‘Hawkeye’ Finale Hits the Mark and Viewers Say Bonjour to ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 2

Amber Dowling
·7 min read
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The much-anticipated, action-packed “Hawkeye” finale had fans taking to Twitter once again the week of Dec. 20-26, catapulting the Disney Plus series to the top of Variety’s Trending TV chart. The Easter egg-filled episode featured Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) making good on his vow to spend Christmas with his family, while also setting up more potential MCU offerings featuring other characters from the cameo- and crossover-heavy miniseries.

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As fans speculated about the fate of certain characters and looked for clues about the upcoming Disney Plus series “Echo,” starring Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, they also speculated about the future of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and whether she will lead a rumored “Young Avengers” spinoff.

Then there was the matter of the mysterious watch from the Avengers compound, which basically confirmed Clint’s wife, Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini), is Bobbi Morse (a.k.a. Mockingbird). The twist took fans on a bit of a ride given that Adrianne Palicki previously played Bobbi Morse in “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD,” leading to even more engagement and debate.

The MCU wasn’t the only topic of hot debate in the Twitterverse during the Christmas break as the second season of Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” dropped in full on Wednesday. The Lily Collins-led series from creator Darren Star has a long history of getting under viewers’ skin, and the 10 new episodes were no exception as the show rose to the second spot on this week’s trending list.

Indeed, some hate-watched the series to point out flaws, or question the plausibility of certain storylines or character decisions. Others were in it for the love triangle between Emily, Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and new Season 2 character Alfie (Lucien Laviscount).

And then there were those who just enjoyed the escapist narrative, which came at the perfect time for many trying to forget the current omicron wave of the pandemic (which is completely non-existent in the show’s world). Of course, even Emily’s colorful fashion choices caused a small divide on Twitter.

Offscreen, viewers have definitely been feeling the effects of the pandemic in terms of extended delays. Perhaps that’s why a new trailer for the upcoming sophomore season of HBO’s “Euphoria” propelled the series into the third slot on this week’s trending list. The Sam Levinson-created drama was supposed to film its follow-up season in March 2020, but was delayed by several months, prompting two special installments to satiate fans until the Jan. 9 return.

Star and Emmy winner Zendaya fueled that buzz by retweeting the official promo, which features a suitcase full of drugs, a gun and plenty of high-stakes drama. Of course, fans were already paying close attention to the 25-year-old last week, given her starring role in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and an Interview magazine cover story, in which she revealed she wants to one day direct a love story about two Black girls.

“Euphoria” isn’t the only show that will return in 2022 after an extended hiatus. Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed comedy “Atlanta” aired its second season back in 2018, so when FX revealed the Season 3 debut date (March 24) and a new trailer, fans took to Twitter to share their excitement. As a result, the show settled into the sixth slot in this week’s Top 10.

The third season features the return of Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Stanfield and Zazie Beetz, and takes place almost entirely in Europe as the group adjusts to its newfound success and navigates new surroundings.

As viewers prepared to welcome “Atlanta” back to their screens, they said farewell to another beloved comedy in “Insecure.” The Issa Rae series closed out five seasons on HBO with Sunday’s series finale, which Rae said brought “poetic justice” to the show’s core characters.

That made it an emotional farewell for viewers, who helped the show land in eighth place on this week’s chart. But it was also emotional for the show’s cast and creatives, including Rae, Yvonne Orji and showrunner Prentice Penny, who directed the final episode. The trio took to Twitter to share their feelings on the final episode as well.

Rounding out this week’s Top 10 most-talked-about series was Amazon Prime Video’s “The Wheel of Time,” which unrolled its first-season finale on Friday. The adaptation of Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels is the streaming service’s most-watched original series since “Hunters.” And while fans may be disappointed that the first chapter is over so soon, there’s more to look forward to as the second season kicked off production in Prague this past summer.

Variety Trending TV Charts, powered by Twitter and sponsored by DIRECTV, reveal the most-talked-about programs each week by measuring engagements -- a combination of tweets, retweets, likes and hashtags.

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