The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Episode 2: "The Star-Spangled Man", Recap and Review
Sam and Bucky get a first hand look at this new Captain America as the harsh realities of this world become prominent
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
It’s a new world indeed for the MCU, but with the new world comes familiar problems. Outside of Black Panther, Marvel has avoided the topic of race in their properties. They have often alluded to the subject but have never expressly addressed it. That changes now, and rather unavoidably. There was no way this series could possibly tell the story of a black man taking over the role of Captain America and not address the current state of race relations in America. This seems to be the underlying theme of this series; racism. The Shield and mantle of Captain America is torn between a white and black man, the Flag Smashers are fighting for a united world with out borders and are represented by a Bi-Racial leader, and the ugly side of America is out for the world to see. “The Star-Spangled Man” is has set up many opportunities for deep exploration of the subject at many angles, but it is up to the rest of the series to do so.
The episode begins where John Walker (Wyatt Russell), where we meet his wife Olivia (Gabrielle Byndloss), his right hand man Lamar Hoskins (Clé Bennett) aka Battlestar and learn about the pressure he feels taking over for the legendary Steve Rodgers. With the weight of the Shield firmly on his shoulders, he attends a celebration in his honor at his former High School. The interview that follows is seen by Bucky (Sebastian Stan), who is reeling from the fact that someone other than Steve or Sam (Anthony Mackie) is carrying the Shield. Walker’s presence is thrown in Sam’s face too, posters of Walker seem to follow Sam as he prepares for an ops mission in Munich with Joaquin (Danny Ramirez).
Bucky is there waiting to berate Sam about not keeping the shield. They banter before Sam mentions the mission is related to the Flag Smashers and their possible Super-Soldier leader, Bucky insists on coming with him, in spite of Sam’s objections. In Munich, the contention and rivalry between Sam and Bucky is ever so apparent. They bicker with each other on the plane, off the plane, and in the factory where they find members of the Flag Smashers loading up cargo trucks. The trucks take off and Bucky follows after they learn that there may be a hostage. He infiltrates one of the trucks and sees that they are stealing medicine, he also meets their “hostage”. She is obviously a member of the Flag Smashers, and kicks Bucky from the truck with great ease. The assault begins and both Sam and Bucky are engaged with the Flag Smashers on the top of the trucks. The fight cranks up when the new Captain America arrives with his right hand man, Battlestar. The fight rages on but the Flag Smashers manage to escape after a brief showdown between new Cap and the Flag Smasher leader. Sam and Bucky continue to bicker as they walk down the road after defeat. Luckily, John Walker and Lamar Hoskins drive up and offer them a ride. After much convincing, Sam and Bucky reluctantly accept. In the back of the military vehicle John, Sam, and Bucky all get to talk about the situation they find themselves in and Sam and Bucky make it clear how they feel about Walker carrying the shield. The Flag Smashers head to a safe house, here we learn that the “hostage” was really their leader Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), and that they may be doing more good than previously thought but they ominously prepare for the next mission. On the way back, Sam and Bucky discuss the possibility of the Flag Smashers being super soldiers when Bucky mentions someone that could shed light on the subject.
