Solid first episode. The opening action scene was great, and made good use of Sam’s flying rig. Loved that they brought back Batroc, and also cemented him as “The guy Captain America beats up in the opening action scene.” Also dug the Don Cheadle cameo - I hope we get a little War Machine at some point, too.
Bucky Barnes following a 12 step program for recovering assassins was great. I thought at first the old guy was one of the Howling Commandos, but making him the father of one of the Winter Soldier’s victims is brutal.
I like that the Flagsmashers are basically #ThanosWasRight. That’s a solid reinterpretation, and draws the focus away from them just being anti-Nationalists, which is kind of not a bad thing.
Just saw it myself, and I’ll add a few more thoughts.
This is a set-up episode, really. They look into Sam and Bucky’s lives, and where they’re at. Short answer, not great. Sam’s family business (run by his sister) is going under, and they can’t get a loan. Seems when everyone came back, what would have been a shoo-in became impossible; too many people need help, is the undercurrent (IMO).
Bucky’s trying to find peace in himself, by making amends…in his own signature style, in one case. He’s befriended the old guy that Miller mentioned ; he may 'fess up, but he hasn’t yet.
We get a look at the post-Blip world, and things are not going well at all. As I mentioned, there’s a lot of readjustment going on, trying to deal with the…3 billion?..people who just showed up. There’s an undercurrent of resentment to the Returned, I think, as well.
Anyway, this episode is mostly about setting the stage. It’s good, and I’m wanting more.
Forgot to mention, there may well be an element of racism in Sam and his sister not getting a loan - at least, his sister is pretty sure that there is. Certainly, the loan officer was not taking the whole thing very seriously from the get-go. That said, them not having any income over the last five years…well.
Lots to chew over and digest in that ~45 minutes, in any event.
WandaVision took a few episodes to grow on me so I will give this show a similar chance. The fight/action sequence at the start of the episode threw me off early and it took a while to pull me back in. It was a bit too far fetched even for a comic book show. The lack of any air movement on the plane after the door was blown off was just bad. Having flown on a C130, the noise of the propellers on a transport plane are deafening in normal flight. I can’t imagine how loud it is with the back open (the start of the episode) or with the side missing on the second plane.
I’m also curious. He has very distinct facial features, even visible under the mask, but I couldn’t place him.
As for the rest of the episode, the action scene at the beginning was far too long and got boring as the stakes were so low. The episode as a whole moved rather slowly, but as said above, we may have to be patient while they prepare the table.
Sam didn’t have any income over the last five years. The sister did, but her expenses outstripped her income. I thought that was an interesting insight into the world of “the little people” in a post-Snap/post-Blip world. The rules haven’t caught up to the reality, and returnees like Sam are caught in a bind. It really must have created a financial mess.
I suspect he’ll get his chance to shine in the upcoming Armor Wars show. That’s probably also how they’ll introduce Riri Williams and Ironheart.
Re the episode: I really liked it, a lot more than I expected to. Yes, it’s setup, in terms of introducing the current status quo and establishing a foundation to work from, but it’s a rich setup. There are some real problems in the world generally, and with our heroes specifically. This is the deepest look into Bucky since he was introduced, and he’s struggling with himself in a genuinely interesting way. And it’s great to meet the family and regular folks around Sam, and see how it’s been his intelligence and positive attitude that have carried him — and how hurt he is when his good intentions are betrayed. Both Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie look thrilled at the opportunity to step out of the second-banana role and truly carry the story, and they’re both bringing it.
From the trailers, this looked like a fun but shallow odd-couple action comedy, like an MCU Tango and Cash. And maybe they’re still planning to play that card, but they’re also announcing with the opening episode that that won’t be all it is, by a long shot.
Obviously it’s early yet, and with one episode we don’t have a lot to go on, but it’s a damn solid first episode. I really appreciate how much time they’re making for the small character details, like Bucky’s bit where he’s mildly annoyed by the Maneki-neko in the sushi restaurant, and the subtle gag about its unstoppable arm (get it?). And the reveal showing his connection to Yori was devastating.
Super interested to see where it goes. It’s already got a lot of confidence in itself. That’s exciting.
After slogging through the grimdark Snyder Cut of Justice League earlier in the day, I was looking forward to an odd-couple, mismatched buddy-cop action-comedy. To be honest, I was a little disappointed by the drama. Not that it was bad in and of itself, but I was expecting something else, and I could have really used super heroes as goofy fun.
Now that I’ve readjusted my expectations, I’m interested to see where this series goes.
I really liked it. They set Falcon up as a badass really effectively. Bucky is sympathetic. They hit all the right notes with the setup, establishing ordinary world for both characters, with a little “Denying the call to action” thrown in for good measure.
One thing I will say is that I don’t see any creative risks happening anytime soon. For all its flaws, WandaVision was unique. FATWS is very much cut from the MCU cloth. I’m fine with that, but maybe a little disappointed.
I loved it…but am confused by the Falcon and Sister financial situation. Falcon isn’t being paid??? He’s all kinds of Special Ops. If his sister had full ownership of the boat and house and didn’t want charity, then i can sorta see this working but he owns half. He should have shittons of money and if not could run a Crowdsource and have 1000 times the money in a matter of seconds. Assuming that he doesn’t want to ask Pepper and the Stark Foundation for a loan.
Reminds me of the hoops they would make Spider-Man jump through to stay poor.
Edit: And by the way…if you want to make racial metaphors and statements mirroring current day, thats the way you do it. Makes sense, organic, not hamfisted and (far as i know) not preceded by a lot of behind the scenes backpatting and audience attacking.
He is being paid. He makes a point that he has government contracts, which is proof of income. The problem the loan officer raises is that he hasn’t had any income for the past five years. That’s because he was Snapped and Blipped, but apparently bank procedures, at least at that one small bank, haven’t adjusted to that.
Maybe. It’s clear that financial situations are a mess post-Blip. And he may not have had all that much pre-Snap. He was an Air Force veteran but working as a peer counselor when we first meet him. After that, he was an Avenger, and Tony probably paid him some sort of stipend, but we don’t know how much that was, and then he went on the run with Cap’s faction in the Civil War, so he may have lost or spent everything at that point.
Again, maybe. It’s clear that people have mixed feelings about the Avengers post-Snap, and about “Blippers” or whatever they’re called in-universe post-Blip. He clearly doesn’t have a secret ID, but he also probably doesn’t want to call undue attention to his personal life and his family. And I imagine he’d be reluctant to publicly try to leverage his fame for personal gain.
I was actually kind of expecting him to do something like that. But he was on the opposite side of Civil War from Tony, and there are still probably some hard feelings on both sides from that. I suspect it would also feel to both Sam and his sister like taking charity, and I think they’re both too proud to do that, at least for now.
He’s befriended the old guy that Miller mentioned ; he may 'fess up, but he hasn’t yet.