The chessboard of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had been halfway cleared by Thanos in a blink of an eye (Avengers: Infinity War). Those characters (known & unknown at the time) were thrown back on the board, five years later, like a glitch on a screen in Endgame. The magnitude of “scope” required to tell a “grounded” story spawned from The Infinity Saga mythos (specifically for two of the most beloved characters in The MCU) has been augmented by the world’s real life crisis via the COVID pandemic. It’s easier to convey a sentiment if the entire world is sharing in the moment together, right? Even though the heroes were mostly returned to their prior “spots” on the board, Marvel Studios has saw fit to initiate a “changing of the guard”. Familiar characters have been removed through various plot devices and the more obscure star characters have begun to be positioned for primetime. Wanda Maximoff is now the Scarlet Witch. The Vision has been reborn. Now, The Falcon AND The Winter Soldier have become evolved versions of themselves. There is an obvious plan by Marvel to reintroduce certain characters to fans & viewers while introducing newer characters in hopes of expanding The MCU exponentially; as if it isn’t immense & breathtaking already.
Episode 6, the season finale of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier initially left me wanting more. I was not onboard for reasons I have stated in earlier articles. The series had been set up so masterfully that I wanted a grander first appearance of Sam Wilson as Captain America. I wanted Joaquin Torres to have the chance to surprise us all by at least being shown to have fixed the original Falcon wings. I wanted Batroc & Karli to survive. I wanted Sharon Carter NOT to be The Power Broker. LOL. Sometimes in life we don’t get what we want and that’s ok. Due to a tragic death of a friend, I needed to take a moment to mourn and step back from everything. In that moment, I was able to digest what inevitably is revealing itself as The BIG Picture for Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 and beyond. Had I continued to push through my grief to meet my self-made deadline for episodic articles, I would have written this and shared an incomplete insight on the decisions made for the series’ plot; ones that I understand much better now. After my one-on-one talk with this series’ Showrunner and one of the Executive Producers, Malcolm Spellman (click link or watch below), I have a better understanding of the method by which we have been given this groundbreaking new genre in Television. Marvel Studios is unapologetically pushing the narrative forward for all their titular characters by the end of each season finale. As super fans, we will always become enthralled in the details of the story, but we have to remember guidelines have been set before filming begins, which can limit the ability of the storyteller once the cameras are rolling. I choose to believe this is what happened here.
After having the chance to watch the Assembled BTS episode for this series on Disney+, and listening to a multitude of cast and crew, I realized that there was a plan for a 10 episode series that was shortened to 6 parts. With the upcoming Loki series having moved to June 9, 2021, I am convinced that more episodes would have been the perfect remedy for those of us who didn’t buy into Sharon Carter’s “acute moral descent”, or appreciate a great character like Karli Morgenthau being so beautifully developed, only to be taken out by 3 gunshots in the end; especially when she survived Zemo shooting her before. The additional 4 episodes would have fit perfectly and continued to keep us invested on a weekly basis up and into the next series; seamlessly.
That being said, the season finale served its ultimate purpose and has given us the unexpected but most welcomed gifts of Isaiah Bradley as an untold legend in MCU canon, and the introduction of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who just by her presence alone has created an endless list of possibilities for the trajectory of “the big picture” Feige & Co. are illustrating. The pros outweigh the cons in the finale. As Marvel Studios fine-tunes their streaming series formula, I am sure we will have more season finales that miss “the superhero three point landing”, but I am more convinced that the only reason this may happen is because they are focused on a grander scheme and getting us all there in marvelous fashion.
Speaking of marvelous fashion, Sam Wilson’s Captain America uniform is in the running for best cinematic adaptation of a costume from a comic ever! Having received wings from T’Challa & The Wakandans in the comics, it was only right that they bless him with next level gear. I’m not even mad at the multiple Redwings that show up. I can’t wait to be able to read up on the technical specs for his suit. The less than spectacular entrance of the new Captain America is fully recompensed by showing off some of his new capabilities throughout the episode.
Bucky being referred to as Sergeant Barnes by The GRC officers was an interesting indication that Bucky seems to enjoy being able to break the rules unlike other characters. After helping to free Baron Zemo from prison, I didn’t expect him to be allowed past a GRC perimeter so easily. Once Sam indicates that he asked Sharon for assistance in taking Karli and The Flag Smashers down, I realized that he (Sam) must be a greater political animal in the MCU than we are able to see as yet. Could we ever see a President Samuel Wilson in The MCU? How cool would that be?!?
I gave up trying to make logical sense of Sharon Carter’s actions in this story already. The woman that scoffed at heroism and claimed ‘she hasn’t seen her loved ones in years’ due to her inability to enter the country waltzes past the perimeter with no problems using cloaking technology. Why didn’t she use that tech to see her father? Her explanation to Bucky that no one would be looking for her there makes even less sense since a GRC security breach would have global ramifications and put all threats on “orange” for the time being. I have no choice but to move pass this character’s plot points again. I believe in her prowess, but not much more at this point. The ‘pardons living up to the hype depending on the therapist you use’ quip between Sharon & Bucky was classic and very well placed nonetheless.
