Captain America takes flight, and he looks DAMN good doing it.
Last time on The Falcon and the Winter
Soldier, things finally came to a head with Walker. Distraught and clearly
having a break down following Hoskins’ death and his execution of a Flag Smasher
on camera, Walker was in a bad way. This led to a brawl with Bucky and Sam,
with the titular Falcon and Winter Soldier coming out on top. He lost his
title, rank and career after that. Bucky saw Zemo recaptured, the Baron of
Sokovia crossing out his name in Bucky’s book personally, and asked the Wakandans
for a favor. The Flag Smashers gained Batroc as a mercenary ally as they
prepare to attack the GRC summit. Sam is able to get his folks boat fixed up
thanks to reaching out to the community, and spends some time training like
crazy with the Shield. As the Flag Smashers attack the GRC summit, Sam opens up
the case Bucky brought him, the product of that Favor from Wakanda, and smiled
before the episode ended. Enough set up, let’s get to it!
NOW, Cap is Back.
We open with Karli and the Flag
Smashers prepping for their assault. The GRC summit is on total lockdown and
the NYPD has the area secure for the moment. We’re shown Sam flying in at high
speed. On the ground, Bucky arrives and meets up with Sharon Carter who busted
out that face altering mesh Natasha used that one time in Cap 2 to get in
unmolested. Karli noticed that Sam flew in and orders her men to begin the
attack. Oh, so this is an ambush. They release gas grenades to clear the delegates
from the room. Sam hurls the Shield through a window, taking a Flag Smasher
down before rolling in. He announces to someone who asked that he is Captain
America!
Do I think they contrived a reason to get Sebastian
Stan on a motorcycle? Yes.
Am I complaining? No.
Cap realizes that the Flag Smashers
are luring the delegates out. He tries to warn the others but a Flag Smasher
kicks him to the ground. Well, it’s actually Batroc in a Flag Smasher mask. I
kind of love this killing boner he’s got for Sam now. They trade a few sniping
comments, with Batroc using a French idiom that translates to “The robes don’t
make the monk,” before they brawl. Sam warns Sharon and Bucky that he has his
hands full and tell them to handle the Flag Smashers. Karli calls up a goon and
has her pass it to Bucky as he walks by. She tries to get high and mighty over Bucky,
claiming she’s fighting for the greater good and chastising him for killing for
less before. Bucky says that all he’s ever tried to do is fight for something bigger
than himself, and he’s fallen twice because of it. Meanwhile, the Flag Smashers
get the delegates into trucks before using some kind of device to lock them in
tight. Sam keeps battling Batroc. Bucky warns that despite Karli’s belief that
the ends justify the means, in the end the nightmares won’t go away and she’ll remember
every person she’s killed. Karli isn’t listening and reveals the call was just
to slow Bucky down. He curses, runs down to the parking area, grabs a
motorcycle and chases after the trucks. Sharon bumps into one of the Flag
Smasher’s goons, seemingly by accident, but planted some kind of acid explosive
on his chest, setting it off and killing him a moment later.
One of the Flag Smashers (no, I
never learned their names) have delegates loaded into a copter and are about to
take off. Sharon, on the ground, calls in and lets Sam know. Sam asks Bucky if
he can handle it, but Bucky can’t get to them, either, so Cap is forced to force
back Batroc before leaping from a window he Shield smashes open. His new suit
is fast and he’s quickly able to catch up to the copter. He lands on the side,
but the Flag Smasher nearly hits him with bullets. He launches Redwing and has
the drone determine if anyone in the copter has flight training. It identifies
one before being forced back by gun fire.
Karli’s team preps for their guys
to arrive with the hostages. She’s ready to kill the hostages to get their
message across, but the rest of her team need a little convincing. They do
agree though, after a recitation of their One World, One People mantra.
The Flag Smasher copter hits an NYPD
copter, causing it to spin out. Redwing and Cap same the two pilots, Cap
landing on a bridge and being forced to use his wings to block the wreckage of
the downed copter from hitting them. This does lead to a cool moment of him
fully spreading his wings and people cheering, though, so I think he thinks it’s
worth it. He leaps into the air and follows the copter.
