Kings, Assassins, and Arrows

I can say it with certainty now--Hawkeye is the best of the Disney+ MCU shows. I give WandaVision a lot of points for audacity but Hawkeye is more consistent in quality. Unevenness is a problem that plagues all the other MCU Disney+ shows, probably because so many novice writers are given filler episodes. Hawkeye benefits from being short and having a simpler premise. The two episodes written by Jonathan Igla, the first episode and the final episode, are by far the strongest and accounting for more than a third of the series' overall runtime, they do a lot of heavy lifting. The finale did a good job balancing so many characters and plot elements. It isn't perfect, but it mostly succeeds where it counts.

Spoilers after the screenshot

The biggest disappointment was Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), although it was kind of inevitable. What made him strong on Daredevil was that he had so much time to develop. On Hawkeye, he basically has one episode, and I can imagine anyone who hasn't seen the Daredevil series is wondering what all the fuss is about this guy. It was a big mistake giving him a showdown with Kate (Hailee Steinfeld) as the whole concept of Kingpin is that he's a guy who doesn't usually get his hands dirty, he has minions doing all that for him. That he randomly walks up to Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) in the street feels really off. Kingpin shouldn't be going anywhere without ten lieutenants flanking him. That said, D'Onofrio still has great presence and does that wonderful jaw-clenching thing. The sound design deepened his voice, too, which is a cheap but often effective trick for villains.

Vera Farmiga continues to be appreciably slimy. It was a bit silly when she hit Kingpin with her car--there's no way she had time to crawl to the front seat, back up the car, and circle it around into position. But she oozed menace when she was trying to bargain with Kate by acting so wide eyed and innocent. Who knows how else she benefited from her partnership with Kingpin?

Speaking of partners, it was effectively sweet when Clint (Jeremy Renner) finally called Kate his partner. The buildup in previous episodes comes to good fruition and Kate's speech about how inspiring Clint was to her as a little girl was also very nice.

It really was a good Christmas show, though it hit the comedy notes a bit too hard sometimes. Clint getting stuck in the tree was dopey and the Larpers went from bad to full cringe. I did love Tony Dalton, though, taking the opportunity to brandish a sword. He's frankly much more enjoyable here than on Better Call Saul, though in most respects I'd say Saul is superior to this and most other shows from the past ten years.

I wanted to like the banter between Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld a lot more and it was nice to be able see that the actresses were indeed in the same location this time. The rapid switches from earnest action to broad comedy, though, only served to diminish the impact of both. When Yelena does the exaggerated "Ow!" after Kate hit her with the bola, it seemed way out of character and downright sloppy for a Black Widow. However, Pugh and Renner fighting on the ice while finally having the emotional confrontation about Natasha's death was very effective due especially to Pugh's and Renner's performances.

I'm warming up to Echo, too, and Alaqua Cox looked very good with her hair down. I do think, though, that the Echo series will really be more of a Wilson Fisk series, if it knows what's good for it.

So overall, a good finale, and a good cap to a solid miniseries. Hawkeye is available on Disney+.

Assassins and Crime Lords

A solid episode of Hawkeye last night despite a lack of impressive action sequences. This one was more about dialogue, which should be the advantage of a TV series over movies. Yet another writer, Jenna Noel Frazier, comes aboard, her only previous writing credit being a staff writer on a series called The Romanoffs for Amazon Prime. I guess you could call that relevant job experience!

That said, I wish the writing had been stronger in that macaroni and cheese scene with Hailee Steinfield and Florence Pugh. I thought, here we have two talented actresses, a premise with a lot of tension, and they just tread water with cliche lines like "collateral damage" and "If I wanted you dead" etc. I also didn't like Bert and Bertie's direction for the scene--it consists almost entirely of over-the-shoulder shots, I don't remember one shot in which we could see the faces of both actresses. We don't actually get to see these two good performers play off of each other. It made me wonder if the actresses filmed their parts separately. I continue to enjoy Pugh, though, and that opening scene where she gets blipped in the middle of an important meeting was nice.

I didn't get a strong sense of Yelena wanting Clint (Jeremy Renner) dead, she seems too smart to really blame him for Natasha's murder. I guess that might be why she was following the line of her employers, finally discovering Eleanor Bishop is the secret villain of this series, though I think most viewers guessed it. Normally I can't stand Vera Farmiga but I think she was good casting here. For once, her smugness is supposed to be unappealing.

And, of course, the big reveal was Kingpin is indeed back, played once again by Vincent D'Onofrio. If you were to ask me to choose the single strongest element of all the Marvel Netflix series, I would've pointed right at him, followed by Jessica Jones. So this was a good idea, though what made him so strong on Daredevil was that the 13 episode first season could take its time fleshing him out, giving him a complex backstory unrivalled by any other villain in the MCU.

Now that it looks like they're bringing over Netflix characters (unless this still ends up being another Boner, which I'm never going to feel safe from), I hope they don't bring in everyone, especially not from Daredevil. Obviously they have to bring over Charlie Cox but I sure as hell hope they avoid Elden Henson. I wouldn't mind seeing Deborah Ann Woll again, though.

Hawkeye is available on Disney+.

The Short End of the Arrow

If last night's new Hawkeye felt short to you, it wasn't your imagination. It was only 41 minutes, about 35 minutes if you subtract the credits. I suppose it felt even shorter after last week when I had three episodes to watch but I also found last night's episode fundamentally less satisfying than the first three, mainly because of the writing.

It begins with Clint (Jeremy Renner) and Kate (Hailee Steinfeld) sitting down with Kate's mother, Eleanor (Vera Fermiga), and her mother's fiance, Jack (Tony Dalton). The conversation feels lazily written, with Clint consistently shooting down every possibility of complimenting Kate, not even being willing to call her a friend. Which is pretty lousy of him considering he seems to be making himself comfortable at her aunt's place.

