Your original view of Isaiah Bradley’s ending is absolutely correct. A statue cannot make up for the injustice he has suffered. It’s again, symbolism disguised as progess. Something far too familiar to the Black Community tbh.

Pros: Sam and Buckys story of Unity, John's Arc from Hero to Anti Hero. Isiah, just all of him. Music and Action. Zemo being awesome Supportive role. Cons: The Flag Smashers as a whole. Carly's Arc, the Finally feeling a little rushed. Not Enough Zemo. Power Broker just not that important. PS: Their touch on Racial Issues in America I found tasteful, good on them

Two things I like about the Flag-Smashers: 1) Karli's actions are shown to only be Karli's actions. Her fellow Smashers are uncomfortable with her increasing ruthlessness. 2) The Flag-Smashers could easily return. Zemo only hates the super soldier ones, and they are all dead. There was so much dialogue about how big their movement was growing (and they have a "hail Hydra" moment right before the prison bus blows up) that someone else could easily pick up the fight down the road, and their lack of powers won't earn them Zemo's wrath.

Speaking as someone whose favorite MCU character has been Bucky since 2014, my biggest issue was the disservice they did to his character. Like, the way they portrayed his redemption arc kind of made it seem like he was someone who had made bad choices in the past and needed to atone for that, while largely ignoring the fact that becoming the Winter Soldier was entirely forced upon him. Like, the serum is a huge part of the story, but it’s never once pointed out that Bucky was given it against his will. Then there’s the whole plot point of him having to pretend to be the Winter Soldier again, complete with that particular scene with Zemo and Selby that I’d dare say is borderline rape-y. That should be an extremely traumatic and upsetting experience for Bucky, but afterwards it’s just brushed off like it’s no big deal. And don’t get me started on how fucked up it is that Bucky’s therapy focuses solely on making amends and not, you know, dealing with the severe PTSD he has after literal decades of torture and abuse. I also had a lot of issues with how the Flagsmashers were portrayed, but that’s a discussion for another time.

I think the scope of Falcon and Winter solider was way too big for a Disney + miniseries, it’s tackling three major topics that could each be perfect if focused directly however it seems like the show is juggling four different topics at once and none of these get the attention it deserves so everything in the show just seems incredibly half baked. You’re totally right about the television style of releasing the episodes weekly so you wouldn’t see the cracks of the story until the finale, also I feel like Bucky should’ve been more focused within this show considering the fact that “The Winter Solider” is in the title

As someone who considers Sam's Captain America outfit one of my favourite comic costumes, the finale made me very happy.

I enjoyed the series for what it was touching during and after the Blip. The lifestyle people have to endure and how the world's governments wanted to keep everything pushing. The villains John, Karli, and Power Broker started off good and went into the toilet as the series goes on and ends. Sam's speech is cringey with certain phrases but I think it gets the message through. 8 out of 10 for me.

One idea I wanted to bring up (but couldn't fit into the video's script in a natural way) was the oddly naïve view of politicians this show seems to have. It really cheapens/undercuts a lot of what the show is trying to do when it presents all the politicians as fundamentally good guys, acting in good faith, just with wrongheaded ideas about what to do and how to do it. Realistically, of course, the major reasons behind a great many political decisions are money-based - be it standard selfishness, or corruption/lobbying. This show ignores all of this - suggesting instead that politics is carried out mostly in good faith - which I think damages the series a great deal. Edit: and there's a bit of weird visual stuttering on the video, I'm really not sure why, but it's possibly due to my having to render and re-render this file over and over to try to evade KZfaq's draconican copyright system. So, apologies!

This was my favourite show and was about some of my favourite characters. The one change I'd ask is the title change at the end. Instead of it going to 'Captain America and the winter soldier' make it 'Captain America and Bucky Barnes'. I feel like this was suggest that he's moving past his time as the winter soldier and becoming his own person

i think the tone of the series is something the mcu lacks right now and also needs. It is grounded and i liked that

Great analysis. I loved "Falcon and The Winter soldier" when it was coming out but I do agree that it fell flat in the finale. One thing that I loved during the show was following the African Americans and veterans one social media commenting on the show as it aired. They shared their stories and how the show brought light to their problems and struggles. It helped me open up my eyes to systems I had never thought to question. So while the show didn't stick to the landing I was happy for the perspective shift it gave me. This was a fantastic breakdown! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to quality! You're a great KZfaqr and I hope that you hit it big sooner than later!

Do better is the worst speech I've ever had

my problem with MCU now is they don't consider how writing a scene can affect their previous movies.... we all know about Fury losing eye thing in Captain Marvel and in this too some random scientist managed to make super soldier serum that felt like a slap to Erskine in The First Avenger and it's not like they used this character or built him up no he just appeared in one scene, he talked for some time and he's done that's it..... maybe it's just me but I found that really weird like don't they watch their own movies

Personally to me of one of the weakest parts of the shows were the way it presented the Flag-Smashers as a threat. They were supposed to be shown as a big deal and all-threatening, yet the writers wanted to make them be seen as sympathetic to the audience for their motivations. What’s worse is that despite being enhanced to the point they would be seen as “super soldiers” they’re kinda easily defeated and even Karli is one-shotted by a bullet, so they don’t really work as threatening villains or characters we should sympathize for. All I’m saying right now is Mad Stan > Flag Smashers

Overall, despite some low points, the show was a blast and had great action scenes. "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" does a good job portraying these two characters post-Endgame, and setting the scene for their return in future MCU films and TV shows.

My main concern with this show is that it has somehow been a year since it came out and I feel like it hasn't even been 3 months

Something about what you brought up about John Walker killing the guy with his shield when he was surrendering actually reminds me of when I saw this thing titled "Army Veteran breaks down John Walker scene". The guy gives his input with the situation being ROE (Rules of Engagement) and it actually brings more to the table as from what he actually experienced during his time and the legal laws add added perspective to whether or not John Walker did was technically "illegal", "justifiable", "questionable", etc. I recommend it a lot as it's quite interesting.

