The Falcon & Winter Soldier

[Palanan]

First episode is out, and I loved it.

Spoiler: Flight Club

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It was great to see Batroc again, even if he wasn’t up to his earlier fighting trim. He made up for it with the wingsuit run. Also, nice to see that he survived, giving us the option for a recurring low-level villain.

He did seem to have an unlimited supply of helicopters, though, which made the sequence feel a little over-the-top. I also wonder why Falcon doesn’t have chaff or flares as an anti-missile defense, since that’s not the first time he’s had a swarm of missiles launched at him.

And I'm trying to understand the nuances of the legality here. Falcon is involved because the US military can’t be connected to the operation...even though they’re driving around in standard-issue HUMVEEs on the edge of a highly contentious border. But under what authority is Falcon operating? Is he working with the Sokovia Accords, which he went to prison for violating? Is he working as a military contractor, as his conversation at the bank seemed to imply? Or is he operating as a completely free agent? Given that the Avengers Compound is a rubble-filled lake, do the Avengers even exist anymore?

I can understand how it's convenient for them to leave these things vague, but there's a lot of questions this show could be answering, and I hope we hear a little more in future episodes.

Spoiler: No Place Like Home

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Really enjoyed the exploration of Sam’s family and their history. I don’t know how much of this is from the comics, but it felt like time well spent. And I’m always glad to see the MCU get out of New York and into the rest of the country. (Yes, Marvel, there is a country out there beyond NYC.)

As for Bucky, also interesting to see him working through things, but it felt a little contrived that his friend Yori was the father of one of his victims. Until that moment, I’d been thinking that Bucky and Yori could understand each other because they were both WWII veterans. For the friendship instead to be Bucky’s attept at making amends…seems a little disappointing somehow.

And in both cases there’s the question of what these guys are living off of. Sam said he had contracts (probably some sort of consulting gig) but it’s a valid question whether he and the other Avengers had any kind of stipend from Stark or some other source.

Bucky doesn’t seem to be doing much of anything other than attending psych sessions and hanging out with people who don’t seem to recognize him. And doing a little soft vigilante work on the side. Maybe he's surviving on a trust fund that's been accruing for the past ninety years?

Spoiler: The New Guy

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And are we supposed to know who the new Captain America is? I’m wondering if I’m expected to recognize him.