“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is one of my favorite stories to come out of the MCU. This is a film that takes so much of what I liked in regards to politics and power and intrigue that made “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” so amazing and this show with the characters and themes goes deeper. This is a show that explores oppression in both the United States and globally and delves into what motivates the amazing characters who make up this mini-series. Without going into SPOILERS, if you like anything I’ve said above and want a fast moving political thriller with a greater purpose and point than this is a show I highly recommend.
The series was created by Malcolm Spellman and directed by Kari Skogland.
The show follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he gives up Captain America’s shield as he and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) process their lives post-blip as a new organization known as the Flag Smashers rises whose goal is to create a world without borders in answer to the Global Reparations Committee (GRC) who is resettling the people who came back post-blip.
SPOILERS ahead
The Pros:
Karli and the Flag Smashers – Karli is a character who starts out as a bit of a Robin Hoodesque anti-hero as she steals from banks and governments to help refugees and the poor but the implication is the super soldier serum and the escalation of the conflict leads to her becoming a full villain. She starts bombing soldiers who are sitting on supplies that should be going to the people and later goes into taking the GRC hostage and attempting to kill their members. At one point it looked like this could have been averted too as Sam is able to talk her down after the bombing of the soldiers but John Walker’s Captain America attacks her and after that she is done with any negotiation. In the end the Power Broker who made her the super soldier with the serum kills her as the rest of her inner circle is killed off in a bomb placed by Zemo’s Butler. She was a compelling and complex villain and the voices of the displaced the powerless and displaced who defended the Flag Smashers become part of Sam’s message as Captain America at the end.
Sharon Carter’s Return – Sharon Carter is back and we learn she went underground and became rich in the underworld. We learn she has become the mysterious Power Broker who gave the Flag Smashers the super soldier serum in the first place and her arc is tying up loose ends and working with Sam and Bucky, which leads to her pardon and rise to power. It is fascinating seeing how gone her idealism is and it makes sense too as she had no one after Civil War and after the blip no one checked in either. She was forgotten so in turn built herself into the Power Broker who rules the criminal city-state island nation of Madripoor.
Ayo and the Dora Milaje – After Bucky breaks Zemo out of prison so they can find out who got the Flag Smashers the super soldier serum Wakanda sends Ayo and the Dora Milaje to bring Zemo back in. It was wonderful seeing them again and they beat Sam, Bucky, Walker and Lemar before Zemo makes his escape. When they arrive we see that Ayo was one of Bucky’s few friends and the one who was with him when he was finally ready to leave Wakanda. The scenes with them are awesome and they do succeed in capturing Zemo.
Baron Zemo – In this we learn Zemo is a Baron and it is his resources that help Sam and Bucky get around as they try to stop the Flag Smashers and find where the super soldier serum is being made. He is the one who leads them to Madripoor which leads to them meeting Sharon Carter again and in the end we learn that his motivation is the end all super soldiers and attempts to make them as he sees them as the ultimate form of corruption and the philosophy behind HYDRA. He is a compelling villain and I loved how well he played off of Sam and Bucky as he was more laid back to their seriousness and easily the smartest in the 3 always planning ahead. I also liked that Bucky confronts him and turns him over to Ayo and the Dora Milaje and shows that Zemo’s mind control over him and view of him as a weapon is not a part of his story anymore. He is also taken to the Raft by the Dora Milaje so I suspect Zemo will be back in the Dark Avengers or Thunderbolts at some point in the future. Daniel Brühl is amazing in the role and I can’t wait to see where his story goes next.
John Walker / Captain America / US Agent – Wyatt Russell is amazing as John Walker. This is a character who the US government makes Captain America after Sam Wilson gives up the Shield. From the beginning we see how that pressure is eating away at him as he wants to be as great as Steve Rogers. His friend Lemar Hoskins / Battlestar is the one thing helping him keep it together as both Bucky and Sam refuse to help him when he wants to team up. This isolation and pressure causes his already dangerous anger issues to escalate eventually leading to him killing a surrendering Flag Smasher after Karli kills Lemar. Prior to this he also took the last vial of super soldier serum. He refuses to give up the Shield and Sam and Bucky fight him to get it, breaking his arm in the process. This breaks him mentally and we see after he has the mantel of Captain America removed by the government and being discharged from the military that he makes his own suit and shield and fights in the final battle. He finds some of himself again when he rescues members of the GRC but in a way he’s already gone and is now fully the weapon of other forces as the mysterious Val makes him the US Agent in one of the final scenes is warned he not Captain America will be needed in the new world that is coming.
Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier – Much of this series involves Bucky confronting his actions that he did as the Winter Soldier, the assassin for HYDRA. He has a book of names of people he is harmed and we see him try to either take out HYDRA operatives or help the families of the victims of those he murdered. It is a powerful arc and it is only after Sam tells him that he needs to talk to the ones who he hurt not just stick around that he finally does. In this Bucky finds some semblance of balance and it is beautiful how he and Sam grow to be close friends by the end of the series. In the end Sam inspires him which is contrasted with initially how Sam disappointed him as when Sam turned down the Shield originally Bucky thought that meant that Steve was wrong about Sam and therefor wrong about him being okay and able to heal. Bucky is insecure and sensitive and it is lovely seeing him find himself over the course of the show. Sebastian Stan really gives this role so much depth, especially in the later episodes and the conversations with Sam.
