In the latest episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we have staring contests, super-soldiers, couples therapy, a healthy amount of action and every annoyingly patriotic hero characteristics you could get from Captain America amplified. And not exclusively in that order. The episode that finally brought the titular characters together was wildly enjoyable and a great start to seeing what their partnership may be like, with a side of inconvenient people getting in their way. They may be the bane of each other's existence but their connection to Steve Rogers is what has always brought them together and continues to do so.
The episode opens with meeting the person who is now wearing the Captain America suit and using the shield - John Walker, former sportsman and current military man. And you get a minute where you feel like maybe we're supposed to sympathise with this character and the position he's in. Only for a minute. The remainder of the intro reeks of the kind of propaganda you'd get when governments try to use a figurehead to an idea to gain the people's support. It's safe to say I hated him by the time the full introduction was over and done with. I think it gives us an immediate idea of where this storyline is going.
Now that we've seen where Sam and Bucky's lives have gone separate from one another, the episode wastes no time in getting them in a scene working together following up on Redwing's leads on the Flag Smashers. It's both a serious and comical conversation, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan bounce off each other so well that at no point does it feel like the extra bit of comedy Marvel likes to push in wherever they can in the MCU to make something light-hearted. I think my favourite lines to come from that first scene together is "How do you know about Gandalf?" -- "I read the hobbit, in 1937 when it first came out." When they're staking out the abandoned building the intel has led them to, they clearly work well together despite various attempts to continuously piss each other off. Sam clearly has an issue with Bucky's "staring thing" which just makes it funnier every time he does it.
Amidst the conflict with the Flag Smashers, now revealed to all be Super Soldiers, John Walker and his partner seen at the beginning, Lemar Hoskins/Battlestar, join the fight with a cringey high five when they land on the lorry. It's like something out of the old comics in the '40s. There's a contrast between the two partnerships and how they handle this as teams. What Sam and Bucky do seems more focused on the mission, John and Lemar's involvement seems more like a PR stunt. And the conversation between these two partnerships just goes downhill, they are meant to treat each other as equals but everything John says seems to indirectly insult and put down the Falcon and Winter Soldier. As if they are novices and were only ever Steve's "wingmen".
With one of the short glimpses of the Flag Smashers in a quieter moment, discussing their motivation behind what they do, and you can't help but sympathise with them in this short but large moment. One of the darker parts of the two Snaps and the Blip that probably wouldn't get discussed in the films - the people who lived through those 5 years after Thanos' Snap were forgotten. All efforts were focused on helping the people who came back to adjust to their new reality.
One thing I wasn't expecting was Isaiah. We know from the films that other than Steve and Bucky, there were a handful of others turned into Super Soldiers by Hydra, other Winter Soldiers as Howard Stark had succeeded in making more of the serum, something he'd been attempting in Agent Carter. Therefore, why wouldn't there have been any more on the American side? It makes sense, it's not like it was impossible. Isaiah's anger at how he was treated, imprisoned and experimented on for 30 years after everything he had done for the country, felt like it fed really well into the next scene with cops rolling up and targeting Sam during a heated exchange, only easing off once they realise the two are Avengers. I'd like to know who made the decision to include a very real and relevant scene in the episode. Sometimes when scenes like this one are included in a show it can feel like they've forced it in to send a message, to be socially relevant. This one was so well-written, directed and acted to such a high standard (in my opinion) that it felt like it was meant to be there, as though the episode would have been incomplete without it. A black man being approached by police and told to give ID for no reason then immediately backing off once they recognise the famous face? Unfortunately, it's not unusual.
Dr Raynor demanding Sam's presence in Bucky's mandatory therapy session could have been entirely comical and was at times, but it got very real very quickly. I really liked that they were both cooperative in this situation, there was no sense of fragile masculinity when Dr Raynor suggests techniques she uses in couples therapy. It was so refreshing to see two men follow the instructions the therapist gave them, no matter what they were, without getting uncomfortable. It may be 2021 but it's still rare to see this on-screen. And here is where the couples therapy and staring contest part of my introductory paragraph pair up - one of the more amusing parts of this scene. Post-staring contest, you finally understand both of their stances on Sam giving up the shield - Bucky believes that if Steve was wrong to give the shield to Sam then he was wrong about the second chance he was meant to have post-brainwashing. And Sam thought he was doing the right thing by giving it up than failing Steve's legacy. Both answers make sense, both are an impossible choice.
The episode ends with a sinister "stay out of our way" message from John and Lemar after Sam and Bucky continue to refuse to work with them. I think these characters are going to constantly be getting in the way until they are gone. The Flag Smashers are tracked down by other people and you see how far they are willing to go for their cause - one being willing to sacrifice his life to give the others time to run away. When people in a movement or rebel group are willing to die for what they believe in, they are the hardest to beat.
Reasons to Recommend:
- Not just an expected partnership but one that actually works out well
- Getting to know the new annoying Captain America
- "A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther." -- "It's actually White Wolf." and other well-delivered, well-timed quips like this
- Super Soldiers that succeeded Captain America
- Sam and Bucky constantly trying to wind each other up
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