Meghan King confirms split with Joe Biden's nephew Cuffe Owens after 2 months of marriage - USA TODAY

Kanye West Buys House Directly Across from Kim Kardashian for Over Asking Price - Cosmopolitan

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are going to be neighbors. The former couple might be getting a divorce, but Kanye reportedly purchased the house across the street from his ex—for well over the asking price. According to the Daily Mail and Dirt, Kanye shelled out $4.5 million on a "relatively modest" estate in Hidden Hills, which is directly across from the massive home he and Kim renovated. That property now belongs to Kim, who spent $23 million buying out Kanye's half back in October. You can check out a low-key tour in this Vogue video:

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Kanye's new place was built in 1955 and Dirt describes it as "architecturally unremarkable," (lol) with four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, plus a guest studio that has another room and bath attached to the garage. Apparently, there's also wall-to-wall carpeting and a very '80s vibe, so chances are Kanye will be renovating. Oh, and there are horse stables! Which is great news since:

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Looks like Kanye really wanted to own the house across from Kim because he paid $421,000 over the asking price. Obviously it was worth it, since the fact that Kanye and Kim will now be living across the street from one another makes sharing custody that much easier, and means minimal disruption in their children's lives and routine.

Reminder: Kanye also recently bought a home in Malibu from famous architect Tadao Ando, which he paid $57.3 million for. So clearly he's in the mood to spend big on California real estate!

Mehera Bonner Mehera Bonner is a news writer who focuses on celebrities and royals.

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BTS Members RM, Jin and Suga Test Positive for COVID-19 - Variety

Three members of superstar K-pop group BTS have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past two days, their management company Big Hit Music has announced.

On Saturday, RM and Jin tested positive for COVID-19 one day after fellow member Suga was also diagnosed. The three members completed their second rounds of COVID vaccinations in late August, Big Hit Music said, and none of them had contact with each other or other BTS members. Their symptoms are either mild or non-existent.

All seven members of BTS were on an official break where they could rest, recharge and spend time with their families after their busy schedules, which included their “Permission to Dance on Stage” concerts in Los Angeles and the iHeartRadio Jingle Bell Tour earlier in December. The singers returned to South Korea after their personal travels and self-isolated separately.

Suga returned to South Korea on Thursday, December 23, and tested positive the next day, but did not show any symptoms, Big Hit Music said. RM came back on Friday, December 17, underwent self-quarantine in his home and tested positive on Saturday evening, thought he’s not exhibiting any symptoms. Jin returned to Korea on Monday, December 6, self-quarantined and was released after testing negative twice. However, he developed mild, flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon and tested positive in the evening.

The U.S. concerts were BTS’ first since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The group is nominated at the 2022 Grammy Awards for best pop duo/group performance for their hit song “Butter.” After their extended period of rest, the group’s first since 2019, they will work on a new album, which will mark a “new chapter,” and prepare for an upcoming March tour in Seoul.

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Marvelettes Singer Wanda Young Dead at 78 - TMZ

Wanda Young -- one of the few remaining members of The Marvelettes -- has died.

The legendary singer's daughter, Meta Ventress, confirmed the news to the New York Times Saturday -- saying her mother had passed almost two weeks ago, on Dec. 15, in Garden City, MI as a result of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Young came aboard the Marvelettes just in time for them to sign their first record deal with Motown ... and actually went on to be the Marveletttes' lead singer in their later years, after the departure of some members. Long story short, she was there from the beginning.

Of course, she contributed to their 1961 hit, "Pleases Mr. Postman" -- which became a no. 1 chart-topper for Berry Gordy big picture ... not to mention the first smash hit recorded by an all female group. In other words, WY and co. helped put Motown on the map.

'Please Mr. Postman' went on to be covered by countless bands and acts, most famously by The Beatles ... who made it a hit anew during their heyday in the '60s. BTW, the B-side to that record by the Marvelettes was 'So Long, Baby,' with Young on lead vocals.

While singing co-lead through their peak, Young helped crank out famous tunes like "Locking Up My Heart" and "Too Many Fish in the Sea" ... and, eventually, she led the way with hits like "I'll Keep Holding On" "Don't Mess with Bill," "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game," "When You're Young and In Love" and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" ... among others.

