The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Disney+ 2021)

[MT 917]

That opening fight scene was awesome, so glad to see Batroc was brought back. I was also happy to see he wasn't killed off, so he can return again. Didn't expect that Rhodes cameo, that was a nice touch. As soon as the Japanese man got sad and talked about his son, I figured it was someone Bucky had killed as the Winter Soldier, but didn't put together that it was the guy he killed in that scene until I saw the picture in the Japanese man's apartment. Also, for a second I thought that, in that news story Sam's sister came in to show Sam was about the shield being stolen, I didn't think they'd show the new Cap (who may turn out to be US Agent later on? I don't remember the comic character's back story) with it. Not even on screen for 30 seconds and I already hate him. He didn't earn that shield!

 

Edit: Saw that someone on reddit said that the guy giving the announcement for the new Captain America was the one that convinced Sam to donate the shield to the Smithsonian. That motherfucker...

[Garlic Junior 136]

I kinda wish this came before Wandavision as I am going to be so underwhelmed I did manage to binge Runaways too so I'll be even more underwhelmed, but heyo - more Marvel, lets go!

[Tassifox 418]

MT I fully agree with your comment.

I wanna punch him and I wanna punch the old fucker who convinced Sam to give up the shield! This is worse than it being stolen which was my first guess of what might happen. 

GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKER!

[Mera'din 307]

On 3/19/2021 at 3:12 AM, MT said:

I didn't think they'd show the new Cap (who may turn out to be US Agent later on? I don't remember the comic character's back story) with it.

 

They show his name to be John Walker on a poster during the credits so he's definitely the guy that ends up being US Agent. Interested in seeing how far they take his character.

 

I agree about Batroc. That was a character I was not expecting to see again but was a nice suprise. Wasn't expecting Rhodes either but it makes sense with Sam having been in the AirForce as well. Wonder if we'll get any War Machine action later.

 

They also semi-snuck in another Captain America villain as well. The terrorist organization that is being investigated by Sam's sidekick army guy bears the name of one, "Flag Smasher".

 

Definitely not expecting this to be as fundamentally impressive as WandaVision, but I'm hoping for an interesting ride none the less and so far it's not disappointing the expectations I had for it. 

[MT 917]

7 hours ago, Mera'din said:

They also semi-snuck in another Captain America villain as well. The terrorist organization that is being investigated by Sam's sidekick army guy bears the name of one, "Flag Smasher".

I knew that name sounded familiar, but the only thing I could think of was the Nuke character, which I know isn't the same thing.

[Garlic Junior 136]

Almost stopped halfway through that episode. I expected to be underwhelmed but I do NOT give a shit about Sam's sister (?) having to get a loan, or Bucky going on dates. DGAF.

 

But then little world-building things like the banker asking if the Avengers get a wage, and the weird terrorists with the masks, was enough for me to relatively enjoy it.

I dunno, guess we'll see. I was never expecting much from a show starring two characters I don't really care about, I just hope it doesn't deliver less than that  

[Tassifox 418]

I wanted to punch the bank worker. Like legit you're gonna fucking ask for a photo op after you're telling him he's basically fucked for a loan?!? Seriously have some fucking tact.
Besides you gotta have SOME character buildup. Obviously from linking the dream Bucky had killing the old man's son and finding out later that he's hanging out with him as some kind of twisted redemption means that most of what they're throwing in isn't just to throw it in there.
Ex: One of my friends in his post asked how often do we see a superhero's sibling? I responded with "not often unless they're about to die in the storyline in most cases". (Because most of the time when we see a sibling/parent/etc in even non-marvel stories, something bad's gonna happen to them) And now he's saying I've doomed Sarah from saying that so we'll see if I killed her off from my unintentional prediction.

[MT 917]

I still can't stand this new Captain America (and i'm sure that's the point). He may have been a good soldier, but he's no Steve Rogers. He also seems to be blindly following what the government wants, which is something Steve never really did. That fight scene on top of the truck was pretty cool, but too short for my tastes. I'm glad Sam and Bucky had that little therapy session midway through the episode, it was a nice way to break the tension, although I wish Sam had responded to what Bucky had said. 

