One of the most anticipated shows of the year, “The Falcon and Winter Soldier” did not disappoint. It has a star studded cast with Sebastian Stan who plays Bucky Barnes or The Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie who plays Sam Wilson or The Falcon, Daniel Brühl who plays Helmut/Baron Zemo, and Wyatt Russel as John Walker or the new Captain America.

The show follows Sam and Bucky after the events of “Avengers Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” We see Bucky going to therapy and even sleeping on the ground having nightmares because he is coping with the fact he killed people as the Winter Soldier. Referring to the time where he was brainwashed and used as an assassin for Hydra. At the end of Avengers Endgame, the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, handed down the shield and the mantle  of Captain America to Sam. Due to the fact Sam believed he could never live up to the mantle, he gave away the shield to a museum to honor Steve’s memory. Bucky is furious with Sam because he gave away the shield thinking if Cap was wrong about Sam then he was wrong about Bucky being able to redeem himself. The main conflict follows Bucky and Sam going up against the terrorist organization called the Flag Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau. The organization is enhanced with the super soldier serum. Due to the void that Captain America left they gave away the mantle and shield to special operations officer John Walker. 

John Walker, who has three medals of honor, and is the first person to do so, works alongside his long time partner and best friend Lamar. Walker is defined by his past, he feels like what he did to earn those medals of honor was morally wrong. He feels like with the shield and the mantle of Captain America he can finally do something that is morally right. But he thinks it is not enough for the shield which leads him to taking the super soldier serum which gives you enhanced strength, speed and endurance. He is motivated to take the serum because he feels inadequate, and believes he needs to take the super soldier serum to be strong enough to beat his enemies. When he takes the serum he is able to fight and even beat the super soldiers. When Karli kills his best friend Lamar, he goes overboard and kills someone with the shield in front of many people recording him on their phones. 

The main antagonist in the show is Karli Morgenthau. In 2018, the mad titan, Thanos, collected all five Infinity Stones, and destroyed half of all life in the universe, an event which came to be known as the Blip. Karli was amongst the survivors, and became leader of an organization called the Flag Smashers, a group of people who believe that the world was better off during the blip. When Hulk brought everyone back the world went into chaos because half of the population willed into existence. Borders closed again and began the uprising of the Flag smashers. The issue with her character stems from Sam because his only plan is to talk with her and try to reason with her, he thinks she will come quietly, the plan does not seem very smart. She is acting like a psychopath and Sam should see that and have a plan for John Walker to apprehend her while he’s talking to her.  

The show has many plot holes. In Episode 3 Sam, Bucky, and Zemo are trying to find leads on who manufactured the super soldier serum for the Flag Smashers. While undercover and in the middle of the meeting with a powerful criminal, Sam’s personal phone goes off, blowing their cover and almost getting them killed. Why does he have his phone on and why doesn’t he have a burner phone , they are with an escaped villain. When the fighting breaks out after Sam’s phone goes off, Sharon Carter comes in and saves the day out of nowhere. How does she find them? Nothing in the show clarifies how she finds them. Same principle applies when the Dora-Milaje finds Bucky to come and get Zemo. in episode 4 when the Dora-Milaje comes for Zemo they fight John Walker and Zemo escapes through the sewer in the hotel. The Dora-Milaje and really the whole show just forgets about the Sokovia Accords. The Wakandan King signed the accords and respected its laws. So when the Dora-Milaje say they have justadiction wherever they find themselves is just a completely disregards for their Kings forgein policies. As well, in episode 5 the dialogue has little substance and there’s not alot of character development. Overall the show makes us try to sympathies for karli when she is clearly a terrorist 

The show is very juvilie in its approach to social commentary, in the series finale Sam lectures to the senators on what the flag smashers movement represented and what they wanted to accomplish. He was also trying to say that the government doesn’t understand the situation. In reality it’s Sam who does not understand the situation at hand. Sam does not know how to label anyone the flag smashers are terrorists. They are blowing up buildings and killing people, they even killed a government officer. Sam is also implying the reason Steve Rogers got the shield is because he is white but in reality it was because Steve was a good man and the perfect soldier for the job.

The show has very ludacris logic in a lot of aspects of it. While the show is enjoyable to watch, it damages the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). It sets us well for Captain America 4 that will be with the same main characters as the show.