The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: New World Order Review

TFATWS "New World Order"

The expectation going into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is for a more "meat and potatoes" action show for the MCU, after the formal experimentation of WandaVision. And while that isn't inaccurate, it's also proving to be a reductive descriptor. Because by grounding the characters in a sometimes distressingly real world, and tapping into real anxieties, this show has found a dramatic vein to support the whiz-bang action sequences.

We begin with just such a big set-piece. Sam Wilson is tasked with extracting a hostage taken by none other than Georges Batroc, the Lemurian Star hijacker from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The mercenaries fly through the air in an extreme sports heist, brought to life with high-flying aerial footage that strongly recalls the Point Break remake. The sequence is an impressive opening salvo, a solo mission for Sam that more fully showcases his bag of tricks established in the films, including his drone Redwing and his wing shield.

A different shield looms large: Steve Rogers' vibranium shield he entrusted to Sam in Avengers: Endgame. Sam donates the shield to the Smithsonian, and he and pleasant-surprise guest star Rhodey take a walk in the updated Captain America exhibit. The iconography of the superhero surrounds them, and Sam's self-doubt comes into focus.

A trip to his native Louisiana, to his sister Sarah and her kids, opens up Sam's character after his existence in the movies almost always being defined in relation to Steve Rogers. Apparently without a nice, fat Avenger stipend, Sam stubbornly sets his mind on dissuading his sister from selling the family fishing boat. Elsewhere, Bucky struggles to reconcile his heinous past as the Winter Soldier.

And that's when a theme of this show becomes clear. I say this with a smile on my face, but: this show is kind of depressing! The Wilsons have financial problems, Bucky refuses to open up to his psychiatrist, terrorists are running amok. And the worst is saved for last. It's a truly deflating moment when the US government trots out their own "symbolic" Captain America, a doofy white man carrying the same shield Sam donated to the Smithsonian. The audience is 100% with Sam in his reaction. We feel for him to such a great extent that it stands out in the whole MCU.

Henry Jackman, who scored The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, makes the jump to TV to score this show. Delightfully, the Falcon theme he developed for The Winter Soldier is all over the show, alongside, of course, the eerie screech of his Winter Soldier motif. Dialogue scenes are shot with notably intimate close-ups, further involving the audience in the domestic character drama. And with the show taking the slow route building up to a "buddy" dynamic between Sam and Bucky, this premiere ably sets the tone for the show. 7/10.