Falcon And Winter Soldier

[Eto]

YUP. I honestly felt that it was kinda strange that John was only tangentially part of those conversations. Like he never has to face the implications of the government choosing him and lying to Sam or about the racist history behind it all.

Also the show kept on trying to get me to think that Sam understands Karli... because he's black? Like they needed to put in waaaay more groundwork for that connection to make sense cause homegirl was a full-blown terrorist.

What?!
No, not because he's black, but because he tackles them as humans first and foremost instead of calling them terrorists right off the bat.

[CosmiComic]

Sam's speech to the those Senate guys was on point. Sam cares about everyone, sees a human being everyone instead of alienating them from society. He wants a pre-emptive method in a way, that's why he said "otherwise there'll be more Karli's".

Good to see him call for upstream solutions.

[Kingdom X]

What?!
No, not because he's black, but because he tackles them as humans first and foremost instead of calling them terrorists right off the bat.

Yeah that's the problem... this approach worked for me at the beginning of the show and even near the middle, but Karli killed a number of people and had the intention of killing even more.

I agree with that I liked his speech at the end.

[gonnagiveittoya]

Captain America 4 In Development
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/am...mpression=true

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I thought it was great. I'm also surprised on who the Power Broker is. .

[taozen]

I know Sam Wilson said about fighting in a previous episode but can Sam actually beat a big 1 on 1 fight? I think he went through this entire season and he did not win a big one on one fight.

[Chris0013]

I know we all want to see it but....
spoilers:

I am glad Joaquin did not just fix the wings, put them on, and kick @$$ in the finale....he needs some training to get good with them first...He needs a MONTAGE!!!!

end of spoilers

[Iconic]

This series was an absolute win and Isaiah Bradley’s acknowledgment was fantastic.

[Havok83]

Sharon stans are spoilers:

very mad about the Power Brok rnreval, calling it character assassination, when this is the first time since she was first in the Winter Soldier movie Sharon has had an actual personality.

end of spoilers

Agreed. This series was the best thing to happen to Sharon. She was rather generic and just not interesting before but now she has an interesting angle with alot of possibility to explore.

[Frontier]

Agreed. This series was the best thing to happen to Sharon. She was rather generic and just not interesting before but now she has an interesting angle with alot of possibility to explore.

But that's because they barely did anything with her.

[Chris0013]

But that's because they barely did anything with her.

Exactly...she was basically there to help Steve and then ignored. They never developed her beyond that.

[Frontier]

From start to finish of this series, I never felt that the Flag-Smashers were a credible threat. Their motivations felt murky to me until Sam's speech in the final episode. Their transition from 'hey, let's stage some hijinks' to 'hey, let's commit mass murder,' didn't feel genuine to me at all. The series had been hyped as showing how messed up the world was since the Snap and the Blip, but except for the occasional speech about the plight of the refugees, nothing much really seemed dramatically different to me. I loved seeing Sam become Captain America because he's so worthy to take on that role. Nice to see Bucky growing past the psychological trauma of his years as the Winter Soldier. I thought Wyatt Russell did a tremendous job in his role. Otherwise, to me the series felt like it was just the introduction and set up to a different story. So far as Sharon is concerned...yikes. I hope she turns out to be a Skrull.

Apparently all the Flag-Smashers needed were a good speechwriter like Sam Wilson.

Y'all Sharon is a queen doing what need to be done I don't think she's evil she just hates the government which people can relate too.

I don't think Sharon is evil. If she stayed in Madipoor for the majority of the time she's been a fugitive then she's just doing what she needs to in order to survive. Assuming she didn't get snapped then she's been doing it for seven years. It's already sunk in by this point

Her call at the end sounded pretty sinister to me.

I know Sam Wilson said about fighting in a previous episode but can Sam actually beat a big 1 on 1 fight? I think he went through this entire season and he did not win a big one on one fight.

Does Batroc count?

[Havok83]

But that's because they barely did anything with her.

It is what it is. Now they are doing something with her and its intriguing. They are already so many cookie cutter former agents in this universe. I really like that they are doing something different with her

[MindofShadow]

I know Sam Wilson said about fighting in a previous episode but can Sam actually beat a big 1 on 1 fight? I think he went through this entire season and he did not win a big one on one fight.

There weren't very many 1v1 fights in the whole season really.

[ZeroBG82]

I will never be ok with what they've done to Sharon, but I think I've accepted it at this point. The more I consider it, the more I see what I think they were going for.

She's the anti-Sam. Confronted with a world where she has to fight, every day, not just to be recognized or appreciated but just to feel safe and have the same opportunities that so many (you can read that "so many" as so many straight, white dudes, but it goes beyond that) take for granted. But unlike Sam, who looks to the fight and sees all the people that have been trampled and crushed beneath it and is therefore driven to carry on that fight not just for himself but in their honor, Sharon is broken by that world. She gives up. What does she owe the world? It's a broken, screwed up place that would eat her alive, spit her out, and bury her. Why fight to make that better? Why make that effort, face that struggle, risk that failure? It's far easier to just embrace the shitstorm and climb to the top of the steaming pile. And you crush or bury anyone who stands in your way, because they'd do it to you if they could.

Sharon is the one the struggle broke. The one who has chosen to leave the world behind, as she believes it has abandoned her. And in fairness, her belief is not irrational or unfounded.

Karli is an idealist who loses her way, and loses her soul in the process. But at heart she honestly meant well, and it's hard to argue that her underlying motivations aren't just even if her actions cross all the lines of propriety and leave her irredeemable in the end. She saw the struggle to make the world better, and she was more than willing to fight it. Too willing, as it turns out. She didn't have the patience to accept small victories, or gradual change. Only grand gestures and all or nothing, earthshaking transformation were good enough for her. She didn't want to progress the struggle, she wanted to win it forever. And that led her down a path that consumed her.

John was, and remains, entitled. Devoted to service, to doing all the ugly things that other people asked him to do in the name of keeping the world upright in the face of chaos. But he never had to face the struggle. Not really. And when he got a look at what that world looked like, when he ran into a world that wouldn't bend to him just because of the color of his skin, or the cut of his uniform, or the sheer weight of the government he represented he stumbled, he fell. He cheated, took the shortcut instead of doing the real work. Instead of earning the right to be Captain America, instead of confronting the challenges head on, he tried to take it by literal force of arms. To use physical strength to replace the moral fortitude and sheer, stubborn courage it takes to just stand up to the world every day, let alone try and change it. But he learns from his stumbles, gets back up, and goes back out there to try and do better. He may fail, he certainly isn't perfect. He already shows signs of backsliding, of forgetting the lessons he's learned, in his final scene debuting his new look. For John the struggle to make the world better is never going to be easy because he'll have to be reminded that it even exists, that he has advantages others don't. But still he carries on.

Even Zemo believes in helping the world change for the better. His view of better is arguably twisted, and his method unquestionably homicidal, but in spite of everything he has lost and everything he has suffered through, including both losing his family and spending nearly a decade in prison, he still wants to try and make the world a better place. We might not agree with his ideals, or his methods, but his convictions we can respect (and fear).

But Sharon has abandoned her convictions entirely. Her courage broken, her spirit crushed. She's become part of the wheel, grinding others down into the mud. She has given up any pretense of making the world a better place, of keeping it safe for others. She has become the kind of utterly selfish and faithless person she sees the rest of the world as being. All that's left is to get hers, by any means necessary.

Looked at in that light, she makes an interesting foil for Sam. Someone who he might try to save, once he realizes how far she is gone. But whom more likely needs to be stopped.