The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: One World, One People Review

TFATWS "One World, One People"

For the show's run so far, the title has been The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In a final flourish, "One World One People" recapitulates it as Captain America and the Winter Soldier. And that tracks with how the episode leans into the iconography of Captain America with the new Wakandan stars and stripes wingsuit, and furthermore the idea of Captain America. Cue an awed bystander calling Sam Black Falcon, and a fellow citizen correcting him with, "That's Captain America!" It's a welcome bit of superhero cheesiness, in this climactic episode of the miniseries.

The threat of the Flag Smashers leads to the GRC evacuating their facility before their resettlement vote, leading to a January 6th type of imagery as politicians huddle in fear. The sequence progresses on multiple fronts, Sam dealing with Batroc then taking to the air, and Bucky engaging the super soldiers on the ground. Sam's helicopter rescue maneuver, enlisting hostage Ayla Perez to take the stick, makes for a fine companion piece to Tony Stark's rescue of falling civilians in Iron Man 3.

The sequence also takes in the partial rehabilitation of Walker, who chooses to help save a vehicle full of hostages rather than blindly pursue revenge on Karli Morgenthau. In the big picture, it's questionable whether the whole project of rehabilitation is worth it given what Walker represents in the thematic framework of the show, but in any case, he's apparently "legit" again. This time he gets his handle from the comics, US Agent, working for "Val".

Also a major player in the conflict: the corrupt Sharon Carter, revealed as the mysterious "Power Broker" of Madripoor. By episode's end, she gets her pardon, but she fully intends to abuse her authority in the CIA. Over the course of the episode, Sharon kills Batroc and Karli. To outward appearances, these were necessary countermeasures. But when looked at from her perspective, she's covering for herself. Sharon gets rid of loose ends and bad actors with ties to her own criminal enterprise, and comes out looking like a hero. So Sharon Carter is essentially the Sheev Palpatine of this story, and the whole show has been her Phantom Menace. It's a downright dire turn for a character who started out a hero.

After the dust settles, Sam as Captain America discusses events with the GRC politicians. It's certainly positioned as a centerpiece moment, but when the whole situation of the refugee camps has been the victim of tell-don't-show storytelling, it's hard to parse how the show intends to frame audience sympathy in this debate. And without more information, it's hard to parse how to engage with it.

Zemo has his butler kill the arrested Flag Smashers, Bucky tells Yori Nakajima the true circumstances of his son's murder, and in a very "Vincent and the Doctor" from Doctor Who moment, Sam shows Isaiah Bradley his new room in the Captain America Smithsonian exhibit. It's a piece of poignant punctuation in a finale that brings closure and plenty of action, but still exposes holes in the presentation of the show's overarching story. The character work for Sam, Bucky, and Zemo has been largely excellent. The cases of Walker, Karli, and especially Sharon are more mixed. But that doesn't stop the crystallization of Sam's hero moment, bursting through the window as a Captain America for the 21st Century. 7/10.

Stray observation:

- Isaiah Bradley says Sam is "no Martin". Indeed, but Anthony Mackie played Martin Luther King Jr. on TV in All the Way.

- One of the reporters asks Sam if he's "Captain Falcon" now. If he is, maybe he should race in F-Zero and practice his Falcon Punch for Super Smash Bros.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Truth Review

TFATWS "Truth"

In its penultimate installment, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier got back into its wheelhouse for a moving and satisfying "calm before the storm" episode.

We begin in the only place we could after the heinous events at the end of last week's episode: with consequences for John Walker. Sam and Bucky confront the enraged, 'roided up, unrepentant Walker, and an exciting two-on-one fight ensues. The power sets on display land logically, but more than that, the motivations behind the fight have the spice of a proper build-up. The sequence is earned.

Henry Jackman breaks out his main theme from Captain America: Civil War, underlining superficial parallels the fight has with Steve and Bucky vs. Tony Stark in that film. Another MCU moment comes up when Sam uses his wings' rocket booster to force the shield out of Walker's hands; it's reminiscent of Tony and Peter Parker trying to wrest the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos' arm in Avengers: Infinity War.

After Walker is stripped of his duties and military pension, he and his wife are approached by a quirky and enigmatic woman played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (giving a performance not unlike her Arrested Development character). After visiting Lemar's family, Walker begins to make his own knock-off Captain America shield.

When I say the episode throws itself squarely in the show's wheelhouse, I mean that it largely gets away from the pokey Flag Smashers material and focuses on the areas of the show where its strengths most clearly reside: reckoning with the exploitation of Isaiah Bradley, the Wilson family drama in Louisiana, and the partnership between Sam and Bucky. Each element is tended to, as the episode prioritizes relatively quiet character moments after the initial action business has been dealt with. Even the telling detail of Bucky's right-handedness plays into this, and the bonding he and Sam engage in is genuinely touching.