[Tassifox 418]

Agreed that it's Walker's purpose for his character that we hate him. I hate his overall attitude, he was obviously the football star jock with Charisma and all that and it shows through his attitude of how he talks to Sam and Buck and how he basically ordered the Doc to push the paperwork to release Bucky into service without fully finishing his therapy. I'm pretty sure he has his own agenda too one with being a Gov lapdog. 

The realization to Sam that Isaiah could have easily been where Rodgers was as Cap. But for obvious reasons wasn't. I appreciate how they reflect the race issue in that scene and with police afterwards. It's something we've seen in television sure but I still appreciate that they take a moment to do it.

Funny moments I laughed out loud: 

Debate between Wizard vs Sorcerer

White Panther

Soul Gazing Exercise (I wanna see the bloopers for that because you know there had to be!)

 

Next episode is gonna be gooooooooood. 

[MT 917]

When he told Sam and Bucky to stay out of his way, oooh I wanted to punch him so bad. Someone else on reddit pointed out that from Fake Cap's perspective, he's trying to help them out by bringing them in and they keep rejecting him, so it makes sense. But for Sam and Bucky, it's just some asshole running around in Cap's clothes.

[Tassifox 418]

Plus if Walker really understood how hard it is for people who have had history with Rodgers to the degree they do and truly know him, he wouldn't be doing the dick lines on them about trying to accept that he's just trying to fill big shoes. No amount of doing favors and what he's been doing so far is going to ease that. If Stark was fucking alive he would be tearing into Walker with full frontal blunt verbal drop kick!

[Garlic Junior 136]

Imagine the twist when it turns out Falcon and WS are the bad guys with their lack of guidelines, free agent bullshit.

[Mera'din 307]

I think we'll see the new guy start to lose it before the end of this. In the comics he was as asshole who had a raging nationalist hard on for the government and military. He got super strength from the Power Broker (glad they're using him in this. Was wondering if they would after that fight when it turned out they all had strength). He went by the name "Super Patriot" and was super antagonistic towards Captain America, constantly attempting to discredit him. He was chosen to replace him when Steve gave up the identity after some of Red Skull's shenanigans. Once Walker was picked to take over the role, he attempted to use Steve as a role model and tried to emulate him but was kind of shit at it (because there's probably almost nobody that can emulate the moral integrity that he has) and after more Red Skull shenanigans, gave it up, eventually becoming U.S. Agent.

 

With that in mind, I'm kind of expecting him to get douchier over time as Sam and Bucky continue to blow him off until something happens that makes him have a complete meltdown and realize he can't do the job the way it needs to be done. I also like how they styled his outfit to kind of allude to the U.S. Agent outfit. 

 

Right now it feels like this series is missing SOMETHING. Not sure what though, especially with how top heavy with "villains" it is between Flag Smasher, The Power Broker and Zemo. Also Walker sort of though he's more pseudo-antagonist than actual villain. I'm enjoying it, it just doesn't give me the kind of drive to watch it that I got from WandaVision though.

 

Really glad they included Isaiah Bradley in this. That whole thing was an interesting story in the comics from what I've read. Makes me wonder how many other people who have been Captain America in the comics they'll find a way to fit into this though.  

There's a few bigger ones they could still use, excepting Jeffrey Mace since they made use of him in Agents of SHIELD.

[Garlic Junior 136]

Nah there's definitely something missing. But episode 2 was like, roughly, 5000x better than episode 1 so it has won a bit of good faith with me.

It's still strange how the same conversation can be really strong and really weak at the same time. ie

"Have you ever jumped on a grenade?"
"Yes, in fact four times, I do this cool trick with my helmet...." was amazing. Strong writing. Great "show, don't tell" character building. Excellent acting etc.

"You leapt from a helicopter, I'm gonna need more to go on than that"
"Uh... Battlestar"
"Stop the car"
"Ok bye" weak sauce. Hated it. Felt like a first draft of the dialogue.

