After the return of a superspy last week, episode 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Hawkeye dropped onto Disney Plus on Wednesday. Avenger Clint Barton is trying to save Kate Bishop from the consequences of his slaughtering New York City's criminal underworld as the masked vigilante Ronin in Avengers: Endgame, before returning to his identity as Hawkeye.
A chunk of this episode is spent with Yelena, who was among the billions Blipped away by Thanos in 2018.
PREVIOUS EPISODE
It happened after she and fellow Widow Sonya (Yssa Mei Panganiban) track down another Widow, Ana (Annie Hamilton), in their mission to release all of their "sisters" from the clandestine assassin program's brainwashing. Just as it was revealed that Ana hadn't been brainwashed and just used her skills to get stupidly rich, Yelena turned to dust.
After Yelena Blips back, Ana tells her Sonya got rich too. Since we know Yelena subsequently started working for the morally dubious Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (aka Val), it seems she decided to do the same. Smart choice.
FANTASTIC BEAST : THE SECRET OF DUMBLE DOR TRAILER REVIEW
A chunk of this episode is spent with Yelena, who was among the billions Blipped away by Thanos in 2018.
It happened after she and fellow Widow Sonya (Yssa Mei Panganiban) track down another Widow, Ana (Annie Hamilton), in their mission to release all of their "sisters" from the clandestine assassin program's brainwashing. Just as it was revealed that Ana hadn't been brainwashed and just used her skills to get stupidly rich, Yelena turned to dust.
After Yelena Blips back, Ana tells her Sonya got rich too. Since we know Yelena subsequently started working for the morally dubious Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (aka Val), it seems she decided to do the same. Smart choice.
During her heart to heart with Kate, they debate Clint's morality. Both make fair points; he's both a decent guy and a killer. However, Yelena's grief over Natasha's death and false belief that Clint is responsible has fueled her vendetta against him.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 MOVIE TRAILER
Given the survivor's guilt Clint expresses at the Avengers Assembled marker outside Grand Central Terminal, they'll likely come to some kind of understanding and maybe give Fisk a good firm kickin' in the series finale next week.
we see a restrained version of it arrive as Clint reprises his role of Ronin to finally face off with Maya. Shot at night, the scene evokes the visuals and fight style of Daredevil, with bad guys being knocked out and dragged away by a fast and seemingly invisible predator. Intentional or not, this works as a great lead-in to the Kingpin reveal, and a nod to Maya’s origins within the Daredevil comics.
Clint, of course, allows Maya to go free, because despite that darkness he’s not a monster. Their parting conversation, performed in sign language, does dive headfirst into the tropey waters of “we’re the same, you and I”, but at least briefly touches on the pair’s grief. I’d have liked a fuller exploration of how Clint’s despair following the blip helped give birth to and fuel the Ronin, but even without that depth the idea still hits some of the right notes. His one-way conversation with Natasha at the Avengers’ monument also taps into a similar vein; Clint is clearly a person who struggles to deal with loss, and he’s lost both family and friends in quick succession. These scenes reinforce that Hawkeye is about the unseen emotions underpinning the least emotive Avenger, and this episode is the most effective examination of that in the series’ run.
The Matrix Resurrections New Trailer
Their partnership seemingly repaired after Kate rescues Clint from Maya, the Hawkeyes chill out with their firefighter buddy Grills and the unnamed Pizza Dog (who'll absolutely be called "Lucky" next week).
However, Kate gets a series of texts from her new assassin pal (and boxed mac and cheese cook) Yelena, revealing that her mom, Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga), hired the Black Widow to kill Clint. She also receives a slightly blurry photo of Eleanor with a familiar man in a white suit jacket.
"Well that's the guy I've been worried about this whole time," says Clint. "Kingpin."
Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), aka the Kingpin, was the major villain of Netflix's canceled Daredevil. We last saw him being dragged off to prison in that show's finale, which took place before Thanos' genocidal Snap in Avengers: Infinity War.
MONEY HIEST SEASON 5 PART 2 REVIEW
This episode confirms that he survived the Snap. He was presumably released in the five-year period before the Avengers brought everyone back and likely used the chaos to reclaim much of his power (until Clint ruined it as Ronin).
It's unclear if Eleanor took out the contract on Clint under orders from Fisk or if she was acting alone, but the revelation that she's under the Kingpin's thumb isn't a major surprise.
Before that final scene, episode 5 was on to a good thing, but it did feel made up of two parts moving at different speeds. A huge chunk of this chapter is dedicated to Yelena’s visit to New York, and while it’s fun to see another Marvel character drop in, it felt as if she were detracting from the bigger picture. Having her directly tied to the mystery Clint and Kate have been trying to break open means all of Hawkeye’s elements are unified, proving that the focus has been arrow-sharp all the long.