“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Episode 2 Review - The Boys are Back in Town
By Rob LoAlbo
Photos courtesy Marvel Studios
Androids, aliens, and wizards, oh my. It’s time for another trip down the Sam and Bucky highway. But first, meet John Walker!
It’s an interesting choice to humanize our new Captain America in the opening scenes as he struggles with the burden that comes with picking up the shield, yet at the same time we fail to feel anything sympathetic for him. We hated him the moment we saw his very punchable face (sorry Kurt and Goldie), and behind the scenes time only highlights the sincere phoniness (if that’s even a possible thing) that is John Walker. Like a brand slogan, the promotional posters scream “Cap Is Back,” as Walker glares down like a Big Brother wannabe.
He humbly admits that he doesn’t have the powers of the other Avengers, an attribute that is on display as he’s getting his ass handed to him by the Flag Smashers. Yet it’s funny how he also parallels Steve Rogers’ opening moments with the shield selling war bonds and American spirit, but where Rogers had that aw-shucks American sincerity, this cap only has “guts.” Steve WAS Captain America: John just plays him on TV.
Thankfully, the show knows that its strength lies in the titular characters, and within moments, they are finally brought together after last week’s episode that set up their backstories. Where then we were denied the great chemistry that Anthony Mackie and Sebastain Stan first showed in “Civil War,” this week it’s all about these frenemies and their bro-toned one-upmanship.
Bucky’s been watching the news and is disgusted that Sam turned down the mantle, giving him his emotional motivation for just about every action in this episode. He perpetually glowers, stares Sam and the new Cap down, refuses to work with someone named “Battlestar,” and tries his best to deny his pre-programmed nature. “We’re not assassins,” Sam reminds him, all while the witty antagonistic banter continues.
Sam’s interests lie elsewhere, with the Flag Smashers becoming a world threat. He’s tracked them down as their plan slowly reveals itself: they are super soldiers themselves stealing vaccines for confounding causes and clearly from another unknown enemy. Led by Karli Morgentheau (Solo’s Erin Kellyman) , they are dubbed as “freedom fighters” and ”Robin Hood” while they chant together, “One world, one people,” desiring a unified, borderless existence like the one when half the population was snapped away - yikes. It’s genocide on a grand scale, or so we think at this point, and what makes them so terrifying is their genuine belief that only they are right, and in this political atmosphere, those are the scariest people of all.
Our heroes give chase, and another thrilling fight sequence above two speeding trucks reinforces what we suspected: this show isn’t skimping on the spectacle. It’s a scene that rivals, and some might argue exceeds, many in the MCU movie universe, as we watch Sam swoop in to rescue Bucky hanging inches from the road while super soldiers battle a clearly green and ill-equipped Cap. A great mix of green screen, CGI, and practical effects: the producers clearly know how to squeeze that Disney dollar for all its worth.
The episode continues with the pre-planned concept of firmly placing the MCU in the real world of racial division and suppression, a glimpse we got last episode when Sam and his sister were turned down for a loan by the white banking establishment. Halfway through here, we meet Isaiah, Bucky’s Korean War “friend.” Visiting him in his dilipitated Baltimore home, Sam discovers that he is also a super soldier, the Black Captain America who never got his shot. Apparently, Isaiah was tested upon and jailed for 30 years while America celebrated his white counterpart, an incident that uncomfortably mirrors the disturbing Tuskegee syphilis study, where 600 black men were unethically denied diagnoses and treatments for 40 years.
Sam’s palpable outrage stems from the idea that a black hero equal to Steve had been summarily suppressed and dismissed by the government, no doubt because of his race. That Sam is immediately accosted by the police who suspect him of being “a problem” while fighting in the street with Bucky just pours more salt into that proverbial wound. And when the officer recognizes him and changes his accusatory tune, it reveals the unsettling concept in our culture that fame makes us colorblind, and character is invisible when fame supersedes.
And with Walker, his fame clearly makes the population blind to his true nature. His final lines, “A word of advice then, stay the hell out of my way” indicate that he is nothing like Steve Rogers. At all.
What makes the script so much different than that penned by other comic book houses is how so many seemingly preposterous scenarios and scenes develop organically. Probably the best scene in the episode, the therapy session between Bucky and Sam, isn’t forced or randomly inserted despite it’s over the top conception and nature. In it, the duo bicker like an old married couple as they turn a leg-locked soul-gazing exercise into a testosterone-filled stare down. But a comical, chemistry laden setup creates a soul-revealing confession from Bucky. “He gave you that shield and you threw it away like it was nothing. So maybe he was wrong about you and if he was wrong about you then he was wrong about me.” Oof. Marvel really knows how to wring our hearts, and Sam and Bucky are just the vehicles to do it.
It’s a solid step up from last week now that the two are together. Yes, it’s still familiar Marvel territory, albeit with a social subtext edge. And now that the complications, plots, and chemistry are adding up, it will be fun seeing where the next four episodes take us.
Next week: Helmut Zemo wants to eat your liver with some fava beans.
Star City Rating: 4 out of 5