It was important to add some substance to who John Walker is after the reveal in E1. When you've got these episodes and the first one went out of its way to provide context to your main characters, you've got to do that when the next level of characters so it's good that they did that with Walker. He certainly seems like he's got the CVV to be worthy and he's even got his right-hand man like Rogers did in Battlestar, but he's not exactly keen on being as buddy buddy with Falcon and Winter Soldier as Rogers was. Walker and Barnes label themselves as free agents so they're able to work more fast and loose while Walker wants them to work with (probably for) him. Walker certainly has a way with his closing dialogue lol, making it very confrontational. There's definitely a fine line they're working here with Walker and you saw a wildly juxtapositional stance of his character from the beginning of the episode to the finish. He's either a good guy caught in a bad situation or it is the opposite.
Again, I really like the fact they kept Wilson and Barnes apart from each other in the first episode. It was set up to be an impactful moment and based on the fallout from the first episode, it created that moment. They were apart for months but they never missed a beat in their bickering. Then it went up a notch with Barnes' therapist working with both of them, it's pleasantly obvious this is set up to be like Marvel's version of a buddy cop show. I do like how Barnes revealed why he was so upset with the decision Wilson made about giving up the shield.
The first action scene for the episode was very cool and choreographed very well. They wove the action, comedy, and apprehension from Wilson and Barnes towards the new Captain America well.
The Flag Smashers element is getting fleshed out a bit more and it is interesting while still being explained. They're seen as threats to the heroes and seen as heroes (Robin Hoods) to the people they're helping. Then you've got a Power Broker who is supplying them, with the Power Broker being unaware that they're taking those supplies and is now trying to hunt them down. Barnes feels Zemo (shoutout Civil War) is the only option who can help explain what's going in regards to the super soldier serum. This is one of many examples of how they're willing give you a little sample but then leave it open to ask more questions. Either way, having The Flag Smashers as "the villains" works in a compelling way because what they're pursuing makes sense in terms of their motivations. The best baddies are ones that have an agenda that have elements of truth to it but are questionable.
I really like how this show is tapping into systemic racism and showing while we've come far in the world, we're still dragging our knuckles in a lot of ways. From Wilson and his sister trying to get a loan in the first episode and then Isaiah Bradley being arrested and having his legacy wiped away then the cops pulling up, this is heavy stuff.
So we're 1/3 of the way through the series now. We still have some characters left to be revealed in the series (like Sharon Carter) and more answers. One of the big lingering questions is we've heard it multiple times but we haven't delved into the exact reasoning as to why Wilson didn't take the shield and become Captain America. There's certainly a lot of ways that can go but it's quite possible he doesn't represent a country that doesn't represent him...which would be extremely palpable and compelling. That would then create a hopeful optimism as to how he makes amends to that struggle. This does also raise a question to if this will be stand-alone or if could bubble up to a feature film or if it continues as TV series. This feels like there's plenty of layers to explore going forward so it's a matter of how they want to tackle it.
Last edited by BGMaverick; March 28th, 2021 at 9:46 PM.
It was important to add some substance to who John Walker is after the reveal in E1. When you've got these episodes and the first one went out of its way to provide context to your main characters, you've got to do that when the next level of characters so it's good that they did that with Walker. He certainly seems like he's got the CVV to be worthy and he's even got his right-hand man like Rogers did in Battlestar, but he's not exactly keen on being as buddy buddy with Falcon and Winter Soldier as Rogers was. Walker and Barnes label themselves as free agents so they're able to work more fast and loose while Walker wants them to work with (probably for) him. Walker certainly has a way with his closing dialogue lol, making it very confrontational. There's definitely a fine line they're working here with Walker and you saw a wildly juxtapositional stance of his character from the beginning of the episode to the finish. He's either a good guy caught in a bad situation or it is the opposite.
Again, I really like the fact they kept Wilson and Barnes apart from each other in the first episode. It was set up to be an impactful moment and based on the fallout from the first episode, it created that moment. They were apart for months but they never missed a beat in their bickering. Then it went up a notch with Barnes' therapist working with both of them, it's pleasantly obvious this is set up to be like Marvel's version of a buddy cop show. I do like how Barnes revealed why he was so upset with the decision Wilson made about giving up the shield.
