The change in pace from a big-ass event movie to a TV show can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you get a lot more time to build relationships and details of the world your story inhabits. But on the other, there can be a bit of wheel-spinning.
Episode four of Hawkeye contains a bit of both. After the most swiftly-dismissed cliffhanger ever (actually, thinking about it, Barton’s grappling hook is the real “Cliff hanger”, thanks, yes), it’s an episode in which plenty of things happen, but not that much happens.
The relationship between Clint Barton and Kate Bishop remains charming, her puppy-dog enthusiasm repeatedly colliding with his hangdog perma-reluctance. Their festive night in is a delight, complete with Christmas jumpers, an endearingly low-key training montage throwing coins in a hallway, the biggest laugh of the series so far (“You sure that’s dry-erase?”) and some oddly judgement-free revelations about Clint’s past. He is still haunted by guilt and trauma that can wrench the needle off the record in a heartbeat, bringing holiday cheer to a screeching halt.
(Importantly, we learn that The Santa Clause exists within the MCU. Unlike The Hunger Games revelation of episode two, this doesn’t immediately create baffling logic problems – it’s not like Tim Allen is one of the Guardians Of The Galaxy or anything. However, his Galaxy Quest co-stars Sigourney Weaver and Sam Rockwell were respectively in The Defenders – which may or may not be canon anymore, it’s hard to keep track of – and Iron Man 2. So, like, where does it end, man?)