*WARNING* THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER EPISODE SIX
John Walker wouldn’t want you to get spoiled. So wait on that SuperSoldier serum and watch the episode before you read this review of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier episode six.
That moment at the museum had me on my knees. In an episode filled with heartbreak, action, and powerful moments, from a series filled with the same, that was the most powerful. Isaiah Bradley might not be a character that you knew before this series, but he definitely won’t be one that you forget. Through the course of the series, he was the thread that brought it to another level.
This series and especially this episode rode the line between commentary and just plain entertaining. With this finale, you got it all. Great action, heart-wrenching moments, and payoffs for almost every character. Somehow in the 50 minute runtime they got all of it done.
Character Work At The Forefront Over The Action
Sam’s character, John Walker, Karli, Bucky, Isaiah, and even Zemo got some major character development here. Sam is now Captain America and knows everything that goes into that title. John Walker had a major character change. He had the choice between continuing his vengeance against Karli or saving people’s lives. He chose correctly and benefitted from that. You can see the moment that he bats away the blind rage and anger. It’s quite the job by Wyatt Russell to bring this character to life, have so many people hate him, and then actually be able to redeem the character.
Karli was the most at risk for verging into just a supervillain by killing civilians, but this finale showed that she was fighting for a just cause, Sam just showed she wasn’t quite doing it the right way. We mentioned Isaiah already, so we won’t drone on about him. Bucky didn’t have the center stage this episode, as his big character movement was in the last episode. Really, this was all about Sam, and rightfully so.
This Sets The Bar For All Marvel Television Now
WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier both set a gargantuan bar for the Disney+ division of Marvel. In their own different ways, they told stories that take superheroes and bring them down to our human level. Bucky is a broken character, mentally. Same with Wanda. They might not be 100% fixed by the end of their shows, but they’re on the way. Sam is now Captain America.
Take that in, there is a black Captain America.
It’s wonderful, and it just goes to show when you have writers and creators that give a crap about the shows content, you get fantastic television like this show.
The show really had it all. This episode was the highlight reel. We got some of the best action scenes in any Marvel film, across multiple episodes. I don’t think I’ve had my jaw on the ground more times than watching this show. Even through the most jaw-dropping Marvel properties. It just all felt real. We might be dealing with SuperSoldier serum, but it felt like something that could happen in real life.
It’s how Marvel does their best work.
Where We Go From Here
As you can see in the mid-credits scene, Sharon has her pardon. Who does she call after she gets out? We’ll have to figure that out. But she’s still the Power Broker, and there are secrets she’s going to use to her advantage. That’s one aspect of the series that could be better explored, but we have second seasons for that. It’ll be quite the moment when Bucky and Sam find out that Sharon is double dealing.
Sam is Captain America, Bucky is still on his path to regaining his life and mental state. John Walker is the US Agent and he works for Val. Who knows where we’ll go.
The next Marvel properties are either cosmic (Loki) or in the past (Black Widow), so we won’t be seeing any of these characters upcoming. If you look even further down the line, its Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and finally Spider-Man: Far From Home. It doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing any of these characters in those films as well. That might be for the best, it’ll give Sam and Bucky some time away from each other.
It’ll also give us plenty of time to take in the perfection and power of this series.
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