Hawkeye Spoiler Recap: Ronin
Last week, Hawkeye delivered a shocker - or somewhat of a shocker, if you follow casting news - and brought Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) into the mix. Pugh’s addition to the series is a welcome one, since she infuses Yelena with a particular mix of youthful fun shaded with a jaded bitterness that is utterly delightful to watch.
The episode opens with Yelena, after some audio flashbacks to Black Widow, on her mission to free as many Widows from the mind-control toxin that dictates their behaviour. While trying to free former Widow Ana at her home, Yelena learns that Ana is actually free of the toxin and is working as a hired assassin. While trying to process the knowledge, Yelena excuses herself…and promptly turns into Blip particles.
She reappears moments later in a completely renovated house - fortunately with Ana still living there - and learns that she just missed the last five years in what to her felt like five seconds. Her first order of business is to find her sister, and we all know how that goes.
In the present day, Kate returns home and assures her mother that Clint sent her away from their investigation. She does, however, warn Eleanor about Jack and his involvement with the mysterious man who leads the Tracksuit Mafia, and Eleanor promises to look into it.
When Kate goes to her burnt-out apartment for her things, she finds she isn’t alone. Yelena is there, a pot of instant mac and cheese in hand, and just wants to talk. Though Yelena is amicable enough with Kate, things take a turn when she reveals she’s in New York specifically to kill Clint Barton.
What followed then was conversation I found to be a bit frustrating. Not due to either of their performances as both Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh are fantastic actresses, and I am very invested in both Kate and Yelena’s stories. But while Yelena’s motivation is clear - she wants revenge on the man she sees as responsible for her sister’s death - Kate’s is increasigly less clear.
Clint Barton is Kate’s hero, that much has been clear since the first episode. I know all the Avengers have done some questionable things, but despite overwhelming evidence that Clint’s actually not that great a guy, that he left the heroes behind to go on a grief-fuelled murder spree, Kate continually clings to the idea that he’s a good person. A hero. I had hoped Kate would ease up on the hero worship a little in this series, if only to flourish on her own merits, but it seems the show is determined to keep her in that fangirl box. She can do so much better than idolizing Hawkeye.
For his part, Clint is determined to get Maya off his trail and to keep his family safe at all costs. He arranges a meeting with her, where he arrives dressed as the Ronin and revelas his face to Maya. He tells her that he will spare her life on the condition that she and those who report to her leave him and his family alone. He then goes on to tell her that he got a tip about her father’s location from someone inside the organization, which Maya initially refuses to believe, but which she later asks Kazi about. Kazi, it turns out, was her father’s second-in-command, but wasn’t present the day the Ronin arrived. Kazi, of course, plays innocent, but things don’t look so good for their friendship.
Also not looking good - though for whom, it’s hard to say - are things back at Eleanor’s. She called the police on Jack, and while Kate is relieved, the other two seem far too calm about all of this. Either they are in this together or more likely Eleanor is setting Jack up to take the fall, because as Yelena revelas to Kate in the final moments, her quest to kill Clint isn’t just personal, but is also a contract from Eleanor.
Which then brings us to the big reveal of the episode. The one that had been suspected and that finally came to be today. The boss at the head of the Tracksuit Mafia, the one Clint is so afraid of and the one it all seems to point back to is Kingpin.
For those like me, who haven’t seen the Marvel Netflix shows, the reveal likely didn’t mean much beyond an important-sounding name. But for those who did, this calls into question whether or not those series will finally be integrated in some capacity into the MCU. It’s something of a mixed blessing as it allows the characters to continue on in some way, though in a much more sanitized environment. I suppose time will tell on how this all plays out, but for now all we can do is what Marvel fans do best: speculate.