Young finally left the Marvelettes in 1969, and tried her hand at a solo career with varying success through the early '70s. Eventually, she left music altogether ... and lived a relatively private life.

She's survived by her three children, several grandchildren and a great-grandchild, plus brothers and sisters. She was 78.

RIP

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‘Bridgerton’: Netflix Sets Season 2 Premiere Date, Reveals More Plot Details – Watch Announcement - Deadline

On Christmas Day 2020, Netflix launched Shondaland’s first series for the streamer, Bridgerton, a Regency England drama that became a worldwide phenomenon. To mark the one-year anniversary of the hugely popular series’ premiere, Netflix and Shondaland today are revealing the premiere date for Bridgerton’s upcoming second season. It will debut March 25, 2022.

Along with the Season 2 premiere date announcement, delivered by several Bridgerton returning and new cast members (you can watch it below), Netflix has provided the most detailed synopsis yet of the new season, based on The Viscount Who Loved Me, the second of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels that inspired the TV series. It provides details about the season’s main storylines.

From creator Chris Van Dusen, Season 2 of Bridgerton follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton sibling and Viscount, as he sets out to find a suitable wife. Driven by his duty to uphold the family name, Anthony’s search for a debutante who meets his impossible standards seems ill-fated until Kate (Simone Ashley) and her younger sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran) Sharma arrive from India. When Anthony begins to court Edwina, Kate discovers the true nature of his intentions — a true love match is not high on his priority list — and decides to do everything in her power to stop the union. But in doing so, Kate and Anthony’s verbal sparring matches only bring them closer together, complicating matters on both sides. Across Grosvenor Square, the Featheringtons must welcome the newest heir to their estate while Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) continues to navigate the ton whilst keeping her deepest secret from the people closest to her.

Bridgerton‘s Season 2 main cast additions also include Shelley Conn (Mary Sharma), Calam Lynch (Theo Sharpe) and Rupert Young (Jack). They join additional returning stars Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury), Lorraine Ashbourne (Mrs. Varley), Harriet Cains (Philipa Featherington), Bessie Carter (Prudence Featherington), Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne Basset), Ruth Gemmell (Violet Bridgerton), Florence Hunt (Hyacinth Bridgerton), Martins Imhangbe (Will Mondrich), Claudia Jessie (Eloise Bridgerton), Luke Newton (Colin Bridgerton), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton), Will Tilston (Gregory Bridgerton), Polly Walker (Portia Featherington) and Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown.

Van Dusen, in his final season on Bridgerton, serves as showrunner. He executive produces with Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers.

Here is the Season 2 premiere date video announcement featuring cast members (in street clothes): Bailey & Ashley, Rosheuval & Andoh as well as Newton, Jessie & Chandran.

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Duchess Kate dazzles on piano during Christmas concert - ABC News

The duchess joined singer Tom Walker for a special performance.

December 24, 2021, 9:16 PM

• 4 min read

Duchess Kate surprised royal-watchers by showing off her piano skills at a Christmas concert Friday.

The Duchess of Cambridge joined Tom Walker for a performance of "For Those Who Can't Be Here" during the concert, "Together at Christmas," which was televised in the U.K. The duet was recorded at Westminster Abbey on Thursday, according to Town and Country magazine.

"I thought she absolutely smashed the performance; it's not easy to just jump behind a piano with a bunch of musicians you've never played with before and record live takes to camera, but she completely nailed it," Walker told the magazine. "It was a crazy pinch yourself kind of day for me, to be in such a beautiful venue playing alongside the duchess with my band and a string quartet. I certainly won't forget that in a hurry! My mum had a total freak out when she saw it on the telly."

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Kate, 39, organized the concert, which also featured performances by Leona Lewis and Ellie Goulding, to show her gratitude to community leaders in the U.K. She added in her introduction that she also wanted to "recognize those whose struggles perhaps have been less visible, too."

"We've been through such a bleak time. We've seen so many challenges, we've lost our loved ones. We've seen our front-line workers under immense pressure. And, also, we've been more emotionally, and socially, distanced and isolated from each other," she said. "But I suppose through that separation we've also realized how much we need each other and how acts of kindness and love can really bring us comfort and relief in times of distress."