[h2ojunkie 96]

I think sometimes you guys just need to chill and just watch the show and stop thinking so much about it ?

[Tassifox 418]

At least this isn't as bad as some other possible forums and chat rooms with some of the more hard-core fans that put up way more fuss over details. 

[Garlic Junior 136]

39 minutes ago, h2ojunkie said:

I think sometimes you guys just need to chill and just watch the show and stop thinking so much about it ?

Well, yes and no. I think it's worth discussing the quality or lack thereof of the show.
 

[Tassifox 418]

[MT 917]

I was really not expecting to see Madripoor brought up without the X-Men. I feel like every time I see that city it involves either Wolverine himself, or the X-Men as a whole. It was even cooler to see it realized in the MCU. I was really hoping they'd bring up Tyger Tiger while in Madripoor too, but maybe she's not in power yet at this point in the MCU timeline. I'm really surprised that Zemo stuck with Sam and Bucky after the explosion at the secret lab, I figured he'd be off doing his own thing from that point on. You know he's gonna try and bail at some point, although I gotta wonder if that Dora Milaje agent that Bucky ran into at the end (or another of them) will end up with their hands on Zemo. I'm hoping he gets away somehow, he's too interesting of a bad guy to get rid of this quickly (not that it's stopped other Marvel villians from dying).

 

The theory on reddit is that Sharon is the Power Broker...could be interesting.

[Tassifox 418]

I think Zero def has his own agenda and he probably figures that it'll meet that faster with Sam/Bucky and let them think they're somewhat under control. 

 

Yesssss Wakandaaaaaa

[webhead 519]

I do wonder if they're going to make Zemo actually a gray kind of dude who legitimately wants to do what he says and isn't just going to do evil shit for the sake of being evil.  That would make me happy.  I really like what they're doing with him so far and if he legit sticks around to help them then peaces out without hurting them but just to avoid jail, that would be a good little romp.  Of course with the Wakandans showing up...that might go very sideways.

 

I am liking this show.  It's a lot more straightforward than Wandavision haha but it's like they just continued on after the Winter Soldier movie and I like it.  

[Garlic Junior 136]

I'd love Zemo to be an anti-hero type.

 

Don't agree that it's a straightforward show. Feels like it's spinning a LOT of plates right now. Although having longer episodes definitely helps.

[Tassifox 418]

Well this was sad to see this morning. It's stuff like this why the kid who played Geoffrey in GoT quit acting because of how much fans hated him. Why people gotta suck?

 

[webhead 519]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:13 PM, Garlic Junior said:

I'd love Zemo to be an anti-hero type.

 

Don't agree that it's a straightforward show. Feels like it's spinning a LOT of plates right now. Although having longer episodes definitely helps.

I said more straightforward than WandaVision.  That shit was abstract as fuck.  

 

9 hours ago, Tassifox said:

Well this was sad to see this morning. It's stuff like this why the kid who played Geoffrey in GoT quit acting because of how much fans hated him. Why people gotta suck?

 

This can't really be a significant number of people but why the fuck does this happen with everything?  Also how are people so stupid that they didn't understand this from the beginning?  

[Tassifox 418]

Either there are lots of fans who never read the comics and just saying random shit or you have legit crybabies who cannot separate reality from the fiction (which I lean more toward here on guessing). Like if you hate the character, good. You're supposed to! And if the actor can convey that well from their acting ability, even better! But in the end, the actor is the actor and NOT the character! He doesn't deserve this kind of fucking treatment for playing his role well. (Especially after 2 fucking episodes!!!) Those people need to get their heads out of the fantasy holes they're buried in!!!

[Mera'din 307]

I'm getting into this series a bit more. I feel like this is where they're stacking a majority of the world building to show the disparities of life before/during/after the "Blip" and it was really needed. I was never expecting this to be on caliber with some of the other announced shows, and that's fine. I'm just glad it's starting to feel like it's starting to gain a solid identity.

 

I had the thought about Sharon being the Power Broker too, but I don't know if that works that well for her character. I think she is likely working directing for him though. She'd use whatever tools were available to her to keep herself going and that's probably the biggest tool in the box so to speak.

