Review | The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Episode 2: The Star-Spangled Man)

In The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 2 “The Star-Spangled Man” Bucky and Sam are reunited at last

Today is Friday so this means a new episode of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier! The second episode is entitled ‘The Star-Spangled Man.’

A New Captain America

The first episode ended with a big surprise – the reveal of a new Captain America. Now, we get to know the character a little bit more. Unlike Steve Rogers, he is no Super Soldier, he is just human but he is an exceptional soldier. And he is trying to do his best in the role that was given to him.

However, John Walker is the type of character who is annoying and when you see the reactions from last week and this week, it’s the type of character that people are going to hate. Nevertheless, remember to separate the character from the actor, they’re not the same person.

Captain America has a new sidekick – Battlestar who is also just a soldier. Fans of the comics will recognize who he is. In the end, John Walker tries to do good but the way he acts is probably going to cause him more problems than help. There is already a rift between his team and Sam’s team.

Super Soldiers

Although the new Captain America is no Super Soldier, there are more of Bucky’s kind in the series. The Flag Smashers are Super Soldiers and there are quite powerful. They aim to restore the world as it was before the Blip but the question is how? Sam and Bucky caught them stealing vaccines … which could imply there is a virus somewhere that they want to unleash? We’ll see how it goes in the weeks ahead.

We are also introduced to another Super Soldier in this episode – Isaiah. This one is a good guy and well-known by comics fans. Keen eyes will also notice the presence of Eli Bradley in the house, who becomes the Patriot in the comics and is part of the Young Avengers team! Although none of them join our heroes, we know they are part of the MCU so they can be used for other projects later on. I do not think they were just introduced like that with nothing in mind.

The Struggles

Just like the first episode, this one also tackles the struggles of everyday life for our heroes. For Sam, it’s really about how it is to be a Black American. There is a small but so important scene when the police stop and they immediately think that Sam is bothering Bucky the white man. This aggressive reaction that the police have towards Sam and Sam’s reaction to it are very much a reflection of our society. It’s still in the news. Black Lives Matter has been an essential movement for the past year.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 2 - The Star-Spangled Man

Another important scene that perfectly illustrates what’s going on today is the scene preceding the police scene. Sam is mad at Bucky for not telling anyone that there was a Black Super Soldier, this someone Sam could have looked to as a hero because he could have seen himself in him. Hence why representation matters.

Bucky is facing other types of struggles. He has a hard time accepting Sam gave the shield away because he thinks that Steve could have been wrong about Sam thus he could have been wrong about him too. And this torments him. The therapy scene is emotional because of this, while also being extremely funny, I’ll talk about the fun later. You feel a lot of empathy for Bucky but the problem is that he also doesn’t want to try to understand why Sam would give up on the shield and what it means for Sam.

A Duo That Works

Despite all the tension, Bucky and Sam form a formidable team. It’s an unlikely team. They’re both very different and that’s what makes them so lovable. The bickering is hilarious. The therapy scene is one very good example. So are the fight scenes, they just can’t stop arguing. It brings a great dynamic to the duo.

There is an interesting name drop in this episode for Bucky. During their usual bickering, Sam jokes about Bucky being a White Panther but Bucky corrects him by saying, White Wolf. This is one of his aliases in the comics. Although I don’t see him using a White Wolf costume, it’s a nice nod to the source material. Their team-up is also more than just the bickering, they do work well together and their fighting skills complete each other. Speaking of fight, this episode features an impressive fight sequence! It reminds me of how action scenes were filmed for Captain America: The Winter Soldier!

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier 001

Sam and Bucky are going to need help for the fight ahead against the Flag Smashers and they are going to try to recruit an unlikely ally for their unlikely team – Zemo. The episode ends with another “surprise.” We knew Zemo would be in the series but we didn’t quite know his role yet. This episode gave us a clue as to what his involvement will be. One thing is sure we can’t wait for next week!

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier - Baron Zemo