Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode Four Review

This episode was a watershed moment for me: it had incredible highs, but put exclamation points on where things have gone wrong. It remains a better show than WandaVision, and I suspect the flaws I see are things casual fans either don't notice or care about (I'll tackle those issues after the summary). On the plus side, Marvel lucked out with Wyatt Russell--for a guy who spent his youth trying (and failing) to become a pro hockey player, his performance as John Walker has been excellent (as I go over below, he has the best arc in the entire show thus far). We had the expected strong action sequences from John Wick's scribe Derek Kolstad and we seem to have finally escaped the plot squeezing that troubled episodes two and three. Before we go deeper, let's break down the episode:

• 3min Brief Wakanda flashback (which loses a bit of its potency since it can't include any of the stars from Black Panther), then a short chat with Ayo and Bucky where she makes a deal that he gets just eight hours with Zemo
• 3min Bucky tells Zemo about the Wakandans; we get our first real reaction to Nagle's death (although it involves no consequences voiced); we learn that Kellyman killed people and that she's making demands; Falcon dismisses the gloomy outlook by calling Kellyman a kid (the actress is 22, so I think we can accept it--Steve Rogers calls Wanda a kid in Civil War, granting that he's nearly a century old--Elizabeth Olsen would have been 26 at the time); Zemo associates the serum with racist ideology, which is pretty funny; he accepts that Rogers is an exception to the superhero rule, which I think is meant to tease the same for Falcon
• 1min Very brief Flag-smasher scene (just listening to the radio, which includes the GRC furthering the border-separation they oppose)
• 4min Falcon wandering around asking questions; why are GRC signs in Sokovia posted in English? Still not clear why the GRC isn't fulfilling promises; Zemo finds out what they want by bribing kids with candy, but tells them Falcon/Bucky are bad people not to be trusted
• 3min Falcon finally explains what the Flag-smashers are missing in terms of world unity (it also provides the logic of why the disparate members were in Madripoor); he puts forward a defense of Kellyman (good intentions--the thing the road to ruin is paved with); Zemo admits he knows what's going on, but doesn't want to reveal it because once he stops being useful he'll be disposed of (which is correct); Bucky threatens him, which is pointless, and Falcon calms him down and calls Sharon who has access to a satellite to track Walker
• 2min Flag-smasher scene talking about what they are doing and whether it's right to make more super soldiers (dude compares Kellyman with Captain America, which is hilarious, but the purpose is laying the groundwork for Falcon as Cap rather than Kellyman)
• 2min Walker/Hoskins find the trio and Falcon wants to talk to her and Walker wants to take her down; Falcon brings up his Captain America: The Winter Soldier past of counselling and Walker says that's the concern (referring to Kellyman possibly having PTSD); Hoskins supports Falcon's idea so Walker relents
• 2min Funeral scene (no emotional resonance for me--as I mentioned during the character's death scene, we don't spend enough time with her to care)
• 6min Falcon talks to Kellyman while Walker grows impatient and expresses frustration because he doesn't have the advantages the serum gives Bucky etc--anticipates Hoskins death by asking Bucky if he wants Falcon's blood on his hands; Falcon throws Zemo's argument at her, she disagrees, but as he's trying to make a breakthrough Walker arrives with the time limit up and Kellyman flees as the unattended Zemo escapes and tries to kill her--not doing so as he takes time to destroy the serum and she escapes--Walker knocks Zemo out with one serum left which he pockets (this takes the choice of using them away from Kellyman, but she expresses regret that they've been destroyed so we know what choice she would have made)
• 2min Flag-smashers again (realize the vials are destroyed); another threat from the Power Broker; Kellyman believes they were all 'chosen' (fated for their role); wants to kill Walker (because as a symbol, killing him means something...although what his connection is to the GRC isn't clear--presumably it's that he's a national symbol that matters to her)
• 5min Zemo asks Falcon if he'd take the serum and he says no; Zemo repeats his distain for super people; Bucky says Walker is unhinged (based on what is not made clear--while he's been temperamental, he's done nothing crazy); Walker then demands Zemo (as, indeed, he has the right too) and suggests he and Falcon punch it out (undoubtedly irritated by the constant derision), but the Wakandans show up and the flip out (it's ridiculous as they let Zemo escape, which is the only reason they are there)--the only interesting thing from this is that the Wakandans can de-activate Bucky's arm; Walker is devastated that the Wakandans beat him, providing him his final motivation to take the serum
• 2min Hoskins/Walker talk--the latter asks if Hoskins would take the serum and he would, supporting the idea of Walker taking it; Walker is dismissive of his military honours, believing that being Cap gives him a chance to do something he can truly be proud of
• 1min Kellyman calls Sarah for a one-on-one meet with Falcon by threatening her and her family
• 9min Bucky comes with Falcon and Kellyman says killing Falcon would be meaningless because he represents nothing (which is hilarious); she tells Falcon to join her or leave her alone; Sharon let's them know Walker has found them; Hoskins is captured and Walker pursues--Falcon finds him and joins the rescue; Hoskins' frees himself and all four come together fighting the Flag-smashers; Kellyman kills Hoskins and Walker snaps, killing one of her cronies in front of onlookers (an act that also, in a way, proves Zemo's point about the serum)

In my previous review I'd speculated that Hoskins would die--that picking an older actor (49) to play him and giving him no substance was done in order to make killing him easier. This leads to Walker's moment of failure to clear the way for our inevitable coronation of Falcon as Cap. One of the sad things for me is that, leading into the show, I was looking forward to Falcon's transformation--I liked the idea of him rejecting being given the shield (post-Endgame) and, instead, earning it. Unfortunately, Falcon hasn't earned it--Walker simply fails, so it looks like it's going to be defaulted to him. I'm not sure there's enough runway left in the final two episodes to shift that feeling or not.

