As the first episode of Hawkeye begins, we’re taken to 2012 and a young Kate Bishop listens to her mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) argue with her father Derek (Brian d’Arcy James) about money. Although Eleanor wants to sell the penthouse, Derek believes everything will be okay when the market turns around. Once they hear a disturbance in Kate’s room, Derek checks on her and insists they won’t have to move. She asks what he would do during a hurricane to which he responds protect her. When Kate goes to lunch with her mother, Eleanor tries to cheer her up with a food trick. Kate returns to her room and chaos begins outside. She goes searching for her parents as rocks fall around her. She steps onto the balcony and sees Hawkeye fighting against enemies on the rooftop nearby. Her mother finds her, grabs her, and tells her they have to get out of there.
They have a funeral for her father later. Kate is worried they’ll come back, but her mother is not because the heroes showed them what would happen if they did. Eleanor insists she is the luckiest woman in the world since she has the greatest little girl in the world. Kate wants a bow and arrow. After the intro, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) tries to break into a building but instead climbs onto the rooftop. She talks to her friends on the phone while explaining it was a bet to shoot the bell nearby. She tells Greer that a bet is a bet before taking aim at the bell and shooting it with an arrow with a tennis ball on the end. Since it doesn’t do much, Kate decides to shoot it again. It wraps around the bell’s rope and the bell tower begins falling. Kate is soon stopped by a school security guard. Meanwhile, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) takes his kids to the Avengers musical. Clint isn’t impressed with the performance and turns off his hearing aid.
He tells his daughter he doesn’t need to hear it since he was there and Ant-Man was not. When a little girl waves at him, Clint decides to go to the bathroom where he is harassed by a man who wants a picture with him. Outside, Clint’s daughter tells him it is fine if he doesn’t want to watch the show because she was his best friend. They agree that the whole thing is a bit ridiculous before the other kids join them. They leave and head into the night. Eleanor calls her daughter and invites her over because Jack is visiting. She visits her mother immediately. Eleanor tells her she is going to the charity auction and jokes about the unfortunate having to depend on nonprofits and the fortunate. She complains about having to pay for the tower and has canceled her daughter’s credit card as a result. Eleanor believes her daughter thinks she is invincible because she is young and rich.
She recommends Kate start making it up to her by putting on the red dress and coming with her tonight. Then, Kate gives her mother the US Open Martial Art Championship medal she won so it can be added to the case. Eleanor says they may have to retire some to make room for the new ones. When Kate asks about the swords in the home, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) enters with a rose. She refuses to take the rose because it was in his mouth before agreeing to meet them at the motel. Meanwhile, Clint has crabs with his family. They agree to go see the massive Christmas tree down the street before Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) calls and talks to the kids briefly. Since it is only six days until Christmas, Clint and the kids make plans for those six days. The man in charge gives them their meal for free because Clint helped save the city. Kate hangs out at the charity auction party and has to tell people she isn’t a waitress.
She is approached by Armand Duquesne who asks her to wear something lady-like to the wedding because he has never looked that great in a tux. She knows nothing about the wedding between Eleanor and Jack. Armand tried to talk him out of it, but Jack and Kate believe he won the jackpot. Young Armand interrupts to say he wants to go home. Before old Armand goes, he suspects Kate needs to have a chat with her mother. Then, she approaches her mother who apologizes that she found out this way. Then, Kate goes outside and runs into a dog with one eye. She talks to the dog until it runs away. She goes back inside and hears Armand telling her mother he has powerful friends as well.
When her mother walks by, Kate asks her mother about the threat, but Eleanor doesn’t want to talk about it. Later, Kate follows Armand down to the wine cellars and Jack joins them moments later. Jack sits next to Armand as the charity auction begins. He tells Jack he is reaching his breaking point with Eleanor although Jake encourages him to leave her alone. Kate pretends to be working the event and tells another worker that Gary sent her down there. A skull sells for $2.7 million before Gary arrives and Kate has to run away from him. The auctioneer begins selling Ronin’s sword. Jack and Armand begin bidding on the item. Although Jack doesn’t have $300,000, he reminds Armand that he’ll inherit it one day. Armand wins the auction at $475,000 before they begin auctioning off the Ronin suit.
A group of Russians burst through the wall and rob the place while looking for a watch. Jack takes Ronin’s sword, retracts it, and sticks it in his pocket. The robbers say they have 90 seconds to find the watch and everything else is secondary. Kate takes Ronin’s suit and puts it on. She attacks one of the gunmen as they hold Armand and Jack at gunpoint. The other robbers begin shooting at her. Eleanor makes it outside and tries to call her daughter who doesn’t answer. Back inside, Kate fights with a few of the robbers and tries to escape. Jack approaches Eleanor and admits he doesn’t know where Kate has gone. Once Kate finally escapes, she finds the one-eyed dog attacking one of the men who has found the watch. She chases the dog as it runs into traffic and saves it from being hit by a vehicle. Kazi (Fra Fee) watches from across the street as the others yell for him to come.
Clint the kids make it back to their room where they learn about the explosion at the high society gala. Clint looks at the video footage and sees the Ronin suit. He remembers his time as Ronin. Kate takes the dog back to her apartment and wonders what is going on with Armand. She gives the dog pizza from her fridge and warns him not to destroy anything. When she leaves, she sneaks into Armand’s house only to find him dead on the floor. As she leaves, she finds herself surrounded by the robbers who say they have a surprise for her. After a brief fight, Kate manages to lock herself in a vehicle until Hawkeye arrives and finishes off the bad guys. Clint pulls her out of the car and over to the alleyway and tries to find out who she is. Kate knows him as Hawkeye though. He asks who the heck she is before the episode ends.
Hawkeye Review
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Hawkeye, but I believed there would be a lot of action scenes and fights. Although this is the first episode, it didn’t do enough to lock me in or make me interested enough to binge the second episode immediately. In fact, the opening episode was a bit dull and lackluster. Hawkeye doesn’t know what it wants to be and that caused it to transform into a clunky mess.
It doesn’t help that most viewers will likely be unable to relate to any of the characters besides the ragged dog. Kate Bishop is rich from a rich family living in a luxurious New York City apartment or condo with her parents and attending charity auctions. The premise eliminates the grittiness needed to give the city an authentic air of insecurity and the character is difficult to cheer for.
Hawkeye might be okay for a children’s show, but it doesn’t have enough spunk, realism, or grittiness to keep adults watching. The only thing that might be interesting is seeing Clint’s retirement from the world of superheroes. Again, it is the first episode so there is still time for Hawkeye to improve significantly, but my expectations are depressingly low.
The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Hawkeye will be available on Reel Mockery here.
