The Falcon & The Winter Soldier Episode 4 - The Whole World Is Watching

By Ephraim Belnap

After last week’s episode, it was hard to tell where the new Captain America was gonna end up. But now it’s incontrovertibly clear - he’s gonna be a bad guy. 

    Episode 4 of this miniseries brings events to a head, as Bucky, Sam, and Zemo run into the new Captain America and his partner Battlestar. The Flag Smashers have been pinned down in Latvia, and even have some Super Soldier serum ready to bust out, but the presence of a clear threat isn’t enough to unite the heroes. Instead, the holes in the new Captain America are starting to show. 

  This episode is a neat little number, featuring an intriguing flashback and some surprise characters from the films, along with Zemo’s surprisingly funny attitude. Alongside that, Anthony Mackie gets to shine as Sam Wilson, sharing some scenes with Karli Morgenthau that tie into the series’ heart. The unprecedented sympathy her character gets is an interesting sight in prestige television. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, and as we head into the final act, we seem assured of an action-packed finale. 

    That said, the weaknesses present in the previous episode are even more clear here. After the first two episodes made everyone sympathetic, episode three started rolling back its sympathy, and now four is only increasing the trend. Similarly, the sheen of realism that suffused the start - acknowledging the complexity of predatory banks or American racism - has been dialed back for a strawman of American soldiery that's wildly insufficient to the reality. Falcon is a good guy because he tries to talk to the bad guys, and Captain America is a tool because he wants punch punch shooty kick. This embellishment of a previously nuanced set of characters feels hurtful to the story, to say the least. But regardless, the show is still worth watching. 

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier is available to stream on Disney+