Hawkeye is on a roll. This penultimate episode is delicious.
LEFTOVER NINE
A snowy, wooded landscape. Over, we hear Natasha’s voice from Black Widow tasking Yelena with curing the Widows of their mind control. 2018. Tucked in the woods, a small mansion.
Sneaking on the roof and entering are Yelena and a sidekick. Inside, they surprise Anna, another Widow. Pause, and they battle like crazy until Yelena can hold her down and hit her with the antidote. Turns out Anna wasn’t brainwashed, and all this is a chance for some exposition. Yelena has helped many Widows. “It’s hard watching them wake.” Anna asks, How is your sister? (Emphasize Yelena’s relationship to Natasha, for those not up on the latest Marvel storylines.)
Yelena steps into Anna’s powder room and splashes her face. A pixelated disintegration, and the room changes color around her. Out she comes to a different decor. Confused, she’s ready to attack. A man and child play quietly, and from the corner comes Anna. “You’re back!” (Another representation of what it felt like to return from the Blip. Wandavision did this, which I enjoyed.)
So now it’s five years later. Anna catches Yelena up on life. “I was in for five seconds and I’ve lost five years,” Yelena says. “I need to find Natasha.” A long beat as we remember that, if there’s been a Blip, Natasha is dead. The screen goes black, and the Marvel logo runs.
ONE
It’s a recap, and this is what the “previously on” chooses to remind us about: Clint lost his family in the Blip, Kate suspects Jack, Maya fought on the rooftop with Yelena, and Clint broke off his partnership with Kate.
TWO
Establish the city and Kate limping home to her mother’s. As Eleanor cleans Kate’s wounds she asks, “Is this about Clint Barton?”
THREE
In Kate’s childhood bedroom the two women reminisce about Kate’s first archery bow, this little thing hanging on her wall, and Kate’s regret . . .
FOUR
She’s not a superhero, even though she thought she could be one. Eleanor speaks thoughtfully about the winding path of who you will become. Then Kate mentions that she and Clint were investigating Armand’s murder. (Close on Eleanor’s face.) They found incriminating evidence against Jack and a shell company, Sloan, Ltd. Kate encourages her mother to look into it, and she says she will.
Kazi treats Maya, who has suction cup wounds on her upper chest from the shock web Yelena threw at her. They sign back and forth, and Maya admits that the injury hurts. Then she says, someone else fought Clint tonight, a woman. She doesn’t know who the woman was or why she was there. Stop this hunt for Ronin, Kazi signs. “I’m so close,” she responds. We kill Ronin, Kazi says, and that’s the end. Enough.
Returning for her things, Kate enters her ruined apartment. It’s creepy. A sound behind her, and she turns to see Yelena. Hi, I made macaroni and cheese, Yelena says. (This is a fascinating scene between the two women. Yelena is friendly, chatty and charming, but also threatening. Kate is mostly speechless at it all, lol.) Yelena says she’s not going to hurt Kate, yet she continues to emphasize her full name, calling her “Kate Bishop”.
Cut to Clint, beat up, walking the city. He hits an apartment buzzer: It’s Grills’. He asks if he can come up.
Back to Kate and Yelena, while she continues to eat the mac-‘n cheese. (Again, a complex scene between the women, as Yelena simultaneously speaks as a tourist and an assassin.) Boiling it down to essentials: Yelena, who has no love for Clint, is here to kill him. “My sister is gone because of him.” However, she’s been hired by somebody to do so.
SWITCH
At the end she says, “Thank you for the girls’ night out.” She drops a zip line and gracefully exits through the window.
FIVE
Back to Clint. He’s exhausted, and Grills insists he stay on the couch. Petting the dog, Clint crashes.
Daytime in the city. Kate rides the elevator to her mother’s penthouse, arriving in time to see Jack arrested. Eleanor hugs her, saying she investigated him as her daughter recommended. Jack, cavalier as he’s led out, says he’s obviously been framed. A beat holds on Eleanor’s face.
Somewhere in the city, Clint stands before a plaque that commemorates the Avengers who battled for New York. (His name and Natasha’s are included in the list.) He takes out his hearing aid and speaks aloud to Natasha. He lauds her and chastises her for dying “for a stupid orange rock”. Struggling not to cry, Clint says he’s replayed her final moment a million times in his head. “I miss you.” And he’s sorry for what he’s about to do. Raising his hoodie, he moves out.
