TV Review: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 1

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 1 “New World Order”

Director: Kari Skogland

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Don Cheadle, Danny Ramirez, Georges St-Pierre, Erin Kellyman

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 49 minutes

Spoilers follow:

I’m excited to some extent for almost all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new and upcoming projects but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the one that feels the most directly tailored to my specific tastes regarding the franchise.  I’ve always preferred the military/espionage side of the MCU to any of its other corners and Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier are two of my favorite characters.  Their love/hate dynamic was a highlight of Captain America: Civil War and I know I’m not the only fan who spends a lot of time on YouTube bingeing on videos of the two actors goofing off together on press tours whenever a new Marvel movie with the two of them comes out.  So a buddy cop series of their characters battling super-terrorism while snarking back and forth at one another always sounded like Marvel at its best to me.  The series premiere mostly lived up to even my lofty expectations, delivering a ton of great MCU fun and spectacle while also bringing increased depth to Bucky and Sam’s characters and delving gracefully into important societal issues, suggesting it will be a worthy successor to WandaVision, another superhero series with deep real-world relevance.  But there is one odd creative choice about the first episode that holds it back somewhat and prevents it from giving a complete idea of what the show is really going to be.

The weird thing about the Falcon and the Winter Soldier pilot is that Bucky and Sam don’t interact in it.  At all.  Despite its massive and exhilarating action scenes, the first episode is very much a slow burn that gradually depicts how the world of the MCU has changed following the monumental events of Avengers: Endgame and how the characters are starting new phases in their lives.  For the most part, this works very well and the surprisingly somber tone of much of the episode is appropriate given the serious, pressing themes it studies.  But it also feels both a bit disappointing and misleading to not put the two leads together yet, as the comedy that will surely come when they do meet up is one of the series’ main attractions but could now lead to some tonal whiplash.  Still, while the choice to keep the titular characters separate is questionable and means that it’s maybe not the ideal version of the episode, the version we do get is very strong overall.

After a brief introductory scene of Sam getting dressed while audio from the end of Endgame, where he says the Captain America shield feels “Like it’s someone else’s,” and Steve Rogers replies that “It isn’t,” we cut to him on a mission for the Air Force.  Still operating as Falcon, Sam has to rescue a captured soldier from a group of terrorists and mercenaries led by Georges Batroc (Georges St-Pierre, reprising his Captain America: The Winter Soldier role) while they are flying through Tunisia.  The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was meant to be Marvel’s first Disney Plus series before COVID altered the schedule and there are several points throughout the pilot where it’s easy to see that Marvel Studios was intending for the show to make some very clear statements about what the future of MCU TV is going to entail, with this extended dogfight action scene being the first.  The scale and production value demonstrated throughout Sam’s mission are on levels that no other superhero show on TV (not even The CW’s high-budgeted Superman and Lois) can hope to match and it shows that Marvel and Disney are devoting the same kind of resources and attention to their streaming series as they do to the movies. There is some practical stunt work in moments where Sam is fighting within different aircraft but the scene also has to make use of extensive CGI and the visual effects are as good as can be imagined, thanks to the massive amounts of money Marvel and Disney have at their disposal.  I was always impressed at how the movies, particularly Captain America: Civil War, blended Sam’s flight with hand to hand combat, and parts of the rescue mission even improve on those earlier scenes, with Sam bouncing around the cabin of a large plane while duking it out with some bad guys, using the speed and agility his flight tech gives him in some really fun, creative, ways. The scene continues to be equally impressive when it gets back to Sam battling throughout the open skies and director Kari Skogland does an excellent job of capturing the incredible speed at which Sam and his enemies (some of whom use more realistic flight suits to jump between helicopters) are moving without letting the camera work become too dizzying or otherwise overwhelming. Batroc’s role is pretty brief but the show makes a point of showing him escaping before his chopper goes down, suggesting St-Pierre could return again later in the show or in another Marvel property.

After successfully completing his mission Sam is repairing his drone sidekick, Redwing, in a Tunisian café when he’s greeted by a military contact, Joaquín Torres (Danny Ramirez).  Their talk reveals that Sam has been working with the Air Force throughout the six months since Endgame while also providing exposition on the state of the world following “the Blip” (the five years when the half of the population Thanos snapped away was gone).  Torres is particularly concerned about the rise of new radical groups, including the Flag Smashers, who believe the world was better off during the Blip and are trying to bring about a world without separate countries.  Sam tells him to keep an eye on them and update him if he thinks there’s a genuine terror threat but heads back to the U.S.  At a ceremony at the Smithsonian honoring Steve, Sam publicly relinquishes the shield so it can be preserved in the museum, something the government was clearly urging him to do.  This scene makes another overt point about MCU TV, namely that it will be as inter-connected as the films, with us getting our first cameo from another Avenger barely more than ten minutes into the series. James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is in the audience and afterward, he and Sam have a rather grim talk about the state of the world.  Obviously, everyone will be hoping Rhodey will return for some action in his War Machine armor at some point down the line but I quite like that he’s used purely for interpersonal material here.  Rhodey is clearly disappointed at Sam’s decision not to take up the Captain America identity, likely because he understands the positive impact having a black man occupy that role would have, but he also respects his friend’s reluctance and doesn’t push too hard.  Cheadle is one of many great actors in the MCU but his part doesn’t always allow him to show his range so it’s nice to see him used in such a personal, thematic way and he brings a lot of gravitas to the scene.