The first action scene for the episode was very cool and choreographed very well. They wove the action, comedy, and apprehension from Wilson and Barnes towards the new Captain America well.
The Flag Smashers element is getting fleshed out a bit more and it is interesting while still being explained. They're seen as threats to the heroes and seen as heroes (Robin Hoods) to the people they're helping. Then you've got a Power Broker who is supplying them, with the Power Broker being unaware that they're taking those supplies and is now trying to hunt them down. Barnes feels Zemo (shoutout Civil War) is the only option who can help explain what's going in regards to the super soldier serum. This is one of many examples of how they're willing give you a little sample but then leave it open to ask more questions. Either way, having The Flag Smashers as "the villains" works in a compelling way because what they're pursuing makes sense in terms of their motivations. The best baddies are ones that have an agenda that have elements of truth to it but are questionable.
I really like how this show is tapping into systemic racism and showing while we've come far in the world, we're still dragging our knuckles in a lot of ways. From Wilson and his sister trying to get a loan in the first episode and then Isaiah Bradley being arrested and having his legacy wiped away then the cops pulling up, this is heavy stuff.
So we're 1/3 of the way through the series now. We still have some characters left to be revealed in the series (like Sharon Carter) and more answers. One of the big lingering questions is we've heard it multiple times but we haven't delved into the exact reasoning as to why Wilson didn't take the shield and become Captain America. There's certainly a lot of ways that can go but it's quite possible he doesn't represent a country that doesn't represent him...which would be extremely palpable and compelling. That would then create a hopeful optimism as to how he makes amends to that struggle. This does also raise a question to if this will be stand-alone or if could bubble up to a feature film or if it continues as TV series. This feels like there's plenty of layers to explore going forward so it's a matter of how they want to tackle it.
Have you watched Black Lightning yet?
That pertains to your comment about the show tapping in to systematic racism and I feel like Black Lightning is not only the best comic book show on CW, but one of the best in general.
Now that was a damn good episode on the level of The Winter Soldier movie
Sharon kicked some serious ass. Zemo was great. I didn’t even mind the absurdity of Bucky choosing to break a mass terrorist out of jail and Falcon (a celebrity) pretending to be another guy.
I wasn’t too fussed on the truck fight last episode - thought it was quite choppy. Sharon taking on multiple bounty hunters with guns, knives and pipes was excellent. I really hope she comes back. There seems to be a lot of talk about her being the Power Broker.
Zemo is a great character - nice to see him tagging along with Sam and Bucky rather than immediately betraying them. Those few seconds of him dancing at the club were hilarious. I’m glad they haven’t forgotten T’Chaka’s death and how the Wakandans would hunt him as soon as news of his jail break reached them.
I love how they have the Winter Soldier music in the show. It’s the perfect motif when Bucky was “playing” the Winter Soldier a little too well.
There are ideas and themes which I like, and little call-backs to the films which I enjoy, but the show isn’t holding together well for me. At first I was disappointed there were only 6 episodes but now I’m wondering if there’s enough story to fill them out. This episode felt a bit repetitive with the plane trips and club scenes. Though I liked the dynamic between Sam and Bucky in this episode compared to the last one. Some of the humour last week was hit-and-miss for me.
Good ep. Nice to see Sharon kicking ass, good action scenes. She's another character I kind of forgot about. Nice to see more of Zemo as, like I said previously, I'd forgotten about him. Dope character reveal at the end.
Have seeing online buzz about Madripoor being a frequent stomping ground for the X-Men and Wolverine in particular as though this might be another hint at the forthcoming arrival of those folks. Given "Pietro" from WandaVision, i wouldn't hold my breath.
As Sharon said: "that was one hell of a reunion."
There were a lot of familiar faces brought back here and it didn't feel like any of them were wasted. I have to imagine most will likely be prominent for finishing this season or they're here to set up future stories.
While it's coming across rather fast in the series, I like the touch that Walker is losing his cool as Captain America. Having to do things the bureaucratic way certainly has him a step behind Walker and Barnes. That was implied that it was going to happen when they talked about how they can work as free agents. Cap certainly seems to be several steps behind though but that may be working accordingly to his plan.