 

Was definitely cool to see Madripoor. My understanding from what I read is the bar they go in is actually the same bar that Wolverine would frequent? Feel like they're just actively trolling people at this point with X-Men adjacent easter eggs. XD

[MT 917]

I'd have to re-watch the episode, but I remember seeing someone else say they walk past the bar Wolverine would frequent, and go into another, so...

[Tassifox 418]

I made myself sad and saw that there's only 6 episodes for this series. I hope they don't botch this. 

[Tassifox 418]

Legit almost did a spit take. 

 

[MT 917]

 

 

[Revolver 27]

Bucky and Falcon seem to kind of half-ass everything in this show. They never have a plan and they just blunder through everything. Doesn’t help the writers seem to like to add jokes when they’re blundering through everything. Which, if this was Spidey or Ant-Man that would fit but with characters like Falcon, Zemo and WS it feels off.

 

It’s surprisingly not well written in many areas. Consistency is kind of Marvel’s thing at this point. Unless things really shape up this will be one of Marvel’s biggest misses.

 

Edit: Also this should easily be a home run. Bucky is a great character in general. The stuff with the old Asian man is gold. And with Falcon, a black man, not feeling like he deserves the shield and then the gov tricking him into donating it just to give it to the most milk toast guy ever. There is a lot of good stuff here structurally. This show should be better

[MT 917]

Glad we got to see the last of Bucky's de-programming in Wakanda, his reaction when he realizes he's finally free was amazing to watch. It was also super interesting to see the Dora Milaje just completely take his arm off. I didn't know what she was doing until it fell off, but it makes perfect sense that they would know how to take it off.  I think this may be the first time we've really seen them in action outside of a scene or two in Black Panther. Glad to see they got Walker taking the serum in this episode, I guess this sets him up as the "villain" for the rest of the series, although I gotta wonder what Sharon is up to. Fake Cap killing that one guy while he lie there defenseless is gonna stick with me for a bit, too.

[Garlic Junior 136]

On 4/4/2021 at 3:18 PM, Tassifox said:

Well this was sad to see this morning. It's stuff like this why the kid who played Geoffrey in GoT quit acting because of how much fans hated him. Why people gotta suck?

I mean, I agree with the sentiment but that's just plain untrue. Jack Gleeson never wanted to be a full-time actor and "quit" (I use that term loosely) before it became an all-consuming career. Had nothing whatsoever to do with fan reception, either negative or positive.

 

Man I really enjoyed this episode. Still not digging the show as much as Wandavision, but at least they paid off spending so much time with Sarah and her fucking bills in episode 1. Every single character is morally grey. John Walker debating whether he should take the serum and the potentially bad things he got awarded for in Afghanistan, Zemo being fueled to rid the world of the serum for the damage it could cause (and the mentioning of his son's favourite candy), it was all just so good.

 

My favourite minor detail was the throwaway joke of Zemo's villainous head tilt becoming a Chekov's gun when Walker did a villainous head tilt a few scenes later while stealing the serum. A+ writing and acting.

[MT 917]

"That head tilt thing"

 

 

[Garlic Junior 136]

He's such a great actor. brb going to rewatch Rush for the 5000th time (I don't even like Formula 1).

[Tassifox 418]

Whelp. PR is gonna be a bitch to handle that.

I'm not surprised that Walker is heading in this direction. Even if he doesn't become a full "villian" of this series it's obvious that he's got a LOT of mental shit. This is not going to bode well.
RIP Hoskins. You weren't too bad and at least you went out fighting.
That whole scene with the Dora Milaje was perfect. Dude Walker, Sam fucking told you not to push the Wakanda Badger. You're lucky all they did was hand you your ass and your shield back. 
Zemo is now 2/2 on not fully escaping when he had every chance to. Even destroyed most of the vials, it'll be interesting to see where he ends up by the end of this.

[Tassifox 418]

[Mera'din 307]

God that episode was fantastic. This is more like what I was hoping to see at the beginning. It was never going to match the level of shit that WandaVision got up to, but that's fine. I was looking for the feeling I got from the Captain America movies which on the whole tend to run in a different vein that most of the other movies, and this episode finally hit that stride.

