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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 5 Review

You know, when I first saw Steve Rogers hand the Falcon the shield and wanted him to be his successor, I didn’t think much of it. I thought that Sam or Bucky were the best choices to be Captain America. I didn’t even give the fact that Sam’s African-American a second thought. However, the events of the last few years have reminded America that we are still struggling to deal with our racist past. And it’s something we’ll likely keep struggling with for a long time. However, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reminded us of something important in its penultimate chapter. That if keep feeling sorry about our past, we’ll never fix anything. And this week, the Falcon and Winter Soldier learn to stop being sorry for themselves.

John Walker, You’re Fired

We all knew this was coming. Even before we saw him straight-up execute one of the Flag-Smashers at the end of the last episode, we knew John Walker wasn’t going to cut it as Captain America. On the surface, he looked like a worthy heir to the shield. However, the US Government took someone in over his head and threw him into the deep end. Without water wings. And the end result was him losing it with his best friend’s death.

The inevitable fight between Walker, Bucky and Sam is nothing short of genius. Brutal, bloody, and charged with emotion, these three men all fight desperately over the shield as we see just how unsuited Walker was. He doesn’t feel any regret to killing that man. He deludes himself into believing that the guy he killed had killed Lemar, when we know that wasn’t the case. He doesn’t even take the time to wash the shield clean of blood. In other words, he’s the wrong choice, and the Falcon and Bucky respond by taking the shield from him.

Even though I don’t like Walker, though, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. At the hearing in which his government throws him out of the military and strips him of his role as Captain America, it’s clear that they don’t want to even hear what he has to say. They only care about washing their hands of him even though they set him up for his eventual break. And that’s going to have consequences down the road.

The Falcon Finally Accepts the Shield

At this point, the Falcon understands that he made a mistake giving up the shield, and he’s not going to make it again. He’s keeping the shield this time, and he’s going to be the one wielding it. However, Sam’s all too aware that some people won’t accept him as Captain America because he’s African-American. When he goes back to talk to Isasiah Bradley again, the man tells him just this:

The intent is clear: Isasiah thinks that if a black man were to become Captain America, they would just be a puppet for the US Government. The same government that did illegal experiments on him and his friends, tried to kill them to cover it up, and threw him in jail to keep quiet about everything. And we can’t deny that Isasiah’s right.

But that’s why Sam Wilson decides to take up the shield for good. He knows that becoming Captain America won’t magically fix everything wrong in America. It won’t erase centuries of racism and mistreatment. But, as he points out to his sister, Sarah, if he gave up fighting, then all that pain would be worthless. He knows what the shield represents to everyone: hope. Hope that we can be better than what we already are. And that makes him all the more worthy of being Captain.

Bucky Starts to Move on From his Past

Bucky made it clear that he didn’t approve of Sam giving up the shield. He understands how important it is and the good it represents. However, in this episode, we see Bucky admit that he was wrong about Sam. He and Steve didn’t understand what it meant for a black man to become Captain America, and he apologizes for that. The thing is, the shield’s the closest thing he has left to a family, and he didn’t want to lose that. That almost made me cry!

In return for Bucky helping him realize that he should take up the shield, Sam helps Bucky actually move on from his past. Rather than keep avenging the wrongs he did for HYDRA and apologizing to everyone, Sam tells him to make himself useful to those he wronged. By helping to make the lives of those he hurt better, that will help him heal. It’s probably the best advice Bucky could ask for, and as a bonus, it helps him and Sam patch things up.

As for Zemo? Bucky tracks him down to the Sokovia memorial, but he doesn’t kill him. He turns him over to Wakanda, and they haul his butt back to prison. And I couldn’t be any prouder of Bucky.

The Falcon and Winter Soldier Are Ready to Fight Again

While all of this is going on, we have the weakest link to the show, the Flag-Smashers. After what happened with Walker, Karli Morgenthau’s doubled down on her mission. As a result, she and her followers storm a GRC meeting in their biggest attack to date. Thus, we get set up for the final battle of the series: the Falcon and the Winter Soldier vs the Flag-Smashers!

I don’t really care that much about Karli, as I don’t think she’s that good of a character. However, I think this next fight will be important because it can help cement Sam’s status as the new Captain America. His own Captain America, no government strings attached. Unfortunately, it looks like Walker’s not done yet. Look.

This is not going to end well for anyone. But I can’t wait to see what happens.

