This article is dedicated in the memory of my friend Robert Ross, better known as Black Rob. You’ve left us a life’s work that will feed your family. You are missed already but we will continue to celebrate you. I am thankful that you aren’t suffering anymore. Rest in power Beloved.
After four high flying & earthquaking episodes of Marvel Studios’ Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the inevitable climax to this story unburdens itself in Episode 5: Truth. Tantamount to the best episodic offering from the Disney+ series to date, the main theme was obvious from the opening scene to the mid-credit tag (to my very own life this week): “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. Normally, a theme answers a question instead of asking one. However, when presented well, it can peel a whole layer of substance off of the “proverbial onion” revealing a new layer to contend with; just like life itself. From John Walker & Lemar Hoskins (RIP), to Sam Wilson & Bucky Barnes, to The United States of America vs. John Walker, to Karli Morgenthau & The Flag Smasher’s mantra (“One world, one people”), to the honor of The Wakandans, to the legacy of Isaiah Bradley all the way down to the kind hearts of Sarah Wilson and the Wilson’s Family Seafood community in Delacroix, Louisiana…how we go about honoring & taking care of each other and our legacy as a people is the underlying component that makes us (and this episode) powerful. This is must see TV, is it not?!?
Continuing from the failed murder attempt on Captain America, and the actual murders of Lemar Hoskins & Nico, we appropriately are given Walker’s immediate reaction to becoming a public executioner for The GRC in Latvia. “Ladies & Gentlemen, it looks like we have a runner”. Running from the scene of the crime, supported by a montage of past sound bytes (memories) we see all too clearly that Walker is also running from the truth. He didn’t have to kill Nico but many of us understand why he did. His ambition to live up to the true title of Captain America is a higher stature than he is capable of attaining. His penchant for overcompensating (and charging into situations over his capabilities) put his best friend & partner in unnecessary danger, and ultimately got him killed. He has also amped up his obsessive mentality into borderline psychopath territory by juicing with Dr. Nagel’s serum.
Denial ain’t a river but it can damn sure run like one. Unfortunately, due to the Super Soldier serum Walker has secretly taken, he can run really fast now too (upwards of 50 miles per hour). Even though the truth will always catch up to us, it has an uphill battle with Mr. John F. Walker today, and in the foreseeable future. Wyatt Russell’s portrayal of Walker’s mental deterioration is spot on. Unbeknownst to Sam & Bucky (and maybe even John himself), Walker can now lift up to 10 tons over his head. He is physically stronger than both of them combined now but the honor of their brother’s shield (Steve Rogers) has been defiled and the shield must be surrendered at all costs.
In honor of the Iron Man vs. Captain America & Bucky fight scene in Captain America: Civil War we are given the best battle since Avengers: Endgame. The fight choreography is brutal and I couldn’t get enough. The CGI is reminiscent of Will Smith’s I Am Legend; especially the facial graphics. I am grateful that even though we didn’t get a super-powered Battlestar, we got a full fledged US Agent vs. Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Marvel Studios completely respected the power scales from the comics in this one. The notion that the “tag team” would have to pry the shield from Walker’s dead body was always front & center. Walker was very much like a child that didn’t want to let go of his favorite toy. After getting beat up for a while (Damage to Bucky’s arm, Sam’s wings destroyed) Sam & Bucky payoff Bucky’s line to Zemo in Episode 4 when they show Walker ‘what they can do with leverage’ by disarming him (I had to…savage pun game) and incapacitating the rabid soldier (jamming his spine).
This fight should be considered a “little brother” (if not a broken mirrored image) to the Civil War fight mentioned in the prior paragraph, down to Bucky dropping the shield by a victorious but defeated Sam Wilson. The sentiments (without use of dialogue) are deep and impossible to ignore. Bucky’s face says it all: ‘The blood on this shield is on your hands. Now, clean up this mess Sam!’. Sam’s facial reaction is even more powerful as the pain from the fight, and the guilt for giving the shield away are all he seems to be able to feel in that moment. Chef’s kiss to this scene. The crazy part is that it was only the intro scene to the episode!