They jet to Baltimore where they meet with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) who lives with his grandson Eli (Elijah Richardson). Bradley was a secret Super Soldier who operated in the 50’s, clashed with the Winter Soldier, and does not like the American government for what they did to him and how they treated them after his time as a solider. Outside of Isaiah’s house, Sam confronts Bucky about why no one mentioned Isaiah’s existence before when they are interrupted by police after racially profiling Sam. But it turns out Bucky is wanted for missing his mandated therapy session, they arrest him. At the Station, Bucky is bailed out by John Walker, in full New Cap gear. Walker flexes his government muscles and changed the condition of Bucky’s parole so he can work with Walker. Before they can leave, Bucky’s therapist demands a session, with Bucky and Sam. In the session, Sam and Bucky continue to butt heads. Some form of progress comes from Bucky explaining why he is mad at Sam for giving up the Shield; Bucky explains that Sam giving up the Shield implies that Steve was about both of them. Sam hears this, but sticks to that he did what he thought was right. Outside of the precinct, Walker and Hoskins wait for them and the four exchange information about the Flag Smashers. Walker once again offers a partnership and Sam once again declines, but this time Walker warns them to not get in his way. Over in Slovakia, the Flag Smashers are getting ready to leave when they find out that the mysterious Power Broker has found them. One member stays behind to delay the Power Broker’s men, and does so, but they strike him down with ease. The rest of the Flag Smashers escape. Sam and Bucky are back to square one, all they know is that Hydra was involved in Isaiah’s life. So they decide they need to talk to the expert on Hydra, the infamous Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl)
The colorful past of Captain America seems to be more colorful than just red, white and blue. Not only do we get a glimpse into the psyche of John Walker in this episode, we meet his comic book side kick Battlestar as well as his wife Olivia. We get a real rounding of this character throughout the episode, he is strong willed, determined, a little jerk-ey, and is trying his best to be what he thinks Captain America is. But more importantly he is human, he has doubt, fears, and faults of his own which goes far into fleshing out the character and potential foil. Wyatt Russell perfectly embodies John Walker and manages to insert layers into his character that are never unwelcome in the MCU. I am excited to watch his evolution as the series progresses.
The Flag Smashers too got a bit fleshed out in this episode. It seems there is much more to them than a typical anarchist terrorist cell. They were stealing medicine and vaccines, presumably to give to those who could not afford it, and were praised as being like Robin Hood by the man who housed them. This could be a right idea, wrong approach situation for the Flag Smashers, they want to help those that suffered through the five years during the Blip and want to unify the world. They also have their own enemy, the Power Broker, who is very well connected and very dangerous. Their leader Karli Morgenthau is a gender swapped incarnation of the comic book Flag Smasher who was just one person, is played by Erin Kellyman who has done well to establish Karli’s character. Something tragic has happened to her, something that pushed her to this extreme action for a mostly noble cause. This could create great character drama and a possible swerve as to who the real Antagonist of the series is. Seeing as we are visiting Daniel Bruhl’s Helmut Zemo, we could get those answers sooner rather than later.
Introducing Isaiah Bradley was a larger moment for the MCU than some people may realize. In the comics, Bradley took up the mantle of Captain America after testing on 300 black men left him as a Super Soldier and sole survivor. His history is rich and contains the exact kind of racial commentary that is needed for this series but it also introduce another future hero. Isaiah lives with his grandson Eli Bradley who is known in the comics as Patriot. In the comics, Eli gets his powers from his grandfather from a blood transfusion but with the MCU anything is possible. The reason this excites me is because this is the third kid hero to be introduced in these the Disney+ shows. In WandaVision, her kids Billy and Tommy are known as Wiccan and Speed respectively and the young Hawkeye, Kate Bishop has been announced by to appear in the upcoming series Hawkeye and is to be played by Academy Award Nominee Hailee Steinfeld. I think Marvel and Disney are setting up for a project based on the Young Avengers comic series. All four of those characters have appeared on that roster at one point or another and would be a slam dunk for the younger audience coveted by the Disney executives.
There was a three pronged approach to constructing this episode. The goals were to establish Sam and Bucky’s relationship, introduce John Walker and the Flag Smashers, and establish the central theme to the series: race-relations. Through out the episode there moments that brought up race, the “White Panther” and “Black Falcon” jokes teased the subject, while Sam getting racially profiled in an impoverished neighborhood out right announced it. It was present in the first episode during the Bank scene but is prominent in “The Star-Spangled Man”. It’s a subject that needs to be addressed, not only in the MCU, but in America as a whole right now so I must commend Malcom Spellman for even attempting to have this conversation. But what is really impressive is how he sets up the series to do so. America has a literal and very legitimate claim to it by a white man and a black man. The Flag smashers are very Robin Hood like in their goals, believe in a united world, and have a multi-racial leader. We see exactly how America treats men of color, even the super ones. The message has been prepared, what matters now is what is being said and how the series continues to say it.