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In the 2021 Hawkeye series, first episode, on a bet, Kate tries to ring the bell in a tower which also contains a clock. After a debate on whether the ringing is due to the bell, or the clapper inside, she makes a first attempt, with a tennis ball on the end of the arrow, which produces a quiet thud, but no ringing. Then, she rigs up something involving a clamp on the front of the arrow that apparently grabs the rope attached to the clapper, which successfully rings the bell. However, something goes wrong, and things start to fall apart in the tower, culminating in a partial collapse and one of the clock faces falling out.

While I recognize the plot need for the scene to establish that Kate is a good archer, thinks creatively, and gets in trouble due to impulsive decisions, it seems odd that ringing a bell would cause that magnitude of a reaction. Has there been an explanation provided, perhaps in behind-the-scenes notes, as to why the tower fell apart so spectacularly?

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    I question the quality of the higher learning instutution that admits students that don't know how a bell works. No wonder the place can't keep a bell tower in good repair ;)
    – NKCampbell
    Commented Dec 2, 2021 at 16:26

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This looks to be the case that the tower was really old and wasn't really used anymore. In the shot leading up to the scene we see a close up on a plaque of the tower saying it started construction in 1725.

STANE TOWER

The oldest university bell tower in the United States. Its cornerstone was placed on October 20, 1725.

Rededicated on July 19, 2006, in honor of Obadiah Stane.

View of the building with the plaque (quoted above) in the foreground; it's night time and the trees have Christmas lights on them

It just seems that the age plus the sudden use put strain on the tower which made it crack and eventually collapse.

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    I'd argue that if the tower was that decrepit then: 1. The bell shouldn't have had a rope to the tongue (which seemed to be rigged totally incorrectly) as any slight tug by anyone could have brought the tower down. 2. The tower should have been fenced off, as it is public danger. But hey, MacGuffin.
    – Peter M
    Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 15:09
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    Yeah I thought the whole thing was kinda ridiculous. If she was able to bring down the whole tower with one arrow, then the structure could not have been sound. Imagine what would happen if there was an earthquake. There would be no way they would have to pay for the damages done to the tower because the tower was obviously not a good structure. The school probably would’ve worked out a deal they wouldn’t tell the news about Kate and her mother wouldn’t sue the school. Commented Dec 4, 2021 at 18:59
  • Also, as soon as I saw "Stane Tower" I kinda knew what was going to happen... Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 19:48

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