Sam wrestles with the revelation of Bradley's all-too-predictable story, and the problematic nature of a Black man wielding a shield so loaded with nationalistic symbolism. Ultimately, he decides to "keep fighting", and get himself a sweet training montage. Sam practicing his shield throw is undeniably cool. Bucky also delivers a gift for Sam from Wakanda, that the show is teasing hard. Presumably it's a new wingsuit, to replace the one Walker tore apart. Wakanda has given Bucky a metal arm and Steve retractable "shields", but there's an extra resonance to the country giving gear to a Black superhero. (Granted, the Captain America shield is made of likely-stolen vibranium...)

Elsewhere, Bucky delivers Zemo to Ayo and the Dora Milaje, who intend to deliver him in turn to the Raft. We learn that Sharon Carter really is a villain, working with Batroc of all people. Come on, Sharon, this is the Hydra type of bullshit you took a stand against in Captain America: The Winter Soldier! And Karli and the other Flag Smashers begin their attack to delay a GRC vote on a resolution to repatriate thousands of blipped people to their original countries. Hmm, a terrorist attack to stop a vote, does that sound familiar? 8/10.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Whole World is Watching Review

TFATWS "The Whole World is Watching"

The ideal Avenger ironically does not give in to revenge. The show has endeavored to give dimension to the John Walker character, in the wake of a truly deflating introduction. But this episode presents Walker in a downward spiral that leaves no doubt as to his unworthiness of Captain America's shield, in a final scene that touches on traumatic current events. Walker surreptitiously injects himself with the super soldier serum, and tragedy follows. In fact, the broad raison d'être of the episode seems to be showing how dangerous enhanced individuals can be.

We open in Wakanda (!), as Ayo tests the Winter Soldier code words on a newly descrambled Bucky. Bucky breaking down when he realizes Shuri's procedures worked is Sebastian Stan's best work on the show to date.

Speaking of Ayo, she and members of the Dora Milaje come to arrest Zemo but end up tangling with Walker, Lemar, Sam and Bucky - that is, everyone but Zemo, who everyone takes their eyes off as he makes a discreet exit. Really? The impulse to show off Dora Milaje fighting is an unimpeachable one, but the motivations behind the fight feel incomplete. Nevertheless, there is cool choreography - my favorite moment is one of the Dora doing a move right out of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon to remove Bucky's vibranium arm.

The script struggles to convey big ideas compactly, landing clunky lines that tell instead of show. In the cafe scene, Lemar supports his friend Walker by telling him he "consistently makes the right decisions" under fire. Is Lemar administrating a personnel review, or conversing with his friend? When the script is playing tic tac toe with inelegant thematic dialogue, this becomes a bit of an issue when so much of the core conflict of the show is ideological.

After a botched confrontation with Karli Morgenthau, Zemo finds and destroys most of the remaining serum, but Walker sneaks a vial and takes it in secret. Lemar reasons that taking the serum makes you "more of yourself", an insight familiar from Abraham Erskine's wonderful scene with Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger.

But after Lemar is captured, the ensuing rescue attempt finds Karli punching Lemar so hard his body breaks, and he dies. An enraged and empowered Walker corners Karli's fellow Flag Smasher Nico in a public plaza and brutally kills him with the shield. The moment finds Walker going Derek Chauvin on his unfortunate victim, an association made stronger by the horror of the bystanders, recording the incident on their smart phones.

The scene also parallels two moments from the MCU. In Black Panther, T'Challa angrily accosts Ulysses Klaue in Busan as onlookers watch, and is talked down from doing something drastic by being reminded that the world is watching. That phrasing is familiar from the title of this very episode. Secondly, when Steve Rogers prevails in battle over Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War, Steve lifts the shield in anger, and brings it down on Tony's armor rather than his face. Nico, though enhanced, has no such protection as Iron Man armor. At the time, Tony said that Steve didn't deserve the shield. Forget Steve, that sentiment absolutely applies to Walker.

With an ending that reflects very public police violence, there is weight to what the episode depicts. But the ideological conflict between our heroes and the Flag Smashers still doesn't fully land dramatically, and some of the dialogue is subpar. In any case, John Walker's time as Captain America should be coming to an end, leaving the job open for Sam. 6/10.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Power Broker Review

TFATWS "Power Broker"

The show gets a shot in the arm with the reintroduction of Daniel Bruhl's Helmut Zemo, whose status as an excellent villain is enhanced by his appearance here. The episode as a whole thrillingly engages with the canvas of the MCU, making for the show's best installment yet, though it's a couple of those very connections to the wider universe that prove puzzling.