The Flag Smashers block the
Delegates trucks before taking out their guards and stealing the trucks. Bucky
pulls up and launches himself at one of the Flag Smashers. Karli decides to sacrifice
a truck to distract Bucky, lighting it on fire with gas and prepping to drive
away. She would have, but Walker walks up and screams for her. Karli claims
that Lemar’s life didn’t matter to her fight, which royally pisses off Walker,
who starts taking on multiple Flag Smashers. Bucky is able to rip the lock off
the Truck and starts getting the delegates out. Walker is forced to the ground,
his fake Shield holding up but getting dented. Bucky saves him from being clobbered
with a parking meter. He gets forced into a construction site.
Captain America contacts the pilot
among the delegates. He gets dropped into the water for a second, but he recovers
and warns her to be prepared to grab the controls when the countdown from five
ends. She counts down and at one, Cap launches the Shield into his hands, does
a spin to build momentum and hurls it at the copter, breaking the door of the
copter enough for him to fly through it, grab the Flag Smasher and fly out the
other side. The delegate grabs the stick and saves her group. Sam drops the
Flag Smasher into the water and congratulates the pilot.
Do I like the guy? No, but I will give him credit
for choosing to be a hero over seeking revenge.
Walker keeps fighting the Flag
Smashers, holding his own against three of them. Karli makes a run for the
truck, but he stops her and forces her back with several hard blows. She gets
around him and knocks him to the ground with a kick. She runs back and drives
off with a truck. She intentionally crashes it over the side of the road and
leaves it to fall into the construction site Bucky is still fighting in. Walker
runs up to see it, he has the choice between fighting Karli or saving the truck
and shockingly he chooses the truck. What? He was a vindictive son of a bitch,
I assumed he’d take revenge. The Flag Smashers grab him and force him to let go
and drop to the construction site floor. But he stopped the drop long enough
for Sam to fly in and use his new suit to force the truck back enough to
safety. A crowd of onlookers cheer him on, with an old man calling him the
Black Falcon, and someone correcting him, saying “Nah, that’s Captain America.”
Redwing laser cuts the lock off.
Karli, not to be stopped, throws something
at Bucky to try to sucker punch him. Bucky grabs it, and then Sam hurls the Shield
at her, knocking her and the other Flag Smashers for a loop. She chastises him,
shocked that he “bought into that bullshit.” Sam claims he’s trying something
different and maybe she should too. Batroc arrives and launches smoke grenades
as a distraction. Sam’s new suit can track heat, though, so they’re able to follow
after.
Bucky and Walker go down one route
and Sam continues on his own when the Flag Smashers split up. Someone does
Karli’s whistle thing to draw her around. She thinks it’s her missing, dead
goon, but it’s revealed to be Sharon. Turns out they know each other… why?
Because Sharon Carter is the Power Broker. Dun dun dahhhh! Yeah, I kinda saw that
coming after she got Batroc to work for Karli lasts episode. She offers to take
them all back in, but Karli isn’t interested. What’s the Power Broker without
super soldiers? Batroc joins, shocked to find out Sharon is the Power Broker.
Batroc is tired of all the intrigue, so he tells Sharon she’ll pay him four
times as much to keep his silence. She doesn’t do Blackmail, so shoots and
kills him. Karli shoots her in the gut, drawing Sam over.
Cap tries to appeal to her better
nature again, but Karli’s not having it. He flying tackles her away from
Sharon. He shouts he’s not going to fight her, but Karli keeps attacking him.
She tells him to stay down, but in a very Captain America way, he gets back up
and says “No.”
I 100% believe Bucky spent the last few days figuring
out phone apps specifically for this situation.
