We then get a new insight into Bucky’s connection to Ayo. He has eight hours to use Zemo and hand him over to the Wakandan authorities. Bucky and Ayo are facing down and the Dora Milaje gives him an ultimatum. This time we begin directly after episode three. Like most episodes of the series so far, the beginning of the episode is less of an Easter egg and more of a call back. So let’s strap in and get ready to explore what episode four, “The World is Watching,” had in store. But even though this was a little light on Easter eggs, we’ve still got you covered. With the shocking events of the final moments and the masses of action, it might have been easy to miss some of the secrets of the show. In short: is America a protector? Or is it a bully? Because whoever carries the shield needs to pick a lane.There’s a lot to talk about in the aftermath of this week’s episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. And as this episode showed, John will, whilst literally slavering over the prone body of a true hero, scream that he is Captain America. John Walker acted out of duty and did seek power. He only ever referred to himself as Steve. Steve was Captain America because he acted out of principle, and he didn’t actually seek power. As my friend Sami Shah pointed out recently, when Steve fought, he fought Nazis. There’s a lot to unpack with Walker, specifically this: are soldiers heroes, just because they do what they’re told? Are you a hero simply for wearing the uniform, for bearing the flag? What John went through didn’t – he points out, quite frankly – feel heroic. Is he bad? Yes.ĭid the American Government make him bad? Perhaps. That shit was, in the words of Oscar… WILDE.įinally, let’s wind things back to John Walker. …Oh, and then there’s Julia Louis Dreyfus as Madam Masque. After five episodes, we finally have a duo who are going to be the ones to watch in the next few big moves in the MCU. They feel like brothers, crashing at the family home, ribbing one another, doing chores. Then, there’s the fact that he and Sam seem to begrudgingly adore each other now. Watching him flirt with Sam’s sister, or laugh at Sam’s nephews as they play with the shield, is up there with the best content in the series to date. Then, it spends much of its time ruminating on race, or functioning as a rolling, almost relaxing narrative wherein the long-tortured Bucky finally begins to heal. It opens with our heroes literally breaking the petulant Captain Chin-merica’s arm to remove the shield (a very, very satisfying moment). It’s complicated, as this episode asserts, but doing the right thing often is complicated. The only reason people are clamoring over the shield is because Steve made it what it is: he was the image of American values as they could be, as they should be. But Steve also picked Sam to bear his shield because Steve is a truly good person. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Steve Rogers, who has disappeared to god knows where (perhaps back to his alternate timeline where he married Peggy and likely saved the world), would be horrified at the treatment of Isaiah Bradley. But he’s living proof of what happens when a country, one riven with racism, decides that its standard-bearer probably should look… well, like Steve Rogers. In this universe, the government never let Bradley wear the uniform – he was a super-soldier, a test subject. When Sam Wilson goes to visit Isaiah Bradley, what we’re treated to isn’t a high-octane flashback of the young, black Captain America in action. There’s also an unflinchingly muted tone to this episode. They shouldn’t be – the shield that forms a police badge should be nothing more than a clean, clear, pure symbol of quite literally protecting all those who need protection – but with the wrong person behind that shield, shit gets bad.Īnd if you don’t think that’s been a core message of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, you’ve been watching a different show. When cops are gunning black kids down in the street, a uniform is a fraught thing. It was… not a good look.īut then again, this is 2021. John Walker took the super soldier serum, then basically practically beheaded a member of Morgenthau’s increasingly dicey band of Flag Smashers with his shield. Last week, we had Captain frat-boy, brain still fizzing with post-Afghanistan PTSD, snapping. It’s got buddy cop goodness, nods to deep Marvel lore, but most importantly, it’s a show about what America is – or could be. It’s a show about race, about power, about trauma. I honestly don’t know what we did to deserve The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
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