AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x016

"WIDOW'S STING"
Written by Kevin Burke & Chris Wyatt | Directed by Vinton Heuck

The Plot: A meeting between AIM (led by MODOK) and Hydra (led by the Grim Reaper) is interrupted by Hawkeye, in search of Black Widow. The archer forces both groups into retreat, and then is brought to the SHIELD helicarrier by Clay Quartermain. There, Nick Fury berates Hawkeye for getting in SHIELD's way, while Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Panther watch. Hawkeye leaves in a huff, but is followed by Cap and the Panther, who tell him that they want to help him find Hydra. In the hallway, the group bumps into SHIELD agent Bobbie Morse, codename Mockingbird, and the quartet heads out in search of Hydra, following a tracker Hawkeye planted on the Grim Reaper.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird attack the Reaper and his Hydra team at an abandoned military base, and are captured -- but Cap and Black Panther secretly follow in a Quinjet as the Reaper's team takes them away -- until the Hydra craft cloaks, causing the duo to lose their quarry. The Reaper delivers his prisoners to Baron Strucker at Hydra headquarters, where they are imprisoned. But the pair soon break out of their cell and activate a tracking beacon, which Cap and Black Panther lock in on.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird battle the hordes of Hydra in Strucker's throne room, but are quickly put on the defensive until Captain America and Black Panther burst in. Cap comes face-to-face with Strucker, but Black Widow pulls the villain to safety as he engages his island's self-destruct sequence. In the chaos of battle, Hawkeye finds himself with a choice to finish the traitorous Black Wodow or save Mockingbird from Madame Hydra, and chooses the latter -- but he still manages to confront the Widow as she attempts escape with Strucker. The Widow beats Hawkeye down, and Strucker tries to steal his life force, but the Widow blasts Strucker in the back.

SHIELD arrives just as Hydra's island complex blows up, but the Avengers escape with the Grim Reaper and Madame Hydra in custody. Fury chews out Cap, Hawkeye, and the Black Panther, then dismisses them. Back in New York, Black Widow tells Strucker that it was Black Panther who knocked him out.

Continuity Notes: Agent Morse, who previously appeared in "Hulk vs. the World" flying Hawkeye and Black Widow around in a SHIELD jet, makes her costumed debut here as Mockingbird, having replaced Hawkeye on SHIELD's special ops team.

MODOK continues work on his special project for Hydra, which is mentioned here as being the Cosmic Cube. Funnily, it's revealed that he was building what he thought was a dud of a weapon simply for some fast cash, and he's surprised when he learns that it might actually work as intended. At the end of the episode, MODOK gives Strucker a full refund, claiming that the Cube was a failure, but Strucker realizes he's lying.

At Hydra headquarters, Madame Hydra and Black Widow brief Baron Strucker on inroads they've made with organized criminal groups. The three mentioned are the Yoshida clan in Japan, led by Gorgon (from the pages of X-MEN and WOLVERINE), Count Nefaria and the Maggia (from classic AVENGERS and IRON MAN comics), and Aleksander Lukin of the Russian mob (as seen in Ed Brubaker's CAPTAIN AMERICA run).

Iron Man is still clearly the Avengers team leader here, ordering Hawkeye to leave Hydra alone and berating Cap and Black Panther for losing Hawkeye and Mockingbird. I don't know why this continues to rub me so much the wrong way -- in the comics, the Avengers have had several chairpeople over the decades, including stints by Iron Man and others as Cap's superior. But seeing Shellhead giving orders on this show really bugs me. Maybe it's simply because this is the arrogant, cocky version of Stark popularized by Robert Downey Jr.'s early performances in the role, rather than the calmer, more measured and seasoned comic book iteration.

(Though I will note that it does bug me a little bit even when that same level-headed Iron Man is shown giving orders to Cap in older AVENGERS comic. I think what it really boils down to is that in my head, anytime Cap is an active Avenger, he should absolutely be the default leader with no exceptions.)

Not really a continuity note at all, but I need to mention that there's a bit where Madame Hydra seductively licks a grenade pin before pulling it, and I have to wonder how the moment made it onto a Disney-owned channel for kids to watch!

Speaking of Madame Hydra, the episode's final scene reveals that she is actually a Skrull, as Fury and Mockingbird inspect her body at SHIELD HQ.

Do I Know That Voice? Not really... Mockingbird is played by one E.G. Daily, whose name I recognize and some of whose IMDB credits look familiar to me (apparently she was one of hte Powerpuff Girls), but I'd be lying if I sad I knew who she was!

My Thoughts: It's a Hawkeye spotlight episode! As a fan of the Avenging Archer, I approve, even though I do strongly question the premise of the cold open, which sees him butt into a meeting between Hydra and AIM and promptly send both sides packing. Hawkeye. Sends the Grim Reaper and MODOK, plus several of their troops on both sides, into retreat. By himself. I would buy this easily if Captain America did it, and I probably wouldn't balk if Black Panther did it either. But they both have some modicum of super power, via thier super soldier serum and heart-shaped herb, respectively. But Hawkeye is just a guy. Yes, in this continuity he was trained by SHIELD, but still. He should barely stand a chance against these guys all at once.

Anyway, aside from that, this is a good one. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: one of my absolute favorite things about EMH is how it was structured in the vein of a semi-serialized primetime TV show. There are lots of stand-alone episodes, occasional episodes that foreshadow events still in the distant future, and then episodes like this one, which further a season-long plotline, in this case the Black Widow "is she a double agent?" story. (Plus this one also fulfills the second item on my list, plenting the seed of the Skrull invasion, which won't really become anything of note until season 2).

Plus we get Mockingbird. I'll be honest; I haven't read many comics with her. I wasn't a WEST COAST AVENGERS fan back in the day, though I did read the chunk of issues which featured Moon Knight as a member some years back, but all I remember about Mockingbird's role in those stories was a distasteful sub-plot where she was raped by one of Marvel's Silver Age cowboy characters, the Phantom Rider, during a time travel story. But I really like her here, backing up Hawkeye on his mission and winning his heart (or at least his, uhh... interest) in the process. I really don't remember how much she factors into future episodes, but I hope to see more of her going forward.

Next week, another early season sub-plot comes to the fore, as Kang arrives for the first chapter of a trilogy!