“The Star Spangled Man” is revealed and unmasked for the world to see. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have their own issues to work through as they continue to uncover more about the Flag Smashers, which leads them to an old “friend” of Bucky’s.
The world is officially introduced to John Walker, the new Captain America. I know that both Sam and Bucky are disappointed that the government would decide to pass along the mantle, but they can’t blame the guy for saying yes to the proposition. John Walker is an American hero. He has three medals of honor, and he measured off the chart in every aspect of the job. Plus, he’s just a regular human, no super powers. It’s hard to hate this guy, which makes him a great character.
Bucky confronts Sam about giving up the shield, but Sam is only focused on the Flag Smashers. Bucky decides that Sam needs help and tags along. I love that they don’t particularly like working together, but Steve believed in both of them. When they follow the trucks, they initially think there’s a hostage inside. Instead, they find the leader of the Flag Smashers, Karli Morgenthau. The fact that they automatically underestimated Karli makes her that much more dangerous.
What Sam and Bucky didn’t expect is that the Flag Smashers are all super soldiers. Somehow they have all been altered like Bucky and like Steve Rogers. Falcon’s sidekick drone, Red Wing was tracked by John Walker and team, so they got a bit of help fighting the Flag Smashers. Unfortunately, the Flag Smashers got away with their stolen goods, while the good guys are left trying to figure out if they can work together or not.
Bucky takes Sam to see a “friend” in Baltimore. This “friend,” Isaiah, is also a super soldier that Bucky battled back in the war. Afterwards, Isaiah was locked up for 30 years, continuing to be a prison and an experiment. Could that have something to do with the new super soldiers? Isaiah is not willing to talk about that time in his life. He only wants to be left alone. When Sam and Bucky are leaving, they are stopped by cops. The cops are badgering Sam until they realize that he’s an Avenger. Welcome to America, right? Of course, they recognize Bucky as well, and arrest him for missing his court mandated therapy.
The therapist, Dr. Christina Raynor, is not letting Bucky leave without a chat, and while they’re at it, why doesn’t Sam join as well? They think the therapy is worthless, but Bucky actually revealed a big insecurity. He is upset that Sam gave up the shield. Steve trusted Sam with the shield, and if Steve was wrong to trust Sam, then maybe he was also wrong about his trust in Bucky. This is a seemingly large revelation, but they just gloss over it for now. Hopefully, they come back to that soon.
The Flag Smashers are almost caught in Slovakia, but their outfit extends pretty far. The Flag Smashers and Karli feel like the GRC (Global Repatriation Council) cares more about the people who came back than they do about the ones who never left. She also promises that after tomorrow, there’s no going back. “One world, one people.” While their cause may have started out as a way to connect people, they’re clearly going about it in the wrong way. It’s nice to have complex bad guys, who aren’t all bad.
Another episode down means only four episodes left. The Flag Smashers are still a problem, and our heroes need to figure out how they are becoming super soldiers. Bucky says that it’s time to talk to Zemo. I don’t see this going well, but I’ll be excited to see Daniel Bruhl again. I know we haven’t seen the last of John Walker, but both Sam and Bucky don’t want to work with him or within the red tape that is the US Government. I’m more curious to see how this story ends because it could have some real implications on the future of the MCU.