It has taken four episodes, but we finally have the show's thesis for why the Flag-smashers oppose the GRC: when the Snapped people returned they were (understandably) given their homes and positions back, which displaced a lot of people the GRC was organized to house, feed, etc. That all seems logical, so the problem is how ineffective the GRC is, but we don't know why it isn't able to perform its function or why no one seems opposed to that inadequacy, or even who is running it), robbing the struggle of any weight (Kellyman is essentially attacking an enemy without a face or identity--punching smoke isn't interesting).

It's a funny thing to realize that Walker has the most engaging character arc in the show. While things are set-up for the leads, the show has largely forgotten them (there's no resonance for Bucky's PTSD/counselling--forgotten since episode two--and the most trauma Falcon has faced is his sister's boat--an issue irrelevant to him since the first episode). The show is, largely, Walker's journey, despite an attempt to do the same thing with Kellyman's character. While his screen time (post-introduction) is limited, Walker goes on a journey: a soldier trying to do good, but (in his mind) held back by his own limitations; believing that becoming Cap will finally let him achieve the good that he wants; he draws the correct conclusions at every turn in the show, but faces only rejection from Falcon and Bucky; is beaten by the Wakandans due to their pride (allowing them to fail again with Zemo), pushing him into the serum; Hoskins' very preventable death is largely due to the lack of cooperation from the former Avengers and this sends him over the edge. It's a fascinating tale carried by a strong performance and, I think, almost accidental, as Spellman seems more interested in other characters (we're meant to think he's crazy, but none of his actions have been--he's been temperamental, but he's also faced nothing but derision for the entire show). Where it goes from here is uncertain--I'd think U. S. Agent, but will they give him that redemption arc? We shall see.

I'm curious to see how the show deals with Kellyman murdering Hoskins. Spellman has tried very hard to absolve her of responsibility for her actions. but she's intentionally killed innocent people twice now and that should be a bridge too far (the threats to Sarah and her kids are also egregious), particularly as she feels no guilt--will it be? I suspect not. For whatever reason it seems like she has the plot armour to safely transition away from those actions--I hope I'm wrong, but thus far the show has been unable to do anything other than telegraph the plot, so it's what I'm expecting.

We've reached a point where the show has unintentionally made Falcon and Bucky both look borderline incompetent:

• Falcon thinks he knows better than Sarah and can get them a bank loan, but fails and this failure leads to his sister breaking his cover in Madripoor and serving as a lever for Kellyman to manipulate him
• Both characters reject Walker for entirely selfish reasons unrelated to who the guy is (they don't know him)
• Despite a career in the military, apparently the first time Falcon questions his own country's racial issues in the military is when Bucky takes him to Isaiah Bradley (granting that the show has only suggested issues related to Bradely)
• They break Zemo out (pissing off the Wakandans, which causes them trouble later)
• Fail to trick Selby in Madripoor, requiring Sharon to save them
• Let Zemo kill Nagle and subsequently escape
• The Wakandans allow Zemo to escape in order to make a bizarre machismo point with Walker, which in turn pushes him to take the serum
• Their unwillingness to work with Walker leads to Hoskins' death and in turn the death of a Flag-smasher at the hands of the enraged Walker

Making mistakes is a normal thing for heroes in narrative--it complicates their lives and makes them relatable, but what good decisions have they made? The primary beneficial decisions have been to approach friends for help, but that's not very dramatic. They've lost half their fights--the initial fight with Kellyman, two of the fights in Madripoor, against the Wakandans, and the fight where Hoskins is killed. This is not normally how you handle heroes and I wonder if it's impacted how casual fans are enjoying the series. There's still time to fix it, but it's a very odd approach.

What has the show done right? Most of the major performers have delivered--Kellyman has been a weak link, but I'd put that down to the writing for the character. The story is a weird mix of on-point and struggling, which is reminiscent of WandaVision. Waffling character presentations didn't use to be a thing in the MCU, but we've seen some of it crop up in more recent Marvel films and whether that's simply a consequence of having a larger writing team or something else is hard to say. It's not clear to me whether fans are impacted by this kind of thing or not. What irritated people in WandaVision were the J. J. Abrams mystery boxes and we have none of that here--so I think the decline in interest in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (should it continue) is due to the lack of a strong villain as well as the less active role our heroes have taken in their own story. When you think about evocative moments in the series thus far, they haven't had them--the big moments have all been given to supporting characters. I'm interested to see how (or if) this changes.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)