Who's ready for an Indonesian Vacation... On Zemo's dime.
Last time on The Falcon and the
Winter Soldier, we were introduced to the government approved Captain America,
John Walker. He’s a bit of a jackass, but I can see why the big wigs went with
him… provided that there wasn’t a better pick, like say, the successor that
Steve Rogers handpicked. … Not wanting to deal with him, Sam and Bucky went on
their own to investigate the Flag Smasher’s terrorist group. They were rather
shocked to find out that the group of eight all are clearly Super Soldiers.
They learned that the group is lead by Karli Morgenthau, a young red head
that’s 100% against reestablishing the status quo. Bucky also introduced Sam to
Isaiah Bradley, a Black man that was somehow given the Super Soldier Serum
around the Korean War. Hearing that he spent 30 years in prison and was
experimented on by the CIA and HYDRA obviously pissed off Sam, but it
ultimately gave Bucky an idea for a lead. They’re headed to Munich to get info
from the single greatest human foe the Avengers faced off against, Helmut Zemo.
Let’s get to it, shall we.
We open with a Global Repatriation
Council (GRC) commercial. It’s all about helping people that spent the last
five years… being dead, readjust to the changes that the world went through. Its
tagline is Reset, Restore, Rebuild. It’s not bad, but very, very bland. Like
all it was missing was a bunch of people of different ethnicities holding hands
and singing America the Beautiful to be blander.
We then join Walker and Hoskins as
they raid the Flag Smasher safehouse that Karli and her crew stayed at in the
previous episode. They obviously missed the Flag Smashers, but Walker hopes to
get info where she went. When Hoskins translates their goals, the guy in charge
spits on Walker, and he does not take to that kindly to that. And by that, I
mean he gets physical, grabbing the man and shoving him up against a beam while
shouting “Do you know who I am?” Rule one of Captain America violated, Cap
doesn’t lose his temper. The guy tells him in English “Yes I do, and I don’t
care.” Hoskins tries to talk Walker down outside, which seems to work.
Frustrated that they hit a wall, Walker decides that they need to bet on
someone with a better hand. He’s totally going after Sam and Bucky.
Must be weird to see someone who made you
their minion after sevenish years.
Sam and Bucky arrive at the prison
in Munich. Bucky wants to go in alone, as Zemo doesn’t have a great track
record with Avengers. Sam points out that Bucky also has kind of a terrible
history with Zemo, but agrees. Bucky goes in to see Zemo. Rather than say
“hello” or “How’ve you been?” Zemo instead tries to activate Bucky’s Winter
Soldier programing again. Dick move, Helmy, dick move. It doesn’t work, which
Zemo assumed but thought it was worth a shot. He senses that there’s still
something of Winter Soldier in him. Bucky asks him about the Super Soldier Serum.
Zemo confirms that he knows how HYDRA utilized the serum, but shock of shocks,
Zemo doesn’t work for free.
Later, we’re shown Bucky and Sam
walking into some sort of garage. Bucky explains that he wants to free Zemo.
Sam is almost immediately against this, as Zemo blew up the UN, killed king
T’Chaka, and, you know, destroyed the Avengers. The Wakandans specifically
aren’t going to forget the whole regicide thing. Bucky counter by pointing out
that Zemo knows lot about this Super Soldier program, is only willing to work
with them if they free him, and he kind of already started helping Zemo escape.
We’re shown Bucky taking a note from Zemo and slipping it to some prisoners as
he walks out. The note is that the guy this prisoner is play chess against will
try to kill him, and a brawl starts up. Bucky explains that most of the guards
will be forced to go quell the riots, and this plus the lockdown procedure
plus, say, a fire alarm being pulled could easily help a Zemo in a uniform he
stole escaped. Zemo does all of this as Bucky narrates, and joins them a moment
later. Huh… Zemo tries to speak on his own behalf and they both tell him to
shut it. Bucky asks that Sam trust him on this, which Sam begrudgingly does.
Sam tells Zemo that he doesn’t even move without permission, to which he
agrees.
Zemo leads them into a garage
filled with cars. Sam assumes they going to steal a car, but Zemo corrects him,
all of these cars belong to him. Apparently, the art of car collecting has been
passed down through the Zemo line for generations. If you don’t get that joke,
watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and thank me later. Zemo explains that
he spent years hunting HYDRA goons working on recreating the serum, and has an
idea of where to look. He grabs a bag, his iconic purple mask and a coat. Zemo
knows that once the Serum is out there, someone will build an army of Super
Soldiers. They’re going to go check out a mid-level fence he knows named Selby.
This is so weird. Seeing them in this kind of
domestic moment is weird.
The trio goes to an airport to use
his private plane. Sam seems incredulous that Zemo has been rich this whole
time. Zemo corrects him again and points out he wasn’t just rich, until the
fall of Sokovia he was a Baron. Huh, is that a retcon? That feels like a
retcon. I just remember them mentioning that Zemo and his father were spec ops,
no mention of them being the evilest sounding rank of royalty. Whatever. They
meet with Zemo’s butler, Oeznik, whom is happy to see his boss again and gets
the plane ready.
