HAWKEYE - SEASON FINALE - On Liking and Loving (Patreon)

Once again, I am left with a deep feeling of “all right” instead of deep satisfaction.

To analyze why, let’s go subject by subject.

The Forever Framing  - I feel like there’s so many times I encounter a likable, but flawed piece of media and it always makes me want to clarify the “mission statement” of all this. Because I don’t write criticism because I want to take them down a peg or some bullshit, nor establish the relative worth of things, nor rank things, nor even because I’m looking for agreement. The point of criticism is to engage the meaning of art in a social way, to analyze it and analyze oneself in turn, all in effort to educate and help self-educate. It is an act of sharing and helping things live on in our minds with words to go along with the feelings the art created. But within such a dynamic, it constantly frames a situation where the critic always seems like they are positioning themselves as the one who knows what is up, the ones who are somehow better than those who make the thing. This is not true. I mean, don’t make me insert the Anton ego speech, but it always applies. And there’s a deeper part of this that I want to make even more clear…

This Is Really Hard - Writing a show like Hawkeye is hard. I know people love to dismiss this stuff as fluff, but such estimations are a simplification of the fact it can just feel fluffy. But the execution of fluffy feelings is incredibly difficult. And trying to turn these popcorn stories into resonant stories is one of THE HARDEST things to do in storytelling. Seriously, I know people love to think that arthouse fare or adult-minded dramas are much more complex, but similar to what I said above, they just feel more complex. For while esoteric character pieces, slice of life dramas, and gonzo art fare don’t have the luxury of distracting whizz bang special effects, they can also coast on a more lax requirement for narrative building. Instead, they often thrive on voice and provocation while trying to mine the weird soul of the alternative self. But, essentially, one can “get by” without having to show they can do the nuts and bolts stuff that popcorn fare requires. To pull off what many would call “a dumb superhero” movie, you have to genuinely understand drama, comedy, action, and theme and be able to apply them with both economy and organic grace. Otherwise, you can end up showing your whole ass. And what continues to be tricky is that so many of the shows in the MCU have this way of splitting it down the middle. They manage to create these entertaining scenarios that are light on their feet and often working of established figures. But then come up short in these now repetitive ways. And every time, I feel like I need to give stock to all the reassurances of why we like this stuff, and yet still dig into why it so consistently, if lightly, lets some aspects down. So here we are:

Revenge of the Clunk - So one of the running themes I’ve had is that Hawkeye has been slightly dinged by having some clunky scenes, especially when it comes to set-up. The first scene of this episode between Kate’s Mom and Kingpin is a textbook example of “we need to catch the audience up so let’s just have our characters describe their relationship and everything that’s happened even though both characters know all this.” Seriously, everything about this scene is about the clunkiest version possible. It’s kind of egregious. And you have to understand that there are so many rookie-level solutions you can employ that help it feel organically. Namely you START with the conflict and then have those relevant details of their history come out AS they’re arguing. This is just genuinely one of those things where I’m like “no one said anything about this?” But again, I always prefer clunk as opposed to vague hiding, so it still does the job enough of putting the narrative where it needs to be.

Final Act, Initiate! - I talked about this a bunch in my Black Widow review, but the last act of your story is all about payoff. There’s so many pieces of media that understand the vague shape of this, but misunderstand the degree to which those final turns, impasses, and catharsis points need to be properly motivated. Without that, they just feel obligatory. For instance, the relationship between Clint and Kate has been growing really nicely, right? Particularly the “thank you” moments at episode four and the rescue in five. But right at the start of the episode we get the sudden assurance to her that “you’re my partner” and I was like “no, no, no you didn’t trigger it yet!” It’s a damn beat too soon. You can literally hear Renner not believe the words as he says them because they’re not earned yet. It’s frustrating because you can see the storytellers suddenly rushing because it’s finale time and that’s where we’re “supposed to be.” Same goes with the ending costumes and battle mechanics, where they literally say: “is it time?” / “let’s give em hell!” Because they were just WAITING to do the climax instead of part of the climax feeling like the organic and motivated conclusion to the conflict of what’s been happening. Even the fun montage of them making trick arrows doesn’t land because they wait until AFTER the scene to explain that there’s a cocktail event they’re trying to crash. It’s amazing how ALL of this sequence is an example of putting the cart before the horse. It’s just this feeling of “oh shit quick, lets have everyone be at the end of their arcs!” And I hate to think how much of this is a symptom of them just saving this stuff for the sixth episode instead of organically putting it earlier. But now it all just happens in obligatory fashion...  And it really took the wind out of my sails going into the final climaxes.

