‘Hawkeye’ – Season 1, Episode 6: ‘So this is Christmas?’



The thing about Christmas on the TV is that you know exactly what’s coming and that’s the whole point of it really. A journey home, family and lots of laughter and present opening in the midst of a mass of Christmas decorations and a big ol’ tree. It’s what you’re already doing with your family and if you’re not… well, you’ve got a ready made family on TV that you can feel a part of, even if it’s only until the end credits roll. That’s the way I see it anyway and I have a lot of Christmas ‘telly watching’ behind me these days 😉

Christmas TV has to run in a certain way then, it just wouldn’t be Christmas TV if it didn’t. What do you do though when your latest MCU series is due to end on the 22nd of December and you’re left with a situation where you’re trying to keep the tension buzzing, for the finale, but everyone knows that it’s Christmas and it just has to end with presents around the tree. That’s the situation that ‘Hawkeye’ finds itself in and I’m pleased to report that it manages to skate that thin line between both requirements and serve up a finale that does it all. Honestly, if you haven’t seen it yet then you’re in for a treat. I’ll tell you all about it in a sec, just the usual warning that while I’m not recapping the plot (see Tor.com or better yet, watch the episode again), I’m likely to be pretty damn spoilery over the next few hundred words, just so you know 😉 If you’re still here, let’s get going.

From where I’ve been sat, ‘Hawkeye’ has just been brilliant the whole way through and I’ll get straight to the point, the series only goes and signs off with more of the same. It was brilliant and it had everything from big fights to discussions about what it means to be a hero that didn’t come off as too earnest and overblown. There is a slightly extended runtime, this week, but you’d be forgiven for not really noticing as the pace doesn’t let up for a second. The fight on the ice rink was just superb for that by the way; so smoothly choreographed and with a great vein of humour that keeps things appropriate for Disney+ but also doesn’t take away from the fact that this fight is deadly serious. That’s not to say that everything is all ‘madcap’ though; Kingpin is surprisingly limber, for a larger gentleman, and does not hold back when fighting Kate, it is brutal and fair play to her for not giving up.

‘Hawkeye’ has been about journeys and we do get a degree of closure, on some of these, but not too much which I’ll forgive as it suggests we’ll be making the acquaintance of certain characters in the near future. I’m hoping that Hawkeye will take well earned retirement now, the ghost of Ronin has been exorcised now and his New York business has been concluded. I’m loving Kate Bishop’s character and how she has learned the hard way what being a hero entails. You can see that Kate is under no illusions about her chosen life but there’s still that irrepressible desire to do the right thing, even though she can’t fly or shoot lasers out of her hand. And that’s what being a hero is really about, just ask everyone’s favourite LARPers or Jack who really was just in the wrong place at the wrong time (and really into his swords).

It’s not just the heroes either, Yelena and Maya are in a different place now, from where they started, and both look like they’ve decided to make the most of that break from their past. They’re not quite there yet but there is definitely more story to be told, I’ve got my fingers crossed for an hour long special of Kate and Yelena just hanging out in New York but… we’ll see 😉

‘Hawkeye’ has been the most fun that I’ve had with an ‘MCU Series’ and ‘So this is Christmas’ gives it the send-off that it deserves. Family, lots of laughter and present opening in the midst of a mass of Christmas decorations and a big ol’ tree. Well, it’s Christmas telly so what did you expect? 😉

You can read my other ‘Hawkeye’ posts over Here.

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