By This week’s episode of Hawkeye finally introduces another MCU baddie that has pretty much been hinted at since the beginning. It also confirms a bunch of fan theories. The return of Yelena Belova from Black Widow is a welcomed addition, with actor Florence Pugh stealing this episode with her performance.
There’s only one week left before the season finale of Hawkeye. While this holiday outing may not be the most-watched Disney+ Show, it has proven to be an incredibly important one. Catch up on our last recap here.
The episode begins in the past (2018) before the blip. Yelena and another Black Widow named Sonya attempt to free a third Widow named Annie from mind control. Turns out this former assassin is not being mind-controlled at all but chose to be a gun for hire. Yelena excuses herself and it is briefly shown the moment she is blipped away. Seconds later, she is returned to the same place, but five years later. She learns her sister has died and is shocked about how much time has passed.
Annie, who is now married and has adopted kids, says that Yelena can stay with her as long as she needs. It’s also suggested she take on contracts too. Back in the present, Kate informs her mother, Eleanor, about what she and Clint discovered. It is explained that Sloan Limited is a shell company and Jack is involved. Eleanor listens to her as she cleans her wounds. Later on, she calls the cops on Jack who is arrested saying he has been framed.
As Kate returns to her now damaged apartment to gather her things, Yelena is there waiting for her wanting to have a “girls night” and a chat. It is probably one of the most hilarious scenes in the episode (and possibly the entirety of Hawkeye) and Florence Pugh is amazing in it. Yelena tells Kate about who she is and her mission, and that Clint is not the man she thinks he is. It’s also revealed that she is Natasha’s sister and Clint is responsible for her death. This was briefly shown during the post-credits of Black Widow when she is hired by Valentina to get revenge.
Via: Disney/Marvel
Kate implores her to find out who hired her to kill him in the first place and the two go their separate ways with Yelena telling her to not get in her way again. Meanwhile, Clint seeks refuge at Grill’s apartment with Pizza Dog, aka Lucky. He also ends up visiting the Avengers memorial and has a private moment speaking to Natasha apologizing for what he is about to do next and how he wishes things had turned out differently. He also admits how the mission to get the Soul Stone still haunts him.
Clint becomes Ronin once again, sending a message to Maya Lopez through two of her Tracksuit cohorts. He wants her to meet him where she first met Ronin. This turns out to be back at Fat Man Auto Dealership where her father was killed (which was revealed in episode three).
In quick fashion, Clint takes out all of the Tracksuit Mafia who are there to guard Maya, leaving her alone. He takes off his mask revealing his real identity. Clint implores and wants her to leave his family and him alone and to end the vendetta. It’s also revealed that the reason he was there the night her father died was that he was tipped off by an informant. Basically, her boss wanted her father dead.
Via Marvel/Disney
Lopez calls him a liar but this leaves her with doubts as she later questions Kazi about his whereabouts the night in question. She starts to suspect him of being the informant and mole. Kate catches up with Clint and they return to Grill’s place where she gets a text from Yelena. In that text, Yelena proves that Eleanor is the one that hired her and that she is working with Maya Lopez’s Uncle/boss who is revealed to be none other than Kingpin (portrayed by a returning Vincent D’Onofrio from Netflix’s Daredevil).
This reveal has been coming for weeks and we are not exactly sure how many kingpins will feature in the finale of Hawkeye. More of him could be saved for the “Echo” series that is still on the way. This is still a super cool thing for the MCU going forward and overall was a really enjoyable episode.
