And just like that, we’re at the end of the Hawkeye series. After 5 fun episodes, were at the finale of this shorter than normal Disney Plus, Marvel Cinematic Universe series.  We’ll be writing a full series recap, including a look at how it stacks up against the other MCU series that came out this year. But, let’s get into the season finale of Hawkeye!  Spoilers ahead!

It was Eleanor All Along!

At the end of episode 5, we learned that Eleanor (Kate’s mom) was working with Kingpin and also hired Yelena to kill Clint. We get more of that as the episode kicks off as Yelena didn’t just send a picture of them together, but actually a video of their meeting. It leaves no doubt that Eleanor is dirty. 

She’s been working with Kingpin for years, but now she wants out, since her daughter is getting close to figuring things out and she has to draw a line somewhere.  She admits to murdering Armand at the beginning of the series (everyone thought it was Jack!), but she won’t kill her daughter. Kingpin is none too pleased. We know that’s not going to end well.

Kate is heartbroken that her mom is the villain and hired Yelena to kill Clint. She tells Clint he should go home to his family, since it turns out this is her mess to clean up. But, in a scene we’ve been waiting for, he says there is no way he’s leaving his partner without finishing the whole thing. So, now even Clint recognizes that they are true partners. It’s a nice scene. 

2 Hawkeyes… and some Larpers

The 2 archers plan for a confrontation with Eleanor, possibly Kingpin, and numerous henchmen at the big holiday party Eleanor has been talking about all season. They know that Kingpin will be planning to have her killed in spectacular fashion to make an example to anyone else who might stand against him.

They are not wrong as Kazi is set up as a sniper at a neighboring building, with plans to shoot Eleanor.  The Tracksuit Mafia is gathering en masse outside the building (which is right next to Rockefeller Center).

But, our heroes have decided to enlist their Larper friends, who act as servers during the party so that when the shooting starts, they can help evacuate all the non-combatants. Of course, Yelena arrives as well, on her mission to kill Clint. 

Kazi takes his shot, but misses, leading to chaos in the party. Kate hustles her mom and the newly released from jail Jack, to the kitchen. She confronts her mom about her role in everything and then heads off to help clint. On her way, she meets Yelena near the elevators as she is planning to head down to finish her mission.

There is a fun showdown between the two, with some acrobatics and throws. But, it’s clear the two are becoming fast friends, even while they fight, which makes it that much funnier  Safe to say we will see them together again down the road. They have great chemistry. 

Eventually, everyone ends up jumping out of a window attached to rops with varying degrees of luck. Yelena easily makes it down to the street, although frustrated that she fired at and missed Clint. Kate slides down a bit less gracefully, but still makes it down about 20 stories without injury.

Clint ends up stuck in the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center until Kate knocks down the tree. Then, the two of them face off against an army of Tracksuit Mafia on the ice rink. It’s alternately hilarious (Kate meeting the Tracksuit guy she gave relationship advice to) and action-packed as they break out a bunch of trick arrows that Clint put together for the occasion. 

You also see Kate coming into her own as a full-fledged hero who is ready to take up the mantle of Hawkeye. The entire scene is a blast. 

Black Widow meets Hawkeye

We’ve known there would have to be a showdown between Yelena and Clint. There’s a lot for them to work out. They fight, but Clint obviously eases up and at one point just stops fighting back. Yelena is angry and wants to know what happened with Natasha. Clint explains that she sacrificed herself to save everyone.

And we see that Yelena really doesn’t want to kill him, but she needs to understand why Natasha is gone and work through her grief. She eventually comes to accept that Clint isn’t responsible for Natasha’s death and the two of them part ways recognizing their mutual grief.  

Kingpin Does not Mess Around

Meanwhile, Eleanor has escaped the building and is getting into a car to escape, when Kingpin rips the door off.  Kate arrives just in time, but doesn’t realize how almost invulnerable he seems to be. He knocks her around a bit, before Eleanor slams into him with the car, throwing him through the front entrance of a store.

Kate races in blocks his exit and proceeds to try and fight him. It does not go well, as you can imagine, but she keeps on going, eventually triggering a trick arrow that blows Kingpin across the store unconscious. Taking down Kingpin is no easy task, just ask Daredevil. 

Kate then confronts her mother, who pulls the ‘I did it all for you’ line before being arrested for Armand’s murder. As Clint and Kate are worked on by the paramedics, we see that Kingpin has escaped, only to be tracked down by Maya who has decided she believes Clint that her father was set up by her uncle. She pulls a gun and we hear multiple shots as the camera pans away.

Home for the Holidays

It’s Christmas Day and we see an SUV heading toward Clint’s farm. It’s Clint making it home for Christmas, but he also has some stray with him - Kate and Lucky the Pizza Dog.

We close the season with Kate and Clint burning the Ronin suit in the BBQ (Although if it was so easy to burn, how did it survive the fire in Kate’s apartment? We’ll let that one go.) and then start talking about possible superhero names for Kate. HawkEve? LadyHawk? Clint says he has an idea and fade to black.

A Few Quick Observations

Jack really was just a nice guy all along.  A pretty good swordsman too, as he cuts down numerous members of the Tracksuit Mafia as he is looking for Eleanor. He’s pretty funny and it’s nice that he didn’t turn out to be a villain. 

Maya shoots Kingpin, we assume. But having it happen offscreen leaves it open for him to return at some point. 

The Larpers are hilarious. They could have been throwaway characters from early in the show, but instead, they turn out to be integral to helping Clint and Kate succeed. They also make them some sweet purple costumes. 

Speaking of which - we finally get Hawkeye in a purple superhero costume, as a callout to the comics. No mask, but we’ll take what we can get. It was pretty cool.

One last Pym arrow joke, as Kate uses one to shrink a truck with Tracksuit Mafia boys in it. Clint isn’t sure how long the effect lasts and then an owl swoops down and picks up the truck, with the miniature Tracksuit guys screaming as it flys away.  Perfect.  LOL!

The watch that started so much of this mess? It did indeed belong to Clint’s wife and it has a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo engraved on the back. So, while we don’t know if she was Mockingbird, she was at least a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for sure. 

That’s it! What a fun series. Check out our full series wap coming soon!