"Do better senator." Best line in cinema history... 👏🤭

I’m pretty sure they’re going to delve more into Isaiah Bradley’s story in Cap 4 seeing as Carl Lumbly is returning. Tbh I didn’t think Marvel would ever tackle the character or his story, so I’m very glad they are.

The finale always felt extremely off to me. All signs in the episodes prior suggested Karli was in denial about her lack of remorse for her actions and was ultimately going to reach a breaking point where she couldn't continue to justify it to herself while Walker seemed like he was being built up as the antagonist for the final battle having completely lost his mind. I know that basically the whole finale was scrapped and reshot partially because they had to due to the original storyline involving a virus, but it really comes across like some higher-up mandated that the show's position needed to be Not All Cops Are Bastards, or at least demanded redemption for Walker so they could use him in other things.

How I would have changed Jon Walker in the show: Keep EVERYTHING in the show the exact same. Except for two things. In the end, after he saves the politician bus, people still recognize him for what he's done. When he walks into the room, people who can't fight him flinch, visibly FLINCH. He's talked to like a criminal, and that leads into the Thunderbolts show; that the only reason why he's not in prison for the rest of his existence is because he's being used as a living weapon. That he's disposable and they'd get another person to fill the same role in a heartbeat should he fail once more. And Walker knows this, and does not argue against. He aspires to be like Steve and actively has to rectify how he fought conventionally in the armed forces. You are right, that his war-crime execution is how he has been built in the modern military, but that is not what Steve Rogers would do, so he has to realign how he thinks on this line. The next change: General Ross is a character in this show. I could not watch Civil War without thinking "Why is this GOON allowed in Avengers HQ! He and people like him are the exact reason why they should not agree with the Socovia Accords." We're talking about a guy who gave super powers, not to a US serviceman, but a mercenary and unleashed that monster on US soil to fulfil a personal agenda. The fact that he was not Court Marshaled from here to the moon after the Ed Norton Hulk movie is grievous. Put him in this show just to knock him and his ideals down.

I really hope when Walker comes back and hes finally apart of the thunderbolts I hope he just slowly gets more unhinged

Great video essay, especially the 'John Walker Time' segment. I thought the series featured some fantastic character / acting work and was surprised by some of the topics that were opened up. And then you get the sense that the suits at Disney were also surprised by some of those topics and said, "whoa, whoa, let's not get carried away here" and mandated the dissatisfying, limp-wristed conclusion to the series and the various arcs within it.

I felt more sympathy for John Walker than anyone else in this show (maybe bucky on occasions)

Fun fact: Lemar was played by Clé Bennett, whom you might know as Chef, DJ, Beardo and Leonard from Total Drama!

You summed up all my conflicting feelings about this show. Amazing work! Episode 5 is actually the only episode of the show that is not tainted by how the show itself wraps up and you articulated so well why that is. Keep up the great work!

I think this is a really thoughtful evaluation of the series. I totally agree with what you said about the John Walker character, the flag smashers and the Falcon. I'm going to check out your other videos.

The most unrealistic thing in Falcon and the winter soldier is that John walker getting fired.The American Military does not care how many people their soldiers kill and sure he was caught on camera but so what the military would just spin it like come on now.At the end of the day he was doing his job so the government would’ve given him as much support as possible like the police still get massive support from the government so their captain America is not gonna be reprimanded for killing a terrorist