The smoke bombs in the GRC conference room and “spider-locks” used on the truck by Lennox (Flag Smasher) to move the dignitaries are reminiscent of Spider-Slayer & Green Goblin’s tech. I took those items as a subconscious play on the connection made between Spider-Man, Sam & Bucky in Captain America: Civil War. I think a character along the lines of Spencer or Alastair Smythe would have made for an amazing cameo here.
Sam Wilson’s understated entrance as Captain America baffled me but made sense in the afterthought because Sam is basically a “super para-rescue trooper”. His primary purpose is to save lives. Breaking a fake Flag Smasher’s arm with the shield and flying through a skyscraper window wasn’t what I expected, but this is the reveal of the new Captain America for posterity. I had issue with the fact that we have never seen him clearly win a fight against any notable adversary; not Rumlow, not Scott Lang, and certainly not Batroc. As disappointing as this is, I respect that Marvel is remaining consistent with this character’s trajectory. Unfortunately these storylines are training the viewer to overlook a lot in order to accept the outcome. Remember, this is all part of “The Big Picture”. Were you ok with Sam only getting a few good shots in against Batroc and then leaving? How do you feel about the new Captain America not clearly winning fights?
Although it made sense for Bucky to try and talk Karli down, I couldn’t help but think something was wrong with him stopping to pace back & forth while talking to her. How did he get so distracted? His line about failing twice while fighting for something bigger than himself was rich & thought provoking. I guessed that he was referring to the fight against Hydra and The Battle of Wakanda where he was snapped out of existence. What did you think he was referring to? Karli repeatedly mentioned that ‘it didn’t matter’ if she didn’t survive the battle. It didn’t help me accept her death any better. I totally disagree that her death didn’t matter. The only reason I can understand her dying in this story is to give Sam’s plight & speech against ignoring the powerless more meaning. A few lines from Karli speaking to her regret for killing people would have made a lot of sense and helped me digest her downward spiral into complete apathy and indifference to dying. However, she seemed to become more indifferent to killing, along with dying, which left me a bit confused. Did Karli’s character arc make sense to you? This is one of those plot points that I hope was chosen for a ‘deeper’ reasoning in the upcoming stories for Phase 4. Maybe Karli had to die in order to become a martyr for an even more dangerous character.
I truly felt like a lot of our finale time was wasted in the same way that Karli wasted Bucky’s time on the phone. The sinister way that Sharon planted a mercury vapor grenade on Lennox gave her another notch (and edge) into the dark side. This is still not enough for me to understand her becoming a one-woman killing machine bent on chaos & capitalism, and that puts her own family & friends in harm’s way. I certainly couldn’t understand how she was walking freely pass GRC soldiers in a terrorist situation. She was still an enemy of the state and should not have been able to walk freely throughout the building. I honestly am not trying to down the character or Marvel’s efforts to tell their story, but I have to be honest from my point of view as well. Barely nothing done with Sharon Carter in this series made sense to me. How about you?
Cap’s helicopter chase scene is exceptional. The nighttime background added a believability that kept it on par with his rescue of Colonel Vassant in Episode 1. Redwing’s technology is a go-to that makes up for it not being an actual falcon. One of the few truly iconic moments in this episode is the ‘wing-shell’ Sam creates to protect himself (and a police pilot) from a crashing helicopter on the bridge. This stays inline with this version of Captain America being a defensive character more than an offensive player.
As Sam is busy in the sky, Bucky steps in on the ground. Zemo’s predictions about Karli have come true. She is unhinged. Her obsession to get her message out to the world now supersedes all life; including her own Flag Smashers’ lives. The morale of the team is broken and they are all weakened by it. Bucky seems to handle Dovich well enough to save a truck full of hostages. While Bucky saves their lives and is thanked for the first time in his modern life for being a hero, we are given a chance to see how John Walker matches up to Karli & The Flag Smashers on his own. Even though he seems to be more powerful than them individually, they are able to break him down with Karli knocking him out for a second. Walker has no real fighting style yet. I wonder how Marvel will develop him for the future.
The characters diverge on their arc after Bucky saves the hostages in the first truck. Bucky steps in to save Walker, giving John a chance to save the hostages in the other truck, but he is still obsessed with chasing Karli. As Bucky continues to fight a great looking battle with Dovich, Karli tries to sacrifice the hostages’ lives causing Walker to make a selfless choice and attempt to save them. His arc changes direction in this moment which is a big deal. The other big deal is that Sam’s suit not only allows him to propel underwater, He now has the power to push a falling Brinks truck at least ten feet in the opposite direction against gravity. Like I said before, I can’t wait to read the specs on this new suit! Captain America saves 2 of the 3 different groups of hostages. It feels like a basketball game where the star player sneaks a high score without anyone realizing it.