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Kardashian Jenner Christmas Eve Party Scaled Back Because of COVID - TMZ

The annual Kardashian/Jenner Christmas Eve party will be scaled way back for the second year in a row thanks to COVID-19 ... but that doesn't mean the fam won't be able to do a little celebrating themselves.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Kris and the family made the decision to hold off on the elaborate bash the family has become known for over the years due to the alarming rise of COVID cases in the area, and all over the country for that matter.

Our sources say Kris will still get her daughters and grandkids together on Christmas Eve, but that's it ... nothing over the top.

2018

Parties in the past have seen huge celeb guests, like J Lo, Paris Hilton, Dave Chappelle, Chrissy Teigen, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Kanye (of course) and even performances by John Legend and Sia.

The big question, of course, is if Kim's new dude, Pete Davidson, will spend part of the Christmas holiday with her. We're told Pete's headed back to NYC to spend time with immediate family. But he's been bouncing back and forth between coasts, so ya never know.

TMZ broke the story, Kim and Pete were spotted grabbing breakfast at the Bev Hills Hotel earlier in the week before Pete cruised around the city in Kim's tricked-out Rolls.

Kanye's still got a Christmas stocking at the home he and Kim once shared -- where she lives with the kids and without him -- but it's a safe bet they'll all spend Christmas Day together as a family.

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11 of the best shows and movies from 2021 to stream on HBO Max - The Verge

It’s the end of year two of the pandemic and many of us staying inside — both to avoid the spread of new variants like Omicron and to avoid the unpredictable weather of 2021. Whether you’re new to HBO Max or signed up earlier for the half-priced deal but haven’t opened the app in a while, this is a particularly good month to check out the platform. HBO Max is streaming some of the hottest movies that are being simultaneously released in theaters (if you’ve subscribed to the ad-free tier), so you can enjoy them from the comfort and safety of your own home.

I hope you have your favorite snacks and drinks ready because here are 11 movies and shows that are worth watching right now.

This movie-filled streaming service offers plans with and without ads. Besides its monthly subscription rate, it offers annual rates of $99.99 (with ads) and $149.99 (ad-free)

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The Matrix Resurrections

This highly anticipated fourth installment of The Matrix franchise brings stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss back into the Matrix — but this time, Neo and Trinity don’t seem to know each other. Thanks to the new Morpheus (not Lawrence Fishburne) offering Neo a red pill to bring him back to a new version of the Matrix, Neo ends up joining the resistance to fight a new enemy. Directed by Lana Wachowski, The Matrix Resurrections was simultaneously released on HBO Max and in theaters starting December 22nd, 2021. But if you’re planning the watch the streaming version, don’t wait too long — you’ve got (according to HBO Max) 31 days to do it.

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The Matrix Trilogy: The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions

Before you start watching The Matrix Resurrections, you should really fall down the rabbit hole and (re-)watch the complete The Matrix Trilogy. The original The Matrix (1999) follows hacker Thomas Anderson / Neo (Keanu Reeves) as he discovers the truth about the virtual reality world he and fellow humans have been trapped in, a world created by artificial intelligence overlords in the shape of Agent Smith. Written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, The Matrix changed how slow-motion action sequences are filmed with “bullet time” and is responsible for such iconic cultural references as red pill / blue pill and lines like “There is no spoon.”

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) takes place six months after the events of The Matrix, where a rogue Agent Smith infiltrates Bane, one of the rebel ship’s crew. Meanwhile, Zion is expecting an attack by the A.I.-powered Sentinels within about 72 hours, and it’s up to Neo as The One to decide the fate of Trinity and the human race.

In the conclusion to the trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions (2003), the humans in Zion go to war against the machines. As the rogue Agent Smith attempts to conquer both the Matrix and the real world, it’s up to Neo to thwart his plans. Who will succeed?

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Succession

Part family drama and part dark comedy, Succession centers around the fictional media and entertainment mogul Logan Roy as his health declines and he figures out who among his children (or outsiders) has the chops to take over his billion-dollar company. It’s an expletive-filled, modern take on William Shakespeare’s King Lear: the Roy kids vie for their narcissistic parents’ affection and trust while they (and everyone around them) play games within games. The show just wrapped its third season with a masterful season finale (it has been renewed for a fourth season), so you can go binge all three seasons to see what all those Succession-memes are about.

