Recap and Review of Hawkeye, Episode 6: “So, This is Christmas?”

Last week’s episode really started to bring all the parts together, as the closing scene showed us who the ultimate Big Bad of the season could be: Kingpin, the leader of all of New York City’s crime. But how will it resolve Maya’s desperate desire for revenge? And what about the contract Yelena took from Eleanor Bishop to kill Hawkeye? How exactly are this duo going to get out of all this and resolve it in one episode?

That is all on the table as we start episode 6…”So This is Christmas”

Recap of Hawkeye, Episode 6: “So, This is Christmas”

We open with Eleanor Bishop at a meeting with Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin of crime. From it, we learn that Eleanor has been working with/for Fisk since the alien invasion, paying back a massive debt he owed to Fisk. But she has kept a copy of things and is declaring herself done, because of her daughter, Kate.

We then see that we are getting to see the video as Kate and Clint watch it, and Clint knows that Fisk will not take such a move by Eleanor well. As Kate is freaking out and starting to plan for how she will deal with it, Clint reassures her, saying for the first time, “Kate, you’re my partner. Your mess is my mess.” And the two of them begin to plot out the rest of the shenanigans for the evening.

Meanwhile Maya shows up at a meeting with Kazi and Kingpin. While Maya kind of pokes at the edge around her father’s death, she never comes right out and says that she thinks Wilson had her dad killed. Instead, she suddenly asks for a chance to lie low and take a break. And even as she walks away, Fisk declares to her his love, but then tells Kazi that he needs to handle things and that the people need to be reminded that the city belongs to him.

Because meanwhile, the shenanigans that Clint and Kate are involved in include Clint being hard at work making some new trick arrows, while Kate asks questions and makes labels for them. And this plan involves the Bishop Holiday party, a big fancy deal. And when Clint gives her a chance to bail out on the plan, she responds, giving him the backstory we saw earlier in the series, when she saw Clint fighting during the Battle of New York. She declares “You should me that being a hero is for anyone who is brave enough to do what’s right no matter the cost.” And it is game on.

And from there is game on. While Kazi takes a sniper post in an effort to kill Eleanor, Kate and Clint have some assets around, most notably Team LARPers all dressed as staff people. But Jack, Eleanor’s recently framed fiancee is there as well with a sword. And outside, the Track Suit Mafia has many moving trucks loaded with their guys, just in case Kazi isn’t able to finish Eleanor off.

But to complicate matters even more, Yelena has shown up, to both carry out her contract to kill Clint but also to get revenge, as she is convinced that he killed her sister. Fighting, of course, ensues. Yazi turns out not to be a great shot, but it sets things off with Clint on the run, Team LARPers helping evacute and Yelena and Kate wind up in a slap fight in the elevator, as Kate is trying to push all the numbers to slow Yelena down. And in the midst of the fight, Kate’s new costume is revealed!

They continue their fight through an office floor, while Clint, several floors below gets into a shootout with Kazi, winning when a gas arrow flushes him out. But at that point, Yelena has secured a rope to the floor and goes out the window after Clint, firing away. She misses but when Kate follows, in more of a controlled crash than anything, they discover that the Track Suit Mafia have arrived and are sending in Wave 1 out of the moving vans.

While Clint is working out how to get down, Kate has a touching moment with the Tracksuit who she gave dating advice to before taking him out and nearly being overrun, when she is saved by her mom’s fiancee, Jack, sword in hand who is mowing down foes.

Kazi is talking trash to Clint before getting just manhandled in a fight. But when more of the Tracksuits come, Clint decides to bail out using the cable Yelena left. But it fails, crossing him over with a support of the massive tree outside, because the party was being hosted at Rockefeller Center!

The LARPers have been having some issues with moving the crowds so they do what they do best, suiting up in their fantasy gear and suddenly taking charge, clearing out the civilians, which is great because after taking out another wave of Tracksuits, Kate fires an acid arrow deep in to the tree, bringing Hawkeye to the fight when the truck of the Christmas tree dissolves and deposits itself on the ice rink beside it.

This draws all the attention you would think and it isn’t long before the titular duo are surrounded by the Tracksuit Mafia, blocking their way. But with their shiny new costumes and a bunch of trick arrows, they make quick work of the Tracksuit foes.

Eleanor eventually makes her way out a side door and Kate and Clint split, with her heading to save her mom and Clint dealing with Kazi and some more Tracksuits. But that is complicated when Yelena gets Clint back on the ice and Maya takes out the Tracksuit support Kazi had by sliding her motorcycle into him.

And two different fights and conversations happen. Maya wants Kazi to leave it all behind and come with her, claiming a new start, while Clint does his best to explain to Yelena that Natasha chose to sacrifice herself to save everyone else.

And a third fight enters, with Kate fighting Wilson Fisk himself. In the end, Kate is throughly manhandled and seems to be on the edge of defeat, when she uses the quarter trick from last week to trigger off multiple trick arrows, who had been shattered and dumped on the floor by Fisk. The total effect of those also takes out Fisk himself, knocking him unconcious.

Clint does convince Yelena of what he is saying, mainly by using the signal whistle that she and Natasha shared. It helps reinforce what he has been trying to tell her, they were friends, partners, maybe even family.

And Maya unfortunately has less luck and her fight ends when she has to stab Kazi to prevent him from hurting herself.

Kate having managed to save her mom does the even braver thing of turning her mom into the police for the murder that Eleanor framed Jack for.

And Maya seems to shoot Kingpin when he stumbles away from where Kate dropped him.

And the episode ends with Clint Barton, husband and dad, making it home for Christmas, along with 2 strays, Pizza Dog and Kate Bishop, who are both welcomed with open arms.

Thoughts on Hawkeye, Episode 6: “So, This is Christmas?“

It is impossible to love anything more than I love the ragtag group of LARPers that have become sidekicks to Kate and Clint. Plus them recruiting Jack for his sword prowess was hilarious.

It will be interesting to see what directions it takes from here in terms of a season 2. Does Kate get to adventure out more on her own, especially since it seems Hawkeye is passing on, or at least willing to share the name?

Hard to believe that is the end of Wilson Fisk. Kingpin comes back I bet. But I could be wrong.

That SHIELD watch with the 19 on it being returned to its original owner? So Laura is Agent 19, who in the comics is Clint wife, the agent who eventually becomes Mockingbird. I cannot imagine they will do much to revisit that past but it is a fun nod to the comics that she is who she is.

Swordsman aka Jack in the comics is Clint’s criminal mentor. It was fun to have him around but ultimately be a guy who is just good with a sword. Also, his little fight with Armand VII was hilarious in how he ended it. I could see them bringing back the kid as a punk trying to take over the whole enterprise.

They seem to be following the path for Maya from the comics somewhat. When she becomes Echo in the comic book, she is tied very much to heroes so it will be interesting to see if that is different somehow. Could Yelena and her form a new duo?

And finally, Marvel: thank you so much for that post-credits holiday gift. I am truly, utterly speechless and delighted beyond words. I have no ideas if those are famous Broadway people or whatever. All I know is “I can do this all day!”