The MCU has long danced around issues of race. With the notable exception of Black Panther, Marvel properties have preferred to only tease the subject, when it even comes up at all. Up until this week, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had largely continued that tradition. The dance had come closer than ever, between Sam (Anthony Mackie, Outside the Wire) not being able to get a bank loan despite his superhero status, to the introduction of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly, Alias) and his long imprisonment, but the show still seemed reluctant to dive headfirst into what it would mean for there to be a Black Captain America. That is until this latest episode, ‘Truth’ finally threw caution to the wind and engaged the topic head-on – and made the show much stronger in the process.
After the fallout of new Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell, Overlord) killing a man in broad daylight, Sam and Bucky (Sebastian Stan, Captain America: Civil War) are left to cool their heels while the US federal government takes over the case. This leads to an episode that’s light on the action the series has become known for. The only such scene is the opening brawl where Sam and Bucky try to rein in a shocked but unrepentant Walker. That fight has the tight choreography of the show’s best scenes, with the added wrinkle of a back-and-forth as the characters all struggle over the shield that symbolizes Steve’s legacy. It’s a great scene, but afterwards we have only a long contemplative episode where our main characters reflect and decide what to do moving forward.
One could be forgiven for being apprehensive, given that, so far, action has been the show’s strong suit whereas a clear understanding of its characters and their motivations has been…less so. But the result is surprisingly effective. Sam, whose own struggles have largely been sublimated since the show’s opening, gets a showcase, focusing on all of his doubts and fears over what he’s seen. His conversation with Isaiah, where he learns the full extent of what his country did to the first Black super-soldier, is refreshingly frank and direct about all the ways the US government has failed him specifically and Black people in general. Sam (and by extension the show) is too idealistic to embrace Isaiah’s declaration that there could never be a Black Captain America, but they give space for his pain and treat his viewpoint with a great deal of empathy.
Sam truly comes into his own as the episode goes on though. The way he rallies his family’s community together to save the old family business is heartwarming in itself, but it also seems to be an attempt at establishing a counterpoint to Karli’s (Erin Kellyman, Raised by Wolves) worldview. The Flag-Smashers have been far too muddled in their political leanings to serve as any kind of cogent commentary (and their absence from this episode is part of what makes it so good), but things seem to at least be converging on the theme that communities can come together and support each other when larger systems fail them.
But Sam’s best moment is his long conversation with Bucky, pulling at all of the threads of what he’s learned and what he’s been grappling with to espouse his own ideas of what it means to take up the shield. Not only that, we see the result of the development he and Bucky have undergone, allowing Bucky to finally express all his fears and worries over his recovery. And here we see why Sam deserves to be the new Captain America as well, as he empathizes with Bucky but also provides him the perspective he needs to truly begin healing. For a show that is ostensibly about the growing bond between these two characters, the journey there hasn’t always been sketched out very clearly in past episodes. Thankfully, now that we’re approaching the end, they’ve pulled it together enough to deliver a stellar scene that really sells the idea that the two of them have grown closer.
Equally well-realized is the dark path that Walker finds himself on. Without the hardship that Sam has faced both pre- and post-superhero career, Walker has developed a latent sense of entitlement. When things were going his way, this didn’t overly affect his ability to do the job, but as it all starts falling apart, it causes him to spiral out of control. The man clearly suffers from some form of PTSD exacerbated by the loss of his partner Lemar, so there is some element of pathos to his struggle. But we can also see how he feels he deserves the mantle of Captain America and that he deserves the benefit of the doubt for his actions. His refusal to deal with his trauma and instead channel it outward into his crusade to reclaim the shield stands in stark contrast to both Bucky’s struggle to make real amends and Sam’s deeply considered decision to finally accept the shield. It’s become clear that Walker serves as an effective foil for both of our heroes, and the collision course he’s on with them looks to be as emotionally interesting as it will be fun to watch.
As much as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been enjoyable, it had been faltering quite a bit in terms of its characters since the show first began. That makes it even more gratifying to see them fix those missteps, so clearly outline the emotional stakes, and show us what our characters believe as they head into the final confrontation. This kind of clarity makes it so much easier to get invested in their journey, which in turn helps to dial up the tension in the moments that it seems they may fail as well as the joy in the moments where they succeed. It’s the exact sort of groundwork they needed to lay to pull off an effective finale, and it’s immensely satisfying to see them do it so successfully.Â
