The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Episode 1: "New World Order" Recap and Review
The first episode of Marvel’s second series is a promising mix of pulse-raising action and miles of heart.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
The fundamental difference between DC Comics and Marvel is that at DC’s core is a foundation of philosophy verses Marvel’s core of humanity. DC is about gods living amongst humans and why those gods choose to protect a race of beings that are so far beneath them. Marvel is about humans becoming gods and how they navigate their own lives within a world that they may no longer belong to. This is at the core of “New World Order”, the debut episode of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. Showrunner Malcolm Spellman chose to begin the series inside the minds of our titular heroes and has given them more depth in one episode than the Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed to in five separate film appearances. How does Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) handle the weight of a shield that was the symbol of security and justice for decades and how does Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) overcome the guilt of being a symbol of terror and death for that same amount of time? These questions live at the heart of the series, and will be the emotional drive that balances with the kinetic action that the MCU is known for. As far as the episode goes, the story is kept to a minimum, using its time instead to add much needed depth to our heroes as well as providing a glimpse at the future of the star-spangled shield.
We begin the episode with Sam as he prepares to relinquish the shield that Steve Rogers gifted him at the end of Avengers: Endgame, before witnessing him in action as Falcon in a flashback from only a day or two earlier. With his contact Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) feeding him information, Sam intercepts a military aircraft that was hijacked by a familiar face, Batroc (Georges St-Pierre), returning to the franchise after last appearing in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. After a tussle, the terrorist group packs up their hostage and takes to the skies on wingsuits, while Falcon gives chase. Sam has to fight off helicopters and heat-seeking missiles before reaching the impending Libyan border, but manages it in true hero fashion. He saves the hostage just in the nick of time, but not before Batroc escapes the exploding helicopter. With boots now firmly on the ground, Sam and Joaquin celebrate a successful mission in a local tea shop where they chat. During their conversation, Joaquin tells Sam about the Flag Smashers, a new group with radical ideas. Sam tells Joaquin to keep an eye on this new group and heads back to Washington, as we pick up where our opening scene left off. Sam is at the Smithsonian, donating Captain America’s shield in a ceremony attended by Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). After the ceremony, Sam and Rhodey chat about Sam’s reluctance to take up the Captain America mantle.
From here, we follow a man as he returns to his hotel room in an undisclosed European city. Without warning, the hotel is besieged by a single man, The Winter Soldier. The Hydra assassin easily dispatches his target, but the man we met earlier is witness to all of this and, as he begs for his life, The Winter Soldier points his gun to the man’s face, and takes the shot. This wakes Bucky from his nightmare, revealing that it was all just a memory from his past. Bucky struggles to open up to his psychologist during a government mandated therapy session. After some push back, Bucky reveals he recently helped lead the authorities to a former Hydra pawn. Ultimately, the psychologist pushes him to seek out people and friends to save him from his self imposed isolation. Back in New York, we meet one of Bucky’s only friends, Mr. Yori Nakajima, and the two have lunch together. After Yori forces Bucky to set a date with the waitress Leah, Yori reminisces about his son, who died while abroad, and it becomes clear that this weighs heavily on Bucky’s heart.
We jump to Louisiana, where Sam meets with his sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye) and his nephews. Sam and Sarah clash over whether or not to sell the family boat, and Sam convinces her to let him try to get a loan to save the business. Back in New York, we join Bucky on his date with Leah. They have a good talk over a game of Battleship but eventually the conversation circles back to Mr. Nakajima. They talk about his sadness over the loss of his son and it becomes too much for Bucky, who leaves the date and goes straight to Mr. Nakajima’s apartment. When Yori opens the door, Bucky gets a glimpse at a shrine Yori made to honor his son and it is revealed that Yori’s son is the witness Bucky killed. Bucky went to Yori with the intention of telling him this fact, but loses his nerve and leaves.
Overseas, Joaquin is busy trying to infiltrate the Flag Smashers, and finds himself in the middle of a chaotic robbery. Joaquin tries to apprehend the supposed leader of the faction but is taken by surprise when the leader exhibits strength reminiscent of Captain America himself. In Louisiana, Sam and Sarah meet with a banker for a loan but it doesn’t go according to plan. Sam tries to rely on his star power and the generosity that usually accompanies it, but it is not enough for the bank to reconcile their struggling finances and approve the loan. This leads to Sam and Sarah clashing over the future of their family’s legacy, but Sam remains determined to make up for his five-year absence. After a text from a recovering Joaquin, Sam opens a line of communication with him and sees the threat of the Flag Smashers for himself. Suddenly, a distressed Sarah comes in and puts on the television. They watch together in disappointment as the United States introduces the world to a new - white - Captain America, with Cap’s shield in hand.