The flight is relatively pleasant
(he tells Oeznik to give Sam and Bucky any food that doesn’t pass the smell
test which is the first passive aggressive thing) until Zemo reveals that he
stole Bucky’s journal and asks about Y. Nakajima. That’s when Bucky grabs his
throat and threatens to kill him if he touches the book again. Sam notes that
it was Steve’s journal and he was rather proud to have told him about the album
Trouble Man. He was rather shocked to find out that Bucky wasn’t the biggest
fan, and even more so when Zemo points out it’s a complete and comprehensive album
that capture the African American experience. “He’s out of line, but he’s
right,” as Sam puts it. Zemo mentions the danger of people like Steve, as
people have a habit of turning powerful men like him on pedestals, and they
forget their flaws, and that leads to people like Johann Schmitt aka the Red
Skull. Zemo explains that they’re on the way to Madripoor, a fictional island
nation in Indonesia that began as a pirate sanctuary in the 1800s and has
really hasn’t changed much in the two centuries since. For his plan to work, Zemo mentions that Bucky
has to become someone he claims is gone.
We jump over to the GRC refugee
camp in Riga, Latvia. Karli’s guys are unloading supplies as she takes a bit of
a load off playing soccer with some kids. She’s told to come upstairs as
there’s not much time. She goes up stairs to see an older woman hooked up to a
heartbeat monitor. Karli kisses this woman, “Mama” Donya Madani, on the
forehead and we’re shown that Donya is holding some kind of bookmark with the
Flag Smasher logo on it.
Meanwhile, Sam, Zemo and Bucky are
walking the streets of Madripoor. Sam complains that his new threads make him
look like a pimp, but Zemo counters that only a bankrupt society like America
would lower a stylishly dressed Black man as a pimp. Sam is set to play the
part of Conrad Mack aka the Smiling Tiger.
... Okay, I can kind of see the pimp comparison. They’re going to meet
with Zemo’s contact in the criminal underground filled Lowtown. They drive to
Lowtown and end up getting escorted by some bikers. How odd. They pass through
Lowtown, which is filled with drugs, guns and Neon, to a bar. They make it to
the bar and ask for Selby, as “Mack” wants to make a deal. While they wait, the
Bartender gives “Mack” his usual, which includes something cut out of a live
snake. Somehow Sam is able to drink that and keep it down. A goon for the Power
Broker comes in and tells Zemo they need to get the F out. Zemo tells them they
either bring him to Selby or they deal with the Winter Soldier. They explain
that the Power Broker is the Judge, Jury and Executioner in Madripoor. Bucky
absolutely obliterates the goon. Goons start cocking, but the Bartender comes
back in and tells them Selby will see them.
Selby greets Zemo and is rather
shocked to see him out of prison. Zemo brushes passed that, and says that
“Mack” wants info on the Super Soldier Serum and would be willing to sell the
Winter Soldier and his activation code words for it. Selby, obviously is
interested in getting the world’s greatest killer as a bodyguard, explains that
a doctor named Wilfred Nagel made the serum for the Power Broker. She won’t
give them more info, though, without payment. Sam gets a call from Sarah, and
suspicious Selby tells him to answer on speaker. Sam tries to steer the
conversation to protect his cover, but Sarah uses his real name before hanging
up and things hit the fan. Selby gets killed by a sniper shot before anything
happens immediately. But after she’s dead, the Power Broker puts a bounty out
on them. Sam shouts “I can’t run in these Heels!” as they beat a hasty retreat.
They make it to their car when
Sharon Carter comes from the shadows, and points her gun on Zemo. They explain
the situation with Zemo, and ask what she’s doing in Madripoor. She explains
that after stealing Steve’s shield, and Sam’s wings so that they could save
Bucky’s ass from Zemo’s ass, she’s kind of wanted for treason. She takes them
to her suite in Hightown, and explains she’s been working as a fence in
Madripoor, mostly selling stolen art. They explain they’re looking for Nagel
and offer to get Sharon a pardon if she’s willing to help. She’s pretty jaded
on the hero stuff, but is willing to help.
After that weird scene where they
all go to a club and we see Zemo dance for a bit, they found Nagel’s lab. They
go to a shipping dock and Sharon leads them to container 4261. The three guys
go in and find a secret door to a surprisingly advanced laboratory. They find
Nagel working on mixing chemicals while listening to vinyl. They grab him and
point a gun on him. Nagel is surprisingly cool with the situation, telling them
he’ll talk if he gets a better offer.
He who would make monsters of men. Or champions,
but much more likely to make monsters.