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8-Bit Christmas

Need a new Christmas movie to love? 8-Bit Christmas (2021) is a hilarious and wholesome reminder of how much your Christmas present meant to your 10-year-old self. Jake Doyle (played by Neil Patrick Harris) regales his daughter with a story on how he and his friends, who lived in a working-class suburb in 1988 Illinois, tried to get the Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas. Whether you have your heart set on a red-headed Cabbage Patch doll or the still elusive PlayStation 5, we can all relate to the trials and tribulations of trying to get that present we’ve been dreaming of and not knowing if Santa will get the job done on Christmas Day.

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In the Heights

As the first blockbuster movie that was released this past summer (after vaccines became more widely available), the movie musical In the Heights (2021) did not get as big a box office as hoped, but you can watch it on repeat to learn all the songs or choreography. Adapted from the Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with a screenplay written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, the movie weaves modern Latino immigrant stories, along with their hopes and dreams, into a great soundtrack full of hip hop and Latin beats. Directed by Jon M. Chu and choreographed by Christopher Scott, the team behind the iconic Microsoft Surface “Movement” commercials, the choreography is crisp and shows off diverse styles, ranging from mambo to ballet, particularly in “96,000” — the Busby Berkeley-esque extravaganza at the swimming pool. I dare you not to sing or couch-dance along.

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Hacks

Jean Smart deserves all the awards she gets, like the Emmy she won for portraying diva comedian Deborah Vance in Hacks this year. Just as her Las Vegas show makes plans to reduce the number of her appearances per week (and therefore her paycheck), Deborah finds herself working with a Gen-Z comedy writer named Ava who can’t do anything right. Through some brilliant writing that is darkly funny and yet feels all too real, the two find they can grudgingly learn from each other and create a more authentic show for Deborah. It’ll be interesting to see where this show goes in season two.

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Nora from Queens

When I was feeling extremely homesick during the first lockdown, my howling laughter from watching season one of Nora from Queens really brought me a little closer to my family. Co-written and developed by Awkwafina (aka Nora Lum), the show is loosely based on the actress’s own family: she was brought up by her Chinese American grandmother because her Korean mother passed away when she was young. The show breaks the model minority myth that all Asian Americans are over-achievers and highlights some of the intra-racial tensions within the Asian American community. When an app created by Nora and her cousin Edmund (played by SNL’s Bowen Yang) gets bought up by a Chinese tech company, the show really demonstrates what it’s capable of. Both seasons one and two are available on HBO Max.

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Raised by Wolves

Raised by Wolves (2020) is a horror sci-fi show that makes you question who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. Directed and executive produced by Ridley Scott for its first two episodes, the show starts off by introducing you to two androids called Father and Mother, who crash land on the desolate Kepler-22b planet and birth some human babies. They seem like a loving family until an accident forces them to cross paths with a group of human missionaries who are very suspicious of the androids. That’s when the audience realizes the two groups have been at war with each other for some time and are hungry for revenge. Created by Aaron Guzikowski, there is a strong sense of foreboding in this world, but you just can’t turn away — good thing this show has already been renewed for season two.

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My Neighbor Totoro

I had no idea HBO Max offers the entire Studio Ghibli library on HBO Max (I always assumed it would be on Disney Plus). Known for its environmentally conscious messages, beautifully hand-drawn animations, and strong female characters, the Hayao Miyazaki-led Japanese studio has something for everyone. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) is my personal favorite: you experience the world through the eyes of the sisters Satsuki and Mei as they befriend the forest spirits in their new home. Miyazaki manages to capture the feelings of growing up so perfectly that I feel like I just fell into the rabbit hole of my own childhood every time I re-watch this classic.

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This San Francisco chocolate croissant made me feel like 'Emily in Paris' - SFGate

There is a scene in “Emily in Paris” where Emily enters a boulangerie, orders a pain au chocolat in painfully butchered French, and immediately sinks her teeth into the pastry. Her eyes grow wide, she blinks rapidly, and her lips part into a comical “O” shape.