John Walker is largely on the backburner this episode, but his outburst at the man at the Flag Smashers safe house highlights just how ridiculous the "costumed superhero" bit can be, especially when it's the wrong person in the costume. A sentiment, no doubt, Zemo would agree with. Zemo's anti-superhero ideology is drilled down on, establishing his motivation with laser precision. Zemo is integrated into Sam and Bucky's dynamic seamlessly, making for a great third wheel - not least during Marvin Gaye banter.

Henry Jackman again trots out his discordant Zemo theme. We also see "action Zemo" for the first time, and he gets his purple mask from the comics. Speaking of that, it is also revealed that Zemo is a Baron and part of a rich family. I get it, this brings the character closer to the comic villain Baron Zemo. But it doesn't fit with the Zemo of Captain America: Civil War. This level of resources devalues the presentation of his character in that movie as an obsessed ex-soldier. The Civil War Zemo simply works less well as the scion of an affluent family. It's another example of the MCU TV shows shunting characters closer to their comic incarnations, at the expense of the previous movies. I can live with all this, but it's not my absolute favorite trend.

Writer Derek Kolstad navigates a web of a lot of characters for Sam, Bucky, and Zemo to chase the trails of. There's even a John Wick moment when assassins are simultaneously alerted to bounties on their heads - appropriate because Kolstad is the creator of that film series.

The episode also brings back Sharon Carter, reinvented as... a tortured action hero! Sharon is given a lot of room to exercise her action chops, in notably brutal (for the MCU) fashion. She's still a fugitive, hiding out on Madripoor. I really don't understand why all of Steve Rogers' renegade team from Civil War was pardoned, but not her. Maybe it's because she was a CIA (and S.H.I.E.L.D.) agent?

Speaking of Civil War, there's even a "move your seat up" callback, which strikes me as gilding the lily. And more dramatically, Ayo (Florence Kasumba) of the Dora Milaje is on the scene, ready to avenge Zemo's murder of King T'Chaka! It's flourishes like that, plus the dynamic characterization of Zemo, and muscular action, that mark "Power Broker" as a standout episode. 8/10.

Stray observations:

- Bucky makes the distinction that he is not an Avenger while Sam is. Quite so, going by official team rosters and so forth. Of course, Bucky became an honorary Avenger during the Battle of Earth when Steve Rogers called out "Avengers, assemble."

- Zemo mentions that Sokovia is all but erased from the map. Notably, Wanda never updated us on this, but she had a lot on her plate, and Sokovian geopolitics never came up.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Star-Spangled Man Review

TFATWS "The Star-Spangled Man"

In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers' first tour of duty wasn't on the front lines of war, but on the stage. Captain America was trotted out as a walking piece of propaganda, a patriotic symbol shilling war bonds. The song and dance routine around him took the form of Alan Menken's wonderful "Star-Spangled Man with a Plan", an appellation echoed in this episode's title, and a melody echoed by a marching band. A significant part of this episode is concerned with clarifying the John Walker character. A seemingly stand-up soldier, he is a replacement symbol of an American superhero, but also a symbol of tone-deaf government marketing meetings.

Meanwhile, the symbolism of Sam Wilson's Falcon takes a hit, as his drone Redwing is destroyed by the Flag Smashers. And this, just after Redwing started taking to cooing and beeping like it's an astromech droid. The Flag Smashers remain somewhat opaque as villains, although there is time for their motivations to land more clearly. They are stealing vaccines (a timely gambit, that) for apparent delivery to struggling European resettlement camps. And they are led by a young woman played by Erin Kellyman. Between this and Enfys Nest in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Kellyman is typecast as someone who wears a scary mask.

And most cogently, the Flag Smashers are led by multiple super soldiers. An effective high-speed action sequence in Germany has Sam, Bucky, John, and his partner Lemar up against eight super soldiers; perhaps this gives a taste as to what the red herring threat of multiple Winter Soldiers would have been in Captain America: Civil War. This proliferation of people enhanced by Dr. Abraham Erskine's infamous serum leads Bucky to reveal to Sam and the audience a character named Isaiah, a Black super soldier active during the Korean War. 

In Isaiah's neighborhood, there's a loaded scene where cops accost Sam because he's having an animated conversation with Bucky. Things defuse when the cops realize these are Avengers. But nonetheless the moment represents a new step for the MCU, a step toward greater sociological realism. It's depressing, not for its inclusion, but for the fact that archaic racism remains an open wound in this country.

"The Star-Spangled Man" brings Sam and Bucky together without much pomp and circumstance. But it does set up their "buddy cop" bickering, and the running thread of Bucky's indignation that Sam gave up the Captain America shield. Sam and Bucky's back and forth on this will continue to give the show a vein of drama going forward. And forward is the way to Helmut Zemo's jail cell. 7/10.

Stray observation:

- John is played by Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell, who of course played the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ego the Living Planet.

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.