The Ending Of Hawkeye Episode 1 Explained
The fourth live-action Marvel Studios series has launched, and "Hawkeye" is already proving itself to be on par with "WandaVision," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and "Loki." The new series focuses on Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) after the events of "Avengers: Endgame" and how his life turns upside down thanks to Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). While the first episode gives us a glimpse of what's been going on with Clint and his family, Episode 1 primarily focuses on Kate and serves as a soft introduction to the young archer. There were plenty of other characters introduced as well, most of whom were villains or yet-to-be-revealed as villains.
Episode 1 of "Hawkeye" did a stellar job of kicking off the six-part series and does a tremendous job of bringing the fight street-level. For so long, the battles and stories within the MCU were on a grand scale, but "Hawkeye" is proving those types of plots aren't necessary to bring success and fun to a project within the universe. Despite serving as an introductory episode, there was a lot to unpack in the "Hawkeye" kick-off.
Who is Kate Bishop?
"Hawkeye" Episode 1 starts off with a bang — or hundreds of them, you could say — as we're transported back in time to the Battle of New York from the original "Avengers" film. After we get a brief glimpse into the shaky marriage of Kate's parents Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) and Derek Bishop (Brian d'Arcy James), their swanky penthouse starts shaking and eventually crumbling as the Chitauri decimate the buildings of New York.
A young Kate is on her own in the penthouse as she gets separated from her parents, and a Chitarui almost takes her out, but we see that an arrow from Hawkeye takes down the small alien ship before it claims her. Kate spots Hawkeye on the roof of a nearby building, identifying her savior, who then leaps from the building and shoots a grapple arrow — a throwback to a famous Clint moment from "The Avengers."
It's at this moment that Kate becomes inspired, thanks to the heroic efforts of Hawkeye on that roof. He has saved her life, and she admits to her mom at her father's funeral that she wants a bow and arrow. Thanks to Hawkeye's heroism that day in New York, Kate takes on archery and other skills, including karate and fencing, making her an excellent swordsman. Without Clint, there would be no Kate Bishop in the MCU.
What's going on with Clint?
One of the goals of Episode 1 of "Hawkeye" is to explain to the viewer what's going on with Clint since we last saw him in "Avengers: Endgame." It's been over two years since his last MCU scene as he attended Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) funeral, but he was reunited with his family.
He is still with his kids as "Hawkeye" kicks off, as we see the foursome attend "Rogers: The Musical" without mama bear (Linda Cardellini). Watching the silly musical turns out to be slightly triggering for Clint, who clearly is annoyed at the nonsense of it all. He's mostly in his feelings about the loss of his best friend Natasha (Scarlett Johansson), as we see his mind wander after the musical Natasha starts cart-wheeling around.
It's here that he takes a break and leaves to go to the restroom, and we also see him fumble with his hearing aid. It turns out Clint has suffered some severe hearing loss in his left ear thanks to his adventures with the Avengers.
It looks like Clint is making up for lost time with his kids (Lila, Nate, and Cooper) and is spending the days leading up to Christmas with them. Laura is off at their farmhouse and explains their separation by suggesting this is supposed to be Clint's one-on-one time with the kids.
Of course, Clint is pulled away from his family after spotting Kate on TV in the Ronin suit from "Avengers: Endgame."
Who are these villains?
We're introduced to two villains in the first episode of "Hawkeye." One is the Tracksuit Mafia, who are truly living up to their Marvel Comics hype. We don't really get a sense of who they are and why they're so angry, but we do know that they had run-ins with Ronin (Clint) when he was on his killing rampage after The Snap. They chase down Kate after she fumbles their heist of the secret black market auction, but Clint comes to save the day after he sees his Ronin suit back on the streets of New York. Kate snatched it amid the auction chaos while Jack (Tony Dalton) made off with Ronin's sword.
Speaking of Jack, this is another villain we need to keep our eye on. He has suspiciously wooed Kate's widow mother, and the pair are now engaged. He loves swords, which is no surprise given Jack is pulled directly from the Marvel Comics character Jacques Duquesne, aka Swordsman. A former mentor and teacher of Clint, Jaques has no connection with Kate Bishop in the comics, so this is an interesting twist "Hawkeye" is giving us.
While we don't know what Jack is up to in Episode 1, his creepiness alone lets us know he is up to no good. It's already suspected that he's involved in the death of his uncle Armand (Simon Callow), who is also a real piece of... work.
Where is Hawkeye heading?
While Episode 1 served as an introduction to Kate, her mother Eleanor, Jack, the Tracksuit Mafia — oh, and we can't forget Lucky the pizza dog — it gave us a good idea of where "Hawkeye" is going and themes that will be carried throughout.
Clint is clearly still dealing with the grief of losing Natasha, while he also seems to be trying to cover up his past as Ronin. He still has enemies from his days as the vigilante, and they're coming back to haunt him thanks to his number one fan, Kate.
Kate, a vigilante in her own right, is now working to uncover the mystery of her future step-dad and the murder of Armand III (who, in the comics, is actually Jack's father). She's become the target of the Tracksuit Mafia, who are not the men in charge. We suspect Kate and Clint will find out they somehow have a connection to one another, especially given how all these characters intertwine in the comics.