Hawkeye: Partners, Am I Right?
December 8, 2021 6:27 AM - Season 1, Episode 4 - Subscribe

Clint begins to open up to Kate, and tries to retrieve items related to his past. Meanwhile, yet another shadowy figure gets thrown into the fray.
posted by 1970s Antihero (49 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
this show's continuing retcon with Clint's family with Laura as his sort-of Oracle continues to please me (backdoor Mockingbird?). But also I mentioned before how I noticed, with the show wanting to take on so much of the flavour from the 2012 comics run, that in order to cohere with the Ultimates-flavoured MCU!Clint that it was given, Kate pretty much had to be the Fraction/Aja!Clint, and I think by this episode it's pretty conclusive to me. In some ways it does make the dynamic more cliched because it's that flip (where Kate is more together) that made that Kate and Clint more interesting, imo. In any case, it's a bit of a setup episode for the plot so I don't have much to say other than, haaaa yay, Yelena. In character work though this show is working pretty hard to retroactively make Clint interesting, it seems like, which amuses me. I'm also exhausted from rl stuff the last couple of days, so was it me or could that last action sequence on the rooftop have been tightened up a bit in speed?
posted by cendawanita at 7:30 AM on December 8, 2021


In character work though this show is working pretty hard to retroactively make Clint interesting

I've seen this sentient before, that Hawkeye the character was uninteresting prior to this series and am wondering what people mean, as I don't see it.

The character always came off as interesting because of his obvious skills, being on the Avengers, and friendship with Nat.

Otherwise, my current "owner of the watch" theory is that it it belongs to his wife who is a substitute for Mockingbird and possibly IS Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird with a name change. She seems waaaay too in the know about being a spy to just be "casual" wife.

Finally, the episode was itself was quite good character wise, but disappointingly seems to be giving Hawkear a free pass on his Ronin days via Kate. She's now aware that it was him, yet still insists in seeing him as a hero and that Ronin was protecting people. Hopefully her eyes will open a bit and she'll ask some questions about how or why he could do that.

But since the show made a point of noting that Ronin investigated people (presumably to be sure they were bad) before slaughtering them, I doubt we'll get that.

Where were my bros this episode, I missed their antics.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:44 AM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


I still have no idea whose Rolex they're chasing after. The first answer would be "Tony" but that doesn't make a ton of sense.

Also based on my comics knowledge I expected there to be some spark of recognition in the opening scene, but nothing.

The "I can turn on the TV with a quarter" scene and the Clint/Kate bonding was good. Curious to know what the LARPer costume looks like. I BET IT HAS POCKETS.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:11 PM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


I have a friend who said he didn't like Kate because she kept making terrible decisions. And I said, yeah, that's kind of the point of her character. She's a 22-year-old rich girl who has a lot entitlement while still seeming a bit ... sheltered? She has no clear concept how the world works for everyone else. She's basically gotten everything she's wanted and she's good at everything she wants to be good at. Of course she's going to not make the best decisions! That's why she's fun!

I do think Hailee Steinfeld found the right tone for Kate -- she's spoiled and used to having her way but there's also a sweetness and naivete there. She is genuinely kind and wants to do the right thing.

I agree the bonding with Clint was great. Certainly, she sees him as a sort of substitute father figure as her mentor but I think she also realized he's away from his family and she wanted to give him something to make up for that. And I also think she's maybe slightly envious that his family seems like the one she didn't get to have (I think she wants her mom to be happy but ...). So there was a lot of great character work going on there.

And yay, Yelena! Finally! We better get way more of her in the next two episodes because as much as I didn't love the Black Widow movie overall (it was fine! The spy family drama stuff was good. All the rest ...), I loved Florence Pugh's Yelena.
posted by edencosmic at 1:01 PM on December 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


I liked the "Trust a Bro" van in the background. I'd hire 'em.
posted by rewil at 1:04 PM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


I am really enjoying this show, even if I wasn't looking forward to it like the others. (I was excited for WandaVision and it exceeded expectations; I was excited for Loki and it was meh.) And, yeah, a lot of it is because I didn't expect to like Clint as much as I do, or think that him working with a partner like Kate would be something I'd be into. But all that works. And the villains work and it's at Christmas and there's a dog. All great.

