Review: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – Truth s01e05

With some key scenes for the future of the MCU and a frenetic fight sequence, episode 5 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, ‘Truth’ certainly delivers, and sets up the series to have an explosive finale.  *Warning! Some Spoilers Ahead!*

Much of this week’s episode dealt with the consequences of John Walker (Wyatt Russell) losing the plot and killing the member of the Flag Smashers at the shocking end of episode 4.  These consequences are also not that simply dealt with either, as they range from the most obvious removal of Walker as Captain America to the implications of Sam (Anthony Mackie) potentially taking over.

In many ways though, while this had a lot of great elements to it, much like the very first episode, ‘Truth’ felt that it was half of a two-parter, rather than a complete episode.  In a similar manner to how the first two episodes played out, episodes 5 and 6 will probably end up being a great story together, and ultimately it will all flow if binged at once.  With everyone on tenterhooks to find out the next instalment though, in the short term it’s a bit flawed.

What we do get is excellent however and goes into some areas that it was possible they may have shied away from.  The most critical of these is the reappearance of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), who could have easily been much more of a story in this series.  What we get here though is some of Sam’s own reservations put into clear words, and a negative view on the Shield from someone whose hard experience has burned this opinion into them.

Isaiah’s treatment at the hands of the government has given him the perspective that America does not have his or Sam’s best interests at heart, and that a Black man cannot and should not be Captain America.  This leaves Sam in a bit of a quandary as he tries to reconcile the differing viewpoints and his own experience.  Interestingly, later on Bucky (Sebastian Stan) discusses the issue with him and acknowledges that neither he nor Steve (Chris Evans) fully appreciated what it really meant when Steve offered Sam the Shield.

It’s a very well-done scene and it was important that the show started to address these issues.  I say started, as it should be an ongoing discussion as things develop.  Here they have begun that process by looking at what the Shield stands for as a symbol in itself, and how the notion of being an everyman hero has changed over the decades.  Things are different now compared to when Steve Rogers became Captain America, but that isn’t to say that some of the same problems don’t persist.

Isaiah’s experiences reveal ugly truths from the past, and that informs Sam’s decision going forward.  Here they spend time with Sam’s family, working on the boat, which is both a good respite for him, and the right environment to ask the hard questions.  Who is he fighting for, and can he be a symbol of hope, fighting for a country that does not respect him?  Building on Sam’s various appearances as Captain America in the comics, this will be an interesting and important storyline going forward.

While the rightful owner of the Shield considers the future on one side of the plot, on the other, the previous owner falls further into delusional behaviour.  Walker gets kicked out of the military and stripped of all his benefits due to his actions, but he just blames the government for building him this way.  Clearly, as others have stated, the serum has amplified the core of who he is, which others just didn’t quite see.  Now however, there is no escaping it.

He has also become effectively a free agent, and definitely a super-powered loose cannon, which will most likely come back to haunt the government at some stage.  Apart from his obvious rantings at how unfair everything is and how he’s the victim, we also see him moving from words into action in the post-credits scene.  Here he starts to make his own knock-off shield, even melting down old medals to stick on it.  It’s a shonky looking thing and nothing like the real one, so it could be useless in practice.

Where his current mindset sees him end up no one knows, but the cameo by the mysterious   Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hints at him being used for, or at least being invited to take part in some nefarious activities at some stage.  Already in a grey area, Walker will no doubt end up even more in a deluded dark side.

‘Truth’ deals with quite a lot and brings in some intriguing aspects to the show, but ends at the wrong point, teasing a conclusion that is too out of reach.  Missing a few elements, it doesn’t feel like it hits either the right plateau or a high point and makes the episode a little unbalanced.  There are some other smaller bits thrown in too that currently don’t lead anywhere in this episode, such as Sharon’s (Emily VanCamp) brief contribution, which in either a longer episode or a two-parter would make more sense.  Instead, they just randomly hang in the air.

That isn’t to say that it is a weak episode, it’s just that when all the episodes are viewed altogether, ‘Truth’ will probably be far greater than it seems right now.  For the time being we’ll just have to be content with a great first half of the conclusion, until we get the finale next week.