The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: Season 1

And so, everyone, we made it to the latest of the Marvel shows on Disney+, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. This was probably the Marvel show I was most excited for because of the fact that I love Sam and Bucky in the M.C.U movies and so it was really exciting to be getting an entire show about the two of them. And, in the end, I ended up loving it. There are definitely problems with it, but I really, really enjoyed this. And, unlike WandaVision, I watched this whole thing since it began and it was fun following  the whole season from start to finish and looking forward to a new episode every week like I did with the Mandalorian. And, yeah, like my WandaVision review, this will have all the spoilers in it so don't read this if you haven't finished it yet and you don't want it spoiled. So, the plot of the show is that we seeing Sam give up Steve's shield because he doesn't feel worthy of wielding it along with dealing with other problems like his sister thinking of selling their family boat and Sam trying to find a way to keep it. We also see Bucky living by himself and still being tormented by nightmares of things he did as the Winter Soldier. He's going to a therapist to help and he's also living in the same building as a man who's son he killed once. And all this is happening while the government is making someone else named John Walker the new Captain America and giving him the shield. There's also a group called the Flag Smashers who're on the loose who're basically terrorists. And so, instantly, the first episode really intrigued me because of all these different things that were being set up. But, not only that, but this show was a lot more character driven than I thought it was gonna be. I knew there was gonna be that kinda stuff in this, but not as much as there was. For one, we see all those things I was mentioning about Bucky being tormented by all the things he did while being brainwashed, but then there's all the stuff I mentioned about Sam because w finally see more about him like how he has a sister and nephews and there's this history with his family and this boat and that was pretty interesting. Also, I loved how we saw Sam and Rhodey together in the first episode. I always love those two characters and it was just awesome to see Rhodey. I didn't expect to see him and it was a big surprise and it was just a really nice scene with the two of them together. It was also sad seeing Bucky with this man who's son he murdered because he wants to tell him but he can't bring himself to do it. I was kinda surprised that Sam and Bucky didn't see each other at all in the first episode. I get that they wouldn't be with each other the whole time, but still. But it did make it cooler in the next episode when they did meet up. And, speaking of the next episode, I thought it was awesome with how they met up and Bucky just joins Sam on a mission. This episode was definitely more action focused and banter focused because we see the whole buddy cop dynamic between the two of them that was what the show was mostly being marketed as. And I love them together. Anthony Mackey and Sebastian Stan are very fun together and are just fantastic in the show overall, just like everyone else in the show. And the action in this episode was also mostly cool. I will say, there are some moments where the editing is a little weird. But generally, the action is awesome. I'm mostly talking about the truck fight. But it was cool when John came in with Lemar. Yeah, it was a little weird considering we're so used to seeing this thing from Steve, but it still cool. And, we can also now talk about the Flag Smashers themselves. I thought they were good villains. Not the best in the M.C.U, but, overall, they have a good motivation with the whole thing of being ignored after the snap happened that brought everyone back. And the main girl Karli was especially sympathetic because there's the whole thing about people she cared about dying with diseases and other things like that and it made the whole thing feel more real and you could definitely understand them more. Again, they're not the best M.C.U villains ever, but they're better than most of the other ones. And, in terms of the second episode, there's another subplot that develops with a man named Isaiah Bradley who was actually another Super Soldier back in World War 2 like Steve but was treated differently because he once tried to do what Steve did with disobeying his orders and save a whole bunch of his friends. Except afterwards, he was thrown in jail and experimented on and his wife was told he was dead. And that entirely subplot was easily one of the most compelling because you really sympathise with this guy and feel so sorry for him and it does help tie into Sam's arc for the series. Then, as it was getting to the end, of this episode I was beginning to think that John was gonna turn evil at some point because of all the things happening. But there's also the whole thing about more Super Soldiers being made like Steve, which is what's happening to the Flag Smashers. They're taking newly developed versions of the serum and now Sam and Bucky are looking into this. And this leads Bucky to think that the only way to find out what's happening is to talk to Zemo. And that's another aspect I loved about the series because they were also marketing the series as Zemo's return and I was really excited for this and this might have been my favourite aspect of the whole series. Or at least one of them. So, in the next episode, Bucky helps Zemo get out of jail and the three of them head to Madripoor together to meet someone who could help and I absolutely loved this episode. Easily my favourite part was the whole Sam, Bucky and