It undermined the tension of Clint needing to get back to his family a lot when Kate convinces him to have a little Christmas party and movie marathon. I thought time was of the essence?

The Larpers returned and I still don't like them. They don't remotely seem like real Larpers--most of them are in good shape and wearing trendy clothes. They look like advertisements for Gap.

Hailee Steinfeld continues to be charming, though. This show is a much better fit for her than that Emily Dickinson series. Hopefully next week's episode will have a better writer. It's kind of weird, no two episodes of this show have had the same writer.

It was nice to see Florence Pugh. She was one of the highlights of the Black Widow movie. But I'd already had her appearance spoiled for me so just getting a look at her face and no dialogue wasn't very satisfying.

Hawkeye is available on Disney+.

Twitter Sonnet #1500

A glowing pile's served for science lunch.
A rocket lists important drinks to buy.
The dark bananas loudly crush a bunch.
The future's past was dim behind the eye.
The ancient clue returned to grade a test.
Forgotten names return to child hands.
The pale musician finds a violent rest.
The flour changed to heavy, faded sand.
The spinning eye could travel far away.
The daunting dream was easy cake to some.
Computer names were ever hard to say.
We told the tale, excising parts with rum.
The lonely sock would walk alone at night.
The other sock would look for hands to fight.

Three Marks

And the third episode of Hawkeye was good, too. Much better than the second one, which I enjoyed because of the chemistry between Renner and Steinfeld. But the writing was better in the third episode. Also, I liked the action scenes, which surprised me a bit because the episode is directed by a pair called Bert and Bertie. Serves me right for underestimating them because they have silly names.

I didn't like all the action sequences. I never believed Echo (Alaqua Cox) was pulling off the moves we see on the show, especially in the scenes where she's younger. The first episode pleased me so much by showing Kate make mistakes and here they introduce a character who doesn't flinch in a karate match when she's five years old. Oh, well.

I applaud Alaqua Cox for being able to work despite her deafness and a missing leg. But as an actress she's kind of bland. It seems weird she's getting her own show.

Was it Wilson Fisk's hand we saw in Echo's flashback? I sure hope it is. Everyone seems to think it is. Which makes me wonder if Disney will pull another boner. Though it would be kind of funny if they made it Evan Peters. I'd really laugh if No Way Home ended up being about dozens of Evan Peterses with joke names, none of whom are Quicksilver.

I really like how Clint (Jeremy Renner) only has his bow and arrows kind of briefly. If you over-saturate the market with any currency, it loses value and by just implying he's the best--better than the best, even--most of the time, before he actually shows it, the expectation is much higher. And I am warming up to Renner at this late date--I'm happy he's evidently practiced being very quick, something I wish John Cho could've done for Cowboy Bebop.

And I was digging Steinfeld in the car chase. Even with the fakest cgi stuff, her commitment as an actress to believing the action seems flawless. The long take in the car was fantastic.

This is so far my favourite MCU series on Disney+.

Follow the Arrow

Would you believe it? A major MCU character is teamed up with a young apprentice, poised to take his place in future films and--get this--it's a girl! Yeah, actually, that's gotten a bit repetitive, a bit fast. In this case, though, it's Hawkeye, a character no-one really cares about, and the replacement is played by Hailee Steinfeld, a talented actress. Certainly better than Jeremy Renner so, for once, it's a big upgrade.

I've only just seen the first two episodes--the third might be up by the time you see this--because I dragged my heels for a week. I've never managed to muster enthusiasm for Hawkeye in any of the movies and these MCU shows have been about 35% peaks and 65% valleys, in terms of quality. But I finally got around to Hawkeye last night and I'm glad I did. It's by far the most enjoyable premiere episode of any of the Disney+ MCU shows, partly because it aims pretty low. Kate Bishop (Steinfeld) is a spoiled rich kid, something I suspect the writers can identify with, whose close-up experience with the Battle of New York left a lasting impression. Years later, she's grown into an expert markswoman.

Meanwhile, Clint (Renner), whose name is tragically shown in all caps at one point "CLINT" with the L and I too close together, is just trying to have Christmas with his kids. Kate gets mixed up in some trouble involving his old Ronin suit and he finds he has to clean up the mess. Along the way, the two have some nifty father/daughter chemistry. But Steinfeld's quite good on her own and the best sequence so far is a swanky dinner party in which she sneaks downstairs dressed as a waiter. The combination of drama and comedy culminates in an action sequence that's good for how clumsy the girl is. So many fight scenes try to show the hero being flawless and unstoppable. It adds so much tension when she's fumbling around. Not to mention credibility.

The first episode, written by Jonathan Igla, is a cosy Christmas romp. The writing quality dips drastically in the second episode, written by Elisa Climent, as we follow Clint on a stupidly conceived and composed sidequest amongst a group of Larpers. But even that second episode has a nice, low-key vibe. It doesn't try too hard, which I think, in the end, was the problem with Loki.

Hawkeye is available on Disney+.

Twitter Sonnet #1497

As sectors shift, the kingly cookies fall.
Revamping champs, the elder shirt was cooked.
And here we scratch a record monkey call.
The final guest of Mars was lastly booked.
A decade's dust decides to frame the chair.
Describing walks we talked of using trains.
To scratch an itch we taught the lazy bear.
At early light we took the solar reins.
A steady pattern grouped the clothes in rank.
For tartan thoughts the lines recalled a cube.
Beyond the grassy brain we built a tank.
The knuckle curve creates a pasta tube.
Resolving bows we tied the weapon down.
Returning late we'd paint the early town.