On the topic of John Walker, I’ll just say the following things. 1. The show’s critique of Walker never actually worked for me because we’ve already seen the Avengers/our heroes be willing to forgive murder and killing when it suits them. Hell, Clint got a whole show about him trying to hide his crimes from the public and never facing any accountability or judgment from his fellow moral heroes. Wanda set the Hulk to kill innocent people in Johannesburg in Avengers Age of Ultron and never faced accountability for that and got herself an Avengers promotion by the end of the movie. Valkyrie was a slaver and actually enslaved Thor but she got a fun redemption and is now King of Asgard. Nat blew up a kid and then in Black Widow, she and Yelena got a bunch of prison guards and prisoners killed while breaking out her fake father to get information and we just again had the film make jokes about it and never really paid attention to the casualties. It’s hard for me to say Walker should face accountability when many heroes who’ve done wrong things never actually had to face theirs and the narrative still celebrates them for it. Yeah sure, Walker is wrong, but when heroes have also done the wrong but they get to brush it aside with the narrative in their corner framing them heroically, it’s hard for me to expect any kind of judgment that I wouldn’t find hypocritical. After all, this show opened with Sam working with the military and killing a bunch of people on their orders and with their help all set to triumphant music, but I guess because Sam’s killing terrorists who are bad so it’s okay? Would one of those people Sam killed have pleaded for mercy if they had the chance and hadn’t died so quickly? Or Bucky breaking Zemo out of jail for their own purposes and Sam going along with it because rule breaking and no accountability is okay for the heroes, their ends justify their means, but no one else, even if it means some prisoners get injured or some other Madripoor citizens gets gunned down because they’re bad? Again I’m not against judging Walker, but I can’t help but side eye if the heroes are just getting away with doing things because they’re heroes. The fact that there were people recording Bucky pretending to be the Winter Soldier and that never went viral the way Walker’s actions did and Bucky just never actually deals with consequences for that seems a huge oversight and again hypocritical. 2. I have an issue with often how Nico is presented in the discussion surrounding Walker’s actions. While yes, Nico didn’t directly kill Lemar Hoskins, and Walker’s killing of Nico was wrong, there is often oversimplification that ignores many emotional and situational context. First, to say Nico didn’t do anything is disingenuous. He was the one holding Walker still so that Karli could stab him to death, he was still holding Walker when Hoskins was attacked and killed. An argument can easily be made that if Nico hadn’t held Walker back, Walker might have been able to save Hoskins just like Walker did do back in Episode 2 when Karli kicked Hoskins off the moving truck that could have killed him if Walker hadn’t thrown the shield to break his fall. But even if we don’t count that, Nico was an accomplice at best to attempted murder. Remember, the Flag Smashers were at that location with the intention of executing Walker to send a message. They wanted to kill Walker, and Nico was in agreement. He was not an innocent wallflower, he was actively participating in attempted murder. Just because they didn’t succeed in killing the correct target and got someone else killed instead doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be responsible. Yes Karli physically did the deed, but all of the Flag Smashers share culpability in Hoskins’ death. And even if no one else sees it this way, Walker would have in that moment of emotional trauma. They tried to kill him and killed his best friend, I would ask that if a group of people tried to kill you and killed your loved ones instead, does it necessarily matter who specifically did it or are all of the people equally to blame? Again, I am not here to say that Walker did the right thing, he didn’t, he should have arrested Nico. But I think it’s important to not ignore the emotional context of what happened prior to Walker’s actions. Walker was attacked and nearly killed and had his best friend killed, and the attempted murderers are trying to escape, if you chase someone who tried to just kill you and got your friend killed, are you really the aggressor? Is Walker not Nico’s victim as well? We put emphasis on Nico being a Cap fan and how sad it is that he was killed by the new Cap, but we seem to forget that he also just tried to help kill the new Cap. That context is important in setting up the driver of Walker’s actions. And if Walker had been prosecuted, it actually wouldn’t have been for murder, it would have been voluntary manslaughter due adequate provocation because the actions are directly due to witnessing the trauma of his best friend being killed in front of his eyes and his own attempted murder by the Flag Smashers including Nico. 3. I don’t have an issue with the show wanting to critique American Exceptionalism, white privilege, and other problems of modern day America through Walker. As a queer POC living in America, I welcome it. But I find it distasteful and irresponsible to present actions driven by a trauma response as symbolism of “bad America” or police brutality/excessive force because it ignores that the driver of these actions are systemic problems of racism and bigotry, not one individual’s bad trauma response to a loved one dying. For the show to mix the two without clear delineation is to contribute to the demonization of traumatized people who don’t react “correctly” to how society wants them to be. And I also find it extremely hypocritical because Marvel allows this type of trauma response to be excused and even empathized with in their heroes. Wanda’s entire arc in WandaVision is a narrative that calls for the audience to empathize with her grief and pain and trauma despite how she hurt other people, with even the show having Monica say that the people she hurt will never understand what she sacrificed and given up by letting them to be free. Moreover, Thor chops off a surrendered and defenseless Thanos’ head and nobody really blinks. Tony and T’Challa and Peter Parker all react to traumatic loss with extreme violence and attempted murder, only to be lucky that someone else stopped them from crossing the line. Clint actually did cross the line and the narrative still excuses him and allows him anonymity in his horrible actions. Walker is demonized for a response that we’ve seen many heroes do, and they have Sam who is a veteran counselor fail to reach out properly and instead they just resort to violence with beating a traumatized person into unconsciousness. As if traumatized and/or mentally distressed people aren’t already often the target of violence in real life and labeled in many ways as psychopaths. I don’t have an issue with the show wanting to critique Walker and America, but if they wanted to do so, then don’t mix in a traumatized veteran plot into it that just muddies the waters and irresponsibly demonizing trauma responses as being a psychopath. 4. While I understand why you and many others disagree with Walker’s turn around in the finale (and on a thematic level I disagree with how they did it too), I was never actually surprised that Walker did save the truck full of hostages. Because it’s actually in-character to what the show had established for his character foundation, just one that the show was also good at making people ignore because they had pulled out all the stops and emotional manipulation tricks to frame Walker negatively. But Walker earned 3 Medals of Honor through actions that saved lives. Given how difficult it is for anyone to even earn one medal, earning three would have required almost superhuman actions of bravery and self sacrifice. He also worked in hostage rescue. If they had presented that moment with the truck and had him walk away from that truck, it actually would be a complete betrayal of the character and turning the nuance his character presented into a flat evil character. So while on a thematic level the show failed in terms of what Walker symbolically was supposed to represent, on a character specific level I actually think the show succeeded, because it stayed true to the actual character core value, as shown in the key last conversation between Walker and Hoskins, what drove Walker to taking the serum was less simply about power on its own but “think of all the lives we could have saved that day if we had that serum”. Walker’s reason to be Cap was about seeking redemption for his own perceived failures in not being able to save everyone, in living with this survivor’s guilt that all Medal of Honor recipients in real life actually feel. His story is actually the same journey and trajectory as Thor’s was in Endgame, you can in fact map what Frigga said to Thor on Walker’s story: “everyone fails at who they’re supposed to be, the measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are”. Walker failed at being Cap because he was busy trying to be who he thought he’s supposed to be, what others thought he’s supposed to be, and it’s only when he’s actually being who he is, when he lets go of the expectations that he succeeds. I know many people call it a “redemption” but I never saw it as that, I simply saw it as a reaffirmation of the character’s already existing core values. The reason Walker works as a dark mirror of Steve is because they are alike, they both do want to help and save people, but it’s just their methods and ways of seeing how they can help differs.

I couldn't really get into Sam Wilson: Captain America as it was being written. A lot of plot points were born out of Nick Spencer's run in Secret Avengers and deeply interlaced with events happening within Steve Rogers: Captain America, so I could not appreciate it without buying an entire TWO different comic runs. The second point I felt was that his costume was overly complicated, that it delved into modern superhero costume design flaws. Lines with no purpose and meaningless breaks in the colors. Made my eyes as tired as reading Rob Liefeld comic. His original costume was already red & white, just add a star and enough blue to cover 25% of him and we're A+. I remember drawing at least six different redesigns to simplify it. With that being said, and all flaws of the show accounted for: the show IS better than the comic run that it depended on for it's creation.

My god it's already been over a year

fight scenes really stuck with me more than anything after finishing this show. i still look back on the karli vs walker fight in ep 6 as the most brutal and visceral combat i've seen portrayed, even if it was brief. it really felt like both were trying to kill each other with every blow

Just wanted to say I REALLY love all your MCU breakdowns so far, they’re all very elaborated and spot-on! Im certainly looking forward to you exploring other franchises n characters, but keeping it Disney Plus.. would you be interest to talk about Loki and its themes/execution?