I continue to imagine & wonder how Sam will be able to stand up to superhumans as Captain America in the MCU’s future. He couldn’t have dealt with a juiced up John Walker without Bucky’s help. Sam’s character & morals continue to be his superpower. Even after the drag out fight with Walker Sam keeps the ordeal a secret from military officials, including his ally Joaquin. Speaking of Lieutenant Torres, How cool was that easter egg scene where Sam all but let us know that Joaquin would take his broken wings and learn to fly again like Mr. Mister? LOL. Just like my Imperium in Imperio reference in my Episode 4 article, Karli has gone “under-underground” leaving those she’s been fighting for vulnerable to the wrath of The GRC.
We hardly see signs of The Flag Smashers in this episode. They only show their face twice more before the Season Finale. Once Sam, Bucky, The US Military, GRC Police and national authorities leave, the remaining Flag Smashers come out of hiding to find that all of their people have either been arrested or removed from the settlement camps for aiding & abetting terrorists. Even though she’s lost all sympathy from me at this point, Karli’s question of, “how many of “us” have to pay with our lives to be considered citizens of this planet” strikes my heart strings due to the countless & needless killings of Black people in America. I appreciate the visual metaphor of Karli dropping the doll and walking into the next phase of her story. It symbolized the complete loss of innocence & purity.
The decommissioning of John Walker was a short realistic play on what happens when a soldier embarrasses his superiors and causes too much of a political uproar. My family & I were appalled that Walker’s benefits were stripped from him. I thought it was a sarcastic move to show his wife’s reaction to the commission’s decision when the money was mentioned. Walker’s denial to accept that he isn’t Captain America anymore is foreboding and another sign that is becoming a complete psychopath.
When Julia Louis-Dreyfus appeared as Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine I was at a loss for words. I didn’t see that one coming at all. My first introduction to her was in Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1 (2007). I’ve only started to read stories from Strange Tales (where her story begins) in the last 5 years. Her impact in Secret Warriors is probably the biggest for me. I think her entrance into the MCU is a major one though. She is a deep triple agent who has just jumped to #1 on my “Who Is The Power Broker?” List. Based on the color change of the streak in her hair (it was white in the comics) and the purple outfit, I would normally think of Madame Hydra as her reason for being in the story, but her knowledge of Walker taking the serum tells me that she and Sharon Carter must be working together. The only person Sam would trust with that info about Walker would be Sharon. Val’s blank black & white card, along with the easter eggs we are later shown in Sharon’s place lead me to think that Marvel is introducing us to the organization, Leviathan. I also believe that Val will be used to introduce the Secret Invasion storyline into The MCU as well. As a collector, this was a major loss for me because I would have definitely bought a clean 9.8 issue of her first appearance in Strange Tales #159 (1967) if I had prior knowledge of her debut. Her first appearance jumped 1000% overnight. I will be hard pressed to find a mint copy if I don’t have one already.
As for Walker, I expect him to become a member of whatever team Val is building. The most likely group would be The Thunderbolts, as Julia has been rumored to also be in the upcoming Black Widow movie. I still think that Sharon could have her own thing going with The Daughters of Liberty/Dryads; but a consort for Val as The Power Broker makes more and more sense.
Sam’s man to man talk with Isaiah Bradley matches the importance of the intro fight scene to me, but the ramifications of this sequence could last for a decade or more in storytelling (if done to my level of imagination). First, Isaiah knowing that Sam had Cap’s shield in the leather bag was highly intuitive. I thought Sam had accepted the shield back from Bucky, but it really seemed as if he was ready to give it to Isaiah (if Isaiah would have had it). This reminded me of how Isaiah’s Captain America outfit was returned to him in the comics, but things are very different in this show. Isaiah has his full faculties and wants no parts of the “Red, White & Blue”; he is forever traumatized. Isaiah’s mention of “The Red Tails”, “The 332”, the crosses being burned on their lawns when they returned home from war, and military doctors injecting Black soldiers with serum, lying to them about what was being put into their bodies is pulled out of the true story of The Tuskegee Airmen and The Tuskegee Study. How do you feel knowing parts of the US government did these exact things in real life?
