REVIEW: ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 2 – “Hide and Seek”

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and Marvel in their ultimate wisdom has bestowed upon us not one, but two episodes of their brand new series. Welcome one and all to Hawkeye Episode 2, where after having Clint and Kate finally cross paths, all they have to do is stay alive. Simple really.

The series is directed by Rhys Thomas, Bert, and Bertie, as Marvel takes the time to dive into one of the founding Avengers. Starring Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop, and Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne.

After a brilliant first episode in which the show allowed us to see the influence of Hawkeye on Kate from her younger years, she now has in her possession the Ronin outfit. Kate miscalculated one key aspect of donning the uniform however, the entire criminal underworld wants Ronin’s head on a stick, including said Russian mafia, bro. Enter Hawkguy, sorry I mean Hawkeye.

Before we dive into Episode 2, how bloody good was that musical in the opening episode? Safe to say we’d all watch that, so just announce it soon please and thank you Disney+.

Now back to Hawkeye Episode 2, as the show finally gets into the meat of the relationship between Clint and Kate. These two characters play off each other so well, and my only complaint was wanting them to have more scenes together. This street level action comedy continues to hit some fantastic notes.

In the episode Clint must get Kate to safety as he explains how everyone wants to kill Ronin, so it’s vital no one sees her in that suit. Well, that went south and now Clint has to take care of the mafia, while trying to get the Ronin suit back, oh yeah, they lose it, again!

This episode was extremely playful and packs a lot of plot into one episode, not to mention introducing two additional Marvel comics characters into the MCU. One is a surprise, and the other is an O.G. Avenger (from the comics) that I am fascinated to see what the writers have in store for Dalton’s character.

The scenes between Dalton and Steinfeld are a lot of fun, as they capture this tone of a stand off between the two, both with secrets, both unwilling to share them. While the characters relationship is currently very strained, the undercurrent of the scenes are extremely comedic in nature resulting in a high-spirited tet-a-tet. The two quite literally, and figuratively exchange blows back and forth.

This show so far is making such a big attempt to humanize Clint. I mean this is the most time we’ve ever spent with this character in over 10 years. So when we get scenes like having Clint visit, and participate in LARPing, oh I’m definitely down for it. The scene parallels the movie Role Models, which also feature an Avenger, Paul Rudd.

For me, the sign of a great show is how you feel when you get to the end of an episode. With Hawkeye Episode 2, once those credits rolled I couldn’t believe it was over. I wasn’t ready, I wanted more, especially with the tease of that ending setting up for a high impact second act. Hawkeye is doing all the right things so far, as it continues to be highly entertaining.

Hawkeye Episode 2 “Hide and Seek” is available now exclusively on Disney+.