Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: disney, florence pugh, hailee steinfeld, hawkeye, jeremy renner, kate bishop, yelena belova

Hawkeye E05 Kate/Yelena Scene Proves Writing & Acting Masterclass

Hawkeye this week hit on all fronts as the story started paying off. The fifth and penultimate episode finally devoted a sizable chunk of attention to Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow played by Florence Pugh. A major scene had Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) sit down to a meal of mac and cheese with Yelena, which hit on multiple levels and could be taught in writing and acting classes.

In the scene, Kate comes back to her crappy apartment, made crappier from a fire-bombing by the tracksuit mafia bros. She finds Yelena waiting for her. Yelena asks her where Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is. Kate tells her she doesn't know, so Yelena leaves. That's all the scene is in terms of plot, but it's written and acted with a lot more going on than just Yelena asking for information. The writers avoid the obvious route to take the most creative and fun one.

The script layers the scene to make it as interesting and unpredictable as possible: Kate is surprised that Yelena is there. Yelena has cooked mac n' cheese and sets the table for the two of them to eat together. Kate is terrified because Yelena is a deadly assassin and possibly a sociopath. Yelena tries to reassure her that she's not here to hurt her, but her promises that she's not holding a weapon don't fly because she IS a weapon. Kate is understandably terrified but keeps her panic in check. Yelena is chipper and jovial, but the more cheerful she is in her attempt to calm Kate down, the more terrified Kate gets with her. Yelena remarks on Kate's lack of utensils for more than one person in the apartment. Her conversation with Kate flips between asking where Hawkeye is, trying to make small talk about this being her first time in New York City and asking for tips on touristy things to do, then trying to convince Kate that Hawkeye aka Clint Barton is a bad guy.

Dramatic writing comes from the conflict between characters in a scene, and that comes from characters with wants that have them opposing each other. There are multiple conflicts going on in this scene. The main conflict is Yelena wanting information from Kate, and Kate doesn't have what she wants. Kate wants to not get murdered. She doesn't know for sure that Yelena won't try to murder her. Another conflict is Yelena wants to bring Kate around to her side by telling her that Clint is a bad man, but Kate refuses to go along with that, so Yelena doesn't succeed there. A 3^rd conflict is Yelena wants Kate to believe she's just a friendly gal, but Kate doesn't believe this since they fought viciously earlier in the evening.

The writers draw on the layers and backstories of both Kate and Yelena to add their characters' richness to layer the scene even further, mostly to reveal more of Yelena's character. At the end of their fight, Kate drew a bead on Yelena and had a clear shot to take her down, but chose not to, echoing Clint's story of his first meeting with Natasha and how his best shot was the one he didn't take, the one meant to kill her. This foreshadows a possible further friendship between Kate and Yelena as the next Hawkeye and Black Widow. Yelena is in control of the situation because Kate is no match for her, but she can't control Kate's mind. Kate makes a dent in Yelena's belief that Clint killed Natasha. It also suggests Yelena feeling drawn to Kate from her act of mercy.

The scene also highlights Yelena's longing for a normal life outside of spying and killing, and her sense of humour, which is made more surreal by her background. An earlier scene revealed Yelena wanted to live with Natasha in New York and play at a Sex and the City fantasy, and here Yelena tries to get a version of that life through sitting down with Kate. She envies Kate's life as a native New Yorker. The real subtext of the scene is Yelena wants Kate to be her friend, she wants to win her over. Florence Pugh shows she's one of the finest actors of her generation by playing all the layers and notes of Yelena and the scene. She flits from comedic lightness to vague menace and back to girly joy throughout the scene and makes it look easy.

By the time she leaves, Yelena may not have gotten the information she wanted – Clint's whereabouts – but she has gotten a little of something she always wanted: a girl's night out, even if the girl she was hanging out with was afraid she might murder her.

Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+.

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