Elsewhere, Bucky wakes up from a nightmare memory of one of his missions for Hydra as the Winter Soldier in which he kills a group of armed men, as well as an innocent bystander who witnesses the attack.  Bucky’s arc in the series is clearly going to focus on his guilt and PTSD but as sad as it was for him this scene is another treat for viewers.  Bucky’s intense fight scenes were highlights of both Captain America sequels but the Avengers movies he appeared in, in which he fought against monstrous aliens, mostly reduced him to one of many supporting characters firing guns.  Getting him back to fighting human enemies, and doing so mostly hand to hand or with his knives, is a great way to remind the viewer of how badass and unstoppable he can be, even though he regrets his violent past.  Much of the music in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is composed by Henry Jackman, who also worked on both Cap sequels.  This gives the series a good sense of continuity with its cinematic predecessors and the return of the disturbing, shrieking sounds that accompany the Winter Soldier are especially appreciated.

Bucky is next shown in one of his therapy sessions, which were apparently a mandated condition of a pardon he received for his crimes.  He tells his therapist, Dr. Raynor (Amy Aquino) about how he accomplished one of the tasks on his to-do list for making amends for his time as the Winter Soldier by turning in a politician who had been in league with Hydra to the authorities.  He claims to have gone about doing so while following Raynor’s strict rules for working toward redemption nonviolently, but that’s not exactly true.  Yes, he didn’t actually attack the politician but he took control of her car with a remote device to drive it around like crazy and scare her into compliance. The fact that he followed this up by reciting his therapy-approved affirmation to introduce himself was very funny, allowing Stan to show off a playful side he hasn’t gotten to use much since the first Cap movie, though he also made sure to maintain the air of danger that tends to accompany Bucky.  Raynor criticizes Bucky for his lack of progress in building up social relationships, noting how there are a lot of texts from Sam on his phone he never replied to.  I can’t say I think the Raynor character is introduced very well. There are aspects of her that work, like her own military background that gives her common ground with Bucky, but the writing and Aquino’s performance make her seem unnecessarily cold.  Obviously, tough love is a tactic therapists must use, especially with a patient as unique and potentially difficult as Bucky, but Raynor still comes across as overly harsh at points.  For example, I’m not sure why exactly she doesn’t believe Bucky when he says he’s trying to find peace.  But while the therapy sequence isn’t written perfectly it is shot in very interesting ways.  Ironically, WandaVision went rather far beyond the MCU movies in terms of varying its visuals and filmmaking style outside of action scenes and Skogland’s direction suggests that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will do the same.  Much of the therapy scene is shot from unusual angles that view Bucky and Raynor from diagonals, with the camera raised slightly above their heads.  These shots are also extreme close-ups.  The angle highlights Stan’s eyes, which are very expressive as they often are, while the encroaching camera highlights the discomfort of the situation.  What I really like about this material for Bucky is how it reflects the experiences of real-world veterans.  Of course, Bucky’s situation is exacerbated by the fact that he was forced to fight and kill for his country’s enemies after already doing so for his country in WWII but his struggle to reintegrate into peaceful civilian life is something a lot of real soldiers struggle with and this theme and Stan’s excellent, haunted performance give the episode a lot of its best pathos.

After therapy we next see Bucky stopping an elderly Asian man named Yori (Ken Takemoto) from getting into a fight with his neighbor.  While they’re having lunch, Yori asks out the waitress, Leah (Miki Ishikawa) he and Bucky are familiar with on Bucky’s behalf.  Soon after Yori is overcome with emotion after being reminded of his son, who vanished under mysterious circumstances, and is believed to have been murdered.  During their date, Leah mentions how sad Yori’s situation is, which causes Bucky to abruptly leave.  He goes to see Yori, claiming he’s there to pay him back for lunch but stops before saying what he really meant to.  He looks at the shrine Yori has to his son, who the viewer will recognize as the student the Winter Soldier killed.  After Bucky leaves he is shown looking at a notebook full of names of people he plans to make amends to, with Yori’s name circled.  Although somewhat predictable this reveal is still a devastating gut punch and I think there’s a good likelihood that coming clean to Yori will be how Bucky’s arc for the series, which is off to a very strong start so far, wraps up.

