Hawkeye Season 1 Episode 5 review: Marred by lengthy exposition, but redeemed by the shock ending

Rating: 3/5

Story:

Natasha’s sister Yelena makes a full appearance as she pays Kate a visit. A battered and bruised Clint seeks solace in his newfound friends while Eleanor has a few surprises up her sleeve.

Review:

Despite its slow start, the series appears to have found its rhythm. However, the penultimate episode could have added a slightly more engaging narrative. Instead, it uses lengthy scenes of exposition that should have ideally been explored a couple of episodes sooner. In fact, setting up Yelena’s character should not have come so close to the finale. This is disappointing considering the incredible scene in Black Widow that insinuated that Florence Pughs’ Yelena would have more screen time in Hawkeye.

Jeremy Renner continues to excel as a broken man attempting to redeem himself. His showdown with Echo highlights the fact that his days as Ronin are well behind him. Elsewhere, Kate’s surprise interaction with Yelena is painfully cringeworthy but is merely a plot device to establish Yelena’s arc in the narrative. Unfortunately, her arc seems to be nothing more than a substitute to Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. Unless the showrunners or the Marvel cinematic universe have something extravagant planned for Yelena’s character, Florence Pughs’ talents will be wasted on Yelena.

Considering how the previous episode ended with regards to Jack Duquesne, it is surprising that he had no part to play whatsoever in this episode. It appears Jack may have been innocent after all and the real perpetrator of the crimes Kate and Clint are investigating could be none other than Eleanor. The conflict between Clint and Yelena lacks conviction, and therefore, the resolution that was put forward by the narrative feels forced.

The last episode has a mountain to climb if all these unanswered plot points are to be resolved. The saving grace for this episode is the shocking reveal towards the end that marks the return of the MCU’s greatest villain, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'onofrio), from the critically acclaimed Netflix Marvel series, Daredevil. This comes a week after Marvel Studios Boss Kevin Fiege had confirmed that Charlie Cox will return as Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, the devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

Verdict:

The episode is not as fast-paced as one would imagine for an episode preceding the finale. The final scene sets up for an exciting finale, and maybe even beyond for the larger narrative of the MCU.