I can't decide if it's easier or harder to be more critical of a show that's only six episodes long, and maybe it's still too early to judge since we still have the finale next week. On one hand, I feel like we're getting a highly concentrated amount of content - including great social commentaries - in each episode of Falcon and Winter Soldier, including this week's episode, titled Truth. But on the other hand, I feel like peeling off the top layers of the show simply sours the premise of the stories and character growth.
Take John Walker, for example. At the end of last week's episode, we see him holding a blood-covered shield after losing his temper and murdering a dude in front of the whole world. This week, he needs to answer for his crime at a hearing. He tries to blame the government for making him what he is, as if that's supposed to generate sympathy. But we all know the writers aren't dangling a carrot in hopes of leading us into thinking this character has dimension. Walker is nothing more than one-note "bad guy." We weren't given enough time to like his character at first, which would've made his sudden anger binge feel more tragic.
Or take Zemo. After escaping last week, Bucky remembers that Zemo criticized him and Sam for not even bothering to visit the memorials or clean up after themselves after "avenging" the people of Sokovia, which is exactly where he finds Zemo. There, Zemo gives him one last lesson about Karli, the Flag Smashers' leader, and says she is too far-gone, too radicalized, to be convinced to turn away from the rebelling. And then, the Wakandans show up and simply take away Zemo. Seriously? That can't be the end of Zemo's story in this show, right? If he doesn't come back next week, his purpose would turn out to be little more than a tour guide, which makes me feel like he was more of a gimmick than anything else. Surely he'll escape, or there's some other twist with him we should be looking for, right? I hope so.
Let's even take a look at Sam and Bucky. They are the bright spots of the show, but even the main premise about "Who is going to take the mantle as the next Captain America?" has turned into such a mechanical trope that I don't even care how it ends. Do we actually need to call another character Captain America? Why can't Sam and Bucky (and Marvel, for that matter) arrive to the conclusion that Steve Rogers is irreplaceable, but that the two of them can try to be their own version of what Cap represented? Rogers wasn't beloved as Cap because he fit some mold. Sam and Bucky talk about the unforeseen difficulties of a black man taking up Cap's shield, which, inherently, is sad to think that anyone who would have a problem with that (but I'm not ignorant enough to think some people do feel that way; again, just pathetic. Racism is evil any way you slice it). But why does Sam even feel the need to be Captain America? Why can't we just uplift Falcon as he is now? The writers attempt to answer that with Isaiah's scene, but more on that in a moment.
During the best conversation of the series to this point, Sam and Bucky do realize they need to stop looking to other people to tell them who they are. Bucky is afraid that part of the Winter Soldier is still in him, but Sam finally gives him the words of advice he needs to hear: instead of avenging the bad guys he previously enabled, Bucky needs to help those who were hurt in his wake feel better. He needs to give them closure (he'll predictably start, of course, with the old man he had lunch with in the opening episode).
The other great conversation of the episode was between Sam and Isaiah. Two men who maybe have gone through similar struggles because they're black, but two men who are at very different places as a result. Isaiah, who is much older, saw back in his day that "the brass" didn't want a black Captain America/superhero, but rather a blue-eyed blonde. Isaiah did the right thing by saving captured men from a camp (same as Steve did in Captain America: The First Avenger), but he didn't get uplifted for that; instead, he got experimented on for 30 years to find out why the serum worked on him but not on the others. So it makes sense why Isaiah refused to reveal his story to the world now. He's afraid they'll kill him, anyway.
But then he puts Sam in a tough spot. Isaiah says that "they" would never allow a black Captain America, but furthermore, no self-respecting black man would do it, anyway. Man, those words are so chilling. On the one hand, Isaiah doesn't owe anything to anyone. Heck, the world could never make enough amends for what happened to him. The man was cut up and scarred for life, and they kept his loved one out of his life, all for a serum. His legacy of heroism ignored. I could even understand why he'd called Sam blind for thinking the world has changed since then. Heck, the real world certainly still has its problems with racism, huh? When will enough be enough? When will we all get over ourselves and be accepting of everyone as different shades of the same human race?
In the next scene, Sam talks to his sister about what Isaiah had to say. But in the end, Sam shows his true valor when he says "What would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn't willing to stand up and keep fighting?" Now, I personally believe there's a right way to keep fighting and a wrong way to keep fighting (for any cause, anti-racism or otherwise), but to me, Sam proves why he would be "qualified" to take Cap's mantle: he's willing to pay the price (as Cap said in Captain America: The Winter Soldier).
The rest of the episode merely sets the stage for the finale. Karli and her fellow rebels...er, Flag Smashers...are prepping for an attack on the GRC. We finally see faces to the organization, which is stationed in New York, as they callously vote on the Patch Act to move upward of 20 million refugees back to their countries of origin. Sam, who had his wings ripped in the fight with Walker, opens a suitcase with a big smile; undoubtedly, he has a new suit to show off for the big showdown. Was it just new wings? Are they colored red, white, and blue? Is he getting a brand new Captain America suit? We'll find out next week.
Meanwhile, Walker accelerates his transformation into the anit-hero Captain America version of his character (U.S. Agent), which was the path set before him the whole series. As I said earlier, though, they've done nothing with his character to this point that makes me think his presumed vigilante antics would have any real interest; usually, I can understand both sides of the coin, but with Walker, he's just full of rage and easy to dislike.
Notes:
-I did love Sam's classic training montage that shows him improving his accuracy when throwing the shield, his agility, and his strength. I was waiting for an "On your left" flashback that never came.
-The Val cameo with Julia Louis-Dreyfus made me smile! I sure hope she comes back beyond this show; otherwise, it was just stupid to bring her in this late in the game. As someone who is dying for any sign of life from the characters of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., seeing anyone who has any connection whatsoever to S.H.I.E.L.D. makes me happy (though it's not clear she'll be a good guy since she wants to team up with Walker).
-Batroc's presence still feels somewhat like a joke. Sam chased him down in the opening scene of the premiere, reminding us he's still around. But we don't see him again until near the end of this episode, when he comes to aid Karli's cause. He makes it clear, though, that he only wants the Falcon. I guess we needed another tough guy for Sam to fight in the finale, huh? And someone who is not a super soldier, because, as Walker proved in their fight scene at the beginning of the episode, Sam can't hang with the likes of a super soldier. That, of course, begs the question: how can Sam truly become the next Captain America, anyway? Because another thing that made Rogers great was, oh yeah, the super serum.
-If this show truly has taught me anything, it's that our world has problems, but both sides just point the blame at the other, and no one truly listens or is willing to back down. And that's a shame. There is a great enemy, a devilish principality, out there who continues to keep our world divided. Hopefully we can realize who we're truly fighting before it's too late.