Walker running away right after killing the guy was kinda funny. He KNEW he fucked up. I feel like it's almost impossible to defend the guy after this episode. Up until episode 4 you could make a case for him, but the fact that he was willing to kill Sam and Bucky over the shield... I don't think there is any going back from this. That wasn't out of a blind sense of justice, it was just him being possessive and bloodthirsty. Maybe you can argue that it is the serum messing with the head of someone who was already traumatized, but at this point, regardless of the reason, he's just too far gone to be any kind of heroic figure. But I guess that was the intention from the beginning. He was never going to be the guy we root for. Props to Wyatt Russell, though, who plays unhinged very well. I like his little ''ticks'' and head tilts while playing the character. It really conveys this uneasiness to me. His ''trial'' scene was very interesting, because I feel like it mirrored very well what happened to Isaiah, but showing just what white privilege is: both were judged for their actions and felt betrayed and used by the government for ''only doing the job they were asked to do'', except that only one of them actually committed an atrocity (and attempted to commit another), and guess which one got to walk away free? The only time I sort of felt bad for John in this episode was when he was with Hoskins's family, but even then he was acting questionable, lying to the man's family's face about who murdered him. Own up to your actions, John!
I knew the cameo wasn't going to be all the crazy theories people had. I think WandaVision made it clear these shows are keeping it simple and coherent to the story they want to tell. Contessa Valentina has close ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and even to Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter to some extent in the comics, so that's probably where they took the inspiration for her inclusion. The fact that she was ''scouting'' Walker and the recent revelation that she was supposed to make her debut in Black Widow really makes it seem like her role is definitely going to build up to the creation of some anti-hero team of sorts, and Valentina (perhaps besides Thaddeus Ross) is going to be the anti-Nick Fury of this franchise. I wasn't putting too much stock on Thunderbolts before that, but I am now.
Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed to see Zemo being taken away so easily and quickly. Was kinda hoping he would put up more of a fight to stay free, but the fact that he was sent to the Raft specifically and not to where he was before, or to Wakanda, is probably good news to the character. Being under USA supervision is probably his best chance to actually return. Won't be shocked at all if one of the post-credit scenes next week is him getting a visit from Valentina. It was good to be back at Sokovia, even if briefly. I'm really intrigued about what's happening in what's left of the country now; I hope we can get a story about that in the future. Anyone else got the impression that the monument there seemed like it could be a homage to the Maximoff family? I guess I might only have that feeling because the flashback of Wanda's family in Sokovia is still so fresh in my mind, and TFATWS was supposed to come out before WandaVision originally, so maybe that wasn't the intention. But yeah, that's my headcanon now. LOL
I appreciated how this episode sort of returned to the emotional/psychological state the characters were in the first two episodes, and kinda resolved that, with them finding some closure to their predicaments. It was basically the therapy episode for them, and I liked that. I was wondering what they were gonna do about the whole Yori situation, but it seems like Bucky will come clean to him after his conversation with Sam. I'm already feeling anxious about how that scene's gonna go. And Sam's conversation with Isaiah... wooh. Marvel really went THERE, specially with Isaiah's final lines of how America is never gonna let a black man be Captain America, and how no self-respecting black man would want to be either. That hit hard because, even if you disagree with the statement, you can't really blame him for thinking that. You understand exactly where he comes from. I really like that contrast between an old, disillusioned, hopeless black man and Sam, a black man trying to see the best in people and make people find that hope again for a better future. And in the end, I feel like Sam's advice to Bucky (that he can't live by what other people think) also applies to himself here: he respects Isaiah and his struggle, but he can't define himself by what happened to other people in the past. He has to make his own future. I think that realization is what will make him fully become Captain America in the final episode, and that's just really powerful.
As a side note, I really like the historical reference there when Isaiah said he was tricked into the experiments with the promise of a cure for a disease. Good parallel with the Tuskegee Experiment, which was the story that inspired Truth: Red, White And Black.
I'm really not sure what to think of Sharon Carter. Everyone seems to have a clear role in this except for her. She is working with Batroc?? What exactly is the endgame here? Let's hope the final episode has some good answers, including who the hell the Power Broker is.
That TEASE of Sam's new suit!!!! Can't wait to see it next week! And I really like that it was made by the Wakandans. Can you imagine Sam with a full vibranium suit with full wakandan tech? This man will come to SERVE. I wonder if they also made him a new Redwing... I really wanted him to get an actual bird, but I guess I can settle for a robotic, smart-tech bird too. Just please, no more military drone! And Sam leaving his old wings to Torres... Falcon 2.0 tease, I see.
John Walker's obsession with still being Captain America to the point that he is recreating the shield is kinda creepy, but I guess that's the point. The man is like an obsessive ex who just can't let go, and those can be the scariest ones, LOL. Not sure what his basic ass tin can shield will do (specially against Sam's blessed by Wakanda suit), but I guess he at least have his super serum to back him up. I figure he probably will get some better gear when he fully becomes USAgent as a part of whatever Valentina's plan is. |