LARPers - So of all the things in the show, this is the one that absolutely never landed for me on any level. Like, talk about unmotivated. While I totally accept them letting the LARPers make them costumes, I flat out reject them actively putting them in harm’s way.  And the talk about “training”!?!?! Look, it’s one of those things that I can’t even roll along with in terms of charm because the show never knew how to make them charming, or even what it wanted from them (because it was constantly rolling their eyes at them). I know some people have alluded to the fact they’re cribbed from something in the comics, but that just informs why it feels all the more obligatory. I mean, we JUST spent all this time with Renner finally letting an ass-kicking Kate Bishop there, there’s no way he goes for these untrained folks being included based on what’s been established. None at all.

Poor Vera - So after all that, Vera Farmiga is completely wasted. Like, I’m aghast, honestly. She was part of a murderers row of talent. But she had to spend the whole show being hidden away because they didn’t know how to do a misdirect, then they revealed her complicity in a text message, then she doesn’t even get the delicious villain turn. Instead, it tries to split this weird difference where she’s bad, but she’s trying to get out because she loves Kate, but in the end still has to go to jail. Like I logically get it, but it’s such a waste of her talent. Instead of letting it play out like some big conflicted villain climax, she’s completely sidelined so that they can give all the fireworks to someone else because MCU crud. And that would be…

The Big Guy - So, I hope you watched Daredevil! Because I think it’s the only way a lot of this would have had a coherent mpact? Because holy hell is it cribbing. But to be clear, I really loved D'Onofrio in that role. He had this wonderful affectation and this big-baby-like bumbling with some thin as hell skin. Here we get to see it again, but dressed for a little more fun in his Hawaiian shirt. Don’t worry, he’s still ripping car doors and shrugging off arrows. But what I like best about his Kingpin is that he plays it with a kind of theatricality, a faux compassion where the important thing is that HE believes it, even while plotting nefarious deeds just a scene later. The MCU needs more of this kind of Villain performance. But that doesn’t mean it fully worked here. Like, does a new audience honestly get a clear enough sense of his capabilities? Did they REALLY understand the depth of his empire? And as I watch Kate Bishop have her climactic fight and get tossed around, it’s just another reminder that these two characters have never met. Turning this climax into yet another victim of the fact they hid him from the narrative until now.

Yelena  - “Stop making me like you!” / “I’m sorry I can’t help it.” It’s true, isn’t it? I saw someone posting randomly on twitter about how Yelena was a top 3 marvel character and at first I kind of chuckled, but then realized they might be right. Like, pound for pound it’s hard to think of anyone who is having this much fun and yet still mining that level of emotion? But hey, maybe it’s just recency bias because she’s new and we’ve seen what the old gang can do many times by now. Here she gets to have all those fun beats of her casually looking at sniper fire, plus the great elevator gags with Kate. But when it comes to the entire reason she was there? It was always headed somewhere that would find no true catharsis…

The Black Widow Inherited BS - In my column on Black Widow I lamented the tonally confused post-credits stinger for a number of reasons, including the fact they in introduced “a conflict with Hawkeye that we already have the solution to because we know what actually happened???” And that’s the simple rub of it. It’s why this big fight scene / conflict never had any real tension. It’s why we just have to watch Clint explain something we already know, just as we know all the ways it could have been solved with conversation earlier. From it’s very onset, it was a false conflict. Even her immediate question of “I need to know what happened,” betrays the fixated nature of how she’s come into this fight as a woman on a mission and was certain. Even worse, the emotional meaning of it all hangs on the convolution of that suicidie-competition event in the first place. There’s a reason Clint says “if i told you what happened, you’d never believe me,” and it’s because it wasn’t a believable thing. Even the he-knew-about-the-whistling retcon feels like a put-on. As much as I adore Yelena, the end of this was always never going to land hard because it inherited these couple of original sins. But I hate to think… with better framing? With an actual motivation that was stronger? The sky could have been the limit.

Step Dad Sword Guy - I’m sure I could google and find out that’s he’s so and so, but as far as bait switches go I haven to say that him helping out in the final battle (which hasn like 1000s of track suit mafia guys for some reason) did, like, nothing for me? I just don’t get what the real ending intent was here. A red herring that never fit otherwise.