I have to thank you for talking about Walker and his weird shift in priorities at the last episode. I've always found that direction really odd because of the way he was set up in the prior episodes, but I've never been able to find the words for why. I've always had an inking of a feeling that what the director chose to do with Walker in Episode 6 felt off for the character, but it feels hard for me to convey that with a good reason to my friends when we talked about FATWS. They disagree with my outlook and I'm always frustrated that I can never give a convincing reason for my perspective off the top of my head. Maybe I have to watch it a 2nd time, and my thoughts may become more pronounced, but as of now, I really appreciate the reasons you've used to argue against how they handled Walker in Episode 6. I really agree with them.

2:57 My problem with Karli is that the show does a poor job of properly establishing what it is everybody is fighting for, making it as hard to root against Karli as it is to root for her. It's hard to say "she shouldn't do that, she's wrong" when it's hard to even tell exactly what she wants to happen.

Steve Rodgers and John Walker are essentially the Expectation vs Reality meme for America.

I agree with your initial take on Isiah's ending. It feels as though the show brought up great points against why Sam shouldn't take on the mantle of Captain America but couldn't think of any valid reasons why he should so they just moved past any actual development or thought on the issue.

John Walker getting a redemption arc made perfect sense. He’s a normal man, who can’t live up to Steve Roger’s legacy and that’s a lot of pressure. The reason Steve Rogers was a good choice was because of his STRONG morals. John Walker is from a different time. His morals can’t match up, because he’s not a great man. He’s just a normal guy. But he believes he’s doing the right thing, and he wants to do the right thing. He has a psychotic break. He kills a guy directly after losing his best friend. I don’t know. I found myself rooting for his redemption the entire time. He tried to work with Sam and Bucky, and they rejected him before even giving him a chance.

Half of all life on Earth vanishes and comes back. Suddenly, you have half of humanity back with people living in their houses or apartments. Of course there's going to be conflict between the people who were there before, and rightfully live in a particular place, and the people who survived Thanos, and rightfully bought that place. In that world, the GRC and Flag Smashers both were always going to happen. I wish they had shown more of that conflict, conflict between different people who ultimately have equal claim to the same thing, not Flag Smashers or GRC, just regular people. It's weird how no one ever talks about how Zemo is introduced by the Black Widow in "Cap tain America: Civil War" as "former leader of a Sokovian death squad" and is immensely connected to Hydra in the comics and EMH. It feels like, at this point, if they made MCU Zemo Hydra, there would be massive backlash even though "death squad" is a defining character element.

... You wrote that poppadoms before the main curry analogy right before lunch didn't you? Great video as always, Pillar.

Tbh I think all of the marvel Disney+ shows have interesting ideas and plot, to me that isn’t really the issue with any of them they’re on par with the solo marvel movies. To me the issue with basically every Disney+ mcu show is that they alllll follow the exact same problematic problems in the episode quality, the first one or two episodes are pretty damn good and make you really excited to see what else they’re gonna do (wandavisions amazing attention to detail for the sitcoms eras, fatws shook up the status quo with Walker, Loki throwing you right into an intriguing plot with a great time travel vibe, Hawkeye was just super fun) Then the middle episodes are very safe and don’t have the things you were expecting with a few higher points that get dropped, and then the final one or two episodes go up a bit in quality but still aren’t as good as the first. It’s a real shame because the shows can devote 6+ hours to character development and world building, yet they seem like there was a rush to fit it in the 6 episode schedule. It seems there’s a bit of a mould here and I hope they start to drift away from that since they’re learning more about making shows now. But anyway I also just thought I’d say how silly do you have to be to stop watching someone because of occasional politics, I’m conservative and don’t care at all, you make good content. Doing that shits so childish Oh also I forgot, my favourite theme of the show (and idk if you mention this I’m only 10 mins in) was the theme of soldiers who fought for their country being treated terribly by the world, it really made me feel for the characters, kinda wish they stuck with that more and delved into their past traumas, only Bucky really got that.

Love these long, in-depth videos

nico being unable to surrender due to his strength is literally proven wrong as he sits there getting killed rather than running, kicking walkers legs, anything

I haven't found anything that links this show to the rest of marvels multiverse going forward, other then kang killing the avengers, then the thunderbolts are formed. along with the midnight suns, the young avengers and any other groups of hero or anti hero's you can think of. Also think about how the shows and movies are about characters who were snapped away, unless their new characters we've met that are not confirmed as snapped away, like Shang Chi, and how now that they're back things have changed.

Captin America (Steve Roger) : *Kill hundred of hydra soldiers and mercenaris whit out giving them the oportuny to surender* People: he Is a hero Captin America (Jhon Walker) : *kill one flag Smasher* People: how dare you

Honestly my hope is to have a 4th cap movie with Sam as the lead where he gets to finally act on the sentiments he gives in this show. The lack of any real change will be far more acceptable if down the line his movies are centered on him discovering what "do better" really means and evolving it from a pretty speech to a legitimate movement for good and actual change like Steve did before him

27:33 I hope The Thunderbolts retcons Walker's actions as a ploy to clean up his image and it's revealed that he only did it so people wouldn't hate him as much. That makes his behavior make more sense considering his track record in previous episodes, and keeps him from being a hero in The Thunderbolts, as I'm worried they'll turn all the antiheroes into.

