We seem to have reached the end of this first season of Hawkeye remarkably quickly, with its final episode, ‘So This is Christmas’. This probably reflects on how brilliant the show has been, and why the series has been so well received. It may even be the best of the bunch that Marvel has produced so far. *Warning! Spoilers ahead!*
This year has seen Marvel deliver again and again some excellent projects including Wandavision, Loki, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, The Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. While some of these are carryovers from the previous year and that in normal circumstances, we wouldn’t have had such a bumper crop all in one calendar year, it is a lot of great content! but who’s complaining? For Hawkeye to hold its own amongst all these is impressive.
What we get this week is a conclusion to many of the mysteries that they’ve set up so far in this series. This includes following up on the revelation that Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) is working with Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) and how Maya (Alaqua Cox) will evolve out of her criminal lifestyle. Connected to the first of these, we also see Yelena (Florence Pugh) examine her relationship with Clint (Jeremy Renner) and come to a conclusion.
At the centre of this episode though, once again, is the relationship between Clint and Kate (Hailee Steinfeld). They have successfully evolved this relationship as the episodes have gone on into a layered and interesting one, which feels natural and well developed. There continues to be great chemistry between the two which has meant that at this point, they are able to deliver a finale which could quite possibly be perfect. If there is a flaw here, it is one of accountability, whether that is where Eleanor, Jack (Tony Dalton) or Clint is concerned. While Kate firmly believes that Eleanor needs to face the consequences for her decisions, despite her claims that she was forced into it after Inheriting her husbands debt, there is little commentary on Clint being brought to judgement over his actions whilst being Ronin. As for what the authorities really think about Jack swinging a sword around outside the building too, we don’t get a clue there and it all seems to get brushed under the carpet.
Like last week one of the great joys was the combination between Kate and Yelena, who have such fantastic chemistry that hopefully they get paired up again either in another series or in the films. If the future of the MCU involves these two at its forefront, we know everything is in good hands. Similarly, Kate facing off against Kingpin was an unexpected pleasure and one that shows she isn’t afraid to put herself in danger or take on great challenges. Obviously, near the end of the episode Maya possibly kills kingpin and we won’t see him again, but the likelihood is that he will survive and return in some form. He is too much of a recurring character in the comics to be killed off too readily.
At its core, ‘So This is Christmas’ is a mixture between serious action, emotional drama, and a large dose of humour. All of these elements fit perfectly together and it unfolds seamlessly. Out of all of the series that Marvel have made so far, this may well be the best of them all except for maybe Wandavision. Even with that comparison it would be a very close call. What they also do brilliantly here is set up the next period of the MCU, but do so in a way that doesn’t make this finale just a stepping stone towards that goal. The whole narrative here serves this show primarily and wraps up this story whilst also achieving that introduction to the next phase as a secondary objective, cleverly and clearly. All the shows so far have been impressive, but if Hawkeye indicates how the next batch will work, it really shows that the future is bright and we look forward to what is next.