The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a six-episode TV show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It focuses on the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which, unlike WandaVision with its weird and quirky approach, this is a much more conventional show in line with the formula used in the movies. It begins with a significant action sequence that you would’ve thought that afterwards, the show will quieten down. However, one notably thing about this show is how it keeps on delivering on the big budget action sequences, which is very impressive.
As the title suggests, this focuses on the Falcon an the Winter Soldier, aka Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. This might be a somewhat odd pairing but they’re obviously linked by their friendship with Steve Rogers, the original Captain America. After the events of Avengers: Endgame and the ultimate fate of Captain America, both Sam and Bucky are dealing with it in their own way, and both are hurt. Their approach to the situation puts them at odds with each other.
Despite being at each other’s throats, they end up being forced together. It wasn’t their intention but with a terrorist organisation ramping up their efforts, actions that link back to Hydra, and the past of Bucky, the pair teams up to investigate, trace and stop them. The show tends to use a well-worn structure where the characters go from place to place, find witnesses, gain clues, and then move on. At least the pacing is faster than expected, and low-key characters from the movies returning will keep you watching.
Like with WandaVision, the show touches upon some of the more human aspects of the blip and the consequences of it on society. It’s goes into a lot of depth. Yes, it can be mundane on how the society structure adjusts and copes with half the population suddenly returning, but it’s also quite fascinating on what would happen in such a scenario. Then there are the usual questions on how heroes survive in day-to-day life. They need money too, and they have their own lives in their downtime given that not everyone is as rich and famous as Tony Stark.
Thus, the show gives a much more personal view into Sam and Bucky. This show is good in that its plot is at a smaller scale than the movies. It’s something that would never have been given much time and focus if it was in a movie but is able to be fleshed out and pondered upon in TV. However, as with a lot of shows with the longer runtime of a season, it has its slow spots where it is trying to fill in the time by dragging things out. You can feel the significant of the events of this show. It’s not something that plays out and then gets promptly ignored in future projects. It took some loose ends from the movies, such as the Winter Soldier’s fate, wrapped a story around it with Falcon, and finishes off with something that you know will show up in future movies, helping to solidify the show’s place in the MCU.
The downside of the familiarity is that the plot developments are predictable. The way that the new Captain America acts and ultimately changes, the way that Sam and Bucky grow into a team and gain respect for one another, these things are not surprising. In many ways, the play out completely to your expectations. That doesn’t mean that it’s bad, since the writing and performances are both still stellar, but it lacks that punch to subvert expectations.
The way the villain behind the scenes was revealed was underwhelming. It lacked impact and was glossed over. The pacing strangely slows down in the penultimate episode before picking up again for the finale. Considering the numerous large-scaled scenes already in the season, the final episode feels toned down in comparison and isn’t the big climactic close out one would expect. However, there was a powerful emotional scene that closes out the season. It has a heavy serious gravity, just due to how significant the event is to the person, and it managed to only have this impact due to the writing and setup throughout the season.
Overall, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a strong TV show that manages to capture the movies’ atmosphere and tone extremely well. For better or worse, it is pretty much a classic MCU movie in TV format. The story is solid but what carries the show are the high production values with plenty of fight scenes and the iconic lighthearted humor with plenty of funny banter between the two leads. The fact that the events of the TV show will seem to have a lasting impact instead of being forgotten straight away also helps make it a worthwhile watch.
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