Review: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – The Star Spangled Man s01e02

Continuing on from last week’s opener, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has now established itself a bit more and the latter half of episode 2, ‘The Star Spangled Man’, begins the story proper.  *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*

The biggest problem with the beginning of this series has been that it didn’t feel like it started with a complete episode, and that as a ‘pilot’ it needed more.  They didn’t even have Sam (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) in a scene together last week for instance, and left it weirdly hanging.  This would have been easily corrected had they added the first third or so of this episode onto it or release the pair of them at the same time.  As noted last week, they did this with Wandavision, but for some reason they bungled that this time around.

The main driver for the plot in ‘The Star Spangled Man’ continues to be the Flag Smashers, with Torres (Danny Ramirez) working his magic to get Sam the intel he needs.  This leads to Sam investigating a medicine smuggling operation in Munich, headed up by Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman).  As Bucky turns up to berate Sam about giving up the shield, just as the mission is about to start, he tags along.  This is probably partly so he can continue to argue with Sam, and partly so he has something to do, as he is feeling quite lost.

While the mission does go a little sideways, it does feature an assist from the newly installed Captain America (Wyatt Russell) and his sidekick Battlestar (Clé Bennett).  This is probably the first proper mission as the new ‘Captain America’, as John Walker has spent a while on a bit of a PR tour, doing interviews and promotional appearances.  On the face of it he is a good choice for the role, but he quickly becomes quite unlikeable and irritating, as there is a narcissism and antagonistic edge to him.  It is quite obvious he doesn’t suit the mantle or ethos of Captain America, and this will not end well.

The character of John Walker is one from the annals of Marvel history, who started out as ‘Super Patriot’, before becoming Captain America, and then later U.S. Agent.  Like the other Marvel adaptations, this series has taken a classic figure that may be less well known to the general viewer, and cleverly interwoven it into the MCU in a way that is interesting.  Here, they’ve changed up the story a little, but raised a few of the same issues his original introduction in the comics did, plus highlighted some others.

With the appearance of an old acquaintance of Bucky’s, Isaiah (Carl Lumbly), they’ve definitely raised a few questions already which play into a lot of the same issues that John Walker will provoke.  From here we are certain to see things becoming not quite so clear cut for either Sam or Bucky, as the past and their potential future becomes a thorn in their side.  Their individual guilt, morals and experiences will come to the fore and they’ll definitely be tested.  This could be one of the most interesting angles of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, if it does indeed take a look at the machine behind their endeavours, and why they do what they do.

At the heart of this episode is the duo of Sam and Bucky though, two allies who don’t entirely know each other that well.  There is a friendship that is building, but they also grate against each other to an unhealthy degree.  What this means for the drama is that we get the benefit of a lot of fantastic and snappy dialogue, which works brilliantly throughout ‘The Star Spangled Man’.  That they both have a distaste for the new ‘Captain America’ and for the intervention of psychiatrist Dr Rayner (Amy Aquino) is helpful in giving them common targets too.  Through their investigation Sam is also learning new information about Bucky’s past too, adding new layers to the character, and their relationship.

Fundamentally it feels that the show is now on a much surer footing, and the uneasy, fragmented start of ‘New World Order’ has been corrected with ‘The Star Spangled Man’.  There is still a way to go, but it looks like they will at least step into the next episode much more confidently and be able to stretch their wings significantly into the broader story.  Based on where we are currently in the narrative though, it seems odd that there are only 6 episodes, as it feels like things may become rushed.  Hopefully that won’t be the case and there will still be time for the proper character development a series can provide.  Everything does looking promising though and is on an upward trajectory.