I Give “Truth” a 5/5

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 4 Review

Do you ever ask yourself why Captain America’s tool of choice is a shield? I have two ideas why. Firstly, it makes him look like a total badass. More importantly, though, the shield isn’t meant to kill. It’s meant to protect. That fits perfectly with Steve Rogers’ personality. Today, though? Today, we saw John Walker, the US Government’s choice for Captain America, disgrace the shield. John Walker, you disgust me.

Zemo’s on the Loose

At the end of the last episode, we saw Bucky come face to face with Ayo of the Dora Milaje (Wakanda’s all-female royal guard), who demands that Bucky give them Zemo. Bucky wisely doesn’t fight them on this, and Ayo gives them eight hours to get everything out of him before they take him.

I know that some people may have wanted to see Bucky fight the Dora Milaje over this, but the flashback at the beginning shows just how grateful he is to Wakanda for helping him get the stuff HYDRA put in his out. And I think that he would have honored the deal and given them Zemo. That is, if John Walker didn’t walk in like he owned the place and gotten his butt kicked. As a result, Zemo escaped, and now Bucky and Sam are out of leads, and John Walker continues to be a disgrace to the shield. So, no one wins!

Oh, and Zemo smashed all but one of the vials of super soldier serum.

Karli Morgenthau: Robin Hood or Terrorist

Ever since this miniseries started, I’ve been lax on mentioning Karli Morgenthau, the leader of the Flag Smashers. I just haven’t been as interested in her as a character as I am with everyone else. However, I think I may need to change my stance after this week.

In some ways, Karli Morgenthau reminds me of a darker version of Captain America. And that’s not just because she has the super soldier serum in her. As we’ve seen in the series, Karli’s someone who knows what its like to not have any power in this world, like Steve did. Ergo, she knows what it means to have power and what good it can do. While the fact that she kills people isn’t something to gloss over, it’s obvious that she can be a good person.

Sam certainly seems to think so, at least. He sympathizes with her plight isnce he knows what it’s like to not be treated fairly by those in charge. He may have ended up getting through to her if John Walker didn’t barge in and ruin everything.

John Walker: Unworthy of the Shield

We all knew that this was coming, but it doesn’t make it any less dissappointing to watch. John Walker was never meant to be Captain America and wield the shield. He knows it, Sam and Bucky know it, everyone in the show know it. And as I said in episode 2, that pressure starts to eat away at him as he keeps trying to prove he’s capable of being Cap. It also doesn’t help when it’s revealed that he won his three Medals of Honor on the “worst day of his life.” So, he’s clearly got some form of PTSD that the Government decided to overlook. And this week, we see just how far from Steve Rogers John really is.

Walker manages to get his hands on the last vial of the super soldier serum and keeps it for himself. And in a conversation with Hoskins, he asks if he would take the serum if given the chance. Hoskins says that he would, and as we later see in the episode, Walker ultimately took it. Which is the exact reason why he’s not worthy of the shield.

Steve Rogers didn’t want to be a soldier just for the sake of it; all he wanted to do was help people, because he knew what it’s like to be helpless. It’s that humanity that had him spare Tony Stark in Civil War. However, in the climax of the episode, Walker becomes enraged when Karli apparently kills Hoskins. As a result, he chases down her second-in-command, someone who professed earlier in the episode to being a fan of Captain America as a kid. Then, in front of the whole world, Walker proceeds to beat the man to death with Cap’s shield.

Walker Has to Go

I almost dropped my phone when I saw what Walker had done in the final moments of the episode. I knew that Marvel wasn’t going to be subtle about why Walker’s not worthy of the shield, but, wow. That was like watching the MCU Netflix series all over again. Whoever came up with that scene for the show deserves an award.

So, I think I speak for the entire fandom when I say this: John Walker has to go. Sam and Bucky need to take him down, take the shield for themselves. I trust them with the shield over the government!

Regardless of the shock value, I think that this took The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in a darker direction, and for the better. I’m now pumped to see the last two episodes, and I think everyone should be watching this. Like the title of the episode says, the whole world is watching right now!

I Give “The Whole World is Watching” a 4.8/5

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 Review

We’re now at the official halfway point to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I’m a little worried. The series started out strong, and it seemed to continue that trend in last week’s episode as we met John Walker, the “new” Captain America. However, I feel like the show started to peter out this week as Sam and Bucky continue to investigate how the Flag Smashers got hold of the Super Soldier Serum. Unfortunately for them, that involves meeting the guy responsible for breaking up the Avengers and heading to one of Marvel’s most notorious cesspools. Everyone, this week, we head to Madripoor.