This is how I felt when I bit into San Francisco bakery Maison Danel’s chocolate hazelnut croissant. Rich butter, flaky pastry, nutty chocolate… fireworks. But unlike Emily, I did not then post a cringey Boomerang of myself munching my pastry with the caption “butter+chocolate=<3.”

Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

On Monday, two days before the premiere of the popularly hate-watched Netflix show’s second season about an annoying American girl (Lily Collins) who moves to Paris, elegant Polk Street pâtisserie Maison Danel hosted an “Emily in Paris” takeover. A poster of Emily on the streets of a rose-tinted Paris welcomed patrons at the front of the store, and pastries and tea were served in special “Emily in Paris” branded boxes and cups. 

Maison Danel, a French bakery and tea salon that opened in February 2020, certainly looks the part of the romanticized image the Netflix show paints of Paris. An extravagant chandelier hangs over the glass pastry case, and a combination of exposed brick, ornate tile and cushy blue leather seats encourage those coming in for holiday tea service to sip slowly and stay awhile. 

Currently, the bakery is all decked out for the holidays, too, with a massive Christmas tree and wreaths and poinsettias everywhere.

Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

“I'm a freak with Christmas,” said co-owner and chef Danel de Betelu. “I love Christmas. It's the best season of the year.”

When I showed up around 11 a.m., a few people in line buzzed excitedly about the “Emily in Paris” display, but mostly groups were just checking in for their high tea reservations. 

“We are known for high tea service, which is extremely popular for the holidays,” said de Betelu. “There are very few places in San Francisco that do that, and it's only a couple of days in December for the holidays. Here we do it every day, 365 days a year.”

Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

Opening the Parisian-inspired patisserie was a lifelong dream for de Betelu, who hails from Biarritz, France, and his husband/co-owner David de Betelu. 

“We love travel, and each time we travel we always try to find a high tea service everywhere in the world,” said de Betelu. “It was a dream to create something like this in San Francisco. It took years and years, but we finally did it.” 

Opening just a month before the March 2020 shutdown, however, was not quite the dream they’d envisioned. Maison Danel closed for a few months, then reopened for takeout only. They survived the pandemic, but the de Betelus’ other restaurant, Cow Hollow’s Baker Street Bistro, didn’t make it — the husbands closed it in August 2020 to give their full attention to Maison Danel.

Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

These days, the swanky patisserie seems to be doing just fine, bustling with holiday business and warm French hospitality. Those eating here are drawn by a joie-de-vivre similar to that of “Emily in Paris'' — because no matter how unlikable you find the show’s main character, you can’t help but be a little jealous of her charmed life of cobblestone streets, perfect croissants and handsome French lovers. 

I was curious, though, how an actual French person feels about a show as ridiculous as “Emily in Paris.” Some French people have criticized the show for its clichéd presentation of Paris and exaggerated stereotypes about Parisians being mean (to be fair, Emily’s over-the-top outfits and ignorance are so grating that she absolutely deserves to be bullied). 

Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

But to my surprise, de Betelu does not share this contempt for the show. 

“I think it's really fun. I like it,” said de Betelu. “Obviously it’s very stereotyping of the French people in everything, and the American people as well, but I think it's just fun to watch.”

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Maison Danel, a French bakery located at 1030 Polk St, San Francisco, recently hosted an "Emily in Paris" takeover.

Madeline Wells/SFGATE

Later in the day, long after I left Maison Danel, I dug into my “Emily in Paris” pastry box for the final treat I’d saved for myself: a chausson aux pommes (apple turnover). De Betelu had mentioned it was his favorite, and I could see why. Biting into the impeccable pastry made me want to burst into an impassioned rendition of “La Vie en Rose” in the middle of a public park. 

“Emily in Paris” may not be your cup of tea, but I promise you, these pastries will be. 

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The ‘Hawkeye’ Finale Hands the MCU’s Baton to New Heroes and Villains - The Ringer

The sixth and final episode of ‘Hawkeye’ delivers a lot of action, sets up future MCU series, and passes an important torch (or two), though it also leaves some loose ends untied

Disney/Ringer illustration

Between all the damage to the newly reconstructed Statue of Liberty in Spider-Man: No Way Home and the destruction of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in this week’s final episode of Hawkeye, New York City’s landmark sites have been subjected to a lot of drama during the MCU’s holiday season. And I’m not talking about Rogers: The Musical on Broadway, either.

