Picture Credit: Netflix
Finished watching The Hawk on Netflix? Here’s our big overview and everything you need to know about how it tees up another season, should Netflix renew.
Netflix’s 10-episode golfing comedy The Hark marks Will Ferrell’s first-ever time headlining a scripted series, but his character doesn’t stray far from the signature style he’s best known for — from The Campaign‘s Cam Brady to Anchorman‘s Ron Burgundy. In The Hawk, we follow Lonnie ‘The Hawk’ Hawkins, an inherently narcissistic and obnoxious individual, who was formerly the best golfer on the planet. However, years after he narrowly missing out on a Grand Slam, he’s fallen out of favour and his son Lance (Jimmy Tatro) has become the hottest golfer around. Fuelled by jealousy and an overwhelming desire to impress, Lonnie decides to chase golfing victory in the twilight of his career — but has he still got it?
Early reception of The Hawk has been a mixed bag. In our 2.5/5 review, we wrote: “This series is not a hole-in-one, nor a birdie. It falls right on par with most of Ferrell’s other movies; undeniably fun and hilarious, but totally forgettable.”
‘The Hawk’ Ending Explained
Picture Credit: Netflix
From the very first episode, Lonnie is ignorant to everything that isn’t golf; he doesn’t even show up to his former caddy, Old Henry’s (Kieth David) funeral because he’s so fixated on winning a competition. Throughout the entire season, he works towards a dramatic comeback in the PGA Tour, but he ends up facing two awkward opponents that he has a personal connection to: his rival of the past Golden Fisk (Luke Wilson) and his own son Lance.
The finale boils down to the trio facing each other in the playoffs. Golden Fisk is eliminated early, leaving the father and son to face each other — but Lonnie is left in a dilemma. Lance previously convinced his mother Stacy (Molly Shannon) that he’d accumulated hefty debt after getting in too deep with a gambling ring in Las Vegas. He explains that if he loses the playoffs, and cannot deliver his prize money to the creditors bearing down on him, then they’ll be out to kill him.
Understandably, Stacy brings the situation to Lonnie’s attention, who is as saddened about his son’s death threats as he as about being asked to throw the win. When it comes down to the final hole, Lonnie finds himself one easy shot away from winning. It’s a mirror of the situation he was in many years prior, where he choked. This time, Lonnie attempts the relatively easy putt, narrowly missing, and Lance takes the win, using his father’s legacy club for the final, winning putt.
The final twist:
There is a twist to the ending: we learn that Lance was playing mind games with his father, using Lonnie’s own contentious tactics against him. He was never receiving death threats from mobsters. Lonnie looks to his son like a proud father. He was duped in true Hawkins style.
So too, Lonnie later — very subtly — hints to his caddy Sam (Fortune Feimster) that he never intended to miss his winning shot. Is he so ostentatious as to not give up his victory in order to risk is son’s life? Well, over the course of the season, yes is a very likely answer.
Elsewhere, after Lonnie’s apparently rational behaviour in allowing Lance to win, Stacy breaks it off with her partner Radford (David Hornsby). It seems as if her love for Lonnie has been rekindled, or she’s merely playing on his marketability. Meanwhile, Lonnie decides to keep Sam as his caddy. While she may not be the most experienced, she saved his life, and he doesn’t perform as well without her by his side. Despite not winning the playoff, Lonnie is chosen to captain the next Ryder Cup. There’s a clear sense of irony: he fails to win on his own, and then gets handed captaincy in the Ryder Cup, a role almost entirely centred on teamwork.
Will ‘The Hawk’ get renewed for Season 2 on Netflix?
Naturally, it takes Netflix from a few weeks to months to gather enough viewership data to make renewal decisions. We’ll get our best insight after The Hawk has been on Netflix for a week.
The good news so far? The Hawk was not marketed as a limited series, meaning it’s absolutely open for follow-up seasons.
What can we expect from The Hawk Season 2 if it is renewed?
Season 1 ends on its own terms with no major cliffhangers, but the writers leave enough scope for another instalment.
Another season will no doubt follow Lonnie and Lance as they head to the Ryder Cup, which is arguably the biggest golfing tournament in the world, played biennial between the USA and Europe. The season set this up perfectly, with Lonnie officially being hired to captain the Ryder Cup for the upcoming year.
Further drama could include Lonnie’s relationships with Stacy. They were at odds for the majority of Season 1, but there were brief bursts of passion towards the end, especially in a bathroom cubicle. She ultimately broke it off with her partner Radford, opening the doors for a romance with Lonnie.
The Hawk Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
