Just like the other three finales, Hawkeye's final episode turns out to be more personal and less focused on big reveals, much to it's benefit. This is a blast of an episode, and manages to find it's footing in the midst of all of the moving parts to find a grand unifying theme of found family and shared loss. All of our major players here save Clint - Kate, Yelena, Maya, and even the LARPers to an extent - all have found their homes not in their blood relatives but in those they come to find to be family. Kate's ultimate rejection of her mother in their final moments together cements that theme and I really love how messy that is. Not every family is good, some just kind of suck and unfournately Kate's isn't really that great. As for Clint's side, his confrontation with Yelena is one of his best scenes in the entirety of the MCU, mainly for how much you really get to see Jeremy Renner showcase his acting chops. This is a tired, tired man who is sick of the fighting, and seeing him only restrain Yelena as he is nearly beaten to death is hard to watch - and it only makes their subsequent talk over the impact that Natasha had all the more impactful.
Oh, and how could I forget about Vincent D'Onofrio as our favourite crime lord himself? While certainly not here for long, he slips right back into the role like he never left, and while certainly toned down from his Daredevil days (an impossible to avoid side effect of being in a more lighthearted, family friendly show like Hawkeye), he's still the Kingpin we know and love, and his physical acting is impeccable. Especially love how beefier he is like in the comics, beefy Kingpin is best Kingpin. Excellent finale!
Review by LegionWrexBlockedParent2021-12-23T21:48:04Z
Just like the other three finales, Hawkeye's final episode turns out to be more personal and less focused on big reveals, much to it's benefit. This is a blast of an episode, and manages to find it's footing in the midst of all of the moving parts to find a grand unifying theme of found family and shared loss. All of our major players here save Clint - Kate, Yelena, Maya, and even the LARPers to an extent - all have found their homes not in their blood relatives but in those they come to find to be family. Kate's ultimate rejection of her mother in their final moments together cements that theme and I really love how messy that is. Not every family is good, some just kind of suck and unfournately Kate's isn't really that great. As for Clint's side, his confrontation with Yelena is one of his best scenes in the entirety of the MCU, mainly for how much you really get to see Jeremy Renner showcase his acting chops. This is a tired, tired man who is sick of the fighting, and seeing him only restrain Yelena as he is nearly beaten to death is hard to watch - and it only makes their subsequent talk over the impact that Natasha had all the more impactful.
Oh, and how could I forget about Vincent D'Onofrio as our favourite crime lord himself? While certainly not here for long, he slips right back into the role like he never left, and while certainly toned down from his Daredevil days (an impossible to avoid side effect of being in a more lighthearted, family friendly show like Hawkeye), he's still the Kingpin we know and love, and his physical acting is impeccable. Especially love how beefier he is like in the comics, beefy Kingpin is best Kingpin. Excellent finale!