“So This Is Christmas?” features hordes of Tracksuit Mafia bros facing off against a pair of archers, LARPers turning their fantasies into reality, and a family reuniting on Christmas Day as Hawkeye rushes to wrap up its story in an action-packed season (and, barring a Loki-style surprise renewal, series) finale. The episode provides some closure for Clint Barton, who was forced to confront the past he thought he’d left behind and come to terms with the loss of his friend Natasha Romanoff. And after teasing Kingpin’s highly anticipated return for much of the season, it also revives the classic Marvel villain–only to maybe kill him by the end of it. But perhaps above all else, the Hawkeye finale marks the beginning of a new life for Kate Bishop, as she officially earns a new moniker and becomes the MCU’s newest superhero.

Almost every superhero is born out of tragedy, and Kate’s origin story began the day that her father was killed during the Battle of New York. Now, years later, Kate finds herself working alongside the same arrow-slinging hero who saved her life on that fateful day. In the finale, she finally tells Hawkeye about the impact he had on her as a child. “When I was younger, aliens invaded, and I was alone,” she says to Clint. “And I was terrified. But then I saw you, fighting aliens with a stick and a string. I saw you jump from that building even though you can’t fly–even though you don’t have superpowers. And I thought, ‘If he could do that, then I didn’t have to be scared.’ You showed me that being a hero isn’t just for people who can fly or shoot lasers out of their hands. It’s for anyone who’s brave enough to do what’s right, no matter the cost.”

Throughout Hawkeye, Clint has been (reluctantly) sharing with Kate some of the wisdom he’s accumulated through years of working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avenging–from the importance of a properly cleaned wound to the losses you must endure as a hero. His final lesson is that heroes need to make “tough decisions,” and Kate is quickly tested when she has to decide what to do with her mother after discovering that Eleanor had been working for Kingpin all along and had hired an assassin to kill Clint, killed Armand Duquesne, and framed her fiancé to take the fall for her. Kate is forced to deal with the emotional weight that comes with this choice, while also having to fight a guy who can take an arrow to the chest and pull off an outfit like this:

Despite the difficulty of her final exam, though, Kate passes with flying colors: She locks up her mom on Christmas Eve and takes down the wildly durable Wilson Fisk by finger-snapping a cuff link into a pile of explosive trick arrows. That’s quite a way to start off a superhero career.

As for Clint, he finally gets the chance to meet Natasha’s sister Yelena, and in doing so, he takes a crucial step in learning to forgive himself for allowing Natasha to sacrifice herself in his stead during the events of Avengers: Endgame. They have to duke it out a bit before they’re able to talk through their feelings, but Clint is able to enlighten Yelena on what happened to her sister the day she died on Vormir, while also helping her see how much Natasha had always cared for her. “She made her choice,” he tells Yelena. “We’re gonna have to find a way to live with that.”

Clint also begins to respect Kate as a true partner and—though he hides it beneath a joke about the surprising usefulness of the LARP squad—tells her how much she’s helped make him better “in every way” during this chaotic week leading up to Christmas. There’s no telling what’s next for Clint—especially now that he’s got a snazzy new costume. But as a playful exchange in the waning moments of the episode finds Kate testing out a few potential superhero names with Clint, the Avenger seems ready to pass on his name, with his own suggestion cut off (but possibly also revealed) by the Hawkeye title screen flashing across one last time.

With the final episode of Hawkeye, Marvel Studios wraps up a busy, mostly successful first year of transitioning into the world of television. In another extension of the studio’s main approach to Phase 4, the series accomplishes its goal of introducing a new Hawkeye into the MCU, while also providing a closer look at one of its founding Avengers that explores the emotional trauma left behind by the universe-altering events of the Infinity Saga. Overall, Hawkeye is a fun change of pace that lowers the stakes from the multiverse setup of WandaVision, Loki, and What If…? to tell a street-level superhero tale that plays out over the span of one week (and is tailor-made for families to binge around the holidays). But while the finale has its fair share of enjoyable moments, the episode also runs into some of the same issues that plagued most of its predecessors in their season conclusions.

