never been normal. Police then arrive to arrest Eleanor for Armand’s murder.
Yelena beats up Clint and refuses to believe his please that Natasha sacrificed herself to save the world. It is only when Clint whistles a secret whistle and explains how much Natasha talked about her that she finally breaks down.
Kingpin manages to escape the police and tries to leave the scene. He is met by Maya, who seemingly guns him down on the spot. But we all know what happens when people die in comics.
With the bad guys beaten and/or arrested, Clint and Kate arrive at Clint’s home. The Barton family eagerly welcomes Kate into the household. Clint finally returns Laura’s Rolex watch to her, which also has a SHIELD logo on the back of it with a “19” engraved. Kate helps Clint finally burn the Ronin suit as she speculates on names to call herself. One of which is “Lady Hawk”…
In the now obligatory mid-credits scene, a full-fledged production of the Rogers musical.
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- Surely Kingpin isn’t dead?
- What will become of Val since she told Yelena Clint was responsible for Natasha’s death in the first place?
- What the heck was up with the missing arrowhead? We never got a payoff to that scene.
- Will we see more of Jack as Swordsman/Swordmaster?
- Will we see Laura as Mockingbird?
OVERALL GRADE: A
This finale wound up everything well, though there are a few loose ends that could be explored if there is a second season. I was wrong in my prediction of a Hawkeye public “death”, but there is more than enough reason for Clint to retire since Kate and Yelena can become the new Hawkeye and Black Widow respectively.
We know Maya is getting her own series in Echo. Whether Fisk returns for that remains to be seen. It seems unlikely that Vincent D’Onofrio would be hired simply to get killed off in a single episode. I’m sure that will rub a few fans the wrong way.
COMIC REFERENCES
- In the comics, Swordsman/Swordmaster’s name is Jacques Duquesne. He was introduced as a villain but then turned into a hero, much like Jack did in this series.
- Mockingbird has been referred to as SHIELD Agent #19 though her real name in the comics is Bobbie Morse. Adrianne Palicki portrayed Bobbi in Agents of SHIELD but that character was never referred to by the name Mockingbird or Agent 19.
- Kazi has the alter ego name of “Clown” in the comics.
- The subplot of Kingpin ordering the murder of Maya’s father is taken from issues of Daredevil. Her shooting Kingpin was in the finale of that story. Kingpin survived the shooting, but it rendered him blind.