I Love Zemo, but I Also Hate Him So Much

I will be blunt: I have a love-hate relationship with the villain known as Zemo. On the one hand, his need to avenge the death of his family at the hands of Ultron led to murder dozens of innocents and tore the Avengers apart. Were it not for him, the Avengers may not have disbanded, and could have stopped Thanos the first time around. On the other hand, I can’t help but be impressed by what he did. He had no powers, no armies, no resources beyond his own mind. Yet he was able to turn the Avengers on each other so easily. And then he got to sit back in a jail cell like Hannibal Lector and watch he wrought.

That is, until Bucky’s forced to free him to help him and Sam find who’s making the Super-Soldier Serum.

Zemo more or less carries this episode on his shoulders, and he knows it. The entire time they’re in Madripoor, he’s acting calm, confident, and like he’s in control of things; which he is. He knows that without him, Sam and Bucky wouldn’t make it far in Madripoor, so he keeps subtly rubbing it in their faces. If it were anyone else, he would come off as an arrogant jerk, but Zemo’s just got this charisma to him that makes him such a great character. We know we’re supposed to hate him, but when he see him don the purple mask from the comics, we can’t help but squeal in joy.

Return of the Super Soldier Serum

Since the miniseries’ start, we keep hearing about this person called the Power Broker. We don’t know who they are, but they’re hunting the Flag Smashers and seemed to have a lot of power. And as we learn in Madripoor, they funded the recreation of the Super Soldier Serum using Isaiah Bradley’s blood. The Flag Smashers stole it, and now they’re doing everything they can to get it back.

We’ve seen just how powerful people can become using the Serum. In the hands of someone like Steve Rogers, it becomes a force for good. But in the hands of the Flag Smashers, it could bring untold chaos to the world. So, yeah, it’s pretty important to the heroes and villains that they get their hands on it.

Steve Rogers’ Legacy

In keeping with the show’s theme about Steve Rogers’ legacy, the cast can’t help but continue to talk about whether it was right for Sam to give up the Shield. Sam keeps trying to justify it, saying he’s not good enough to be Captain America. Zemo actually agrees, saying that when you put people on a pedestal, you lose sight of their flaws. And on the other end, we have Bucky, who says that he’s going to take the Shield from Walker before this is over.

I feel like both sides have a point in this episode. As much as I hate to admit it, Zemo’s right about the pedestal thing. When we look up to symbols like Captain America for too long, we tend to lose sight of the fact that there’s a person underneath the mask; and people are flawed. Steve was a noble person, but he could also be very stubborn. However, I understand why Bucky’s also right about the Shield. It’s a symbol of hope for people to be better than they are. That we can be the best versions of ourselves. And with the way the world is now, they need people like that.

Also, it’s clear that John Walker’s not the man who can wield the Shield. While everyone’s in Madripoor, we see him being overwhlemed by the expectations people have for him and trying to be something he’s not. Bottom line, John Walker’s not fit to be the new Cap.

Wakanda Joins the Story

In the midst of all the chaos that was the Avengers Civil War, it’s easy to forget one of the key events that kickstarted it. Zemo bombed the UN and killed King T’Chaka of Wakanda. His death led T’Challa to seek vengeance on Bucky, only for him to bring Zemo to justice. We don’t know what the situation is like in Wakanda post-Endgame (and post Chadwick), but one thing is clear: they want Zemo to face justice. In the final moments of the show, Bucky comes face to face with Ayo of the Dora Milaje, who wants Zemo to be turned over to face Wakandan justice.

I don’t want to see Sam and Bucky to come to blows with Wakanda, and I want Zemo to face justice for his crimes. But I doubt that Ayo will be willing to hold off on getting Zemo until this is over. However, Wakanda may be willing to help the heroes with their investigation, and with their resources, it’s pretty much a done deal.

The bottom line is, this episode, while repetitive at times, added a lot to the MCU. It gave us our introduction to the rathole that is Madripoor, we saw more of the fallout from the Blip, and Zemo’s back in the game. This wasn’t my favorite episode of the series, but it leaves me eager to see where things will go.

I Give “Power Broker” a 3/5

Stray Observations

• I loved seeing Sam drink alcohol mixed with snake guts.
• Sam’s sister calling him at the worst possible time is classic!
• Sharon Carter made her first appearance since Civil War
• ZEMO DANCE

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