Meanwhile, the Flag Smashers get a
ping on their app about allies having a way out for them. They make it to outside
only to be met by Walker, who quotes Lincoln, “Mercy bears richer fruit than
strict Justice.” Bucky and he used the app to lure them into an ambush. They
let NYPD surround the Flag Smashers and the two men walk off to find Sam. They
have this kind of weird buddy moment where Bucky ribs him for the Lincoln
quote, which feels a little out of character for their previous convos, but
hey, maybe Bucky immediately stopped hating him when the Shield dropped out of
his hands.
A Super Soldier can dish out hits.
Captain America is about taking the hits and
getting back up each time.
Karli keeps wailing on Sam, but he’s
only taking her blows and occasionally hitting her into objects to try to slow
her down. He gets knocked to the ground but stands up again. Karli has a gun on
him, but isn’t able to shoot before Sharon shoots her in the gut several times.
As she lay in Sam’s arms, she grips the little bookmark thing of the Flag
Smasher logo the Donya had and says “I’m sorry,” before dying.
Captain America carries her to the
surface and then flies her back to the site of their battle, leaving the body
with EMTs to handle. Walker and Bucky join him as well. He meets with the
delegates and chastises them for forcing the relocation bill. He gives a speech
about how relocating them is the easy answer and they need to use this common struggle
to unite them. When the Senator accuses him of not understanding, Sam counters
by pointing out that he’s “a Black man carrying the Stars and Stripes. What don’t
I understand?” He tells them that while he knows that he’ll have to deal with
the racism and the judgement and the people hoping he’ll fail, he’s going to
face it. He’ll stand there, no Super Serum, no blonde hair and blue eyes, and
take it, because that’s what Captain America has to do. The only power he has
is that he believes that they can do better. He warns them that they have to,
or another Karli Morgenthau will step up and they don’t want to see 2.0. It’s a
solid speech, not as polished as Captain Rogers, but Captain Wilson has a
passion that makes up for it.
Sam passes Walker who gives him a
nod. Bucky ribs him about his speech and congratulates Cap on a job well done.
They meet up with Sharon, who is doing an emergency patch job to herself. She
compliments his new look. Sam is going to keep his promise to her about the
pardon. Oh no. Captain America gets tasked with grabbing the last Flag Smasher
that fell into the river, so he flies off to grab them.
Later, the surviving Flag Smashers
are loaded into a truck to be taken to the Raft. One of the guards whispers One
World, One People, making it seem like the Super Soldiers would fight another
day. They might have too, but Oeznick sets off a bomb, killing them. That’s
Zemo’s butler, if you forgot. We’re shown Zemo in his cell at the Raft. He
hears the radio report of four of them being killed in a car bomb attack and
smiles to himself. Looks like his butler earned a raise. We also hear that the
GRC had decided to alter their policies after Sam’s speech, which is nice. Unrealistic,
but nice.
Back at the hearing hall, Countess
Valentina is with the Walkers. She lets them know about the deaths as they wait
for Walker to come out. He does so, revealing his new suit. It’s basically his
old suit, but black. Valentia dubs him the US Agent, for situations that don’t
need Captain America. Walkers are both clearly stoked about this, but I have my
apprehensions.
Bucky visits Yori. The old man
invites Bucky in. With tears in his eyes, Bucky reveals his metal hand and his
role in Yori’s son’s death. Yori is brought to tears, but we don’t see his
reaction beyond that. Bucky walks out. Dr. Raynor arrives at her office to see
a gift bag and a note. She pulls out Bucky’s notebook to see all the names
crossed off. The note reads “I finished the book. Thanks for all the help, Doc.”
Later, Bucky walks by the restaurant and sees Yori there with the bartended. He
looks lighter in a way, so Bucky smiles and keeps walking.
Honoring another man that should have borne
the title Captain America.