SIX
Lying in her childhood bed, Kate sits up into focus (weird shot) and examines all the trophies and medals in the room. There’s that baby bow on the wall, an image that holds for a beat.
SEVEN
Picking up her phone, Kate starts calling Clint. She leaves multiple messages until his mailbox is full.
A Tracksuit Mafia truck drives the city street. Two of the men chat in the cab as they drive. An arrow through the windshield stops them. Like a cartoon, part of the arrow shaft swings open to reveal a rolled paper message. Ronin would like Maya to meet him tonight.
EIGHT
A hooded Clint at night arrives at the NYC Gym. He phones his wife, and we see Laura at home with Christmas all around her. The problem keeps getting bigger, Clint tells her. Maya has the watch, and someone has hired a Black Widow. Laura can’t believe the family might be in danger, they’ve been so careful. It’s not enough, Clint says. If I don’t end this tonight the “big guy” will get involved. Again, Laura is supportive. “I trust your judgment.” Clint takes the Ronin suit from the gym locker.
Maya waits at night in the car lot. (“Fat Man Used Cars,” if you needed the Easter egg.) Hiding around the lot are Tracksuit goons, and Kazi is up high with a sniper rifle. The Ronin sword appears at his neck, and he’s knocked unconscious. Then, one by one, the Tracksuiters are taken out. Only Maya’s left. Pistol out, she fires at a shadow and empties her magazine. Out comes Ronin in full mask. Throwing the empty mag at him, Maya attacks. They fight until Ronin hits her bad leg. She’s down and vulnerable. Ronin approaches, then unmasks and reveals his face. Now they can sign. He’s shown her his identity so she knows that if she comes after his family it’s the “last thing you do.” We’re the same, he says. We’re weapons filled with rage who can be used. She denies their similarity. He says, I was there that night, tipped off by an informant who worked for your boss. (He clearly and vehemently spells “boss” at her when she doubts him.) Someone wanted your father dead, he says. At that, she attacks, and she has the upper hand. Out of nowhere an arrow knocks the Ronin sword from Maya. It’s Kate, rescuing Clint and breaking up their confrontation.
NINE
Just after that, Maya meets with Kazi. Relieved she’s safe, he hugs her. Did you kill him? He got away, Maya answers. She immediately transitions to questions about her father’s death: Why weren’t you at the meeting that night? You were in town. You were his Number Two. (Clint has planted a doubt, obviously.) As she drives away on her motorcycle we see Kazi, puzzled (or nervous?). Hilariously, he wears a red velour track suit under his coat.
Back to Clint and Kate right after the Maya battle. Kate has an Uber standing by. During the ride Kate asks if he remembers the girl from last night. “I spoke to her. She said she’s Natasha’s sister.” Long beat on Clint before he says, “Yelena.” A lot is conveyed during that beat.
Daytime, and Yelena follows Eleanor home. Cut to Grills’ as Kate and Clint eat and laugh with him and the dog. The phone buzzes. We see Kate’s face first before we see the text stream. “Kate Bishop. I found out who hired me. Eleanor Bishop. Thought you would like to know.” Yelena’s also sent a photo, which Kate shows to Clint. “Who’s that in the picture?” Clint answers, “The guy I’ve been worried about. Kingpin.”
Roll credits with the “Grinch” song playing over.
CRITICAL NOTES
Of course, this episode is structurally sound. Look at that baby bow Three/Six mirror! We have a perfect mix of excitement and information drops throughout the plot. Beautiful.
My only — curiosity? — is the Switch. I can see it, and it’s very interesting. Kate at the Four appears to have a connection. She and Yelena have a magnificent scene. Actually, though, they haven’t connected at all. Yelena will kill without remorse if that’s what her job entails. Would she kill Clint without being hired? The implication is “yes”. Clint at the Five, though, does connect with this fairly random person, Grills. Here is a human who is kind and has Clint’s back. The “team” aspect of the Five is deployed in an unusual way. No Team at the Four, even though the women have an intriguing camaraderie. A “girl’s night”, as it’s called. Team at the Five, even though the relationship is very casual and tentative. I like it, but it’s unconventional. The love between Clint and Natasha is also deployed at the Five. This is a Team that no longer exists. It’s an interesting heart-tug. We want a team at the Five, and instead we get a hole. Salute to the writers, showrunners, and cast.
And that Nine. Ho-lee cow. I had some suspicions about Eleanor, but that reveal of her as Yelena’s employer is the kind of bang I want in my entertainment. Reeled out so perfectly, they hooked me and I love it.