The main issues that I see in the show are these main things: 1. The entire theme of the show doesn't encapsulate both the personal and larger scale problems of the world and the characters we meet. Zemo, the Power Broker, The Flag Smashers, Isaiah Bradley, the Dora Milaje, and even Bucky does resonates with one another too well in my opinion at least. 2. We need to see the GRC's point of view and why they can't just do what the people want them to do. We understand it's complex and difficult in the real world but maybe we can just see one main argument from their side that makes us see that the Flag Smasher's are not entirely in the right. 3. Well everything this video explained really well. (This next bit might be self indulgent and self promotion but I'd like to see if this would help make the show better) I too had this sort of grudge against this show because I initially really enjoyed the experience of watching it with my brain off (because I want to enjoy something and not feel like my time is wasted) Until I turned my brain on and saw the flaws you points out. This made me want to see how this show could pull off the ideas better. So here's one main change that would affect the rest of the show. What if Karli Morgenthau was a wealthy Sokovian Baron who uses her wealth to help the displaced people and wants the GRC to do the same, but her best friend Nico is hurting the movement by radicalizing it and created the Flag Smashers. The main question Karli has against the GRC is if the nations of the world is willing to give up it's power to help others? This helps the show in these ways 1. Karli is leading her movement by example and is creating a sense of urgency for the GRC to act as this movement is already well established and is gaining more sympathizers. Her character being Sokovian also helps as she understands firsthand before the snap what it is like to have no nation as it was destroyed. This makes the GRC have the bright idea to create their own Captain America to possibly sway public opinion, distract them from Karli's movement, and to also fight against Nico's Flag Smashers. 2. The reason Nico is playing the bad guy is because Karli shares that her resources are starting to be depleted and she could no longer support the people they help soon enough. Nico starts raiding these banks and resource piles the GRC has as he could no longer wait and wants to take action in helping his people. 3. The way Karli frames her question has an inherent flaw in it that her surprise cousin, which would be her Sokovian blood relative Zemo, points out that she is being incompetent in the way she handles power and wealth. That she can't handle power and wealth the right way. And this would lead to the show's thematic conclusion. It's not about giving up your power for the benefit of others but rather it is about how you use that power competently in service of others. This would resonate to Bucky and Sam's personal arcs. 4. Bucky and Sam both want to give up their power. Bucky = because his power was used for evil and wants to not use it anymore. Sam = because he thinks that he is not competent enough to hold that power and title of being Captain America despite the good intentions he would have. Bucky would need to learn that this curse he has of being the Winter Soldier in the past can be used as a force of good. Sam needs to learn that the title of being Captain America isn't about holding the power and responsibilities all to one man, this power of being Captain America is to help empower and share the responsibilities he has with the rest of the American people. 5. In terms of John Walker, Nico being the actual leader of the Flag Smashers makes it more fitting to be the one to kill John Walker's best friend. As John Walker kills Nico, Karli Morgenthau would believe the different points Nico would have about GRC and America. That they will do whatever it takes to silence others for their best interests. This leads to Karli taking Nico's position as the true leader of the Flag Smasher's movement. Nico would become a martyr that inspires her sympathizers to become as radical as Nico was and directly face the GRC. Both John Walker and Karli shows that power in any form can be corrupted, not just the super soldier serum/ There are a lot more changes I made but it's better if you just read it here in my full proposed re-write of the series for all of this to make a whole lot more sense. www.reddit.com/r/fixingmovies/comments/tdeo7c/falcon_and_winter_soldier_what_if_karli/i0j2uvx/?context=3 but here are some other summarized points of that post. 1. Isaiah Bradley talks about why Sam shouldn't take the shield because of how John Walker turned out to be. Isaiah shares that if he himself followed the orders given to him by America, he would've ended up just like John Walker. Sam would be in the same danger of being manipulated and forced by his government if he dares take the shield. 2. Sharon or the power broker wouldn't be as connected to the Flag Smashers cause it was kind of pointless and uninteresting. Instead she helps the point and case of the GRC of not giving up their resources to help the people affected by the 2nd snap. She shares that she's staying in Madripoor as she has been keeping an eye on different groups of people to keep them in check. This is because these people in Madripoor are waiting for the GRC and the nations of the world to put their resources elsewhere and become vulnerable as they would not allocate or give enough emphasis to their nation's defenses and all that. (Kind of simplified for the show) 3. John Walker is borderline sympathetic to the movement but he is loyal to America. Also, he would have the same money issues as Sam does which makes him want to become obedient and keep his title as Captain America to keep him and his wife financially stable. He becomes corrupted by the people manipulating him and becomes a true anti-hero in the end. this manipulation would mirror and resonate a lot with Bucky's story of being the Winter Soldier.

Izaiah story end would not fit in other kind of movie, but when we talk Captain America thinking back the tone of his first movie - its this kind of message thats in the heart of the character, no matter is that Steve Rogers or Sam Wilson

What I don't understand about Sam's costume is the head thing. Like, why does he have this thing that covers the sides of his head but not his ears or his face or the top of his head? What protection does it offer? I can't think of any conceivable functionality it has other than maybe preventing his goggles from chafing the sides of his head.

I liked the show because even with all of it's failures I could feel it was trying to do something more honest and ambitious in the social context compared to other Marvel stuff. It kinda fails at a lot of it, but what it's trying to do is not easy especially under disney and the show itself without the context is pretty fun.

Bit late to the video, but this is a great serious take on the show. And the reason I am commenting is because the "gamer moment" jokes in the John Walker segment were quite funny.

I thought it was fine. For a grounded super hero series it was what it needed to be. I like how they did US Agent and his downfall as the new Captain America.

Clipped Coin, a former vet, has a video on how John Walker was justified. Highly recommend. Screaming “I surrender” isn’t the same as actually surrendering.

I think it's under appreciated to be honest. I loved this series especially for it's tone and for how it developed Sam and Bucky.

Your videos are not only educational but entertaining.

One of the things that really bothered me about this show that i rarely see ppl discuss (or at least discuss it from this perspective) is how they handled Bucky's guilt and healing. It really rubs me the wrong way how the mcu seems content with portraying his guilt as a valid consequence of his actions bc frankly there were no actions. This character was brainwashed and tortured for decades, stripped of every ounce of agency, identity and purpose to be turned into a literal weapon, to be treated more so as a thing, an "asset" than a human being. The mcu being so comfortable with letting Bucky take on the blame for the abuse he suffered as the winter soldier and having him "make amends" is sending a dangerous message about a man that was 100% the victim of others having to take on responsibility for the hurt they caused through him when he had literally zero choice in the matter. And frankly it's not really healing, or at least i wasn't convinced. Bucky healing should consist of him confronting the fact that he was just another victim of hydra, something he already seems reluctant to do in CA:CW, and address the trauma he went through being a human weapon with no identity and agency for the beast part of like 70 years. The route the show chose to take with both Bucky's therapist and his closest friend basically affirming his belief that he is to blame for the actions of the winter soldier sort of prevents that from ever happening in the future and is also a shitty way to treat the character imo. Also i think the themes of identity and agency - or lack there of- that surround Bucky's character would have been way more interesting to explore in depth rather than this half baked speedrun through it all that we got. tl;dr: Bucky's guilt is an expression of trauma but the show treats it as though it's justified, hence preventing the character from ever truly healing.