 

Finally seeing the full extent of the conflict in Walker, seeing him really starting to crack which is going to get so much worse after his talk about having the serum in the military allowing him to save more people, and then not being able to save his best friend even after he took it. I'm hoping they really start to push the dichotomy between him and Steve from here. Steve also lost his best friend (or so he believed at the time) despite feeling he should have the power to stop it. Would be great to see some literal and thematic comparisons in the next couple episodes about how he deals with it (obviously we've already seen the immediate fallout. ? ).

 

The whole conversation Sam had with Karli was some solid stuff even knowing how it was going to playout because of course Dude-bro America was going to assert his dominance and bust in there like a jackass. Really felt like we were seeing Sam in his element during that little bit. Solid stuff with Bucky too. The flashback to confirmation the de-programming had worked and the slight doubt when Walker was pushing him on backing Sam up were both solid scenes. Everything with the Dora Milaje was good stuff too. It's always great to see them in action.

 

Everything Zemo was excellent. I'm going to be unbearably disappointed if they throw his character away at the end of this series. They made him so much more interesting than he ever was in the comics (not that I've read much Captain America, but still), and the actor just sells him for all he's worth. Really glad they didn't waste him as a derpy Hydra baddy. Show got immediately better with his presence. Maybe they'll eventually do a Thunderbolts type of thing with him. That could be fun. XD

[Deimos 100]

It's been strongly rumored that Zemo will likely end up arrested again but that Thunderbolt Ross will use him a part of the Thunderbolts. I don't think they are going to throw his character away. 

 

Also, I am throwing down that the Power Broker is Arnam Zola. They are making it seem too obvious that Sharon Carter is the Power Broker, so I hope it's a misdirect. I just know that we're likely to see an android in this series. They talked about the big 3 more than once (aliens, androids, wizards) and that has to be some kind of foreshadowing and I think aliens is too much for this show and we just dealt with wizards/witches. So, Android is up next. If it isn't Arnam Zola then they will probably just use a true to form Power Broker look. 

 

I am definitely expecting the power broker stuff to be wrapped up next episode with the John Walker story being in the finale episode. There is supposed to be a "big cameo" next episode of someone that has yet to be in the MCU and with no other film plans at the moment, but the actor playing the character is bigger than the character. So, I have no idea who we could be seeing. I've speculated that Mother Superior/Sin (Red Skull's Daughter in the comics, but would likely be granddaughter here if she shows up). 

 

Speaking of Red Skull, I wonder where he is. In this timeline the soul stone is gone, so it no longer requires a keeper. That means Red Skull was freed at the start of Endgame? He could absolutely have made his way back to Earth by now with 5 years 7 months of time passing since he would have been freed.

 

Also, while not as exciting I love the down to Earth things we get to see from this stuff. I liked the loan scene because it highlights a lot of social issues that are prevalent in America, just like the scene where the cops didn't back down on Sam until they realized he was an Avenger to "If I'm Black Falcon, then are you Black Kid?" The show definitely doesn't have to be pure Superhero Drama. I love seeing the characters outside of costume as regular people trying to live a regular life. 

 

Never heard that complaint about Clint and his family, nor Iron Man and his or Star-Lord and his Mom with cancer or Steve getting picked on before he was a super soldier. I've literally only heard this complaint about regular people thing with Sam...Hmm...

[webhead 519]

Last episode was fucking great.  We all knew it was coming because the dude is off (and the comic character is a psycho) but it was still so well done.  The whole differences between him and Steve is very interesting to watch as well.

 

I also fucking love everything about the relationship between Bucky and Sam.  You can see them bonding more and more over time and it's nice.

 

Bucky losing his arm and that reaction was fucking hilarious.

