The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Review: Not Even Poorly Handled Villains can Resist Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s Chemistry

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier take center stage in the latest Disney Plus series in the MCU. The premise of finding the next Captain America is cleverly used to examine race, PTSD and the consequences of bringing half of humanity back to life after 5 years.

When The Falcon and The Winter Soldier keeps the focus on super soldiers and what it means to be Captain America after Steve Rodgers, the series shines bright. Unfortunately, the return of Sharon Carter, while well-acted by Emily VanCamp, is a radical departure that simply doesn’t make sense given her arc up to this point.

The Flagsmashers start out promising but peter out as the series goes along. Erin Kellyman does a great job playing Karli Morgenthau, but the Flagsmashers just don’t pack the same narrative weight as the Captain America arc.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier isn’t a complete loss in the antagonist department. Jimmy Walker’s arc from decorated soldier to Captain America and where he finally ends up is outstanding and should be a breakout role for Wyatt Russell. Daniel Brühl returns as Baron Zemo for the first time since Captain America: Civil War. His intelligence and wit make for a fascinating foil opposite Sam and Bucky.

Anthony Mackie deserves awards consideration. Sebastian Stan is also fantastic throughout the series. A strong as Mackie’s performance is, it’s Carl Lumbly‘s pained portrayal of Isaiah Bradley that stands out. Lumbly turns in the best non-villain supporting cast performance in a comic book tv series. He eclipses Jesse L. Martin‘s performance as Joe West in season one of The Flash.

The action and special effects are fantastic throughout the series. Henry Jackman‘s score is also top notch. The MCU is officially two for two after WandaVision and now The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

With the overview out of the way, lets dive deeper into The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Please note there will be some minor spoilers. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is available on Disney Plus.

If you like the content on The Intersection and have the means, a donation is much appreciated. The Intersection will never have ads on the website. In order to expand coverage to golden-era tv shows and add new features, we need your help. You can provide a one-time donation via PayPal or Stripe below.

After Endgame

The return of half of humanity at the end of Avengers: Endgame has thrown the world off-kilter. To handle the sudden onslaught of humanity, the GRC was formed. The Global Repatriation Council was created to help those who were missing for the last five years. Unfortunately, this leads to some resentment from those who have been living on this planet for the last five years.

The anger leads to the creation of The Flagsmashers. Lead by Karli Morgenthau, the group is stealing vaccines and other items from the GRC. The introduction of the Flagsmashers is actually outstanding, but there’s just something missing from this group as the series goes along.

The Pilot also does a great job showing the other end of the spectrum. While those who remained on Earth are resentful, the re-snapped humans are also struggling to reclaim their existence. Despite his decorated military accolades, Sam Wilson can’t even secure a loan due to the long gap in his work history. Bucky Barnes does receive a pardon for his brainwashed actions as The Winter Soldier. However, he is also struggling with his existence without Steve Rodgers and trying to figure out how to make amends.

The series doesn’t shy away from the subject of race. When Sam and his sister are declined for a loan, his sister points out the discrimination. The loan officer says he’s on their side since her brother’s a hero, then indelicately asks for a selfie before declining the request. This scene is just the tip of the iceberg

When Sam and Bucky connect again, their reunion is frosty. Bucky is upset with Sam for turning over Captain America’s shield to the United State government in the Pilot. From Bucky’s point of view, Steve chose Sam to take up the mantle of Captain America. If Steve was wrong to choose Sam, then Steve was also wrong about Bucky being worthy of redemption. Make no mistake Bucky’s reasons are selfish, but not wrong.

Sam thought the shield was going to stay in the museum. The gesture being there is only one Captain America, Steve Rodgers. The government doesn’t feel that way and decides to find a new Captain America. Jimmy Walker takes up the mantle of Captain America. He’s briefly in the pilot episode, but we get a more comprehensive look at the man behind the red, white and blue in the 2nd episode.