Bucky catching Zemo in Sokovia seems like the beginning of all the characters finding closure in this storyarc. Another powerful scene goes to Sebastian Stan as he finally shows Bucky beginning to turn the quarter on his making amends. Just like his facial expressions made toward Sam in the intro scene, Bucky does a great job in saying, “I could kill you for what you did to me” without uttering a word. Dropping the bullets was a cheeky way of Bucky returning the favor to Zemo for saying “I’ve decided not to kill you”. I saw the scene more as the beginning of tying up loose ends for Season One of this series, and also pushing the narrative forward for Bucky, The Wakandans & Zemo. Ayo performs this push by mentioning that she is escorting Zemo to The Raft. This superhuman ultra-maximum security prison (shown in Civil War) is supervised by Secretary Ross, which only adds to the idea that The Thunderbolts will be assembled by the end of this phase of the MCU and via this location.
It is painful watching parts of this scene because I’ve grown up around men that view the world much like Isaiah Bradley does. Just like Isaiah believed there would never be a Black Captain America, 15 years ago no one thought there would be a Black President of The United States in our lifetime. Even though there is more work to do than has been done, progress has been made in the plight of the descendants of Africa in America. This contrast between two views of Black people in America is as real as it is polarizing.
While explaining his story to Sam, Isaiah shows what I consider to be the biggest easter egg of the entire series. He went AWOL and behind enemy lines to save his “brothers”. He told Sam & Bucky that he was thrown in jail for that act. In his personal talk with Sam, Isaiah shows scars that he attributes to this same act of defiance that landed him in jail. Many Black people have skin that creates keloids if the are cut or stabbed deep enough. It can almost leave an impression of what the wound looked like when it was created. I see three vertical lines somewhat in the middle of what looks like a fist print. Obviously, we aren’t given enough information to come to a clear conclusion, but I automatically saw a wound inflicted from the right fist of Wolverine. I have discussed it with people I respect and I have not been told that it is not a wound caused by Wolverine. I have not been told that it is either. How and why would Wolverine be attacking Isaiah Bradley though?
We aren’t given a date or time period of the specific mission but we do know that Isaiah had a fight with Bucky during The Korean War, which lasted between 1950 and 1953. Not only was Wolverine’s country, Canada involved in that war, but this was also the first stages of The Cold War. Isaiah was in jail for 30 years. He must have served much longer after The Korean War for this timeline to make sense. Marvel Chief Creative Officer, Kevin Feige and company have left the accounts of this timeline open to tell everything from Isaiah Bradley’s full life story to the inception of The Weapon Plus Program to war stories that could exhibit encounters between a bevy of beloved Marvel characters like Wolverine in different time periods. Another reason that Wolverine and Isaiah could have encountered one another is the fact that The Super Soldier program was retconned in the comics to have been created to answer what was considered “the mutant threat”. If Marvel so chose they could decide that the fateful mission Isaiah was on was to capture or kill mutants (without Isaiah knowing). As simple as it was to lie to these soldiers about getting a tetanus shot when they were being experimented on, it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to be lied to about details of the mission that got many of them captured and Isaiah severely wounded.
As sad as what happened to Isaiah Bradley is, it is his story and not Sam’s. Sam has to digest the tale and what it means to his life & purpose as a Black man and superhero in America. There’s no place to do that better than home. I love the atmosphere of family between Sarah (Sam’s sister) and her kids. Black women have been the backbone of the Black family structure throughout history. It feels good to see a strong Black woman taking care of home and business on all fronts in a Marvel TV series. I would like to see a whole Black family with a father and a mother raising their kids more often. I have been critical of Monica Rambeau’s father, Frank being excluded from MCU canon in the Captain Marvel film. Here we see yet another single Black mother, and it is sad that we have yet to see a healthy Black father and child relationship in The MCU.
While Isaiah was telling Sam the truth about himself and his brothers, Walker was busy lying to Lemar’s parents about what happened in Latvia. His character continues to sink to new lows. John’s inability to live in the truth dissolves any empathy for his character in my book. Why couldn’t he have just told them the truth that Nico wasn’t the killer but that he would avenge Lemar? I could have lived with that, but there’s nothing lower than to go to the parents or loved ones of a soldier and lie to their face about the reason or story of how their child died. The US Government lied to Isaiah’s wife, Faith saying Isaiah was dead; basically removing her from his life forever. Walker has tainted his best friend’s memory with this cowardice. How did you feel about John Walker since Episode 1? How have your feelings and impressions of him changed since?