“New World Order” begins with the familiar, before evolving into the new. Almost immediately we are treated to a very “The Winter Soldier”-esque action scene meant to highlight Sam’s capabilities in the air. Anthony Mackie has not skipped a beat as Falcon, and the showrunners created a perfect scenario to remind the audience of Falcon’s capabilities as a soldier. And who better to pit against him than Batroc, who faced off against Cap in a similar scenario? Georges St-Pierre plays the small role perfectly and is a great reoccurring baddie to test the prowess of one of the more human of the MCU heroes. Seeing as he escaped at the last second, I expect to see him again in the MCU if not this series, though GSP’s slot as a main cast member would imply a return. Sam’s relationship with his sister Sarah is immediately relatable and believable, as Mackie and Oduye have great chemistry as brother and sister, and she acts as an anchor for Sam to the reality that the world has changed in some ways since his absence, but a lot remains the same. Introducing Joaquin Torres into Sam’s life could be a big hint at who could come next to take up the mantle of Falcon. In the comics, Torres takes up the Falcon name after Sam becomes Captain America. No telling if he’ll get his comic book abilities as a human/bird/Vampire hybrid, but my guess would be no.
As for Bucky, The Winter Soldier still haunts him. He has been given a new life in the form of a conditional pardon for his crimes, but like Steve Rogers before him, he has no idea what life now looks like. Sebastian Stan has played Bucky in a way that each new chapter in his story is accompanied by a new Bucky. The WWII Bucky was a confident, loyal, and plucky companion to Steve; The Winter Soldier was quiet and deadly; and after that he was scared and reluctant to join the fight. Now, Bucky is directionless, damaged, and a slave to his own guilt. Out of all of the remaining Avengers, Bucky has the deepest and richest backstory that gives a depth to the character that Stan understands and exudes thoroughly.
As for the future threats to our heroes, the Flag Smashers are reminiscent of modern radical groups, having a massive online presence and a surface level noble cause. Not much is revealed about them here except that they possess abilities similar to Cap and Bucky, which could mean involvement of the fabled Super Soldier serum. Then there is the new Captain America. We only get a glimpse of him at the end of the episode, but it is enough for me not to like him. He has a smug grin on his face that screams arrogance, and looks like a cheap knock-off of the Cap we know and love. This version of Cap is John Walker, who also goes by US Agent in the comics. He has historically been all over the place, being both villain and hero, but typically is a cruel and unhinged version of Cap that causes more problems than he solves. I am more intrigued by him than the Flag Smashers mostly due to the fact that he is being played by Wyatt Russell. I have been a fan of his long before I figured out he was the offspring of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. For evidence of his acting prowess, look to the criminally underrated wartime horror “Overlord” and his small but deep role in the Aubrey Plaza vehicle “Ingrid Goes West” where he acted opposite MCU alum Elizabeth Olson.
It is a new world, with new problems. We get a glimpse of these new problems towards the end of the episode, but very little before that does much to progress the story and journey of the dual leads. However, the time spent with them is not wasted. We get a very clear picture of where Sam and Bucky are at this time in their lives. Sam is living in the past. He cannot accept the changes that happened when he was away, and tries to fix them as if he has the capability to. That goes the same for taking ownership of the shield. He cannot accept himself in that role because still sees himself as unworthy compared to Steve. But Steve is gone, something that Sam is still struggling with, insisting that the shield still belongs to Steve. Bucky is in the same place that Steve was in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, scared and unsure of what life looks like beyond the battlefield. But Bucky has more than just the inability to move on with his life, he carries the guilt and weight of every person he killed as The Winter Soldier around his neck like the proverbial albatross. He befriended Yori because he is trying to make amends for his past, but now must confront the fact that he killed Yori’s son.
Although “New World Order” is light on story progression, it makes up for it with deep character development and the expected MCU action. The opening episode to this series has laid a very solid foundation with which to build upon, and they better build fast because the MCU has a very big star-shaped hole to fill.