Marvelous Geeks

“One World, One People” concludes The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, except this clearly isn’t a series finale because nothing is wrapped in the kind of bow we’d prefer so, I suppose we shall now have to wait to hear what’s happening because what!? (Marvel has confirmed there will be a Captain America 4 film starring Anthony Mackie, so that could be it.) That said, I’m not going to get into the fact that everything apart from Sam Wilson’s arc felt rushed and incoherent, executed in such a way that I just don’t even want to bother trying to figure out. So for this week’s highlights, there are no highlights, not in the way there have been before, instead, there is only Sam Wilson appreciation.

O’ Captain My Captain.

Sam Wilson is finally and officially Captain America, and if I was less emotional about this, I might be able to talk about it more. “Yet I’m still here. No super serum. No blond hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better. We can’t demand that people step up if we don’t meet them halfway.” The sole fact that Sam does not need the super serum is so important to note because it’s what makes his story beautiful.

The thing with the serum is that it only amplifies, and thereby, somehow, Sam’s empathy would be maximized in tenfold. Imagine it for a moment. Because Steve Rogers was great and wonderful, and I will always adore him, but Sam’s empathy is something else. It’s not like anything we have seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it largely comes from everything he has been through. Steve needed the serum because he couldn’t join the army, but Sam already has the in and the technology through red wing to stand on his own without the serum.

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The truth is, I loved this episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier with my whole heart and ugly cried through ninety percent of it. And if you know anything about me, it should be that when I cry, something is amazing. “Truth” was nothing short of that–in its execution, the performances, and the remarkable vulnerability it allowed us to see between our favorite heroes.

We got moments of quiet comfort, fantastic transparency, and a whole lot of humor effortlessly interwoven in the midst of an episode that was actually darker in its realism. The balance and the heart worked wondrously and now that this is the penultimate, I’m actually sad we don’t have too much more of this. We got Sarah back. We got Isaiah. We got Torres. And it was all that I had asked for during last week’s review.

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April 4-10 “The Whole World is Watching” | The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan is a fascinating performer with incredible range and the kind of actor whose roles are often easily transformative, which allow viewers to separate each of his characters effortlessly. He’s not just Bucky Barnes, and he’s never been, which in and of itself is incredibly rewarding to see as viewers. Stan is remarkable and in this episode, he’s the most nuanced we’ve seen him as Bucky.

This is the first time I’ve cried and cared about Bucky this deeply and that makes me happier than I can say. Don’t at me, I’ve adored the character, but I haven’t cried the way I did watching this performance. (And yes, I listened to “The Winter Soldier” theme the entire time while writing. You have to set the mood, right?!)

As mentioned in our highlights for “The Whole World is Watching,” this is the one scene where not many in the universe actually saw and yet, it was the most powerful showcase of a rollercoaster of emotions. This is also what made WandaVision so special because moments of vulnerability with the characters who are supposed to be our heroes grounds them so beautifully, it’s almost hard to bear.

Bucky’s freedom has mattered exponentially. The torture, the darkness, the regrets, the burdens, the demons–he’s carried it all with him long after freedom was achieved, but even then, the transition from the Winter Soldier to the White Wolf was an extraordinary sight for us to see with Ayo, and I’m thrilled the series gave it to us.

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I’m actually thrilled to report that four episodes in and I’ve finally got a lot to highlight with this one. However, it doesn’t mean that I’m still not frustrated with the way this series is developing in the short amount of time we have. If this were a full on series full of multiple seasons, then sure, give me characters I don’t necessarily care about, I’ll take it (begrudgingly), but I won’t be this hard on the show. It’s the fact that The Falcon and The Winter Solider is a mini-series that essentially gets to me because moments of vulnerability and developing the characters we know and love is what should have taken priority.

Spoilers for “The Whole World is Watching” ahead. If you’ve yet to watch the brand new episode, don’t proceed further. Also, my opinion is not the be all and end all.

When we were told Sharon Carter would be featured, I didn’t expect to just be given crumbs of her character and less than five minutes of screen time per episode. (And maybe that’s on me for expecting too much, but seldom has the Marvel Cinematic Universe disappointed me with flushing storylines out inorganically.) Also, I’m all for new characters, during the first episode I mentioned being excited that we were getting to know Sam’s family and yet, still not enough of Sarah. Where is Yori? Where is Leah? These are the characters I care about. And as of today, I even care a tremendous amount about Erin Kellyman’s Karli. I also hate how much I’m interested in Zemo’s arc, but how does one not after last week’s episode and especially, the debut of the #ZemoCut? Iconic. Where is Torres? What’s he up to? I know I’m not the only one who also cares about him.

