The penultimate episode of Marvel Studios’Hawkeyepremiered on Disney Plus this week and brought forward some surprises and returning characters. However, the highlight of the 45-minute episode was not the big reveal at the end but was instead the scene with Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop having a conversation in the latter’s burnt down apartment.
The tension in that 10-minute scene is palpable and the conversation is both light and serious at the same time. Pugh does a fantastic job at portraying Yelena’s emotions while being friendly and threatening simultaneously.Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universeseems to have perfected scenes with extensive dialogues, and the latestHawkeyeepisode has successfully added to the list of meaningful conversations.
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The scene begins when Bishop arrives at her apartment after feeling dejected by both her mother andJeremy Renner’s Clint Barton. Waiting for her there is Yelena, cooking a bowl of instant macaroni and cheese. It seems a little odd that Yelena would think of food at such a time, an observation that Bishop immediately makes. “Well I was starving, and you took forever. So, I wanted to make food,” she responds. Even though a lot of jokes are made about the dinner, viewers instantly know that this would be a conversation for the books.
Yelena begins with light-hearted quips about it being her first time in New York. She even gets Bishop to give her tips on the sites she should visit while she is in town. The whole time, Bishop and the viewers are probably wondering what her next move will be. Will she just leave after having a civil conversation, or stab Bishop to death? The scene perfectly peaks the anticipation factor, reminiscent of the scene inLokiwhenHe Who Remains is introduced.
The conversation begins to go south when Bishop asks why Yelena keeps referring to her using her full name. Suddenly the jokes are gone and things get serious when Yelena reveals her plans of killing Barton. It is at this point that she informs Bishop that she isNatasha Romanoff’s sisterand Barton is responsible for her death. The performances by both actors are phenomenal from here on and the variety of emotions expressed within just a few minutes is a treat to watch.
At this point, it becomes vital for Bishop to face the truth. She herself admits that she has only known Barton for a week, so it would be impossible for her to know everything about him and his past. She has only idolized him for years and put him on a pedestal, but she has no insight into his life as Ronin. Yelena seems like the perfect character to offer this reality check. She isn’t just fulfilling the role of a star cameo. Even though she has her own mission and purpose, her appearance in Bishop’s apartment works towards the latter’s character development, too.
Yelena also raises a very important question about the idea of being an Avenger, and how it offers the heroes a free pass for anything and everything. “What does that word even mean? You call him a hero no matter what he does?” Events are usually seen from the perspective ofthe heroes in the MCU, but seeing things from Yelena’s point of view changes everything.
Romanoff sacrificed herself at Vormir toobtain the Soul Stoneand undo Thanos’ snap. It essentially means she died for the greater good and her sacrifice played a crucial role in bringing back the blipped population of the world, which included Yelena as was revealed on the latest episode ofHawkeye. But, for Yelena, she lost her sister in the process and that is all that matters to her. Her raw emotions are portrayed beautifully by Pugh.
Tempers flare when Bishop unintentionally refers to Romanoff as “collateral damage.” No matter how hard Bishop tries, Yelena is not ready for any justification on Barton’s behalf. “We are defined by what we do, not nice words,” she says. The extremely tense confrontation ends when Bishop reveals that she doesn’t know where Barton is, and Yelena simply asks her to never come in her way again.
Family has always been important for the MCU’s heroes, butPhase 4 is definitely driving the point home. While Yelena is out for blood after losing her sister,Loki and Sylvie’s chat on the trainin the Disney Plus seriesLokihad a whole different take on family. Both those characters spoke lovingly about their adoptive mothers and the loneliness they have felt all their lives after losing them. Even though the two didn’t entirely trust each other at the time, they were willing to open up about their family members. Loki has an epiphany and realizes that “love is a dagger,” and “it’s beautiful, until it makes you bleed.”
Yelena’s grief of losing her sister is reminiscent ofWanda’s agony inWandaVision. After losing the love of her life, she creates an entire fictional world where she lives happily with Vision and her twin sons, Tommy and Billy. She is ready to kill anyone who tries to take that world away from her. But, the takeaway from the series was Vision’s words, “What is grief, if not love persevering?” That one question became the defining moment of the series and reminded audiences that the heroes in the MCU experience human emotions just like they do.
There has been a lot of loss in the heroes’ lives. Most of the heroes in the MCU have lost family members and are living with this loss every day. But, Phase 4 seems to have decided to place more importance on this aspect. Vision’s question inepisode 8 ofWandaVisionstruck a chord with many viewers, summarizing the stages of grief that the titular character had been experiencing thus far.
Another important aspect that Yelena focuses on, albeit momentarily, in the latestHawkeyeepisode is that of the heroes getting away with everything. A similar conversation took place betweenIsaiah Bradley and Sam WilsoninThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Bradley was the US government’s second successful attempt at creating a Super Soldier, but was then imprisoned for 30 years. With the extremely obvious racial undertones, that conversation makes one question the entire MCU and the mistreatment of certain characters.
Yelena is definitely one of the best things to have happened to the MCU in Phase 4 and she isn’t just a cameo inHawkeyeor supporting cast inBlack Widow, but an integral part of the future projects. The chemistry that Yelena and Bishop have shared in thepast two episodes ofHawkeye, especially during the conversation in the apartment, is remarkable. It would be interesting to watch the two share screen space as the new Hawkeye and Black Widow in a future MCU project, perhaps even in a second season ofHawkeye.
