This might not be the most popular opinion, but I really enjoyed The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 2, ‘The Star-Spangled Man,’ even more than the premiere episode. Falcon (Anthony Mackie, Outside the Wire) is one of my all-time favorite heroes in the MCU — not only because of his heroics, but because of his undying loyalty to the original Cap throughout the MCU. Whatever Steve was going through, Sam was there. Sharon’s Funeral. Going against Stark. Fighting side by side until the bitter (sweet?) end. This is why I, again, love that Steve chose Falcon to carry the Captain America mantle.
Bucky (Sebastian Stan, Captain America: Civil War), on the other hand, has left much to be desired outside of overall badassery. Fortunately,The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 2 allowed for some much-needed character development for Bucky. There was also some fantastic dialogue and a lot of highly enjoyable buddy-cop moments between our heroes when they finally cross paths.
The budding chemistry between the two protagonists (which we were given glimpses of in Civil War) is off to a great start as they share witty banter about Steve and their shared experience, plus the already iconic, “Aliens, robots, and wizards” line. During a classic buddy-cop moment, the two are psychoanalyzed which, after a proverbial pissing contest, leads to the real heart of their relationship.
One memorable Bucky line here is: “He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing. Maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me.” I want to see more of this emotion from Bucky. The Winter Soldier was a great villain, but he was never work for me as a hero. We need to see more of this; this show may actually serve as an overall redemption arc for Bucky.
The episode also serves as an origin story for the new Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell, Overlord), along with his new sidekick Battlestar (Clé Bennett, Jigsaw). Although Walker’s not a complete jerk, we are certainly being led to dislike him as an audience. As the episode progresses, he becomes a bit cockier and even pulls rank on our heroes. This leads to Sam ultimately questioning his decision to donate the shield and causes more frustration between Bucky and himself.
One moment in this episode that caught me completely by surprise was when Sam and Bucky were stopped by the cops, and they assumed that Sam was harassing Bucky. I was confused as to why it was playing out this way until it finally hit me that this episode was addressing a huge problem in our nation. Ultimately the officers came to realize who Sam was and completely changed their tune. Other issues concerning race were addressed in different ways during the episode, for example in Sam’s interactions with the children who referred to him as, “Black Falcon.” I liked that they discussed a serious and relevant issue in our world, and am very glad to see the show take a clear stance on it.
Another surprise was the discovery of another very old super-soldier, whose experience was the polar opposite of Steve’s. The super-soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly, Alias) was imprisoned and experimented on for 30 years, after being noted to be one of Hydra’s greatest fears. They even mention a battle between him and Bucky. Bradley was very adamant about being left alone, but I say he’s a key player come finale time.
As we still learn more about the “Flag Smashers” here, my guess is that we ultimately find Sam, Bucky, Isaiah, some new friends, and even John working together to put an end to this group once and for all. The real question in my mind though is, who holds the Shield at the end? Please let it be Sam.