Once leaving the scene of another crime (in my book), Walker’s stare at his “John Walker, Cap Is Back” poster makes it obvious that he is going to try to become Captain America again. From one fake impression on a street wall to a classic painting leaning on a wall in Sharon Carter’s Madripoor High Town location, we see “The Raft of The Medusa” by Théodore Géricault. Once you know the name of the painting you should see an easter egg, the meaning of the painting and the fact that Sharon is on the phone with the French Algerian, Batroc makes the scene more of a clue. The painting is of an actual shipwreck of a French ship named The Medusa that went down on the coast of Senegal. Without a savior many resorted to cannibalism and brutal deaths. This definitely seems like a clue to Batroc being sent and/or freed from The Raft in the future, along with the other prisoners there. Are they worth freeing and/or being allowed to become a part of society again? Or should they be left to feed off themselves and die? Gruesome but a good question when thinking about The Thunderbolts.
We learn Sharon was behind freeing Batroc from an Algerian prison and hiring him to kidnap Major Vassant in Episode 1. Batroc is not happy with her but she offers him double his last price which means she desperately needs something done. We learn later that it’s probably to infiltrate The Flag Smashers. Even though he claims to want to kill “The Falcon”, I think Batroc may be getting paid to sabotage Karli’s plans or to let Sharon know exactly what they are doing for The Power Broker (who I’m thinking is Val). While trying to close the deal with Batroc, we see another purposefully placed image of Claude Monet’s, “The Stroll”. The image is of Monet’s wife under a parasol strolling with their son. The idea of an umbrella organization has been in the front of my mind since the beginning. Linking Val with Sharon puts Leviathan at the top of my list but being in Madripoor, we can’t ignore that Hydra may still be at play in the legacy of Captain America. I can’t wait to see Episode 6 to make sense of all of this. Did you think Sharon was The Power Broker? Who did you have as the character pulling the strings? Is it possible that The Skrulls are already impersonating a major character?
Bucky coming to Sam’s aid with a new flight suit from Wakanda was a perfect chance for his humane side to come out. His old school knowledge added character. With the community coming together to help Sam & Sarah save their family boat, the theme of being “my brother’s keeper” is exemplified in yet another way. Community is something he has not had since the 1940’s so seeing the changes he experiences in Delacroix is food for the soul. I’m not sure if Sarah & Bucky “feeling” each other makes sense from Sarah’s point of view (she has 2 kids) but we know Bucky is probably dying to go back to Wakanda as soon as possible. LOL.
The very subtle but powerful scene of Bucky waking up and seeing Cass & AJ (Sarah’s kids) playing with the shield struck the right chord. His unspoken realization that all kids dream of being Captain America, while the reality that institutional racism views said fantasy from Black children as an audacious heresy hits home. I loved the way Sam & Bucky tossed the shield around and found closure with Sam initially giving the shield away. While Bucky’s guard is down, Sam is able to shine as a counselor for soldiers and helps Bucky to realize that being of service is the best way of being his brother’s keeper and ultimately making his way out of his personal hell. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bucky take on the Nomad storyline, traveling the world being of service to the people on his Bucket list. Maybe we would learn who, “L. Hudson” is in the process.
I could have done without the majority of Sam’s training scenes flipping around. He’s going up against super soldiers. There’s no amount of training that will make that kind of fight seem more realistic to me. We can easily see it’s not him doing the acrobatics as well; that took away from an almost flawless episode. The GRC being attacked from within, Sam opening the case from Wakanda to see his Captain America suit, and the tag scene of Walker making his shield do very little to increase my excitement for the season finale. That may be because I am already at 100% excitement. It’s been a difficult week to get through but remembering how my friend Rob loved Wolverine helped me focus on getting through this article. Life is short so enjoy the things you love to do unapologetically. I hope that you enjoyed reading this article and subscribe. You can comment here or on the Twitter page. Be well, be whole, be blessed, Beloved. Manchild out.
Everyone Loves A Good Story 