This fourth episode was one of the strongest ones of the series so far, all I can say is – wow. (Warning: major spoilers ahead).
Firstly, this episode nails the Flag Smashers, Zemo and John Walker, presenting them as clear standouts of this episode. This was great to watch in terms of the clear character development shown throughout.
The opening of Bucky in Wakanda was an extremely emotional watch. Seeing him react to the words that used to control him now be freed of the mind control was intense to say the least. The flashbacks as well to Captain America sold his trauma even more and I’m glad Marvel included this. It adds to Bucky’s connections to Wakanda, and why they would be so disappointed, that he released not only the man who killed their king, but the man who reactivated the trauma the Wakandan’s had relieved Bucky from.
This leads us to Zemo. His role in the story so far has been excellent, and the development they are giving to his motivation is excellent to watch on screen. Two things that made me respect his views even more – one is that he is able to respect that Steve Rodgers is an outlier to his beliefs, and the second is when Zemo had the opportunity to claim the Super Soldier Serum for himself, to become a “God”, but he smashed the vial.
Zemo could have become a simple bad guy threat that way, but now it is clear he is more of an ideological threat to our heroes, and not simply a guy that can be punched down. Ideas cannot be killed. This further cements Zemo as one of the best MCU villains.
However, killing ideas is exactly what John Walker believes. This belief was seeded in the second episode, where BattleStar reminds Walker that there are some jobs you cannot punch your way out of every job, and now it has been developed further. Walker rejects this, he does not want to let Sam talk to Karli, and he wants to always take the violent way out. Walker thinks the shield gives him strength and does not want to add anything to it.
Him being Captain America is looking the part and brandishing his influence. This is confirmed when he attempts to assert himself in front of the Dora Milaje, trying to tell them they have no jurisdiction and that he is Captain America. The Dora Milaje do not take this for a second. Them beating him is what causes him to take the serum.
Another great aspect of John Walker is him and American imperialism. Walker is an extension of the US government, and just like America he goes about an attempts to assert influence in other countries over non-US affairs. The brutal killing of the Flag Smasher in front of everyone is that imperialism becoming too visible and will now tarnish America’s image. Also, well done to Marvel for being this explicit. Not only about BattleStar’s death, but also over the Flag Smasher. Marvel are not treating their audience like kids. They have grown since the first Iron Man, and so have their audience.
Finally, the Flag Smashers themselves are progressed. They have partially succeeded in their goals now. While they did not kill Captain America, they revealed he is nothing more than a nationalist government icon, bringing down the clean image of countries. No doubt this will expand their cause. Furthermore, Karli was allowed to develop her motivations, showing she is willing to exploit family by threatening Sam’s. Whether she would have carried through on this threat, she still caused Sam and his sister distress by the words. On making her more sympathetic, her starting to connect to Sam was something well done, drawing on the racial aspect more. Falcon was already feeling that, and thankfully it wasn’t dropped This show as a whole has leaned into it more which is great.
One small critique is that six episodes is too short. This doesn’t feel like over the halfway point, there is no sense of where this is building to. While Marvel don’t have to tie everything together, the power broker certainly won’t be, direction to stakes is important, and that is where this falls down a little.
Overall, where this episode succeeds most is in its characters and themes. While there are some plot critiques, so long as Marvel keeps up the character work then these shows will be still considered to be great.
By Kieran Burt
Featured image: Disney