Meanwhile, Sharon is dealing with a
ton of bounty hunters that have tracked them down. She takes out several of
them as the Bucky, Sam, and Zemo tell Nagel that he talks or he dies. (Bucky
shoot just to the right of his head) Nagel explains that he worked for HYDRA
and the CIA on making a Super Soldier Serum derived from Isaiah Bradley’s
blood. He was able to make a stable serum after quite a bit of trial and error.
He claims his version is better than Erskine’s original formula, as it doesn’t
cause noticeable muscle expansion. Explains why Karli can be so small but able
to lift metric tons. The reason why his product never hit the market was
because he was Blipped and he’s only just gotten back up and running. Not going
to lie, the Avengers coming back to a few more Super Soldiers on their side
probably would have helped the fight against Thanos. Just sayin’. The Power
Broker funded him and he got 20 vials of Serum ready. Karli and her crew stole
them. After, she called him and was looking to see if he could help a woman
dying of TB. Nagel is a piece of crap, though, so didn’t help.
Sharon kills several more bounty
hunters and circled back to join the others. After hearing Nagel doesn’t have
more of the formula and from Sharon that they’re out of time, Zemo decides he’s
had enough, pulls a gun and kills Nagel just before a bounty hunter hit the
container lab with an RPG. Zemo gets up and slips away before the others
recover. The lab blows sky high but the others are able to escape fiery death.
Bucky, Sam and Sharon hold the line while Zemo circles around, put on his
purple mask and blows a gas pipeline to distract and/or kill more bounty
hunters. Zemo finds the others in his car. Sharon leaves the group, and Sam
redoubles his promise to get Sharon a pardon. As Sharon walks away, she’s
picked up by a driver and mentions that they have a big problem.
We cut over to a GRC supply depot
in Vilnius, Lithuania. Karli and her goons didn’t take the time to mourn Donya
Madani as their mission has to be completed today. They chat for a moment and
Karli mentions that she wanted to be a teacher. He warns Karli that the Power
Broker will catch up to them eventually. Karli isn’t too concerned, as they
have the Super Soldier Serum and will use it as a bargaining chip.
Meanwhile in Germany, Walker and
Hoskins are investigating Zemo’s prison break. Walker knows that Sam and Bucky
were involved here. He has no proof of this, so he and Hoskins are going to
keep searching for Zemo, Sam and Bucky on the downlow for now.
Back with Sam and Bucky, Sam calls
Torres and has him search for Madani. Sam is upset about Sharon and Isaiah,
feels that the Shield and the concept of Captain America ruined their lives. He
wonders if he shouldn’t have put the Shield in a museum, and instead of
destroyed it. Torres calls him back, and tells him that Madani recently died in
Riga by the Baltic Sea. Zemo tells Oeznick to change course.
The Flag Smashers raided the GRC
building, and are gathering the supplies. Karli chastises the guard that judges
them, pointing out that they’d stockpiled six months’ worth of supplies. They
leave one car by the building, and sets off the carbomb she had in it. She
claims that this is the only language they understand.
Hiyo, Ayo.
Sam, Bucky and Zemo make it to
Riga. Zemo leads them to a flat he has nearby. He mentions that Sokovia no
longer exists, as after the capital city was almost used as an extinction
initiating meteor, the nation was cannibalized by its neighbors and erased from
the map. Bucky breaks from the group, as he saw a black bead on the ground. He
follows the chirping the bead makes to another and calls out to someone, and
comes face to face with Ayo of the Dora Milaje. She’s here for Zemo.
I really enjoy Daniel Bruhl as
Zemo. He’s intimidating at times, got great comedic timing, and is the perfect
sort of Villain that you know kind of has a point. Would someone being capable
of turning any living person into someone with Captain America’s strength,
speed, and mild regeneration be a big problem if it was mass produced and sold
to the highest bidder? Hell yes. But, killing the inventor and destroying his
research might be a tad extreme, just sayin’. I like the banter he has with Sam
and Bucky, where you can’t exactly tell if he’s playing mind games or if he’s
actually a nice guy when he’s not plotting to murder you. I liked that they
included Nagel in it as well. In Truth: Red, White, and Black, Nagel was a
contemporary of Dr. Erskine and was the one to develop an imperfect copy of the
Serum that was used on Isaiah and his 299 fellow soldiers. A fun flip to make
Isaiah the origin of his research instead of the product of it. And it was
clever to use the Blip to explain how this could exist without it being the
number one best seller on the super criminal Black Market, along with Vulture’s
tech. Madripoor was also a fun location to get a look at. It’s loosely based on
Singapore, and is usually a location that the X-Men visit. It’s used well as a
port of ill repute where criminals and thugs can go without fear of
extradition. It’s a shame that Sharon Carter ended up there. Her role in team
Captain America being able to have that battle at the Airport kind of slipped
my mind. Which is a shame because, yeah, a spy committing treason would be a
serious problem for her. The fact that she’s apparently spent the Blip years in
a pirate port is probably not good. But I’ll get into that more later. Have a
good night, everybody.
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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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