Great analysis! Came here from SpectoWatch by the way!

I love this series I watched it again last week and it was just good the fight scenes are as good as they’ve ever been Bucky was phenomenal and falcon seemed very formidable with a combination of his suit and shield

The boat thing is i never thought of this way. I mostly skipped those parts. But thats a nice interpretation.

On the matter of Isaiah, he is quite reminiscent of the character of Black Marvel as depicted in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. That show’s character, however, wanted to be given superpowers, though there’s an implication that he did it to escape his circumstances in 1940s America. Still, there’s a message of hope that the character got to see a better world and was that universe’s first African American superhero. The show didn’t deep dive into his character too much, but it’s notable that out of the six heroes we see on his team in that arc, he gets the most development outside of Captain America himself. That character is perhaps a more optimistic version of Isaiah then, one whose super-soldier buffing was less of (though still somewhat) an exploitation of the powerless but instead an opportunity to claim power and agency in a time when the cards were stacked against him and potentially fight for a better world. Black Marvel is representative of a very different group of people than Isaiah, black solider who fought during WWII instead of those experimented on by the government, but the parallels between the two characters is interesting, especially because neither particularly existed in the comics, at least in a form resembling the one they took in their respective shows.

Good video! I understood your points on the issues you had. For me, I was very excited for this show. Of the Disney + shows this is my favorite. I enjoyed Sam’s story of becoming Captain America and Bucky dealing with his past. I enjoyed the ideas they were discussing and understand the challenges I’d came with. It being on its own and not set up things was fine with me. It is a good show I do enjoy

bro sam literally killed a person in episode 1 . kicking someone off the plane .

I thought it was pretty thoroughly established that it was the serum that was making Karli act more and more extreme.

I think the reason the political points faltered in the show was because it felt like someone forgot one of the key points taught in Political Science in 8th class "Democracy highly delays the decision taking process in favour of thorough discussions about the decision." So, the GRC should have never been able to pass the bill without heavy discussions from both the government and the public in the first place. And on a technicality, if the Flag Smashers were only a handful of people operating in/from just NY, no one will care for them. If they wreak havoc just for what they think is right, yeah, that's terrorism.

I like the character they chose to hand the mantle off to for Captain America. Unfortunately I believe they did it too soon, and or not in a way that would have been better. I think having young Steve for secret wars and for fighting Kang would have been a better choice. But then they could have done this as Steve training Sam to be cap for when he retires. Personally I would have liked that better, but I’m also a giant Steve Rodgers fan so I’m probably biased.

The most annoying thing is I believe it would have been totally possible to kinda „redeem“ walker in a way that he can be reused, if they only did it more competently. If the show reckoned with walkers psychology and how the US and her wars shaped him into what he is, and if he himself started to show reflection or guilt, then he could’ve worked himself to a place where he can somewhat good

I think for me I still like this show for Sam s buckeys and Zemos stories but everything else felt … half thought out . The flagsmashers conflicting between sympathetic and murderous, and the power brokers inclusion never amounting to much other than… WHAT A TWIST. But yeah i definitely feel like Isaiah’s story felt a lil hollow just because the dude only got a statue in the corner of a whole exhibit. I dunno initially I think it would’ve paid off more if Isaiah’s heroics were actually more widely celebrated like more publicly well know, instead of just … a statue. Like there definitely felt like a few pgs were missing.

I wish we got more Walker as Captain America because not only does his vallany and instability make for an interesting Captain America, it also makes for a stark contrast between the new Captain America, and the original. Although it would be a bit politically preachy, I think a fun(?) and unfortunately accurate Captain America 4 plot would have Walker continue to act as a rogue Cap, while Wilson continues to be the official Captain America, with older and whiter and particularly more interventionist citizens and states supporting Walker, while others support Wilson. It would show a pretty accurate picture of America being divided over politics and values, and works better than such a story would in any other context precisely because Captain America is supposed to represent America.

It's the one show I feel could have been a movie and nothing would have been lost. They could have trimmed the fat a little and had a good movie. Every other show feels better as an episodic story. Wandavision had the sitcom/TV tropes through the whole thing. Loki had different timelines and different version of themselves to meet. Hawkeye probably also could have been a movie but each episode kept getting better, so I always wanted to come back. Personal Rank of the shows 1) Loki 2) Wandavision 3) Hawkeye 4) FaWS

When watching it, I thought an interesting ending would be if the Flag Smashers did nothing violent, and were just rebelling without killing. This would lead to Lamar accidentally dying though, making them question if they have gone too far. Meanwhile, this gives Zemo the ability to manipulate US Agent to hunt the Flag Smashers done. This would result in a finale where Sam and Bucky had to protect the Flag Smashers from US Agent, which I think would be a nice subversion. Not perfect, but INSTEAD the Flag Smashers become pretty much fully on evil, canceling out their motivations, and US Agent, who started to go down a really interesting path, just got redeemed haphazardly. That being said, though, I heard an episode and storylines may have been cut due to COVID, so I guess I'm a bit nicer on the show because of that. IMO, I still like the show, it just stumbled at the finish line.

