Hawkeye‘s third episode, “Echoes,” is its best yet! There’s tons of great stuff in this week’s installment, including a one-shot car chase, emotional backstory, and a few callbacks. Kate and Clint find themselves in a tough spot, while the identity of the Mafia’s boss is revealed.
Backstory Time! | Beginning in a flashback to 2007, a young deaf girl named Maya is upset when her father promises to send her to a deaf-only school, but instead sends her to a regular school because it’s cheaper. He does send her to karate school, where she excels even with her prosthetic leg. Her father also leaves her in the care of someone whose face we do not see, but may or may not be Kingpin from “Daredevil.” Flash forward to during the five-year gap after the Snap, and an adult Maya (Alaqua Cox) witnesses her father being murdered by Ronin.
In present day, Kate (Hailee Steinfeld) makes small talk with the guards holding her and Clint (Jeremy Renner) hostage, just as Maya enters the room demanding to know who Ronin is. Clint claims that Black Widow killed Ronin, but Maya isn’t buying it. After breaking free, Clint makes short work of most of the guards and frees Kate, but while fighting Maya, she knocks out his hearing aid.
Trick Arrow Time! | Clint and Kate escape in a stolen car with Maya and her crew in pursuit and Kate firing arrows at the attackers in a one-shot sequence that would make Alfonso Cuaron proud! The chase ends on the bridge when Clint fires a Pym Tech arrow at a regular arrow, enlarging it and making it crush the bad guys’ cars. After escaping, Clint gets a call from his son, which he can’t hear, so Kate writes down what he’s saying on a notepad. Clint promises that he’ll be home for Christmas, but his son says it’s okay if he can’t make it, breaking Clint’s heart.
Emotional Moment Time! | After fixing Clint’s hearing aid and taking the dog for a walk, Kate proposes that Clint wear a costume, but he shoots the idea down, telling her that he’s not a role model for anyone to follow. She asks if he’s protecting Ronin’s identity, oblivious to the fact that Clint is Ronin, but he doesn’t correct her.
Kate also asks him to help prove that Jack (Tony Dalton) is connected to the Tracksuit Mafia by taking him to her penthouse and looking for clues. As Kate snoops on her mom’s laptop and discovers that one of Maya’s henchmen, whom Clint recognized, is on Bishop Security’s payroll, Clint goes into the next room and is met at sword-point by Jack. Run-Roh.
Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+.