 

On 4/9/2021 at 10:30 AM, MT said:

"That head tilt thing"

 

 

Mega lulz

 

On 4/8/2021 at 10:03 PM, Revolver said:

Bucky and Falcon seem to kind of half-ass everything in this show. They never have a plan and they just blunder through everything. Doesn’t help the writers seem to like to add jokes when they’re blundering through everything. Which, if this was Spidey or Ant-Man that would fit but with characters like Falcon, Zemo and WS it feels off.

 

It’s surprisingly not well written in many areas. Consistency is kind of Marvel’s thing at this point. Unless things really shape up this will be one of Marvel’s biggest misses.

 

Edit: Also this should easily be a home run. Bucky is a great character in general. The stuff with the old Asian man is gold. And with Falcon, a black man, not feeling like he deserves the shield and then the gov tricking him into donating it just to give it to the most milk toast guy ever. There is a lot of good stuff here structurally. This show should be better

Hot take.  Don't agree with pretty much any of this and I feel like we're watching different shows.  Bucky and Sam have definitely never been overly serious people so I'm not sure why the jokes are a complaint (he and Steve used to joke around all the time...both of them lol).  The part about "never having a plan" isn't particularly true in every case and in some others, what plan are they going to have?  They're investigating things.  Bucky has always relied on his skills basically to get him through everything and Sam does try to plan shit but sometimes Bucky would push it (that is the difference between their characters).  I feel like as I read this you just don't like it for some reason and are looking for reasons to justify it.  Which, I mean I don't really get why you don't like it so whatever but these complaints I'm definitely not seeing.  Definitely agree with all the comments in the edit though.  Those things really flesh out their characters and it's really fucking nice.

 

On 4/7/2021 at 12:40 AM, Mera'din said:

I'm getting into this series a bit more. I feel like this is where they're stacking a majority of the world building to show the disparities of life before/during/after the "Blip" and it was really needed. I was never expecting this to be on caliber with some of the other announced shows, and that's fine. I'm just glad it's starting to feel like it's starting to gain a solid identity.

Also this.  Definitely this.  I like seeing these other things peel back what happened and that Marvel isn't just totally glossing over the blip like it was no big deal.

 

Overall definitely enjoying the show.  It isn't the same as WandaVision but I don't think it makes this show less, it's just a more normal Marvel show.  They were doing entirely different things.  Trying to compare it to WandaVision is silly for both shows.  They're like entirely different genres that happen to contain superheroes.  

[MT 917]

That fight between Bucky, Sam and Fake Cap was super awesome, surprised to see them break Walker's arm just to get the shield back from him. I really ove the times in the MCU where people use their powers/abilities for little things. Back in Iron Man 1, I remember Tony using the foot jets to lift him up off the ground just slightly in order to give a jumping punch a little more weight/momentum to it. Seeing Sam do something similar with his jetpack for that backflip kick made me smile. I didn't recognize the name of Julia Louis Dreyfus' character, I was originally thinking she may have been Madame Hydra (Edit: She apparently takes the moniker of Madame Hydra at some point, but she's not the first?), but I don't think the name she gave was the same. Interesting to see Zemo get taken back by the Wakandans, not sure why he's gonna be on the Raft though, seems like that'd be much easier for someone to break him out of than anywhere in Wakanda itself. 

 

That scene with Sharon talking to Batroc on the phone has me thinking she actually is the Power Broker, but if she isn't I see whomever it is potentially getting revealed in a post credits scene after the final episode. I wonder who's side she's actually on in this, considering where Batroc showed up later in the episode. It seems weird for her to help arm Karli and her people. Seeing Sam practice with the shield was super cool too, I think this may be the first time i've ever seen the shield not thrown perfectly. I can't imagine how that thing actually works, it just seems to magnetize itself back to whomever's throwing it, regardless of the angle. I was originally thinking the case that Bucky brought back to Sam would've been new, vibranium laced wings, but since it wasn't really opened until the end of the episode, i'm thinking it's his new costume as well. I'm wondering if we'll see Walker back again in the final episode, i'm not really sure where he fits in at the moment. I haven't heard anything about them starting a US Agent series or anything like that, so i'm not sure where he goes from here. Obviously he goes to visit Julia Louis Dreyfus' character, but will they show that in this, or save it for something down the line?