Isiah Bradley – Isiah Bradley was the Captain America erased from time as he was a super soldier who fought in the Korean War and even defeated the Winter Soldier in battle and rescued his captured men. For all of this the racist US government rewarded him by putting him in prison and experimenting with his blood to make more super soldiers. This isn’t even taking into account how the serum broke the other African-American men he served with. In prison he died and none of the letters reached his wife. Isiah is a man broken by the white supremacist systems of power in the United States and it is only when he sees Sam stand against it both globally and nationally that he finds a level of hope again as Sam makes sure that his and his fellow soldiers will never be forgotten.
Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America – Anthony Mackie is an amazing actor and Sam Wilson is easily one of the greatest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This series illustrates why as we see him recognize and reject Captain America’s Shield initially and we get more of that context as we see Sam wrestle with the historic and current oppression of African-Americans. Whether it is learning Isiah Bradley’s story and the experiments the government did on him and his unit of soldiers or being stopped by cops while he was arguing with Bucky. To compound it all too they give the Shield to John Walker a man who only sees things in the context of U.S. power abroad and has no empathy globally where Steve and Sam always did as Avengers. In the end after stopping John Walker he decides to take it up though and to change the meaning of the role of Captain America and the Shield through actions. It is powerful and like the family ship he rebuilds with his sister and community he rebuilds himself and faces the problems of the world as Captain America. In it he makes a call for equity and calls out the systems of oppressive power in the United States and world. It is beautifully executed and I can’t wait to see more of Sam Wilson as Captain America. My favorite of the Avengers.
The Corruption of Power – One of the themes of the mini-series is how corrupting power is, especially in regards to the super soldier serum. We witness this in both Karli’s escalation of violence and how quickly John Walker is ready to kill after he’s injected the serum. It is a warning and we are given examples of the end as in the end John Walker becomes a tool of Val and her agency as a weapon and Sharon Carter as the Power Broker shows that she is no longer the hero she once was.
Power, Oppression and Politics Globally – Another theme of the series is power and oppression on the global scale as we see the Global Reparations Committee (GRC) who are government representatives taking care of those who came back from the snap and in the process are relocating all those who had built communities during the 5 year gap. This clash and imbalance of power is what leads to the Flag Smasher cause in the first place as they are the only ones we see getting medicine, food and resources to the displaced communities around the globe. This oppression is explored and we see how much distrust there is among the populations that are powerless and have no advocates with their futures and lives in flux. Sam Wilson recognizes this and calls out the oppression in the United States and world and the need for all voices to be at the table, equity. It is a powerful speech and shows why Sam is such an amazing Captain America.
An Exploration of Historic Oppression in the United States – This series explores the oppression of African-Americans in the white supremacist systems of government and power in the United States extremely well. From Isiah’s story as he and his fellow soldiers being super soldier serum experiments and being put in prison after so they could take his blood to try again to make the super soldier serum. We see it in subtler ways too like Sam Wilson being stopped by cops and asked for his ID and Bucky having to step in and stand up for Sam. The series calls out this reality in multiple ways and when Sam becomes Captain America he calls out that history and the need for equity and representation in the places of power. These are the stories that need to be told as it is only with injustice and oppression called out and equity created that things will ever change for the better.
The Bittersweet Ending / Power Broker, Zemo and Val Victorious – In the end Sam adopts the mantel of Captain America and brings Isiah Bradley from the Smithsonian so he and his fellow soldiers stories can be told and the government abuses called out for all to see as well as all the events of his life. We also see Sam and Bucky with Sam’s sister and the town celebrating to show the happy part of the ending. The bittersweet comes in Val making John Walker US Agent, Zemo’s Butler blowing up the surviving Flag Smashers and Sharon Carter as Power Broker having all the government weapons that can she can now sell to the criminal underground she rules. It is a bittersweet end that captures what our characters have experienced as well as hints of things to come.
The Cons:
Greater Exploration of the World – I wish we could have seen the world that Karli and the Flag Smashers were fighting for as we never see the positives they had found in the blip as more resources were available to those who had little or none. Showing this would have strengthened the story as we only see the negatives of the present the Flag Smashers are fighting against.
I loved this series. This was a show that told the stories that needed to be told, didn’t waste the 6 episodes as each episode advanced character and plot and in the end we got a rewarding and bittersweet ending that sets up future ideas while still remaining a complete story. Anthony Mackie is the Captain America I’ve wanted since “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” so it was awesome seeing his arc of becoming that character. He’s one of my favorite characters in the MCU and this show captured so many of the reasons why. This is a beautiful and complex series that is well worth your time.
Final Score: 9.8 / 10
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