WandaVision had a wonderful run to start the year with its genre-bending exploration of Wanda Maximoff’s grief, which hid a growing mystery behind a journey through generations of sitcom television. But it stumbled at the finish line, as it tried packing in a classic Marvel dose of CGI-action spectacle with little consideration given to the consequences of Wanda’s transgressions throughout the series. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier never managed to take off in the first place, and it used a number of long expositional speeches in the finale to try to explain the themes and ideas around race and nationalism that it was never able to effectively convey. (Loki also used its finale for an expositional dump to help elucidate some heady concepts related to the multiverse, but that works when the writing is strong and you have a brilliant performance from Jonathan Majors in a surprise appearance.)

The greatest disservice of Hawkeye’s finale was done to the characters other than Clint, Kate, and Yelena, as there was little time afforded to satisfying conclusions for the show’s abundance of villains. Vera Farmiga, as Kate’s protective mother who was secretly behind a number of the show’s sinister plots, was criminally underutilized throughout the series, with her motives—primarily, paying off Kate’s dad’s outstanding debt to Kingpin—hardly explored enough in the end to establish her as a fully realized character. She doesn’t even have a conversation with her fiancé, Jack Duquesne, in the finale, though between Jack’s unjust imprisonment and Eleanor’s deserved one, it seems likely that the wedding is about to be off. Jack, for his part, turned out to be more of a smoke screen for fans who were expecting a bigger role for his character, which draws inspiration from one in the comics. At least Tony Dalton got to have a little fun swinging a sword and teasing a spoiled child for peeing himself in the Hamptons.

Maya Lopez doesn’t have an exchange with Clint in the finale, either, despite learning at the end of last week’s episode that he was the one who killed her father. And most deflating of all, after withholding Kingpin’s grand entrance for much of the season, the Big Bad of the series arrived in the finale to little fanfare, despite Vincent D’Onofrio picking up right where he left off in Netflix’s Daredevil with his menacing presence as Wilson Fisk.

In the end, Hawkeye at least succeeded in paving the way for a new generation of superheroes in the MCU, with Kate Bishop, Yelena Belova, and Maya Lopez all set to come back for more. And with Clint back at home for Christmas at last, and his life as Ronin behind him, the Avenger can finally load on the ice packs and rest easy.

What’s Next for Maya Lopez and Kingpin?

Maya appears for only a few scenes in the finale, but she gets a lot out of them as she leaves behind her life as a member of the Tracksuit Mafia. Though she spares Clint, she returns in the finale to exact her revenge on the men responsible for setting up her father: Kazi and Kingpin.

After killing Kazi, Maya finds Fisk, points a gun at him and—though the camera pans away to obscure the incident—fires it. Only a gunshot and the thud of a body hitting the pavement can be heard, so the implication is, of course, that Maya has just killed Kingpin, too. But is he actually dead?

Given the care that went into delaying Fisk’s arrival for the finale, as well as the fact that Marvel would be robbing fans of a reunion between Daredevil and his archnemesis sometime in the future, it feels pretty safe to say that the Kingpin of Crime won’t go down so easily. (After all, in the span of a few minutes, the guy also survived taking an arrow to the chest, getting run over by a car, and being hurled across a room by a number of explosive arrows.) Maya’s confrontation with Fisk in Hawkeye also serves as a parallel to a similar scenario that plays out in the comics, after she learns a similar truth about Fisk’s involvement in her father’s murder:

Marvel Comics

In Daredevil no. 19, Maya shoots Fisk in the face … and he’s fine. He loses his sight temporarily, but he’s back to his Kingpin ways in no time. Hawkeye deliberately stopped short of showing Maya kill him, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they go the route of the comics and use this incident as a starting point for a rivalry between Maya and Fisk.

Without any immediate follow-up scene after Maya and Fisk’s final confrontation, there’s little indication of where Echo will find Maya when her Disney+ series resumes her story. But unless she has any interest in rebooting the Tracksuit Mafia—that is, if any of its members are still alive—she has a fresh start ahead of her in which to turn away from a life of crime. However, one of the deadliest Marvel villains has a pretty good reason to go after her.

