We are down to the final two episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) latest Disney Plus series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (FWS). So, for this week’s recap (with Spoilers!) we’ll both look at what happened in episode 5 and also set the stage a bit for what to expect from the season finale, episode 6. Let’s get started!
Episode 5 kicks off immediately in the aftermath of the final scene of episode 4, where we saw John Walker’s ‘New” Captain America dose himself with the super-soldier serum and then lose control and kill one of the members of the terrorist organization the Flag Smashers. This comes right after the group’s leader kills Walker’s wingman, Battlestar in combat. Walker is consumed with range and chases down one of the other Flag Smashers trying to escape, incapacitates him, and then proceeds to kill him with Captain America’s shield. It’s a deliberately gruesome and disturbing scene. It is all captured on video by dozens of onlookers on their cell phones and immediately streamed around the world on social media.
He runs away, but Sam and Bucky quickly track him down as episode 5 opens. They make it clear that he needs to turn himself in and also give up the shield. Walker doesn’t see it that way. He immediately justifies his actions, saying he simply killed a dangerous terrorist who had just killed his partner. We know the man he killed isn’t even the person who did kill Lamar, but Walker seems to have a different sense of reality - possibly due to the serum?
Bucky and Sam fight with Walker, eventually taking the shield. But, not before Walker attempts to kill them both in the same way he killed the terrorist in the streets. Walker also destroys Sam’s Falcon suit in the process. Bucky heads off to wrap up the Zemo storyline, by showing that he truly is no longer the Winter Soldier and turning him over to the Wakandans. Meanwhile, Sam meets with his military contact, learns that they have been benched in the pursuit of the Flag Smashers, for now, leaves his broken Falcon suit behind, and heads home to Lousiana, with the shield.
New Cap Faces Consequences
There is little doubt that Walker must face some sort of consequences for his actions, especially since it was captured on video by a huge crowd. The US government brings him before a committee, which strips him of his rank, gives him a dishonorable discharge from the military, and officially takes the mantle of Captain America away from him. He argues against it, again trying to justify his actions, but to no avail. We can now retire #NotMyCap since Walker is most definitely no longer Captain America.
The episode mostly leaves Walker behind at this point, other than an interesting appearance of a new character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and a post-credit scene of Walker building his own shield. So, we definitely haven’t seen the last of John Walker, super-soldier.
Sam Takes up the Shield
We knew from series previews that Sam would at some point be training with the shield and we finally get that payoff in this episode. Once Bucky and Sam take down Walker and confiscate the shield from #NeverWasMyCap, Sam initially takes it to visit Isaiah Bradley, who we had learned previously was an African-American soldier who was experimented on during WWII and given a version of the super-soldier serum. It is a great scene that picks up the topic of race that has been discussed in various ways throughout the series. After the conversation, Sam heads home to Louisiana with the shield, still uncertain what he plans to do. But, after a visit from Bucky and some soul searching, we see Sam make a decision and he begins training and learning to use the shield, Steve Rogers-style.
As his training wraps up, Sam is ready to head to NY to take on the Flag Smashers for a final showdown, once they get intelligence that the group is likely attacking a large government meeting - which we see is true as the episode wraps up. We also get a glimpse of Sam opening a case that Bucky brought him as a gift from Wakanda. We don’t know what’ inside, but we’ll speculate momentarily.
The Calm Before the Storm?
This episode is lighter on the action, other than a great fight scene to kick things off between Bucky and Sam and Walker. From there, it becomes a lot more introspective, as events move toward the conclusion in the next episode. But, while it is a relatively quiet episode, that doesn’t mean a lot doesn’t happen, story-wise.
- Sam and Bucky more or less cement their friendship and partnership, even if they will never say it entirely.
- Walker is thrown out of the military but gets a provocative offer from scene-snatching, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
- Bucky first confronts Zemo and turns him over to the Wakandans, and then comes to some important realizations about his attempts to make amends for his time as the Winter Soldier.
- Karli shows that even if her cause has some justification, she is willing to go to any lengths to achieve her ends.
What’s Left to Wrap Up?
Alright, we have a lot of loose ends to pick up in the finale. Let’s cover just a few questions that the final episode needs to clear up for viewers.
- Where will the world stand after the Flag Smashers are defeated? We can assume the group will be defeated, but will there be long-term repercussions? We expect so.
- What is John Walker’s future? This one is really up in the air. He is making a shield, but we know he isn’t Captain America anymore. So, is he going to crash the party as a vigilante Cap or does he have something more sinister in mind? In his mind, he is the hero, so anything is possible.
- Who is the Power Broker? We’re still betting that the Power Broker is Agent Carter. The guess is she is set up for bigger things as this character in future MCU content.
- What’s with the Julia Loui-Dreyfus intro? No idea whatsoever. But, the rumor is that Marvel has big plans for this character as a villain going forward. So, stay tuned.
- What’s in the box from Wakanda? We’re thinking this is a new high-tech Falcon/Captain America suit for Sam. Remember, Sam is not a super-soldier, so maybe this is some Wakandan tech to level the playing field a bit.
- Sam Officially Becomes Captain America. We’re just putting this one down as fact. Looking forward to the new Captain America - a great successor to the original!
