Episode six of Hawkeye from Marvel is here, streaming now on Disney Plus. It’s time for the next chapter in the MCU story. Here’s our Hawkeye review.

SPOILERS: If you’re reading this then you’ve probably seen the show, but if not there are spoilers ahead.

The series so far has featured some really strong performances from its lead actors. Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh have done their best to pick up the slack from a weak plot and desperately slow placing. Any shortcomings of this series can definitely not be blamed on them in any way.

The bad guys

We had seen the mother of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) in cahoots with Kingpin at the end of the penultimate episode. This means that Vincent D’Onofrio has fianlly made his entry in the MCU. Kate is devastated to learn that her mother is seemingly responsible for the plot to kill Clint Barton. But, as is always the way, there are unseen machinations meaning everything is not as it seems.

Kate attempts to defend her mother from Kingpin as Eleanor tries to extricate herself from the world of organised crime. But, we get a glimpse of his strength and power as he throws her around a New York toy store. Eleanor repays her daughter’s support by hitting him with her limousine, thus sparing Kate from his clutches. Kingpin is dealing with twin attacks. Echo seeks revenge for her father’s death by confronting him. She does this after killing her friend Kazi when he refuses to leave the seedy underworld they are both involved in.

Battle

All of this occurs after Eleanor’s swanky society party is ruined. Yelena is the culprit as she seeks her revenge on Hawkeye for the death of her sister, Black Widow, for which she blames Clint. He and Kate enlist the help of their new role-play friends to partially thwart her plans. However, Hawkeye, Kate and Yelena end up in a climactic fight in New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center. The famous Christmas Tree and the Ice Rink take a lifesaving role in proceedings.

Even Eleanor’s erstwhile fiancé Jack brings his swashbuckling fencing skills to proceedings. He stylishly deals with the supposed threat of The Tracksuit Mafia. He’s been a fairly perfunctory character in this series. Nonetheless, I enjoyed him being given something more to do than attempting to look suave and debonair.

As was inevitable, Yelena makes her peace with Clint. This reconciliation then paved the way for her to be part of The Avengers fold and follow in the footsteps of her late sister, Natasha. I’m particularly looking forward to the sisterly byplay between Kate and Yelena after the lovely chemistry we’ve seen in this series.

Off-screen action

Maya finally catches up with Kingpin and has him at her mercy. We hear a shot ring out but don’t see the body. It doesn’t take a Tony Stark-style genius to work out he’s almost certainly still alive. He will inevitably go on to reappear in the MCU at some point in the very near future, and I can’t wait!

Predictably, Clint makes it home for Christmas and takes Kate with him to meet his family. He sets fire to his Ronin suit but intriguingly gives his wife Laura something he retrieved, which turns out to be her S.H.I.E.L.D badge. We’ve not really explored much of Laura’s backstory to date, so her history as an agent is an exciting storyline to explore. Additionally, it opens up another avenue to keep Clint Barton in the MCU for a while longer yet.

This finale was really enjoyable and entertaining. But it simply adds to the frustration of how disappointing this series has been. If the rest of the series had even been half as good as this last episode was, then it would have been much less laborious to have watched.

Now what?

Marvel must think carefully about the balance they strike with these series. They are stuck between being a long-form way of introducing new characters into the MCU, and being something that should stand on its own merits. As it stands, these TV shows are simply there to feed the insatiable appetite that Marvel fans have for anything that features their favourite characters. While they may well have been fine up to now, with the phenomenal success of the MCU to date, they must not become complacent.

The MCU is starting to regenerate, as some of the original character’s arcs end. This needs to be mirrored in the fandom as Marvel will want to bring new generations of fans in, as some existing fans inevitably drift away. What they produce, whether on the big or small screen, must fulfil that need. While the production values of these series never drop below outstanding, the storytelling is definitely a source of concern.

Moon Knight, She-Hulk and Secret Invasion are going to be the first real tests of Phase Four of the MCU. As the novelty of having the Marvel world brought to the small screen in a dedicated way wears off, let’s hope they can meet those expectations.

CULTURE CROSSING SCORE 8/10

Thank you for reading our review of Hawkeye episode six. Do you agree or disagree with our points or have anything to add? If so, leave us a comment below.

Check out our Hawkeye episode five review HERE.

Read IMDB information about Hawkeye HERE.