Marvel’s Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier began with star-spangled plans but, like its patriotic heroes, ended up with a complicated legacy.
This Captain America franchise sequel did offer many highlights. I enjoyed learning more fallout from the Blip (that is, Thanos’s “snap” decimation). For a TV series, it shared some fantastic action sequences. It boasted great character moments. And Baron Zemo was an absolute show-stealer.
Several glitches, however, kept Falcon from fully taking off. The story made admirable attempts to deal with real-world themes, but these often came off as clunky and simplistic. (Both conservative and liberal media critics I follow on Twitter recognized this.) As an organization, the Flag Smashers’ goal and ideology seemed terribly confusing. But worst of all, the character arc of John Walker, the new Captain America, ended up a bungled mess.
John Walker was actually one of my favorite characters. Actor Wyatt Russell absolutely nailed the performance of a “love-to-hate” villain. For the first five episodes, he was a highlight of the series for me. Then came episode six.
