Not the character reveal we expected, but an exciting one all the same
One question I’m dying to have answered is if Clint will ever make it home in time for Christmas. I can’t be the only one whose heart aches seeing the dejected look on his kids’ faces whenever they’re told he won’t be home for one more day. The memory of those sad puppy dog eyes was almost enough to wipe off my grin from seeing Kate turn on the TV via coin-flip. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Here’s this week’s recap of Hawkeye’s 4th episode: Partners, am I right?
(Spoilers ahead)
Picking up immediately where we left off last week, the episode begins with Jack holding the Ronin sword to Clint’s neck. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see a throw-down between the two (something tells me it’s coming soon) as Kate and Eleanor interrupt.
Kate proceeds to begrudgingly explain the “case” she’s on with Clint and why she tried to hack into the Bishop Security Mainframe with Eleanor’s laptop. After slowly coming to terms with the fact her daughter is helping Hawkeye with a “non-avenger level threat”, Eleanor abruptly asks to see him to the door. This provides Clint with the perfect cover to swipe the Ronin sword. But, not before Eleanor pulls a manipulative card out of her hat, and tries to guilt-trip him into staying away from Kate (gasp).
When alone with her mother, Kate once again attempts to voice out her skepticism of Jack. But, in true Eleanor-fashion, she dismisses her and asks that Kate give him a chance. In a shocking turn of events, we later see Kate hold back a smile as she watches Jack’s silly and goofy attempts to serenade her mother. And for a brief moment, they all banter back and forth like they’re in a Hallmark movie.
Fortunately, neither Tracksuit Mafia members nor motherly threats can keep Kate away from her mentor. She is determined to make Clint feel better about being away from his family and shows up at their temporary hideout (her aunt’s apartment) with bags filled with old Christmas movies, sweaters, and tree decorations.
Marvel promised a feel-good, Christmas tv-show in late November, and that’s what we’re getting. After Clint informs Kate about Jack’s involvement with Sloan LTD — a shell company that launders money for the Tracksuits, which he is the CEO of, Kate and Clint begin to strategize how to take him down. While doing so, we are treated to multiple scenes of them in matching sweaters, clinking mugs of colorful slushies, and decorating a small Christmas tree — all the things he used to do with his kids.
But, the merriment deflates as Clint recalls his first time meeting Natasha. The harrowing recollection leads Kate to figure out his secret, and forces Clint to come clean about being Ronin. Kate doesn’t seem fazed by this and instead tells him he was a hero, but Clint refutes, stating he was simply a weapon aimed at the right people.
The next day, Clint assigns Kate the task of retrieving his trick arrows, while he sets out to have a strong-worded “chat” with Kazi about Echo. Clint believes that Echo’s obsession with finding Ronin is a detriment to both him and the Tracksuit Mafia, to which Kazi does not refute. Clint advises him to convince her to back away before things get too messy for everyone.
Next, Kate and Clint are staking out an apartment from the rooftop of a building right across. Clint vaguely explains that they’re there to retrieve a mysterious watch stolen from the Avengers compound and later turned up at the black-market auction from Episode 1: Never meet your heroes.
However, before Clint has completed his assessment of the building, Kate takes off, armed with her bow and a bag full of trick arrows. She insists on handling the operation herself and Clint has no choice but to let her.
As he guides her into the building and around the apartment in search of the watch (a Rolex), she barely places it in her pocket before getting attacked by Echo, who as it turns out, is the owner of the apartment. Caught off guard, Kate asks Clint why he didn’t warn her in time. But, Clint says he did, and he’s currently battling with Echo on the rooftop. However, that couldn’t have been right, because Kate was looking at Echo right that second. This confuses them.
With Clint’s help, Kate uses her bow to zip-line over to him. Echo runs across and joins them, initiating dual combat. Out of nowhere, the hooded figure stuns Echo with her black widow’s bite (enhanced stun batons). She moves over to Kate next and throws her off the rooftop, leaving Clint scrambling to save her, and barely grabbing hold of the grapple on her belt buckle. Just as Kate dangles over the side of the building, Clint’s internal conflict reaches its climax (and so does the show).
Clint has always gone against his better judgment in exposing Kate to his past. At that moment, he sees how his choices almost cost her life. So, he cuts the cord and lets her fall against the support of Christmas lights hanging below, allowing them cushion her fall to the ground. But Kate is too stubborn to leave and rushes back to the rooftop. When she finds the right opportunity to shoot a sonic arrow, she takes it, throwing both Echo and the hooded figure back against a wall.
Kate then proceeds to shoot Echo between her shoulder blades, which surprisingly sends her running (she might be back with her Uncle). However, the biggest surprise comes when Clint unmasks the hooded figure to reveal none other than Yelena, Natasha’s sister, who Kate lets escape while Clint is distracted.
In the aftermath of Yelena’s escape, Kate asks questions Clint doesn’t want her knowing answers to. He thinks it’s too dangerous. But, Kate pushes and they have a falling out, where Clint declares that she isn’t his partner and never was. His final words to her as the screen fades to black are:
“Go home, Kate. It’s over.”
My absolute favorite scene was hands-down the fight on the rooftop, but that scene where Clint calls Kazi a door-man, destined to serve a revolving door of bosses without ever becoming one himself comes in a close second. And how cool was that coin flip?!