Madripoor was definitely a cool spot and has a lot of implications for the future. It certainly looks visually stimulating at night with all the colors lol. It was a nice touch to bring the Winter Solider theme back wisen Barnes had to do his thing. It was also quite funny how the cover was blown for the guys with the phone call (Wilson is going to have some serious explaining to do there with his sister). The spot where the bounties were placed on them as they were fleeing was a good nod to John Wick and The Mandalorian.
Sharon did seem to do a lot of the damn heavy lifting at the shipyard while the guys were interrogating Nagel lol. Quick backstory as to what she's been doing since we last saw her but that made sense as to why she's been off the radar. Her rush to leave the shipyard does seem a little puzzling in regards to what her actual motivations may be.
The humanizing Karli earlier in the episode seemed to be wiped away rather quickly as she bombed that GRC building full of people as The Flag Smashers were fleeing from another location. Noble acts aren't coming across that way anymore.
They set it up in the previous episode and it played out here where Zemo had Hannibal vibe a bit but not as creepy. The rollout of the "hypothetical" was clever too. Zemo shooting Nagel kept him pretty consistent as a character and you knew that Wilson and Barnes weren't going to be able to trust that he wasn't going to go rogue. With his true allegiance being unknown at the moment, he's going to be a massive wild card here going forward because he's out of a jail, is a baron and doesn't necessarily have a country to preside over.
Barnes walking off at the end probably could have been a good cliffhanger but they brought an even better one with Ayo coming back. It's good to see Wakandans coming back into the mix as they would honestly have a serious problem with Zemo being out on the loose.
Love the callback to Civil War when Barnes had the chance to move the seat up for Walker and he didn't.
Nice nod to see that Steve Rogers' notebook ended up in the hands of Barnes.
Felt like a real gear change in episode 4 - lots of stories inter-weaving and a killer ending.
I like how they didn’t have a scene with Walker taking the serum and just revealed it during his fight with Karli’s men.
Even though he hasn’t been in the show that much, they’ve done a decent job in showing how overwhelmed he is by the role of Captain America and how the status has gone to his head. It’s a shame we didn’t get a few more scenes of Battlestar trying to be his conscience and keep him on the straight and narrow. But it’s one of the few aspects of the show where the slow burn and understated style has worked fairly well.
Having one of the Dora Milaje doing Steve’s shield flip was badass.
It was a short scene, but the flashback of Ayo showing Bucky that his conditioning was removed was probably Stan’s best work on the show to date.
Hoping for good things in the final two episodes now that Walker has flipped. I still get the impression that there’s a really good 2 hour TV movie here and that 6 episodes was a mistake. But it’s definitely getting better over time, even if the writing and characterisation are nowhere near the standard set by Wandavision.
I like how there's a lot of nuance to the characters. Walker, for instance, still doesn't seem like a villain to me. He might become one, but when they wanted Sam to have a heart-to-heart with Karli and Walker was objecting, his position was reasonable. She is in fact a terrorist who just killed innocent people. And then at the end when he killed that guy, that guy was a terrorist and Walker's best friend just got killed by them (even if not by that one guy in particular). It wasn't completely villainous to me, even though it's obviously a bad look for Captain America. I predict the next episode might start with him losing his job as Cap because of the bad publicity, but he won't give up the shield and then he'll become a vigilante and maybe an actual villain.
Karli is also nuanced, like she's a terrorist killer but I also kinda like her and support her cause. Zemo too. There's no pure villain here yet, and I'm digging it.
I heard someone write that Sam is boring (Sepinwall I think), and that's fair. They don't give him much good dialogue to work with. Steve Rogers always had fairly cookie-cutter dialogue too but idk maybe it comes off less appealing in Sam who's not a white boy from the 40s but a modern black man. Hopefully Sam gets to shine some more in the final 2 episodes.
The Wakanda crossover parts were pretty great (the intro, and then when they came later to get Zemo, although they failed pretty badly letting him slip out).
Originally Posted by BGMaverick
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