Zemo dynamic and it's fantastic. It's hilarious and the three of them work off each other really well. Daniel Bruel does a great job as Zemo and it was fun seeing his interactions off the others. And then the whole thing there was awesome with the three of them in this nightclub and Bucky has to pretend to be the Winter Soldier again. And then the whole thing with that crime boss was pretty tense because Sam's sister calls him at a bad time and it begins a shootout where Sharon shows up again. I was expecting to see Sharon again at some point because I'm pretty sure she was in some of the advertisement for the series too and it was great to see her again. I always liked her in the movies even if we never knew that much about her aside from being Peggy's niece. But they give her more of a character here with being in hiding after the whole thing in Civil War and she's not happy with where she is. And then the following scene dockyard was awesome with them finding the person making the Super Soldier serum which leads to a really amazing fight scene with Sharon fighting some men with really awesome choreography and some people getting shot and stabbed. It was phenomenal. Plus, in that scene we got to see Zemo in his comic accurate mask which was nice. Anyway, after that, we get something I didn't expect at all. They go back to Zemo's place and Bucky realises they're being followed by the Dora Milaje. I didn't expect them to pop up at all and it was so cool. And in the next episode, we get to see a flashback to Bucky being cured from his brainwashing by the Wakandans and there was fantastic acting in that scene from Sebastian Stan. And then when we cut to the part we left off in the last episode, we see that that person from the Dora Milaje want Zemo after he killed T'Chaka but Bucky still needs him to help find out more about the Flag Smashers. I also liked the next scene where Sam, Bucky and Zemo were talking about the Super Soldier serum and about Steve, again, their dynamic is extremely fun to watch. We also see other things like the three of them going off to talk to some people in these displacement camps and, again, we see these real world things that's interesting, especially if you know about the whole snap thing. It just makes everything more real and therefore, more sad. And then there's the part where John and Lemar go with Sam, Bucky and Zemo to try to find Karli and it was extremely frustrating when John messed up the whole thing with barging in when Sam was close to convincing Karli. Also, I just wanna say this now, yes, this entire part is definitely frustrating, but the performance for John from Wyatt Russell is fantastic. I heard he was getting a lot of backlash for playing this character which is beyond stupid. He absolutely did not deserve any of the hate he got and it was totally unnecessary and ridiculous. In terms of the performance, he played the role so well. Anyway, the following scene with John and Lemar in Zemo's apartment and then the Dora Milaje show up was awesome. I didn't expect them to and it was an incredible scene. Especially when they start fighting and he just gets beaten up really easily and it was really funny when Sam, Bucky and Zemo were just watching. But then when Bucky and Sam try to help, I didn't expect them to take off Bucky's arm. It makes sense considering the Wakandans are the ones who gave him that arm, but it was still surprising. But that scene did also help John become a bit more sympathetic because afterwards, we see him and Lemar talking about how he's kinda frustrated because he's finally doing something to help that he wants to do but he's either not very good at it or he's not being allowed to do some things by the government. However, I will say there was something in this episode I thought was weird. The scene after this, we see Karli call Sam's sister and she tells her about how she's threatening her and her sons and then she tells Sam about it and Sam goes to see Karli and he's in his Falcon suit. I found it weird that he would go and put that on just after he was told about that. It was just a weird moment for me.  But the following scene was really tense because John and Lemar show up and we get a bit of chase scene with Sam, Bucky, John and Lemar chasing Karli and the other Flag Smashers in this building and Zemo's in there too after escaping. And we get a cool fight scene with the four of them fighting against Karli and the others but then Karli accidently kills Lemar which makes John go crazy. And that scene was sad. It was honestly sad to see him die. But the next part even more intense because John go after one of the Flag Smashers and uses the shield to just kill him which was insane. Both by a character thing and just brutal to see. Especially with the last shot where we see the shield stained with blood. That shot was great to see. Not the thing itself because it was obviously a horrible thing to see, but the image itself was pretty cool and sad at the same time. However, the next episode is where I have the most problems with the series. It opens up with John running into some warehouse and Sam and Bucky try to get the shield from him. And they have to fight him for it. And this scene was mostly cool although, there were some moments where the editing was kinda weird like how they shot some of the scene and also just some of the cuts were a little weird. But it was awesome at the end when they broke his arm to get the shield off him. It reminded me a lot of the whole scene on Titan with Tony and Peter trying to pull the gauntlet off Thanos. But then we see John being striped of being Captain America entirely after he murdered that guy in public. It was also sad when we see Karli and some of the other Flag Smashers going back tot he camp and it's been emptied