Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier.
The pair, who came together in the final moments of Avengers: Endgame, team up on a global adventure that tests their abilities and their patience.
Directed by Kari Skogland with Malcolm Spellman serving as head writer, the series also stars Daniel Brühl as Zemo, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter and Wyatt Russell as John Walker.
Episode 1:
When we last left our heroes, Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) passed the torch and handed the vibranium shield to none other than his friend Sam Wilson aka Falcon in hopes that he would take over as Captain America himself. We begin this limited, 6 episode miniseries right after that scene from Avengers: End Game.
Sam, who has just returned from “The Blip,” has issues coming to terms with the fact that Rogers felt the shield belongs to Sam and he continues his work with the military as The Falcon.
In an incredibly fast paced and high altitude action sequence, Sam exhibits his prowess with his tech as Falcon and rescues Captain Vassant (Miles Brew credited as Colonel Vassant) who was taken by a criminal organization known as LAF in a clandestine operation in which the US military can not publicly be associated with as they nearly enter Libyan airspace.
Even though the LAF has their own fair share of gadgets, Sam rescues Vassant just in time.
The story picks up back on the ground where Sam meets with his military liaison and friend Torres (Danny Rimerez) in Tunisia where Torres tells Sam about another terrorist organization called The Flag Smashers who want the world to return to how it was after Thanos’ snap and before the Blip returned all those who were “dusted” at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.
Sam ultimately decides that he does not want to be the one to wield Captain America’s shield and he chooses to donate it to the Smithsonian Institute in his way of honoring Steve’s legacy. James “Rhodey” Rhodes aka War Machine (Don Cheadle) makes an appearance and questions Sam’s decision.
We are then flashed back and witness HYDRA controlled Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) murdering an innocent in Bucky Barnes’ nightmare just before picking up in a therapy session. Bucky reluctantly trudges through his therapy session as he explains how he’s making amends for all of the atrocities he committed as the Winter Soldier.
Bucky is completely consumed with his guilt over the murder of the man in his nightmares and has befriended the man’s father, who sets him up on a date with a woman named Leah (Miki Ishikawa) who works at a restaurant the two of them frequent together.
Sam finds out that his sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye) intends to sell their family’s boat and does everything he can to help his sister save their family’s legacy. Unfortunately, Sam is unable to convince the bank to give them necessary funds.
Torres follows signals for the Flag Smashers to a location in Switzerland where he briefly goes undercover as a member/supporter, spars with local police and attempts to arrest a member of the group who then beats the hell out of him.
He shows Sam the footage he took with a camera hidden in his jacket via video call. The episode concludes with Sam’s sister showing Sam the TV news where a new Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is being introduced.
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Episode 2:
We begin the episode in a locker room as John Walker nervously prepares for the big announcement that he will take over as the new Captain America. Donning a similar costume as the original 1940’s one Steve Rogers wore when he was paraded around as a cheerleader for the American military forces in Captain America: The First Avenger, Walker appears to also have been paraded around as a pretty show pony symbol as well.
Bucky becomes infuriated when he sees this fraud on TV and confronts Sam about relinquishing his role as Cap. Bucky then tags along on Falcon’s assignment and the two squabble like a mismatched married couple.
When the duo interact with members of the Flag Smashers it becomes apparent that they are dealing with another group of super soldiers, presumably created by the same serum that triggered the same superpowers in both Steve and Bucky.
In the midst of the fighting, the new Captain America and his team show up and offer aid to Bucky and Falcon. They lose the battle and Bucky and Falcon accept a ride from the new Captain America and his buds including his “partner” who calls himself “Battlestar” (Clé Bennett) and find out they were tracked by them “hacking” Redwing, a drone that works in conjunction with Falcon’s suit.
Bucky loses his patience with the imposters and demands that they stop the car and let them out. Bucky tries to convince Falcon that the two of them need to steal the shield.
Bucky takes Falcon to a home in Baltimore MD where a previously unknown super soldier named Isaiah (Carl Lumbly) is now living in hopes he has information about how there could be other super soldiers. Isaiah tells the two that he was in prison for over 30 years where he endured torturous testing, refuses to help and tells them to get out of his house.
As Bucky and Sam argue in the street, the local police come out of nowhere and treat Sam as a criminal asking Bucky if he is “bothering” him. Before anyone is murdered in the street, the police become aware that they are harassing Avengers and back down immediately. Unfortunately Bucky is still taken into custody for missing his court ordered therapy session.
The new Captain America goes over Bucky’s therapist’s head, bails Bucky out of jail and informs his therapist, Dr. Christina Raynor (Amy Aquino) that Bucky will no longer be required to adhere to her strict therapy schedule. After a very brief interaction between Sam and the new Captain America, Dr. Raynor demands that Sam and Bucky engage in an immediate “condition of release session” in which Dr. Raynor makes the two go through exercises she usually uses in couples therapy.
The two agree to squash their beef with each other in order to work together to track down and fight the Flag Smashers. After their session, the new Captain America accosts them in the street and they compare notes yet Bucky and Sam refuse to work with the new Captain America and “Battlestar”.
The episode ends as Bucky convinces Sam that they need to interrogate a former member of HYDRA, whom we all already know as Zemo (Daniel Brühl) from Captain America: Winter Soldier.
New episodes of Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier streams Fridays exclusively on Disney+.
Joia DaVida reports on the entertainment industry in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
