Ryan Shoots First: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (S1 Ep2) “The Star-Spangled Man”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier does not have near as many bonkers fan theories as we had each with WandaVision so let’s dive right in to Episode 2, “The Star-Spangled Man”…
The episode starts with a profile of the new Cap. He is nervous about taking up the mantle which I guess is nice. His name is John and as far as I can tell he is just a promotional thing and has no powers. He is more like the cap in the first movie that is more for propaganda and to ease people’s minds. He is interviewed by Good Morning America and we learn John Walker has 3 Medals of Honor and actually does seem to test of the charts in physical tests. We see Bucky sitting on his floor watching the interview. Bucky and Falcon finally meet and Bucky tells him they should not have given up the shield and it was not what Steve would have wanted. Sam gives Buck a brief update on these flag smasher guys and Bucky insists on tagging along. Bucky jumps out of a plane without a chute cause he’s a badass and Red Wing got it all on camera. Sam and Bucky do their banter through the recon with Sam trying to keep Bucky from going in guns blazing. They believe there are hostages on board and Bucky believes he found her but she is not and a fight breaks out on the semi’s with the girl who played Enfys Nest in Solo. In the middle of the fight the New Cap shows up to help the fight. It turns out they are all Super Soldiers and Sam and Buck are on it.
New Cap uses the ride back to try and show Sam and Buck he is on their side and they should work together. We meet Battlestar who is John’s partner. The talk doesn’t go well and we cut to the Flag Smashers at a hideout where we see the main girl getting a threatening text from someone. Her name is Karli and she is committed to restoring the post blip world. Bucky reveals there is someone Sam should meet and it is someone named Isiah. He fought Bucky back in ‘51 and they are not exactly besties. He is a Super Soldier like Bucky and Bucky is trying to find out where maybe these new guys came from. It doesn’t go well and they are asked to leave, Sam is upset no one knew about this black super soldier for all those years. 2 cops show up and profile Sam until one notices he is Falcon. Bucky ends up being arrested for missing his court mandated therapy but luckily New Cap got him out. Bucky and Sam find themselves in a joint therapy session and after a brief staring contest Bucky reveals how upset he is Sam gave away the shield and that if Cap was wrong about Sam maybe he was wrong about him. Sam explains he did what he thought was right. After their session was over New Cap tries 1 more time to recruit them but when they turn them down he finally tells them to stay the hell out of his way.
Back with the FS they are fleeing from some people and we see that even though they are super soldiers they are vulnerable to a hail of gunfire so they are like a slightly watered down SS. Bucky decides his only lead is to go meet with Baron Zemo from Civil War. The credits end with a close up on Zemo sitting in his cell.
A pretty good episode this week anchored by the chemistry between Bucky and Sam. They have that buddy cop thing going and when they are playing off each other is where the show shines. I can see what the show is doing with New Cap a little but his ominous threat at the end of the episode may paint him as more of an adversary as the show moves on. I am still not sold on the Flag Smashers thing as it is a silly name and I feel they are just a stand in for the bigger threat probably coming down the line… not Mephisto.
Observations
- Eff this new Cap
- Are they trying to make us like this guy? If they can do that the series will really have done something.
- So he is on Good Morning America… but it’s night???
- Someone give Bucky a hug please.
- Ha ha the Big 3 bit is funny.
- Bucky just has his gear at all times?
- There is a serious buddy cop 80’s feel from these two.
- Ha ha “A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther” line of the episode.
- So the guy driving the other truck doesn’t seem to care?
- It will be interesting to see where these guys got their strength from.
- Ha Sam not wanting to be called Black Falcon was a funny bit.
- Props to Marvel for going there in regards to what it would be like being a black super hero.
- New Cap is like the New Dad who really is a decent guy but Eff new dad.