But the biggest reason I love this show is that it's low stakes. It's not the end of the world. It's not the multiverse. It's not global politics. It's not zombies. It's just a gang of thugs with some rich mafia types bankrolling it all. Hey, it might even big Kingpin! I just am over the World Is Doomed and the Universe is Doomed scenarios. A little action show with some trick arrows and car chases and black market merch is just what I want in the MCU.
posted by crossoverman at 4:07 PM on December 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


Note: there was a book in Maya's apartment that was next to the Rolex. It was titled something about holistic healing, no idea if it means anything, but seemed a bit to obvious placed near the watch.

Also, I wonder what kind of Rolex that was, i.e. was it male or female?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:38 PM on December 8, 2021


Also, I wonder what kind of Rolex that was, i.e. was it male or female?

My money's on male, it looks like the Oyster Perpetual Datejust but definitely not like the "Lady Datejust" (see bottom of linked page). Of course, that may not matter, a woman could own a man's watch.
posted by axiom at 5:11 PM on December 8, 2021


Hey wasn't there a fancy watch in one of those Wandavision commercials?
posted by emjaybee at 6:07 PM on December 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


The only other important watch I can think of is Banner's from the Ed Norton Hulk movie, used to help monitor/regulate his transformations. That's not really a good fit for where Banner is at this point though. One of my friends postulated that it's Peter Parker's watch that Stark gave him, with this show happening chronologically after No Way Home, however that is going to shake out. Clint definitely mentioned a cover being blown, but the watch came from Avengers HQ and who there even has a secret ID anymore?

I did love Clint quietly stealing his sword back.
posted by Karmakaze at 7:32 PM on December 8, 2021


I've seen this sentiment before, that Hawkeye the character was uninteresting prior to this series and am wondering what people mean, as I don't see it.

The thing with Clint in the MCU till just before this show imo is that his character setup was hobbled and then stunted, because basically no one really knows what to do with him outside of Joss Whedon. A significant part of this is also (textually supported by interviews) Whedon's disinterest in playing a storytelling round robin with the rest of the players, which when combined by the tonally out-of-the-left-field Clint that he set up in the MCU often left him feeling like the odd man out in their usual configurations and he doesn't have much story outside of the Whedon Avengers ones (and even in those, his big introduction was as a villain puppet so he had even less to do with all the airtime he got, most of the character work being crammed once Natasha slammed his head back online). So if for me, that's 'uninteresting'. See how much he gets safely placed aside in the big team-ups, relegated like Bucky Barnes in his own sequel movie, i.e. Civil War (except even Bucky had his own feature). Heck, even the Black Widow movie they talked around him. So this show is doing a lot of heavy lifting retroactively filling in all that colour.

(Black Widow is an interesting comparison point as well. Her IM2 feature was quite one-note and she too would've remained uninteresting to me if not for TWS)
posted by cendawanita at 7:42 PM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


This show is awfully fun.
posted by medusa at 8:30 PM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


The comic book origins of the boomerang arrow discussion.
posted by sardonyx at 8:45 PM on December 8, 2021


- My money is on the Rolex being Tony's. There was something about the watch being able to get people in somewhere, and Tony putting something like that in an expensive watch and then just kind of forgetting about it sounds like a total Tony move. (If that seems improbable, remember that Rhodey got his suit because Tony built out a working Iron Man suit and then just left it in the Ironcave with the equivalent of the keys in the ignition.)

- The character always came off as interesting because of his obvious skills, being on the Avengers, and friendship with Nat.

Er... kinda? At least Nat had her infiltration of Stark [whatever the second part is or was, it kept getting switched up in the comics]; Hawkeye got introduced via drawing down on depowered Thor. We knew that they did some nasty sneaky covert ops stuff before the Avengers formed; this ep places another puzzle piece WRT that past relationship. There are also some bits in the dream/flashback scene that might give some more clues as to his past life.

