Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyThe Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Disney Plus
Season 1 Episode 3
The Power Broker
Sam and Bucky have to operate outside of the law if they have any hope of finding their way to the man who created the super soldier syndrome.
With the aftermath of the blip still setting policy within the US, the GRC has been established to help refugees and survivors of the event get back on their feet and rejoin society. Unfortunately, this means millions of people from all over the country with nowhere to go become part of a new beaureacrecy and the target of the Flag Smashers. I like that the series continues to explore real world issues. In the aftermath we see Walker continue to lose it and his descent is a great argument against American imperialism and the belief that might makes right.
Bucky has his Clarice moment when the two find themselves in the prison and Bucky is standing face to face with Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl). There are definite Silence of the Lambs vibes throughout those interactions and Bruhl does an excellent job of being both above the fray and intimately involved. His very presence in the mix causes the drama and tension to rise and that is amazing. After a harrowing and brilliantly chorographed jailbreak, the action heads to the fictional island of Madripoor.
There is a lot to unpack with Madripoor and I will be covering the island, its significance and possibilities in another post, but the mention of the country made me smile as Bucky, Sam and Zemo move through the criminal underworld to discover that the scientist responsible for the new breed of super soldiers is still on the island making things for the mysterious Power Broker. Things get more intense when a familiar face shows up to help the men pull their fat out of the fryer. Emily VanCamp returns as Sharon Carter and we discover that things have not been going well for her post Civil War. She is on the run and cannot return to the US, but she has thrived and made a good living on Madripoor.
There are more comic book connections to Isaiah Bradley in the episode and that was something that I appreciated and even the humor had a callback to an equally amusing scene in Captain America: Civil War. One of the other things that I am seeing throughout this series is the complexity of the characters. It is easy to dismiss the Flag Smashers as the bad guys, but the series does an excellent job of making them sympathetic at times before showing them do the things that get them on the government’s radar.
As the episode draws to a close, there are revelations to be had as Bucky discovers that he and Sam are not the only ones interested in the movements of Baron Zemo.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier S01XE03
