Directed by: Kari Skogland
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Daniel Brühl, Danny Ramirez, Erin Kellyman
Release date: 16th April 2021
No of Episodes: 6
Available on: Disney+
Marvel Studios’ newest series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier follows the two much-loved characters in dealing with the fallout of Avengers: Endgame. Bucky and Sam are an unlikely duo already known to dislike each other, who were brought together towards the end of phase three in Endgame. Now they team up over six episodes to take on a global adventure seemingly built to test their ability and their patience!
"All we can do now is sit tight and just chill. Sometimes, there's nothing to do until there's something to do."
This post contains some major spoilers for Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier so if you haven't caught up on episodes one to four yet this is your warning to stop reading!
After the intensity of last week’s episode, fans of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier have been preparing for an emotional episode all week. Picking up almost exactly where last week left off, episode five is titled Truth and immediately comes in with John Walker running from where he left the super-soldier he killed in the previous episode. We get a brief window into the chaos currently going on inside his mind, the memories of Lemar and of killing Nico all blurring together. Then the fight scene that’s been circulating the internet all week finally begins. Sam and Buckycome for the shield and after a long demonstration of John’s newfound strength, courtesy of the super-soldier serum, we see that this isn't going to be as easy as perhaps we previously thought. Sam and Bucky claim the shield and take the Falcon’s now destroyed wings back to Torres.
Cutting back to John Walker, we see him stripped of his title as Captain America and get another glimpse into his reasoning behind what he did. Losing control of his temper in the courtroom, he tells the panel that he did what he was trained to do and he did it well before claiming that they don't know what it takes to be Captain America. He walks out of the room, still holding onto the belief that he is the new Cap and he and his wife are approached by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Seinfeld’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Marvel fans will associate the name with Madame Hydra and will immediately have alarm bells going off which only get louder as she attempts to recruit Walker. She plays all the right cards for the situation and Walker takes her card.
(L-R): Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Sarah Wilson (Adepero Oduye) in Marvel Studios' THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Our two heroes part ways after Sam tells Torres to keep the wings. Sam takes the shield and heads back to Baltimore where he talks to Isiah Bradley again. We get a lot more background on Isaiah's history and begin to understand more of Sam’s concern over picking up the shield. We hear about what was done to the super-soldier when he was in prison as well as about when he broke out from the facility he was held in to bring others home. Sam then goes home to Sarah and his nephews to help with the boat we saw earlier on in the season.
Bucky travels to Sokovia where he finds Zemo in front of the memorial. Bucky turns Zemo over to Ayo and the DoraMilaje after some level of peace is drawn between them and is informed that Zemo will be taken to The Raft, the secure prison the ‘offending’ Avengers were held in in Captain America: Civil War. Meanwhile, Sam is calling in favours and showing the Wilson family’s popularity in their hometown while fixing up his parents’ boat. It’s not long before Bucky arrives and drops off a case, offering to help with the boat too. The pair bond over the time spent there and there’s even a little flirting between Bucky and Sarah much to Sam’s annoyance.
(L-R): Dovich (Desmond Chaim), Batroc (Georges St-Pierre) and Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) in Marvel Studios' THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eli Adé. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
The two air some of the things troubling them as they toss the shield between them and eventually, Sam picks up the shield. The following training montage doesn't forget to leave room on Sam’s left as he’s running, a tribute to Steve’sfamous “on your left” line. At the same time, we see John Walker visit Lemar’s family. He tells them that he killed Nicobecause Nico killed Lemar which isn’t true, Karli killed Lemar. Lemar’s mother tells John that Lemar would be pleased to know the person responsible for his death is no longer posing a threat to anyone and you can see the plan forming in Walker’s mind, it's clear he's now going to go after Lemar’s actual killer - and there’s no way that can end well.
Towards the end of the episode, we see Karli recruiting Batroc, famous for saying the line “I thought you were more than just a shield” at the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’s announced that they’re targeting the GRC vote scheduled to happen in New York which allows the episode to end with the lights going down in the room and Sam opening the case Bucky delivered earlier in the episode. Setting up nicely for a big fight next week, it does feel as though the penultimate episode has left a lot to be resolved in only an hour next week. Especially when the after credits scene shows John Walker making his own shield.
It seems that next week is going to be a clash between many different parties and definitely sets the final episode up to be unmissable. What do you think will happen next week? Let us know in the comments!
“This might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are.”
Words by Chloe Pollard.
Photos: Disney+.
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