 

Edit: There IS a mid-credits scene in this one.

 

It's Walker putting together a new shield.

[Tassifox 418]

 omg this ep was so fucking good!

 

- Opening fight. I cringed when they broke Walker's arm but the fucker totally deserved it. 

-Walker basically losing everything and him crying the whole "you made me! I did what you made me to do!" While that maybe true you also fucking cray cray. 

-Big talk time with Isaiah. I felt for Sam desperately trying to understand. And Bucky bringing that back later with the "neither of us probably really understanding the idea of how heavy that is"

-Bonding time. That look on Sam when Bucky flirts with his sister. 

-Sad that we didn't get to see even a hint of Falcon costume upgrade. 

- Fuuuuuuuuck Walker making his own shield.......

[Tassifox 418]

[Garlic Junior 136]

Can't believe they sucked me in. I thought this was going to be so shit at the start, but last episode was amazing and I am devastated this isn't like a 20+ episode series now

[Tassifox 418]

Final ep next week is gonna be intense

[Deimos 100]

Thunderbolt Ross runs The Raft. Zemo is 100% on his way to running The Thunderbolts. 

 

Madame Hydra was almost a guess of mine for the cameo, but thought we were done with Hydra so I didn't guess her. Though, she could also be working with Thunderbolt Ross. 

 

I'm certain we'll see Madame Hydra show up in Secret Invasion. 

[Mera'din 307]

In the comics, this version of Madame Hydra (think she was the 2nd one?) had originally been an agent of SHIELD (alias Agent 14) and was Fury's lover at one point. 

 

Kind of wonder if she isn't possibly the Power Broker in this case. She obviously knows everything that's going on, and considering Walker's ties to the Power Broker in the comics, it tracks. It feels like they keep trying to push Sharon as the Power Broker but it doesn't make sense with her sending Batroc to the Flag Smashers if she's supposed to want payback for them taking the serum. Unless Batroc is going to betray them I guess?

 

Fontaine just feels like a better fit for me at this point in lieu of a classic Power Broker. Walker is the best option for them to get back at the Flag Smashers at this point as he took the last of the serum, is emotionally vulnerable and would want nothing more than the opportunity to get to Karli thanks to his lingering guilt at not getting Lemar's true killer.

 

Side note: Is it just me or did the scene with Bucky and Sam forcing the shield off of Walker's arm feel really reminiscent of the Avengers trying to take the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos?

[Tassifox 418]

1 hour ago, Mera'din said:

Side note: Is it just me or did the scene with Bucky and Sam forcing the shield off of Walker's arm feel really reminiscent of the Avengers trying to take the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos?

Yup! I cringed when Walker's arm broke because I was expecting some other kind of reaction. (Not sure what but something). 

[MT 917]

Pretty good finale, wrapped things up and left things open for a season 2. Seeing Sam in his full Captain America suit took a while to grow on me, but I liked it for the most part. Only thing I could've done without is the part that comes up from the shoulders and behind his head. I originally thought it all looked a bit bulky, but then the more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of Rogers' suit in Winter Soldier, but with different colors. Walker redeemed himself a bit there, abandoning his revenge quest to save the people in that armored truck. He seemed to have calmed down since the hearing that stripped him of the Captain America title. It was funny to see his shield get beat up so easily. It just sounded like garbage. When Batroc showed up to shoot the smoke grenades down, I was thinking we'd get a Power Broker reveal, but nope. Sharon being the Broker isn't a huge shock, they pretty much set it up and made it obvious. 

 

I'm definitely looking forward to a potential second season. Hell, they could even give Sam his own movie and i'd be down for that too. 

[Tassifox 418]

Really enjoyed that finale. Riveting speech for Sam at the senators that hopefully will plant a seed we need here in the world.

Now that Sharon has a full pardon, things are indeed gonna get hairy here with what she has plans for. While I wasn't surprised about the Power Broker since a lot of people was suspecting her to be it, I was kinda surprised about her being behind Carli and the Flagsmashers. 

I teared up with Esiah getting to see his wing of the museum. He totally deserved it.