The Falcon and The Winter Solider vs. The Shield

Walker’s a decorated soldier, but not superhuman at first. Alongside Battlestar (played by Clé Bennett) decides to take on the Flagsmashers on behalf of the GRC. He really does want to do the job, but as the series goes along it’s quite clear there’s only Steve Rodgers. After struggling to keep up with the Flagsmashers, Walker takes the last vial of the super-soldier serum.`

Sam and Bucky travel to Europe to take on the Flagsmashers. Mackie and Stan are fantastic together. Whether fighting on top of a truck or trying to have a conversation before jumping out of an airliner, their banter is fantastic. Whenever the focus is on Bucky and Sam, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier soars, when it begins to shift the focus away from the dynamic duo, then the series begins to drag a bit.

The enhanced Flagsmashers are able to defeat Bucky, Sam, Walker and Battlestar. After a less than warm meetup, the two teams go their separate ways. Walker and Battlestar stay in Europe to search for the Flagsmashers, while Sam and Bucky head back to the United States to learn more about the super-soldier serum.

Bucky introduces Sam to Isaiah Bradley. A black super soldier who was even able to defeat Bucky. His anger and pain are palpable. Like Steve, Isaiah defied orders to rescue his fellow soldiers. Steve was celebrated. Isaiah was imprisoned, tortured, experimented on and sadly forgotten.

The scenes between Sam and Isaiah pack such emotional weight. In the penultimate episode, Isaish warns Sam about taking on the Captain American mantle. Even if the United States allowed a black man to be Captain America, no self-respecting black man should accept the role. While the conversation does give Sam something to think about, it doesn’t influence his ultimate decision. In a wonderful conversation with his sister, Sam declares nobody gets to tell him what he will or won’t fight for and takes up the shield.

The best scene of the series is when Sam takes Isaiah and Eli Bradley to the Captain America exhibit. Added to the exhibit is a statue of Isaiah with a plaque recognizing Isaiah’s service.

The White Wolf

Despite being the more physically powerful character, Bucky is clearly Sam’s sidekick. While Stan’s comedic timing has never been better, it’s his dramatic opening scene in episode four that stands out. In a welcome flashback to his time in Wakanda, we see Ayo teaching Bucky how to resist the Hydra’s brainwashing code. The anguish on Bucky’s face while attempting to resist followed by his relief at succeeding is a tremendous bit of facial acting from Stan.

The begrudging respect between Bucky and Sam is perfectly paced. In the penultimate and best episode of the series, Sam and Bucky have some terrific scenes that showcase their growth. Bucky apologizes to Sam for taking him to task over returning the shield. He even points out that he and Steve had no idea what carrying the shield means for a black man. They had no right to thrust that role onto Sam.

Sam also gives Bucky some heartfelt advice. There’s no retort from Bucky. He listens to Sam, takes the advice to heart and puts in the work.

Power Breaking Villains

VanCamp does a great job adding some edge to Sharon Carter. Her reveal as the Power Broker is remarkably out of the left field. Other than adding another character from the films, she doesn’t really add much to the series. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier would have been better off not revealing the Power Broker.

Daniel Brühl is fantastic as Baron Zemo. His chemistry opposite Mackie and Stan is endlessly entertaining. When the show shifts its focus to Karli or the Power Broker, there’s just no comparison to Zemo. When Zemo exits the show, there’s nothing interesting about the villains in the last two episodes.

Jimmy Walker’s descent into madness after taking the super-soldier serum is handled quite well. The triple threat match featuring Walker, Bucky and Sam is the best fight scene of the series. Walker is brutal in the fight. He even comes close to killing Sam. Walker plays a big role in saving the GRC hostages in the finale. I didn’t have an issue with how chummy Bucky and Walker were during and after the rescue. However, Sam joking around with someone who nearly killed him doesn’t make much sense.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is another wonderful addition to the MCU. Her fit in the MCU feels just right after just a couple of scenes as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Her appearance was distracting at first, but watching Louis-Dreyfus chew scenery in the MCU is a treat.

Final Thoughts on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

When the focus is kept on race, Baron Zemo or The Falcon and The Winter Soldier dynamic, the series is tremendous. However, the villains don’t really pack enough of a punch. While we can empathize with Karli and The Flagsmasher, there comes a point in the series where they jump the shark. When that happens, you’re left with a villain that isn’t menacing enough and one you don’t care about.

There’s more than enough great things about this series to look forward to further adventures of Captain America and The Winter Solider.