Black Widow and Hawkeye

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best moments of the Hawkeye finale belong to Florence Pugh’s Yelena. Despite Yelena’s attempt to kill Kate’s mentor and partner, even Kate can’t resist the charm of the Black Widow. Their over-the-top comedic fight sequence is entertaining enough in itself, but it also feels like only a small taste of a bigger partnership to come, as Pugh’s Belova and Hailee Steinfeld’s Bishop are set to become the next generation of Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Yelena’s conversation with Clint provides some closure for her as well by revealing the truth about Natasha’s sacrifice on Vormir. Black Widow explores some of the abandonment issues that Yelena still carries after being separated from her pseudo family, and Natasha is the greatest source of her pain and sense of betrayal. Although they make amends and team up to take down the Red Room together in the film, Natasha’s death still hangs over Yelena in Hawkeye. In the fifth episode, a flashback explains that Yelena learned about her death only after being blipped back to life. Now that she knows how much Natasha cared for her, even when they weren’t together, she can drop her own need for revenge and begin to move forward.

As with Maya, there isn’t any follow-up scene that hints at where Yelena is headed after the events of Hawkeye. But with her boss Valentina Allegra de Fontaine building toward something bigger, and John Walker also under Valentina’s command, Yelena’s time in the MCU may just be getting started.

Pizza Dog Pic of the Week

It took until the very end of the season to happen, but Pizza Dog finally got a real name: Lucky. He also got sent to a farm–but no, not like that. Instead he found a potential home outside the city as he accompanied Kate to Clint’s homecoming. Clint may have forgotten about the bite-sized van of humans who were abducted by a famous owl, but you can always count on him to remember to make sure that Lucky gets his proper number of steps in.

Christmas Gifts From Marvel

Hawkeye’s season finale is packed with Easter eggs, including allusions to Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye comics as well as other events from the MCU. The biggest of them all is the confirmation that Linda Cardellini’s Laura Barton is none other than Agent 19, the former Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. also known as Mockingbird.

One of the subplots throughout the season was centered on the mysterious Rolex that was stolen by the Tracksuits from the black-market auction in the series premiere. Clint later told Kate that the watch belonged to someone he used to work with who had been out of the game for a long time. As it turns out, that someone was Clint’s wife, and the Rolex brings to light a new backstory for Laura that raises a ton of questions about her former life as a field agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. While Hawkeye failed to deliver a flashback for a character who also serves as one of the Avengers in the comics, it’s still a fun nod to the source material that provides a bit more background on someone who’s never been afforded enough screen time. It also helps explain why Laura was so understanding about her husband’s problems with work-life balance.

The finale also features a fun reference to Fraction’s Hawkeye series through the reemergence of Clint’s trick arrows, plus the MCU additions of Stark Industries and Pym Particles arrows. Even Scott Lang gets a quick shout-out, when Clint realizes he has no idea what to do about the Tracksuit bros that he’s unintentionally just transformed into Rocky the Owl’s dinner:

Hawkeye saved its biggest gift for last, with the full version of “Save the City” from Rogers: The Musical playing out in all of its glory, to either the delight or the horror of fans at home who were expecting to find a more substantial stinger awaiting them in the episode’s end credits. Given the spatial and temporal setting the show shared with No Way Home and its close proximity to the film in Marvel’s release schedule, viewers may have expected a more obvious tie-in to the blockbuster movie—especially given that the projects imported the two stars of Daredevil into the MCU within the same week. Alas, the biggest crossover between the two ended up being the ads for Rogers: The Musical placed throughout New York City as Spidey swung through the movie’s multiversal madness. (He also swung by Rockefeller Center shortly before Clint and Kate took down the tree, but maybe he had a little too much on his own plate to help his old Avengers buddy get home for the holidays.)

“So This Is Christmas?” left a lot to be desired in some respects, along with a lot of questions about the futures of the many heroes and villains introduced in Hawkeye’s brief six-episode run, but the finale served its main purpose in passing the torch from Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton to Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop. The next Thanos-level threat in the MCU is still unclear as Marvel Studios continues to expand its universe into infinite realities in Phase 4. But with Bishop’s Hawkeye along for the ride, the future just got a lot more fun.

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