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We’re halfway into The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and the series still hasn’t left me enamored in any way, which is quite frankly disappointing. That isn’t to say that it is doing great things with its more serious storylines that are reflective of our time, and crucial, but still, there is no part of me that’s invested in any of the characters we’ve met so far. Too much plot, not enough character development is never my jam. And thus far, I care very little about the super soldiers and especially, very little about faux America.

As always, these episodes are not spoiler free, so if you’ve yet to watch the new episode, do not proceed further until you have.

Sadly, “Power Broker” left me with very few things to actually highlight and analyze in-depth which also isn’t my jam. But while being unbearably slow at times, it gave us one of my all-time favorite scenes and if you heard screeching miles away, that was likely me. This week’s episode brought Sharon back into the picture and she made a deal with Sam in order to clear her name and finally get to go home. And in the end, we get a Dora Milaje (Ayo’s) cameo—yes please.

If anyone knows anything about me that isn’t related to Steve Rogers, it’s that the one Marvel Cinematic Universe scene that lives rent free in my mind is from Captain America: Civil War.

“Can you move your seat up?” “No.”

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This week’s brand new episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier set the plot in motion better than its pilot, but still with only four more episodes left, it needs to do better with bringing our main characters front and center. Less of Faux America and more of anyone else. That said, “The Star-Spangled Man” gave us just enough emotional beats to keep us invested and we’ll always take what we can get with riveting storytelling as such. *Spoilers ahead–proceed only if you’ve seen the episode.

Couples Therapy and Soul Gazing

If Sam and Bucky could do therapy at least once a week together, we’d be happy, but we know that’s likely not going to happen so we’ll take what we can get especially when it was this good. After Bucky is arrested for missing a session, Dr. Raynor sits the two of them down together to discuss their issues. Following a stupidly entertaining staring contest, Bucky cracks finally admitting just how much it bothers him that Sam gave up the shield when Steve strictly trusted him with it.

“Why’d you give up that shield? Steve believed in you. He trusted you.”

And this matters so much to him not because of any underlying resentment, which is remarkable to see because it’s a showcase of character and his own beliefs in Sam too. But also, for Bucky this means that if Steve was wrong about Sam then he was wrong about believing in him too. This is where the show gets good and these are the kind of breakthroughs we’d been hoping for as viewers.

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The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s premiere, “New World Order” was great until it wasn’t. A solid first episode to begin with that’s certainly setting the stage up for a lot, but nonetheless, a bit jarring here and there.

Sam Goes Home to Louisiana

Sam has always been one of our favorite characters introduced into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and to learn more about him is something that we’ll always take. On “New World Order” he goes home to Louisiana and we meet his sister, Sarah (Adepero Oduye). As we learn, Sarah wasn’t part of the blip, and while the world disappeared for five years, she tried to make ends meet in order to take care of her sons and their home. Sarah wants to sell their family boat, but Sam doesn’t, instead deciding that they could get a loan and fix it all up. (It’s a little early, but we’re already saying it, Sarah is likely going to be our favorite character on this show.)

Sam’s persistence and getting to know this side of his character riveting—his sister’s concerns, entirely understandable. Part of what’s making this series so fascinating is watching these characters navigate through a world five years after they’d been missing. As we know because of Avengers: Endgame, they came back straight into battle then to a funeral. The after is something we’re intrigued with, the sadness and heartaches it’s bringing, entirely something we can’t wait to see explored. The deplorable racism by the bank teller? Get him out of our faces.

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It is no surprise that we have superhero fatigue. I feel like it’s something I keep saying on here every time I come on to write something about Marvel. But it’s Marvel–they have me, to the end of time devoted and excited, no matter how exhausted. And that is certainly the case with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. I’m hyped. At this point, and after the success of WandaVision, all of us at Marvelous Geeks are hyped.

In the past, we knew anything and everything about Marvel. We walked into everything with 101 theories and more than a few of them were always true. And those who follow along with the Marvelous Geeks podcast know this is especially true with Peggy Carter. But after Avengers: Endgame we decided to take somewhat of a different approach, stepping back a little to fully enjoy and that proved to be an exceptional decision since WandaVision has managed to surprise us week after week. So with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier we are taking that same step back. But what we are going to do because Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes basically own our hearts is, we are going to have highlights for every episode following the premiere–because really, how could we not? Who would we be if we didn’t?

We all have a random Marvel Cinematic Universe moment that lives rent free in our minds–mine is and has been unchanged since: “Can you move your seat up?” “No.”, and truly though, can anyone blame me? We all knew these two needed a spin-off from that very moment, and the fact that we are actually getting it, in a little over a month is still unbelievable. It’s going to be marvelous (pun intended). Just watch the trailer. (We know you’ve all watched it over and over again as we have, but watch it again. It just keeps getting better.)

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