- Really interested in Laura Barton's whole thing now. How old is his oldest kid?

- Speaking of puzzle pieces, I'm hoping that we end up with at least a little hint of what Yelena's deal with La Contessa is, and why de Fontaine is sending her against Clint. It isn't necessarily to bump off Clint...

- Bombshell, huh? Enough material to make everyone costumes?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:01 PM on December 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Bombshell, huh? Enough material to make everyone costumes?

OMG if the LARPers all get to join the gang it will be fantastic.
posted by medusa at 9:12 PM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


> I did love Clint quietly stealing his sword back.

Even though it's possibly a recent murder weapon?
posted by Pronoiac at 10:24 PM on December 8, 2021


20-year-LARPer commentary: okay, people getting together a few days before Christmas for a small practice session is totally realistic. People would have that time off. I have seen this sort of thing done. You'd probably want someplace a little more private so you avoid exactly the situation we see of people walking up to interrupt, but I imagine that could be hard to find in NYC.

But here's my real thing: At first, I eyerolled at the LARPers being cops & firefighters, because it felt like "oh god of course we have to do the police respectability thing" ...except, in both appearances, we've seen a whole bunch of casual corruption going on. Like, firefighter dude literally stole from Kate's apartment, and then yeah maybe Kate was being snarky about stealing evidence but that's also exactly what the larpers agreed to do?

I feel like the larpers are being deliberately portrayed in a sympathetic light, except wow, it also feels like some sneaky commentary about corruption being slipped in? Or am I seeing intent that isn't there?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:44 PM on December 8, 2021 [4 favorites]


I hated how when Kate approaches the LARPers for the first time, they basically have her treat them like huge nerds and dorks. Like, yeah, we get it -- LARPers traditionally have been at the very bottom of the nerd hierarchy, bigger losers that even the DnD kids cause at least they stay in mom's basement hardy har har....but it was just unnecessary. This is a freaking Marvel TV show, she's a rich kid walking around with a huge bow, and she still gets to eyeroll at them and be all "Wow, you guys are..dedicated, huh...."

I was glad that they eventually cut to Kate enjoying the costumes and chilling with the LARPers (though I was also a bit eyerolly at there being cops among them. All the LARPers I know would....not hang out with cops) but still, the first bit was unnecessary lazy lulz trolling.

The watch: Didn't Clint say something about the person's personality being attached to it or something? And that they'd been outta the game for a long time? Sounds like a Tony / Jarvis thing to me.

Also, we of course see Kate's Dad in the first episode, but we don't actually see him die or see a body. So I'm still waiting on him to show up again as a baddie, right?
posted by lazaruslong at 11:58 PM on December 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Bombshell, huh? Enough material to make everyone costumes?

That's the Bombshell I'm familiar with and thought it was a weird callout. But there was a Bombshell back in the 80s Hawkeye comics as well. I wonder if it's a throwaway line or building to something.
posted by Gary at 12:23 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Clint also said the person connected to the watch was still alive, so no Tony.
posted by Pendragon at 3:17 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Ahhh damn, okay
posted by lazaruslong at 3:43 AM on December 9, 2021


Prediction: the watch belongs to Laura Barton. Maybe he wore it as Ronin as a reminder of the family he lost.
posted by redyaky at 8:18 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Like, yeah, we get it -- LARPers traditionally have been at the very bottom of the nerd hierarchy, bigger losers that even the DnD kids cause at least they stay in mom's basement hardy har har....but it was just unnecessary.

This is an entirely predictable but still unfortunate choice by the creators here.
The truth is, LARPers get a better laugh at ourselves than anyone on the outside. We are fully aware of how ridiculous everything is. We're in on the joke. We're the ones MAKING the joke.