out by the government which makes her angrier. Something I did find surprising in the episode though was the next scene where Bucky goes to Sokovia and finds Zemo. I really liked this scene because Zemo mentioned some memorial there earlier in the show, so it was nice to see this and then the Dora Milaje show up and take him to the Raft. That was pretty cool. I would say however, the next scene was probably the most heartbreaking in the show because Sam thinks Bradley should be the new Captain America for everything he's done but he doesn't feel like he should and he tells him more about his backstory with his wife. Again, it's really heartbreaking and Carl Lumbly does a fantastic job in that scene. Though, I will say the next scene is probably my least favourite. It's still a good scene but it was probably my least favourite with Bucky helping Sam out with his boat and they're trying to fix it. I did like the scene where it looked like Bucky was flirting with Sam's sister, I thought that was funny and made sense for his character. This scene of them fixing it was mostly good, although, there were some moments where it got a bit boring and there was some editing that was also a bit weird. But then, after that scene, we see Sharon again and it's revealed that she's evil. I didn't expect that at all. Apparently she's doing this after being on the run for so long and is now in league with Batroc, who I also didn't expect to be in this show and it was cool when he showed up again. I also liked the next scene where Sam and Bucky were talking about how Bucky is still tormented by all his Winter Soldier things and Sam is trying to help him. It was nice to see that, and especially since it brought back a bit of that scene from The Winter Soldier where Sam was being a councilor. But then Bucky leaves him with a box from the Wakandans and I was really excited to see it. Also, I forgot to mention that John broke Sam's wings in their fight and so Bucky was more than likely asking the Wakandans to make new ones. And the episode ends with Karli getting people ready for one more attack. Actually, this episode did have an end credit scene with John making his own Captain America shield. All this was making me so excited for the season finale which was awesome. We see Karli trying to trap some people from the government, but then Sam shows up in his new Captain America suit and it was awesome. I loved the suit and we get a lot of really amazing and cool moments from it with him using his wings and also the shield. But this entirely episode was kinda like a big action scene and we get a lot of amazing moments from it like Sam grabbing that guy out of the helicopter and using his wings and shield to protect himself from the falling and Bucky using his metal arm to pull one of the trucks open and Sharon using gas to kill one the Flag Smashers. But then John shows up and it does look like he's gonna go crazy but then he does the right thing by trying to save the people in the truck but then Sam saves them. And this leads to a final action scene where we see Sharon is the Power Broker who we've been hearing about throughout the show and she kills Batroc. I was honestly thinking Sharon was gonna die here but she didn't and then we get a small fight scene between Sam and Karli but then Sharon kills her. I don't really know how I felt about this because Karli was a character I thought was a better villain than some other M.C.U villains and was sympathetic, but I don't know if I cared about her all that much and so when she died, I didn't feel that much. But this did lead to a great scene where Sam is giving a speech to some of the people of the government about what they should do now and it was performed by Anthony Mackey really well. Then, when it looks like the rest of the Flag Smashers are gonna get away but then Zemo's butler blows them all up. I actually didn't know who that person was until I looked it up afterwards, but then we see Zemo in the Raft. And the rest of the episode is pretty much just wrapping up everyone's arc. John becomes US Agent, Bucky tells that guy from the first episode about his son, he tells the therapist about how he finished with the book he had in the first episode and Sam is able to get Bradley an exhibit in the museum. I'm not gonna lie, that part in particular did get me a little teary eyed. It was a beautiful moment and it was so satisfying, and, again, very well acted. We even get a little montage at the end at their boat and then the title changes to Captain America And The Winter Soldier. That part was awesome. And then there's an end credit scene where Sharon gets welcomed back into the government but then she talks to someone about how they're gonna have access to government secrets. So, I'm curious to know how that whole part plays out. So, overall, I had such an amazing time with The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I loved the typical Marvel stuff we've come to expect but I loved how it was so interesting from a character perspective and just had so any amazing moments in it and it was just so entertaining. I didn't think it was perfect at all, but I thought it was a great show. And apparently they're gonna be making a new Captain America movie with Sam as the main character. I really like that idea and after seeing this, I'm so excited for it. I loved how this show felt more grounded like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and everything in it was so well made. Not to mentioned the fact that every actor was phenomenal in it. So, yeah, I definitely recommend this if you're able to. It's definitely worth your time. And so, everyone, those are my thoughts on The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: Season 1. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.