Recap: Falcon and the Winter Solider, Star Spangled Man

By all rights, Sam Wilson should be the heir to Captain America because Steve Rogers gave him the shield. Sam decided it should be retired…until the federal government decided to choose their own Captain America.

Episode two may show the replacements for Cap and Bucky are kind of annoying, but the real problem is that the Flag-Smashers have their own versions…and they’re pretty deadly.

SPOILERS BELOW

First off, let’s look at John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell. He knows he’s under a lot of pressure trying to live up to Steve Rogers, but he also seems to be a bit too eager to make the role his own. He’s a decorated veteran, and physically up to the job.
Still, somehow it’s not right. The fact he’s being introduced with a halftime show on Good Morning America is kind of like he’s promoting a new movie. It’s similar to Steve selling war bonds before he actually does a mission, but at least selling bonds was part of the war effort.

Then, he finally gets to fight when he “helps” Sam an Bucky battle some Flag-Smashers in Germany. He can handle the shield pretty well, but he gets overcome by the bad guys just like Bucky and Sam.
Oh, and Jack has a sidekick named Battlestar (Cle Bennett). Bucky is not happy by this.
If it wasn’t important for Jack to be Captain America II, but just be a hero, it would be better. It isn’t here, though. It’s going to his head, and it might cause trouble.

Sam and Bucky know what’s important. They want to know how the Flag-Smashers got their own version of Super Serum. They want a world without countries, like during the Blip. That means stealing medicine and disrupting the world. They’re led by Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), who has become very popular with some people due to her mission to create a new world. It also seems she got her powers from someone else, judging from some threatening texts.

Bucky thinks he has a lead. He goes to Baltimore to meet someone named Isaiah (Carl Lumbly). Apparently he was a Super Soldier who was sent to Korea in 1951 to take down Bucky, and nearly succeeded. He wound up behind bars for 30 years…and can still thrown things through walls. Sam is upset because he never knew. Neither does Steve. It seems the US had a LOT of Captain America replacements while Steve was on ice.

There was a scene where a cop is about to arrest Sam just because he’s standing. This ended a bit too quickly, but the show might be trying to show why people would rather accept Walker as the heir to Captain America than Sam. This should have continued a bit more. Actually, it’s Bucky who winds up getting arrested because he hasn’t kept up with therapy sessions.
It does set up a tense yet interesting therapy session. Raynor (Amy Aquino) knows she’s got to help Bucky, but Sam could use some help, too. Why did he give up the shield? That’ll be brought up to the end, with Sam hopefully seeing he’s worthy to take over. We’d like to think Walker could eventually show he’s worthy, too, but the way he seems to threaten Sam and Bucky hints something else will happen.
Anyway, Sam says Bucky can help him fight the Flag-Smashers, but the partnership ends there.
Sure it will, Sam.

The episode closes with our heroes deciding they have to figure out why there’s too many Super Soldiers. They have to talk to….