Sam stops by the Bradley house. Eli
asks “Whatch you want, Black Falcon?” Isaiah was actually behind him getting something
for the garden and tells his grandson, “He ain’t the Falcon no more, but he’s
still Black.” Sam follows him to the backyard. Isaiah seems mildly impressed in
the old curmudgeon sort of way. Says Sam is special, even if he’s no Malcom, Martin
or Mandela. Isaiah warns that it won’t be easy, but Sam isn’t deterred. He’s
not going to let anyone tell him he can’t fight for this country. He has a gift
for the Bradleys. He takes the two to the Captain America exhibit. He leads
them to another wing of it, where they put in a statue of Isaiah and a display
honoring his and his fellow Super Soldier’s work. Isaiah doesn’t say a word but
hugs Sam tightly as he clearly is holding back tears.
Later, we’re shown Sam, Bucky and
the whole town having a big party to celebrate him. Sam and Bucky look out
across the water and smile just before the credits roll. It closes on a title
change, Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Ah…
In a post credit scene, we’re shown
Sharon’s pardon hearing. She receives a full pardon and reinstatement as a
SHIELD agent. As she walks out, she calls up someone and says that they might
have lost the Super Soldier Serum, but now they’ll have access to all the spy
tools they could want. Well, crap.
So, much like with the WandaVision
finale, I think this was a good ending, but not a great one. The action was
great, I especially liked seeing how Sam incorporated his existing skill set with
his flight suit with the Shield. Seeing him lob it and fly around to grab it was
a lot of fun. I liked seeing Batroc again and how Sam and he faced off. It’s
kind of a shame he died. I know I poke a lot of fun at him, but he’s was a
solid mercenary character with a fun fighting style along with it. Like with
Crossbones, I’m sorry to see him go. The MCU actually could use more merc
villains, just saying. I liked Sam speech, even if the results of it were significantly
more optimistic than reality would allow. I could buy Sam convincing them to
alter plans a little, but he would never stop it entirely. Just sayin’. And I
liked how they resolved Isaiah Bradley’s story. The memorial in the Captain
America museum was a very elegant way to honor Isaiah for his work, to let the
world know that there were Black Heroes on par with Captain America for a long
time, but allow Isaiah to continue to have his anonymity in his supposed death.
I liked how he didn’t actually say a word to Sam but just gave him a Super
Soldier hug. On to my complaints. I thought Walker’s heel face turn was a bit
abrupt. The ending of the last episode and his initial appearance in this one made
me think he was on a full killing spree. The fact that he almost without
hesitation decided to give up vengeance to be a hero just seems… off. Despite
his happiness at being made the US Agent, I’m with those that think Valentina
is setting him up to use him just like everyone else. Maybe he’ll be a Dark
Captain America for the Dark Avengers, maybe he’ll just be used as muscle and
then toss him aside when she’s done. I also don’t get how jazzed he is, with
Karli and the Flag Smashers gone, and Isaiah still believed to be dead, folks
have two options for sources of Super Soldier blood to look over and no one is
going after Bucky. Speaking of, I did like the fact that Bucky told Yori what
happened to his son but not his initial reaction. Because that’s not what
really mattered. Bucky told him, so they’re both a little freer. Doesn’t matter
if Yori broke down sobbing or cursed at him, the truth set them free. I’m
curious as to what Sharon’s reinstatement and mole status will bring. Will she
bring about a new HYDRA? Sell them to new groups? The Skrull? Guess we’ll have
to wait for Cap 4 to find out. Karli and the Flag Smashers were interesting in concept
but the end result they were kind of generic. We heard a lot about their fight,
about how they’ve suffered at the hands of the GRC but we weren’t really shown
it enough for me to care. Like, we mostly saw them delivering supplies and then
reacting to their civilian friends being arrested for associating with them.
That’ll hardly get me invested in their struggle even if I empathize in
principle. I think the Flag Smashers could have used a full flashback or
something to flesh them out a little. Just sayin’. So, overall, I liked this episode.
It wasn’t a perfect ending but a solid one. I’m still looking forward to Loki
and future Marvel projects, but that’s nothing new. Since we’re a few weeks out
from Loki, I think I’ll try to finish up season 4 of My Hero Academia before
then. We’ll see if I can get to the point where I’m only a season behind. Have
a good night, everybody.
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Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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