‘Hawkeye’ – ‘Partners, Am I Right?’ – Review

Things came to a sudden and shocking conclusion inf Episode Three of Hawkeye ‘Echoes’ and now we head into Episode Four, ‘Partners, Am I Right?’ with plenty of new trepidation as Clint Barton and Kate Bishop’s mission is now not so secret anymore and the past is about to hit out at Barton.

Caught off-guard by her mother’s fiancee Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) in ‘Echoes’, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) is forced to explain her new ‘partnership’ with Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), former Avenger and superhero to her mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga), and things don’t go according to plan. While he’s looking for a way to sever his ties to Bishop, Barton still needs her help for the moment, and he lays out past revelations to her in order to get her off the hero path and break her away from the fantasy of what being a hero actually means. And when Barton’s past does come knocking this time around things get deadly.

After the all-action fun of Episode Three ‘Echoes’, directors Bert & Bertie return for Episode Four of Hawkeye, ‘Partners, Am I Right?’ and things take a turn for the comedic this time around. And it starts off with a very amusing, slightly embarrassing, and quirky family sitdown for Kate Bishop. The cat’s out of the bag that she’s now working with former Avenger, Clint Barton/Hawkeye and this ‘family meeting’ between Clint, Kate, Eleanor and Jack leads to plenty of laughs that start this episode in the right direction. The back and forth bickering banter that we’ve come to expect from Clint and Kate is taken to a whole new level and it’s fun to see how uncomfortable Clint gets with having to explain his presence and just exactly why Kate’s accompanying him on this new adventure.

The holiday spirit also takes a central place in ‘Partners, Am I Right?’ and it’s clear that being away from his family is having a negative effect on Barton. Cue the arrival of Bishop with a Christmas tree, Christmas sweaters, tinsel and a collection of classic Christmas movies and it’s a proper shindig. It’s fun to see Barton and Bishop get into the Christmas spirit, and Bert & Bertie use this tinsel-coated environment to show off more of Clint’s tricks and it’s a lot of fun to watch Kate get in on the action.

But it’s not all festive fun, as this environment also draws out a lot of honesty and truth from Barton and he gets real as to what the cost of being a hero actually comes with. From the moment Kate Bishop laid eyes on Clint Barton she saw him as a hero and an idol, someone to look up to and be like. But Barton lays it all bare to her that he’s not exactly the good guy, and this heroism thing can take a dark turn quickly. After Kate deduces that he was once the vigilante known as Ronin, Clint opens up about his life as a soldier and S.H.I.E.L.D operative, and while he’s been able to do some good, he also carries the guilt of being ‘a weapon’ that was turned loose on whoever his superiors saw fit to eliminate. He’s clearly a haunted man, and these revelations from Barton have incredible importance on the series as a whole.

However, Barton can’t get complacent now and these two heroes still have a job to do and this leads them into a fight with Echo and a brand new unseen threat. Barton’s past is back to haunt him, and it strikes out with a vengeance. Arrows are shot, punches and kicks are thrown and it’s general chaos as Bishop and Barton have to contend with a fight on two sides and it quickly turns out that neither one of them is ready to work as a team. And the results are bad. For the super confident Kate Bishop, this fight is a revelation that she’s not ready for what really awaits in the ‘superhero game’ and Bishop lays it on pretty hard. He doesn’t mince his words and it’s very clear that his past is back to haunt him and this past has a deadly sting to it.

Where we go to next with Hawkeye is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that things are going t get worse for Clint Barton and Kate Bishop before they get better thanks to two enemies attacking their flanks and it’s about to be a very rowdy Christmas this year.

Hawkeye streams on Disney+ every Wednesday.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures