Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Season 1, Episode 6 - "One World, One People" Spoiler Review

I have now watched the episode three times and I am still having difficulty knowing how I feel about it.  There were parts of the episode that I liked, but I felt there was too much material crammed into the finale.  Not all of the hanging plot threads were wrapped up properly, Sam, Bucky and Walker teamed up a one point.  There was not talk between them about what occurred in the last episode, Walker was just suddenly good.  I liked that Walker was revealed to be a good guy, but it all felt rushed and lots of his issues from the previous two episode went unmentioned.  Bucky's moment with Nori also felt rushed, we should have had more time with them.  The decision to only do six episodes seemed to become more of an issue as time went on and the plot threads kept growing.  The episode was almost entirely spent dealing with the fallout from the end episode five, the Flag Smashers (FS) are trying to take down the GRC.  

Let's talk about the elephant in the room, that Sharon Carter was actually the Power Broker.  I'll talk more about this in the conclusion, but I was not a fan of the reveal.  In my review of episode five I felt that if Sharon Carter would be revealed as the Power Broker it would be too obvious, I was very wrong.  I will go into more detail later, but Sharon Carter being the Power Broker is too obvious.  Faws has felt similar to Captain America: Winter Soldier and in that film.  In a show about spies, I would expect that the obvious would be revealed to be a red herring.  The action in this episode was fantastic, though nothing will top the fight between Walker, Sam and Bucky that opened episode five.  Sam looked fantastic in his new Captain America suit that was built by the Wakandans.  Sam's speech to the GRC members after they were rescued was inspiring, he said some things that I really enjoyed and made me think of the Captain America: Sam Wilson's comic book run.  I think I would have been okay with a seventh episode with no action, if it meant that we got to spend more time with Bucky and Nori, more time with Sam and Isaiah, and more time with Walker.  It is weird but I think the two weakest episodes of the season were the season premiere and the season finale.  Episode one for me was a little too slow, and we never got a scene with Sam and Bucky together.  Episode six felt underwhelming, beyond seeing Sam wear the Cap suit, some great action and Sam's speech everything else did not land right with me.   

SEASON 1 FINALE RECAP

The episode opens with Karli motivating the Flag Smashers, the GRC meeting has been lockeddown.  Sam is on his way to the New York, and Bucky is already there; Sharon Carter is also there.  When Karli sees Sam arrive, she tells her people inside the GRC to start, they throw gas and cause the members of the GRC to disperse.  Sam enters the building through a window and takes out on the FS, Sam is wearing a new Captain America costume.  Before Sam could stop the evacuation of the GRC (part of the FS' plan) he is attacked by Batroc.  Sam and Batroc battle, while he is busy, he asks Bucky and Sharon to watch over the council members.  Karli calls one her inside people who gives Bucky the phone, Karli is distracting Bucky while her other inside men place the council member in an armoured truck and lock them inside.  Sam and Batroc are still battling while the council members are exiting the building inside the trucks.  Bucky takes a motorcycle and chases after the trucks, Sharon disabled one of the FS using a type of gas.  There is also a helicopter on the roof that is leaving with other council members.  Sam is forced to quickly stop the fight with Batroc to chase after the helicopter which is piloted by an FS member.  Sam attempts to enter the copter but the pilot shoots at him, Sam then decides to use Redwing to scan the occupants of the copter and see if anyone is capable of flying the copter.  Karli is changing the plan from kidnapping the council and using them as hostages to get the Patch vote cancelled to possibly killing the entire council.  

Sam is forced to save a police helicopter after it is knocked from the sky, we see the Wakandans gave him Vibranium wings which he uses to shield himself and the pilot from the falling copter.  The FS intercept the armoured trucks and take out the drivers, but Bucky arrives and starts fighting one the FS.  Karli lights one of the trucks on fire to distract Bucky so she and the remaining FS can escape with the other council members.  Walker arrives and wants Karli; the FS swarm Walker and Bucky is finally able to rip open the doors of the truck and get the occupants out.  Bucky joins the fight and saves Walker, but they are still outnumbered.  Sam's plan involves the occupant in the helicopter with flight experience will take over the controls when Sam removes the pilot from the helicopter.  The plan works and the occupants in the helicopter are saved.  Walker is now alone facing three FS members; he fights against Karli and she is able to knock him down.  Karli then takes the remaining truck and attempts to drive it off the side of the road and into a deep construction site pit.  Before the truck can fall Walker has to decide if he chases after Karli or saves the truck, Walker chooses the truck, and he pulls it back while fighting off two FS.  Sam arrives and is able to push the truck back onto the road using his boosters.  Sam joins Bucky and Walker in the pit, and they are about to fight the FS, but Batroc shoots gas into the pit to cover the FS retreat.  Sam, Bucky and Walker are chasing them but are forced to split up, Sam goes by himself and Bucky follows Walker.  

They are all inside the construction site, Sharon Carter is there too, and she finds Karli.  It is now revealed that Sharon is the Power Broker, she tries to get Karli to rejoin her.  Karli says she is not interested in power or empire, she just wants to make the world a better place.  Batroc arrives and points his gun at Karli, he then demands that Sharon quadruple his payday.  Sharon says she doesn't negotiate and shoots Batroc as he shoots her, but Sharon is wearing body armour and is okay.  Karli approaches Sharon pointing a gun at her, but Sam arrives (not knowing who Sharon really is) and disarms Karli.  Sam tells her that he doesn't want to fight her, but Karli is angry and wants him to stay down.  Bucky and Walker uses the FS phone app to lure the remaining FS to the police, they stop the FS without having to fight them.  Karli picks up the gun and points it at Sam, and she is about to shoot when Sharon shoots her first.  Sam holds Karli while she dies, he carries her body outside.  

Sam arrives at the police and ambulances with Karli in his arms, he is swarmed by reports.  The council members thank Sam, but he pushes back against the council.  Sam wants the council to stop saying the refugees are terrorists, he wants the council to understand what these people are going through.  Sam encourages the council to employ empathy over judgement, all of what Sam is saying is being broadcast.  Sam says the only power he has is to demand people to do better, he tells the council that they need to revisit how they make decisions.  Bucky takes Sharon out of there before she is caught, Sam flies off to help the police round up the last FS that Sam tossed into the river.  The FS are loaded into a police van that explodes shortly after departing.  We see Zemo's butler is the one who blew up the truck, and we cut to Zemo listening to the news reports inside his cell in the Raft.  

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is with Walker and his wife, we see that Walker is wearing a new suit.  Val tells him that things are about to get weird, and when they do Captain America won't be needed but they will need U.S. Agent (Walkers new character).  Walker and his wife celebrate, Walker is ecstatic about getting to keep being a hero.  Bucky is going to see Nori and confess to Nori that he killed Nori's son.  Bucky leaves a gift for his psychologist; it is the book of names and everything appears to be scratched off.  Sam goes to visit Isaiah; Isaiah admits that Sam is special and tells Sam the fight he is taking on won't be easy.  Sam says that we built this country, bled for it and that he won't let anybody tell him that he can't fight for it, not after what everyone before him went through.  Sam says he wants to show Isaiah something, he takes Isaiah to the Captain America exhibit and reveals that he added Isaiah's history to the exhibit.  Sam tells him that now they will never forget what Isaiah did for this country.  Sam and Bucky are now back in Sam's family home celebrating with the community as the credits roll revealing the title of the show to now be Captain America and the Winter Soldier.  There is one post-credits scene, it involves Sharon Carter receiving her pardon and offer to rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D.; Sharon agrees.  Sharon then makes phone call where she says that she might not have the super-soldier serum but now she has access to the most cutting-edge technology.  

FINAL THOUGHTS ON SEASON ONE

 There was a chance that this reveal could have been more powerful if Carter actually addressed how she was manipulating events.  Carter never once mentioned why she turned beyond the cliche about being betrayed by her government.  The way the reveal happened just did nothing for me, I wanted more of a twist then we got.  When I say twist, I mean that the Power Broker was Justin Hammer and Sharon Carter is working for S.W.O.R.D. trying to take down the Power Broker.  That twist would have felt more inline with the character of Sharon Carter and Justin Hammer.  There is one other twist that Marvel might have instore for us, what if Sharon Carter is not Sharon Carter but a Skrull who has taken her place.  We know the Secret Invasion series is coming to Disney Plus in either 2022 or 2023, could there be some groundwork being done for that show.  It would make sense for the groundwork for that series to start being laid out.  If that is what Marvel is doing then bravo, but if it is just simply that Sharon Carter went bad then I am unhappy with Marvel's decision.  

We spent so much time with Karli throughout the series that I wish I felt more of something when she died.  Karli's death did not hit me, I got more emotional when Sam held her and carried her out.  Erin Kellyman the actor portraying Karli was phenomenal through the season, but she was often let down by the muddled plot of the FS.  I did think the episode made great use of her death, Sam's speech to the council members was centered around Karli's commitment to stop the GRC.  The speech gave added weight to Karli and the FS, without that speech by Sam I feel the whole FS plot was empty and hollow.  Despite us knowing that Karli's intentions were honorable, she often failed to grasp that those opposing her with important.  Karli constantly mentioned Sam not being important enough to kill, she also said a similar thing about Lemar.  I liked that little quirk to her personality; it made her feel more human and imperfect.  Karli was fighting for freedom, but she often cared too little for those that were not her people or members of the GRC.  I also find it hard to think that the FS were the villains of the show, I am not sure if I like how the show handled the FS.  We were at times meant to sympathize with them, while at other times they were the aggressors.  I understood the reason the FS were doing what they were doing, but I did not understand how their endgame would have changed anything.  I also felt that the way in which they were disposed of seemed anti-climatic.  

When we first glimpsed Walker at the end of episode one, I was prepared to hate him, but the opening scene of episode two had me rooting for him.  Throughout the season I was often cheering for Walker, and I felt that rather than being bad he was just crumpling under the pressure of being Captain America.  I felt his sudden turn from a broken man in episode five to a hero again in episode six felt a little too sudden.  I think I needed a scene with Walker and his wife, that scene should have him explain what happened and should feature her assure her husband that he is a good man who lost his way.  If we got a better idea of where Walker's head is at might have made that transition a little smoother.  I also felt that the scene of him and Bucky catching the FS was a little too easy, and it felt out of character for him based on where he was only an episode ago (trying to kill Sam and Bucky).  There was no mention of the fight between Sam, Bucky and Walker, I just thought it was weird that they never mentioned that brawl.  I did like that Val told Walker that things are going to get weird, I am not sure what that meant, but it might have something to do with Secret Invasion.

Our two main characters Sam and Bucky were a mixed bag in the season finale, Sam was awesome while Bucky felt under used the entire episode.  After episode five I was expecting both of the characters to have some big moments in this episode, but it seemed only Sam was given a lot to work with.  Bucky did not have much to do in the episode, he had a few lines with Karli and Walker, but apart from that not much.  The action with Bucky was not all that special and his conversation with Nori ended way too quickly.  I know this series was Sam's, but I wanted more with Bucky, I feel this season needed at least one more episode to make Bucky's story work better.  Sam had the best lines and the best action scenes in the episode.  Sam's new suit and wings were amazing and his speech to the GRC was very moving.  I also really liked how the show paid off the Isaiah storyline, it was nice to see him accept Sam as Captain America.  Sam making sure that Isaiah's story was added to the Captain America exhibit was the best send-off for Isaiah.  Sam throughout the season has shown that not only is he a great person, but he is possibly a more essential Captain America than Steve was.  

With the announcement of a fourth Captain America film, which is being written by Malcolm Spellman (showrunner for Falcon and the Winter Soldier) I expect Anthony Mackie will be the lead of the film.  This is great news and it totally surprised me; I was assuming we would be getting a second season of FAWS; but we are getting another Captain America film.  There is also the possibility that we get a second season and a movie; I hope we do.  The next time we see Anthony Mackie and Bucky will hopefully follow the racial storylines setup in FAWS, and the fallout of a black Captain America.  As a whole I really enjoyed the first season of FAWS, but I felt six episodes was too short to properly give some of the great characters the proper character arcs.  The next MCU project is the Loki TV which premieres on June 11, I will cover that series so please join me for that.  Black Widow is the next MCU film due out and that will not be out until July 9, 2021.  This week we got the first trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which I wrote about the trailer, and I am very excited to see an MCU kung-fu film.  

I hope you enjoyed my coverage of FAWS and join me in June when I cover the Loki Disney Plus series.  Thank you for reading and let me know what you thought of the finale and the season as a whole.

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