Following the Smithsonian ceremony, Sam goes to Louisiana to visit his sister, Sarah (Adepero Oduye), a widowed mother of two who has maintained their family’s seafood business.  Sarah’s in a rough spot financially and wants to sell the family boat but Sam objects, not wanting to abandon their parents’ legacy.  Oduye has a strong presence onscreen and crafts good rapport with Mackie, although I do hope we can see Sam and Sarah at points where they’re not in conflict so we also get to appreciate the positive aspects of their relationship.  The loan officer at the bank recognizes Sam, though only after he mimes flapping wings and asks for a selfie, but still won’t give them a loan, citing Sam’s lack of income over the last five years (he’s surprised to learn Sam wasn’t paid as an Avenger), even though he had been erased from existence at the time.  The race-related undertones of this scene aren’t made explicit but they don’t really have to be.  The loan officer’s treatment of Sam feels like a very realistic portrayal of experiences black celebrities have, in which they are fetishized and expected to constantly entertain white people, even when said white people can’t and or won’t treat them as they deserve in important matters because of institutional racism.  Sam’s economic struggles also add to the study of veterans’ experience.  After leaving the bank Sarah again tries to get Sam to relent and agree to sell the boat and criticizes him for trying to swoop back in and change things for their family after he was absent because of his military and superhero service following their father’s death.  Mackie’s performances have meant that Sam has always been a nuanced character but this series has more time than any of the movies to really flesh out his background which adds additional depth to his character and so far it’s making great use of the opportunity.

Torres attends a Flag Smashers demonstration in Switzerland.  People gather on a street confused until a couple of members pass out masks with the group’s distinctive logo.  All of a sudden someone in one of the masks burst out of the window of a building, landing in the midst of the group from a height that should have injured them, with two large bags filled with something they stole.  They pass the bags off to two other members and the three of them disappear into the crowd.  But when a cop starts beating up one of the masked demonstrators, one of the thieves sends him flying with one hit, indicating that they have superhuman strength.  Torres pulls a gun on them but they quickly disarm him and slam him to the ground.  Obviously using oblivious followers as a smokescreen is rather slimy and the actual members seem pretty ruthless and dangerous but I like how the show doesn’t present the Flag Smashers as totally one-note terrorist villains.  Torres and Sam acknowledge that their goal of a unified world is an understandable one and having the one instance of one of them using violence being against a rather brutal cop makes them somewhat sympathetic.  Still, it will take some work to make the idea of the world is better off with half its population gone anything other than crazy.

Torres sends Sam a video of the robbery but before he can really get down to investigating Sarah rushes in and turns on the news.  The same government official that thanked Sam for giving up the shield is announcing the debut of the new (white) Captain America (Wyatt Russell), who comes out wielding the shield and winks at the camera.  Sam and Sarah are both obviously devastated by this and while that may make Sam seem indecisive, given that he gave up the shield, his motivations are obvious if you think about the situation.  It hasn’t been said yet but America’s racist history almost certainly played a part in Sam’s decision, which also involved the fact that he doesn’t believe anyone can live up to Steve’s legacy, so having the government turn around and give the mantle to some random white guy, who doesn’t have any connection to Steve (that we know of) is a harsh blow.  Anthony Mackie has played coy regarding whether Sam will ever actually become Captain America but that mostly seems like a futile attempt at avoiding spoilers for the show, even though its logical endpoint is already pretty clear.  He’s not named here but Russell’s character has been announced as John Walker.  Walker usually goes by U.S. Agent in the comics and although he has also served as an alternate Cap he always proves unworthy of the mantle, partially because of his intense right-wing political beliefs.  It’s not clear yet whether Falcon and the Winter Soldier will portray Walker as an all-out villain but even if he winds up as more of an anti-hero it’s almost certain the show will end with Sam stepping up to his rightful place as Steve’s true successor.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier definitely isn’t off to a flawless start.  The lack of interaction between Sam and Bucky and the methodical pacing can make the pilot a bit underwhelming.  But it also features powerful storytelling about important topics, an excellent cast, and movie-quality spectacle.  Assuming it can deliver on the buddy comedy it’s promised and increase the intensity when the story calls for it, it should be yet another win for Marvel.

Notes:

• The show is vague in regard to Steve’s actual fate.  One theory that’s pretty popular online is that the public was told he’s dead even though he might really still be around as an old man.  I could see a cameo from Chris Evans to show his actual death being a part of the show’s ending.
• Torres has a specific comic book destiny that I won’t spoil.
• I understand why the show says so but the idea of Stark Industries not paying the Avengers is pretty ludicrous.