The group trying to straight-face their way through Kate is the wrong choice. A more likely thing is to eyeroll and sigh and try to satisfy her curiosity & shoo her away as fast as possible. She's probably the fifth rando to walk up to them that morning. Only the fact that she has an agenda other than "Ooh, what are you guys doing, haha?" makes her different.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:03 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Prediction: the watch belongs to Laura Barton. Maybe he wore it as Ronin as a reminder of the family he lost.

But how would the watch expose Laura Barton ?
posted by Pendragon at 10:14 AM on December 9, 2021


As much as I'm a Clint+Bobbi fan, I don't want Laura to be Bobbi, only because that means Agents of SHIELD is firmly and officially out of continuity, and while that show had issues, I think it deserves the place it carved out for itself in the MCU.
posted by sardonyx at 11:08 AM on December 9, 2021 [5 favorites]


Counterpoint: maybe in the MCU, there was a Mockingbird program that was a rough parallel to the Black Widow program, obviously (...or?) with less involuntary hysterectomies and probably with less mind control.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:13 AM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


But how would the watch expose Laura Barton ?

Possibly pointing out she was spy and/or worked for SHIELD in some way. We know absolutely nothing about her, other than she's very well versed in what spylike stuff.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the watch pointing to Clint being Ronin, which would be a very bad look and get him the attention he doesn't want.

Check back in a few moods and I'll be thinking something different.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:06 PM on December 9, 2021


At the moment, I'm leaning towards the watch pointing to Clint being Ronin, which would be a very bad look and get him the attention he doesn't want.

Yes, but he's talking to Kate about the watch exposing someone and she already knows about Clint being Ronin. In that case, why not tell Kate the watch exposes him ? Also, Laura didn't seem to indicate that the watch has anything to do with Ronin.

I'm stumped as who it could be. Does it have to be someone we have already seen in the MCU ?
posted by Pendragon at 12:47 PM on December 9, 2021


Yes, but he's talking to Kate about the watch exposing someone and she already knows about Clint being Ronin. In that case, why not tell Kate the watch exposes him ? Also, Laura didn't seem to indicate that the watch has anything to do with Ronin.

Hawkear is still pretty secretive, so I wouldn't expect him to tell all secrets at this point. Plus the watch being his or outing him makes a bit more sense about why it would be at the compound. Why would a watch outing Laura be there?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:15 PM on December 9, 2021


Yes, but Clint being Ronin isn't a secret to Kate anymore. But I guess we will just have to keep watching, just like Disney wants :-)
posted by Pendragon at 1:30 PM on December 9, 2021


Bigger question is how did the Track Suit Mafia know about the watch and what was their plan for it?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:55 PM on December 9, 2021 [2 favorites]


OMG if the LARPers all get to join the gang it will be fantastic.

If this happens, making this LARPer group all cops and firefighters makes a lot more sense.
posted by crossoverman at 2:06 PM on December 9, 2021


sardonyx: "As much as I'm a Clint+Bobbi fan, I don't want Laura to be Bobbi, only because that means Agents of SHIELD is firmly and officially out of continuity,"

Laura could be Mockingbird without making us lose Bobbi, who never used the name 'Mockingbird' in AoS.
posted by signal at 3:06 PM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


Before your comment, signal, I could have sworn we heard the code name Mockingbird, in reference to Bobbi, but now you've got me doubting that. Since my mind is more sieve than steel trap, for those kinds of TV facts, I'll have to take your word on it.
posted by sardonyx at 4:04 PM on December 9, 2021


I think it was mentioned once or twice, in the beginning, and never again.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:06 PM on December 9, 2021


It *would* delight me, as someone who has no real opinions about Clint + Bobbie, if Whedon's housewife/civilian cliché is retconned into a character whose entire intent isn't meant to just be siloed for Clint to feel 'normal'. Mockingbird? Sure, why not!