To be against John Walker, I think would be a double standard considering what Walker did is not much different than anything Clint Barton, SHIELD in general is suggested to have done and been for (Fury defends Project Insight from Captain America The Winter Soldier, the idea of neutralizing a lot of threats ahead of time), Tony Stark/Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow has done. And Steve Rogers himself, Captain America, is implied to have done in Captain American The Winter Soldier. There's literally a scene in that where Nick Fury points out that they did some nasty stuff and Steve basically replies with, "Yeah, we compromised, in some ways that made us not sleep so good." Wanda mind messed with the Hulk which led to him attacking an african area with civilians, and tried to murder the Avengers. Wanda mentally tortures civilians, knowingly, because of her grief. Yes, she did it knowingly, Vision tells her what's going on (what was happening with Norm), and Wanda is developed to never really try to right or correct that because of Vision calling her out, and, I think, even gets civilian kids involved. Tony helped develop Ultron. Tony tried to murder Bucky with his bare hands. Natasha blew up a child, on purpose. And that was when she was trying to leave the red room. Clint worked with her to do that. And this isn't counting how many people she may have murdered for SHIELD. Clint murdered many people. And that also doesn't count how many people he may have murdered for SHIELD. How are they much different than Walker? Why is Walker particularly deserving of anything, anymore than they are?

As a black man studying political science, I had high hopes for this show that wasn't really met, but here are my thoughts. Pros: Isiah Bradley's storyline was unique. The acting from Carl was good, his backstory brutal and realistic to anyone aware of American history, and Zemo was delightful. His view on super-soldier serum and how it inherently leads to supremacy ideology was something I didn't expect. Sam's suit was terrific, and Bucky/Sam has good chemistry. Antony Mackie had an excellent performance, and Sebastian Stan, what little screen time he had, made it count. Cons: John Walker's storyline should be in pro. I was on board with where the character was going because I'm like yeah, that actual Captain America would like to look and do. But when I see him save the people in the truck and he is not treated like a war criminal like Sam and Bucky, and how the show or studio, however, is apparent to be like yeah, he lost his temper one time he got problems, but he gets the job done and at the end of the day a good guy. The Flag Smashers as a group, I feel like they wrote and realized, oh shoot, way too likable can't have them look way too good blow-up random people. Even the second in charge guy said why you are doing this. This is entirely out of character. What is wrong with you. The Flag-Smasher ideology wasn't clear or made sense as a group writing-wise. The Broke power storyline was so dumb. Why are you taking them to the guy who makes the stuff? It was so obvious who it was. Sam's speech, I think, was actually the first time in MCU. I rolled my eyes. This neo-liberal propaganda bs written to the point I felt like the writer didn't even believe it. The whole fixing of the boat was dumb, like Sam, a private military contractor, has money to fix the ship, especially since he is a former Avenger private military contractor. While the whole bank scene was probably meant to represent how African Americans frankly couldn't get loans from banks and were denied credit, it doesn't really make sense because 1, Sam should have money to fix the boat, and 2 if he doesn't, he simply could call one of his billionaire coworkers like Idk Pepper if he that desperate 3. If banks deny people who were snap loans because they weren't working for 5 years, that makes absolutely no sense. I was dead. Of course, I couldn't work and get income. Half the planet was banked wouldn't make money if half the people wanting loans were denied because they got snapped. If anything, the banks would be happy to loan money because that business gets the money you pay back with interest. If they don't, the United States has dealt with situations where they would like incentive banks to loan people money before in our actual history. Final gripe Sam pretty much gets over his inner conflict over being a black man and being the face of the USA. Like that a real thing in parts of the black community with the question of our service in every major US war yet oppressed. This is expressed in music, movies, and television. It is what it means to be black in the United States military. The final thing I think Bucky and Sam frankly should have more profound talks. I know Sam as a black man; I thought this dude grew up in the 1930s. There was stuff I got to ask him or talk about with him. Not that Bucky is a bad guy but he did grow up in the 1930s like what are his thoughts or bias he has because of that. Imagine a talk with Sam where Sam likes bro what your problem with me and he says his whole thing about he gave up the shield in a heart to heart and Sam replies ohh man that it wow and Bucky says what do you mean? I thought you were lowkey racist and didn't like that I was black and Bucky says what no! Sam says weren't you born in 1920 or sum and Bucky says I mean never really interacted with many besides a couple in service where we mostly segregated back then even in the Army but I always believed that you treat people like human beings no matter what. Sam looks at him with serious heartfelt music and Sam looks at him breaking the seriousness and says so how do you feel about Michael Jackson. Bucky says I don't listen to rap and Sam just walks away shaking his head in disgust and laughing at Bucky. I feel like we could've gotten cool moments from the fact Bucky was born in 1920 or whatever!

Trinston was here

I only watched this series for Isaiah Bradley. Because Carl Lumbly's the GOAT.

Regarding Isaiah Bradley: I don’t think it’s a good wrap up for him but it’s not meant to be. At least is not meant to be one for the grander idea that he has. Isaiah is willing to change his mind about Sams decision because of the “be the change you want to see in the world” idealism that Sam has. The reason Steve gave Sam the Shield (Based on Steven characterization suggests) was because he knew Sam represents what WORLD needed, not what represents America.

Good video. How about make video about avengers assemble and compare it to the avengers emh?

I had a liking for Walker i only wanted him to be good cuz me and my friend turned him into a meme based on several funny faces i found him make when u paused the show at the right times

The biggest problem with this show is it’s politics because the show either only uses them to virtue signal things so it comes off as flat and shallow or they contradict themselves in every single thing that you aren’t sure what the message is supposed to be. For one thing the flag smashers are supposed to be a sympathetic antagonistic force despite everything they do pointing to them as being entirely awful to the point it would have made a lot more sense for somebody like Zemo to shoot Carly in the face since the world she wants is the world that destroyed his country more than it already was. Things like the Dora Malaja maybe being a thing about American imperialism falls flat when everything seems to be pointing to that whole scene being a sorta empowerment or at the very least having them be in the right for actions that otherwise would be seen as reprehensible. The things regarding race and societal inequality also get muddy since for one I think it’s funny between this show and Spider-man I guess Pepper told everyone on the avengers payroll to fuck off or at least didn’t give the people who need it a pay out for fighting in the infinity war with her husband. And the race stuff gets really messy when once again your “sympathetic” villain says that her murdering a black man was only a mistake in that his life didn’t matter or how Sam talks about the worry that people wouldn’t be ready for a black captain America when at every single turn John Walker was told by everyone how much he wasn’t Steve which makes me think maybe it isn’t a race thing and more that only one guy was ever the best captain America

This show is almost the Nolan Batman of the M.C.U except that role tech technically goes to amazing Spider-Man.