The Solid Panning Hallway Fight - Okay so I wanted to single this out because it’s a great example of how this sort of action framing should be used. I know so many people love the idea and like cite the Oldboy fight as a cool shot example, but the Brechtian detachment of that shot is part of a whole commentary about waste of life and isn’t meant to be “cool” in the way a lot of bad fans seem to think it’s cool. I mean, that’s the opposite of what Chan-Wook Park is all about. Similarly, the Brechtian stagey angle can be used to make a scene play funny, often like what Wes Anderson uses. And here it’s used in that same funny way that nails the playful tone of the back and forth between Yelena and Kate. It’s not “cool,” it makes it feel like fun and games. But also notice the way they also go in for the close-up when she comically gets her face dragged across the glass for emphasis. This is solid stuff!

It’s The Little Things - There were two little things I wanted to mention. The first was that little beat of Clint coming face to face with the owl in the 30 Rock tree. It’s not just that it’s funny, it’s that it’s one of those little soft beats of breathing room that give action scenes a much needed rhythm (also, it would be funny if that giant star crushed Clint and that’s Kate accidentally murdered him). The other one is the callback to her snapping the little coin thingy to take out Kingpin. That’s the good stuff.

The Watch - So after some googling, the watch means Linda Cardellini is apparently a now retired Mockingbird, a character I know very little about! Look, I’m always happy when these characters can end up being more than “wife of ____” but it’s just more of the endless tease and lip service. Like, okay, she’s mockingbird and this was all about her watch. But she also was not really in any of this story so has it really been her story? It’s inclusion without REALLy including.

Schrodinger’s Gunshot -  What a womp womp. Man, what a terrible way to handle the end of the Maya story and to pan up from whatever choice would REALLY be satisfying. Because here’s the thing. If what happened actually happened and he was shot, then it’s a really stupid waste of Kingpin in the MCU. Like SUCH a waste. But if it somehow went another way and he’s living (especially given that we just saw him live through an arrow and explosion), then it’s just another dumb fake-out. And even worse, by avoiding the answer either way we also avoid the satisfaction of whatever Maya could have had in her arc. It all just feels like the most vague bullshit that plagues the MCU when it doesn’t know what it really wants.

The Real Good Nuggs - But look, for all these misgivings, in the end I’d put Hawkeye in the “overall it works” camp and that’s because it convincingly dramatizes two distinct notions. And not just expresses, it DRAMATIZES. The first one is a beat in Kate’s speech about how Hawkeye’s human abilities show that heroism “is for anyone.” As much convolution surrounds it, it’s real to her. It’s something that’s been storified and integrated in a meaningful way. And then the second beat comes when Clint gives a final speech in turn about appreciating “somebody who just makes you better, in every way.” Even the joke helps it land harder because we know it’s true. We’ve seen the way it’s true. And between the two, it’s enough to stick the landing of the emotions between them. Which is pretty important given that  it’s the central relationship of the show. And thus helps the show itself stick in turn.

And yet… There’s always that “and yet” with The MCU.

I’ll be honest that I’m feeling a little overwhelmed this year with the sheer deluge of MCU media that’s always been watchable, but always toeing the same kind of problems. I mean, the recently released No Way Home is the ultimate example of their interconnected charms, but leaves me more with a hollow tinge with every passing day. But it was just one of many films all slammed into a tight timeframe this fall. Black Widow had great promise but dropped the 3rd Act Ball (mostly because it dropped the 1st Act setup). I can’t write about it, but honestly the Eternals was a low energy mess. And thankfully, Shang-Chi was the most functional of the bunch. But all the while we’ve had these new TV shows that haven’t even reached those heights. While Wandavision at least got to be weird, they all felt deeply uneven. But now looking back at the television fare, I probably liked Hawkeye the most? Perhaps because it was the one that stuck to its strengths. That just tried to fire it’s proverbial arrow right down the middle and whose left its “tricks” right there on the surface of the show itself. At its best, it kept it simple. But we know the simple is always deceptively hard. And because of that, there were just all these little moments, whether clunk, or putting a cart before a catharsis horse, that prevented it from reaching the heights it could have. So Hawkeye still lands in the ranks of those other movies and TV shows… And while I liked most of them…

There were none I truly loved.

And when it comes to the MCU, that can’t keep it going forever.

<3HULK