As things come to a head between Karli & Sam, Batroc comes out of nowhere to kick up dust and help The Flag Smashers escape. I don’t understand why Batroc would do this. If his goal was to ‘kill Falcon’, why not aim the launcher at Sam or use the gun he gives to Karli on Sam? I guess the answer is simply, ‘comics’. The story seems to have needed to separate the characters once more for individual exchanges. First, the dialogue between Sharon & Karli exposing Sharon as The Power Broker lead to the presumable death of Batroc and left my whole family disappointed. Second, Sharon being shot and able to walk it off while Karli does not is easily my number one pet peeve of this whole series. The cliche dying scene for such an integral character like Karli in this series left me feeling cheated. Sam’s suit giving him the ability to withstand Karli’s attack was notable but not enough to overlook what I consider a ‘cluster of gaffes”, to put it nicely. I have to move pass this scene as I don’t have much good to say about it.
The humor from The Flag Smashers being caught by Bucky & Walker using their own app helped to divert the cheated feeling from watching Karli die. The visual metaphor of Sam looking like an angel crying over a lost soul worked. Coming out of these beautiful but tragic images into Sam’s righteous speech to The GRC delegates captured the moment and sentiment very well. The speech (and it’s relevance) crossed over from fiction to real life perfectly. All the reactions from Isaiah Bradley to John Walker spoke as loudly as the speech. As Walker walks off, I realize that the crisis is over almost as quickly as it began.
Sharon downplaying her bullet wound from Karli convinces me that this isn’t “our” Sharon. How does she not need medical attention? What happened to her? Is she a Skrull imitating “our” Sharon Carter? Was there another sinister group involved with abducting her or turning her to the dark side? Rewind back to Civil War. Sharon was shown as one of characters “snapped” by Thanos. How could she have become The Power Broker in 6 months time after everyone returned in The Blip? We have no answers to these questions and I did not have enough time to ask Malcolm about Sharon whatsoever. Now fast forward to the tag scene of Sharon being pardoned and re-instated in The CIA, her instructions to the person on the other line doesn’t sound like she is returning home. Instead it sounds like someone first making their way in to a new situation. Do you think this is the same Sharon Carter that kissed Steve Rogers in Civil War?
It almost looked like The Flag Smashers (minus Karli) were going to escape before they made it to The Raft. It seems that “Diego” will be the remaining original Flag Smasher. Do you think that we will ever see Diego again? One thing is for sure. The mantra “One World, One People” will live on in The MCU. Oeznick surprised us by being the one to carry out Zemo’s plan to eradicate as many of the super soldiers as possible. Is this what Zemo was planning before Bucky caught up with him in Sokovia? It is hard to believe that Oeznick could carry out such a precise attack like this on his own. I continue to imagine that there is a connection between Sharon & Val, and the bombing of Dovich & friends is thanks to them in part.
The one character to look out for over all others would seem to be Baron Zemo. Daniel Brühl (the actor portraying Zemo) consistently stole the majority of the scenes he was in insuring his return. Zemo left us with easter eggs using the same reason his character was so invaluable in the search for The Super Soldiers; his knowledge and book smarts. If you read my previous articles you may remember that I felt that Zemo was written as a foreshadowing character. Hearing about the success of his plan via a radio in his cell on The Raft, Zemo was reading the same book (Fortune Is A Raging River by Roger D. Masters) that he had in the German prison he escaped from in Episode 3. That book reappearing makes me think that we still have yet to see who Zemo’s true partner in crime has been or will be, or what the big picture is for him. There are two more books shown: Views of Natur by Alexander von Humboldt and what I believe to be the Russian classic, Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. The thoughts and ideas sparked from these books purposely placed in Zemo’s cliffhanger scene could make up a whole entire article. Suffice to say von Humboldt was considered a great mind of his time. He was a Geologist, Author and a great inspiration to Charles Darwin. His theory of tectonic plates shifting and form the modern continents is still prevalent today and part of many theories pertaining to the possible disappearance of a real world Atlantis. Obviously, there is no clear reason to connect the home of Namor to a book or two in a cell of a mastermind in a prison in the middle of an ocean at this point in time, but I can dream; cant I? Pushkin, the descendant of the once African slave turned Russian military leader, General Avram (Abraham) Petrovich Gannibal is also credited as the creator of modern Russian literature and language. I can’t wait to see why these books are so important to Zemo’s legacy in The MCU. Do you have any idea of the relevance of Machiavelli, Da Vinci, von Humboldt & Pushkin to Baron Zemo or any other character & theme? Let me know!
Overall, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier held up it’s end of the bargain and delivered a memorable experience for Marvel fans worldwide. Where WandaVision captured the zeitgeist with innumerable callbacks to the past, this series has thrust us in no uncertain terms into the future. Presumed to have been the first Marvel Studios series scheduled to be released on Disney+, the connection between it and the film, Black Widow was averted by the pandemic induced change of plans. However, it’s masterfully woven storytelling, special effects, cinematography & overall thoughtfulness put this series into a league of it’s own. I truly enjoyed this show with no buyer’s remorse. I predict that we will look back to this specific series and the beginning of a new genre in television. You are free to watch and share my interview with Malcolm Spellman and come to your own conclusions as to the direction for all the major characters in the show. Please subscribe here, on our YouTube page, and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. It’s been a pleasure sharing our excitement for the latest chapter in the legacy of Captain America. Be well. Manchild out.
Everyone Loves A Good Story 