I wonder if the watch is a self-contained macguffin or will tee off the next batch of either the multiverse or skrulls arc. In-verse, is Fury still officially dead? MCU!Spidey canon annoys me too much whenever i try to square it, so I'm not sure if the Skrulls standing in for him and Maria Hill meant he's officially alive but in secret or whatever nonsense.
posted by cendawanita at 7:10 PM on December 9, 2021


Fury was actually my first thought, and then something related to Tony or Jarvis or maybe Friday the second. But wasn't Fury known to be alive in Far from Home? I mean, that was a fake Fury, but nobody was amazed to see him alive. Maybe his above-ground state is only meant to be known to the Avengers and Avenger-adjacent? Not sure how a watch could reveal him being alive, though.

I thought of Tony because of the gauntlet-watch he had in Civil War. He had a box full of them in IM2, god knows what he'd built into them. And we know from Far from Home he'd left Peter super-glasses and enough drone-and-satellite-based firepower to take over the planet if he wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if he also had a Rolex AI you could destroy solar systems with...
posted by invincible summer at 8:14 PM on December 9, 2021


I thought of Tony because of the gauntlet-watch he had in Civil War.

Strikes me as a misdirect for exactly this reason. It's not Tony, and also he's dead.
posted by axiom at 8:25 PM on December 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


I really enjoyed this episode. Also the Laika T shirt nod to the comics fans. <3
posted by Fleebnork at 4:49 AM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


It's not Tony, and also he's dead.

No, it's not Tony, but there's no reason it couldn't be a piece of tech he created that has access to Friday or another AI in the same way the EDNA glasses did. I don't think that's it - it seemed more like Hawkeye was worried about a specific living person. But it's in the realm of possibility.
posted by invincible summer at 6:40 AM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


Oh wait, it's Cap's watch and would reveal that he's living on the moon.
posted by emjaybee at 8:24 AM on December 10, 2021 [10 favorites]


:: facepalm :: That's EDITH, actually.
posted by invincible summer at 8:44 AM on December 10, 2021


It's not Tony, and also he's dead.

But what if he uploaded his consciousness into an AI and has been quietly living on the Moon with Steve?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:53 AM on December 10, 2021


Brandon Blatcher, I think I have read that fanfic.
posted by merriment at 11:59 AM on December 10, 2021


Brandon Blatcher, I think I have read that fanfic.

There are several. Was in the one about the possibility of Steven being a Skrull, which the AI version of Tony is trying to figure out, but due to some faulty computer stuff, aiTony is having problems remembering things, specifically it's previous relationship with Steve, so it's mostly remembering their fights and the becomes a question of identity for both of them while they're alone together on the Moon?

The Watcher narrates it from a darkened corner of the room.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:32 PM on December 10, 2021


I liked the scene with Clint watching George Bailey reunite with his family at the end of It's a Wonderful Life. Pretty obvious thematic resonance, sure, but it worked for me. Also, that movie is long as hell, so I didn't catch what scene it was on when Clint first turned the tv off with the coin flip, but I like to think it took most of two hours for Kate to succeed at turning it back on.

I also enjoyed the seemingly endless supply of daiquiri freezer packs. Kate's aunt seems fun.

The holiday party was the highlight for me, otherwise this episode seemed to assume I care more about reveals than I do. I find it hard to care about the Rolex McGuffin. It is totally in character that Clint is keeping his info close to his chest, but I am not interested in speculating on its provenance. I am prepared to care once the show tells me why I should, but until then, meh. (I am pleased for those of you who are more intrigued by the possibilities, obviously the anticipation is working for some of the audience.)
posted by the primroses were over at 8:11 PM on December 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


I have to admit - I thought "rolex" was being used a codeword over the phone. Colour me disappoint when an actual watch turned up.
posted by Sparx at 5:23 PM on December 12, 2021


The watch was seen at the auction in the first episode.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:16 PM on December 12, 2021 [2 favorites]


She's now aware that it was him, yet still insists in seeing him as a hero and that Ronin was protecting people. Hopefully her eyes will open a bit and she'll ask some questions about how or why he could do that.

Because in the midst of the most traumatic moment of her childhood, when it looked like the world was literally ending, she saw him fighting against it, seemingly alone. She's got him on a pedestal.
posted by dry white toast at 10:57 AM on December 13, 2021 [5 favorites]


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