"The only thing I can do is believe that we can do better." -Captain America

I think this show could have been the best mcu show to date. But I think it's pretty clear to everyone who watched it that the show we got was heavily edited and changed from its initial concept.

I really wish they went into the psychology of John Walker more. The start of the show really seems to set up the idea that Walker can’t really live up to Steve Rogers. He can try his best, be a great soldier, have 3 medals of honour, but he just can’t take it. Adding the implication that a decent part of this is due to his time in service fucking with him, and it could’ve been a great realistic take on Cap. The ideal one is gone, and Walker has to fill the shoes of Saint Rogers while being just a guy with his own flaws. Another commenter brought up that Sam can connect over losing friends and men in battle. After Walker’s oops I did a war crime, why not let him also connect with Bucky over doing bad shit? Obviously it’s different, it should be pointed out one was mind controlled and one was not, but it could work if not executed poorly. Let us see Walker beat himself up about losing Lamar and killing a surrendering man. Show us that he regrets it and wants to change. Sure, he’s not the perfect man that OG Cap was, or even the pretty good one that Captain Falcon is, but he can learn with Steve’s 2 friends and become decent if nothing else. He doesn’t have what it takes to be Captain America, but he can try to be better as USAgent

One thing I really hated about F&TWS was the dora malejie, or more specifically how they were shown the be good period. I personally cant see any difference between John busting doors in whichever country he finds himself in cause he is Captain America and "Dora Malrjie have jurisdiction where ever Dora Malejie find themselves." It felt so wierd not having that line ,and Wakanda who senctions it, questioned in a show where Americas similar actions were questioned

I think you touched on a lot of the messiness of the show. However, I think Sam’s speech has other problems… I don’t see how it is wrong to call the Flag Smashers a bunch of terrorists. Same says they’re only terrorists because the US Government has deemed to call them that. But.. terrorists are people who use violence and/or intimidation tactics for political means. This is even more the case since the writers chose to make Karli a murderer as she represents the Flag Smashers as their leader. Otherwise, I don’t think they developed Sharon enough to show that she’s an antagonist now. It makes sense why she is, but it’s so jarring because we didn’t see the progression. I’m glad you liked the boat arc and see imagery there, but I honestly think Sam & Isaiah’s dynamic showed that humanity enough to where I don’t think the boat arc was necessary. Lastly, to touch on Isaiah’s ending, I thought it was really good. I don’t think she was trying to communicate that everything is all fine and dandy between Isaiah and the US government, but instead shows that his story is out there and the government is willing to openly declare their past actions, which they tried to hide in years past.

Wait, it’s been a year?????

Steve Rogers captain America "To fight injustice not in the american way but beyond it"

Like all the Disney marvel shows each one just feels like an 8 episode excuse for the main character to get a fashion update and promise that "we'll be closer to the comics this time we promise". Moon Knight is going to be more of the same.

Disney/MCU was definitely aware of the lack of realism that Steve Rogers represented. It's exactly why the gave him the 616 Universe's origin, while giving him the 1610 Universe's powers, despite the fact that the 1610 Universe's origin, personality, and story is much more realistic.

Watching Table 19 not long after TFATWS was pretty amusing. Wyatt Russel still manages to straddle the line between likability and dickishness.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier was not as good as it could've been and I can say that after rewatching it.....

I don't mind the implied character growth that much, because the MCU doesn't really run on comic-book time. Two years pass between Civil War and Infinity War in-universe and real time.

I think one of my least favorite parts of the series was Bucky and Sam's instant dislike for John Walker. Like the guy was just trying to help them when they met. He was just doing what the government wanted him to do. I'd prefer if they work together for a bit, only for Sam and Bucky to slowly realize who John really is. I think it would've made them taking the sheild from him a lot better if they actually believed he'd do good as a new Captain America. I also feel like they did well with Sharon Carter and some of the Flag Smashers. Like they aren't entirely in the wrong. Sharon has every right to hate the US after everything she did for them only for them to abandon her. And with what the Flag smashers, They are fighting for a good cause. I like how some of them are even against killing. Like they're not all entirely evil. Some just think they're going to far. I honestly give this series an 8/10. Another big plus is it really sold me on the idea of Sam being the next Captain America.

You gotta wonder why this show wasn’t set in the US… they didn’t want to show what happens when millions of black people randomly appear in neighborhoods that got gentrified during the blip or how america really treats Sam Wilson’s people during times of crisis.

i want to say how the SUPERSUERUM soldier who nobody can replicate,,is replicated by literal everyone

I found the idea of a US government sanctioned official captain America going around the world chasing down terrorist plots so ludicrous it took me completely out of the series.

24:15 I don't think this works as well as a metaphorical for direct political actions taken by America since Walker's murder of the terrorist here wasn't sanctioned by the government and is in fact the reason why the United States cast him aside. On another note tho, it is interesting that America treats Walker with far more leniency than it does in another political action show I enjoy, 24. In that show, the main character kills terrorists too, but almost always in self defense. Yet some of his missions (typically kidnappings of foreign agents) get him in so much trouble that at a point he becomes a perpetual enemy of the state, and arrested by his country multiple times. The fact that in 24, the government treats Jack harshly for kidnapping some random diplomat, while they do literally nothing to Walker for murdering a foreign national in the street is a pretty stark contrast if you want to focus on the politics of it all.

One thing I rarely hear anyone discuss is that Sam racked up a bigger kill count in the cold open than Karli did in the whole series. I dunno, I feel like that is itself something to examine. Like, everyone just wrote off that Sam's kills were justified and that Karli's couldn't be. That there's an angle of this where we were supposed to see Sam as misguided and buying into ra-ra bullshit the exact same way that Steve and Bucky did when they gave Sam the shield.

26:27 "Propaganda project". That's exactly what I was thinking about Walker and Lamar, that they were being used by their higher-ups as propaganda tools.

“The desire to become superhuman inherently cannot be separated from supremacist ideals,” Zemo spitting the most based monologues in the mcu