The Falcon and The Winter Solider – Power Broker Review

When I began recapping WandaVision, I wrote that I was worried the series would feel more like doing homework for the upcoming Doctor Strange film (since Wanda had already been announced as a key character for that film) than a standalone series. After all, why bother to make a TV show about MCU characters when you could put together a film and tell the same story (with a bigger budget and more star power than you get for TV)? But that series allayed my fears rather quickly, taking the time to give us a deep dive into the emotional pain of a core Avengers character (one we knew precious little about), while also managing to introduce an interesting new MCU character in Monica Rambeau – before fumbling the ball on the goal line with an unsatisfying finale that did feel like homework for several upcoming MCU projects. So, when I began watching The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, I hoped it could capture the same energy as WandaVision – give us the time and space to get to know two MCU sidekicks, and understand how they will fit into the MCU moving forward. Well, I’ve absolutely given up on that as the theme of the series – this one has become pure homework.

There are a couple of things working against TFATWS that I need to acknowledge before getting into why the series isn’t really working the way it should be. The first is that, unlike WandaVision which had nine episodes, TFATWS will only have six. If you have a shortened series order like that, it’s essential that every moment of the series is carefully plotted to maximize the storytelling. That’s decidedly not the case here, which I’ll get into in a minute. The other thing working against the series is that it was supposed to premiere before WandaVision. With the onset of Covid-19, shooting the major action set pieces had to be delayed, which moved it into the second place in the new MCU TV schedule (since WandaVision was less big battles and more CGI work, it could be completed earlier). If TFATWS had come out first, I’m not sure I would be as disappointed with it. After all, it feels like a Marvel film that got cut up into six pieces, which isn’t such a bad thing until you have something as interesting and different as WandaVision to compare it to. Then it appears sorely lacking.

So, what’s my problem with this episode – and the series as a whole? After all, I didn’t pan the first two episodes. Well, my problem is that I was hoping it would care far more about the characters than it appears to. This is supposed to be the story of Sam wrestling with his place in the Avengers and whether or not he’s worthy of being the next Cap. It’s supposed to be a dive into Bucky’s psyche as he struggles in a world without his best friends and moral compass and worries he might slip without Steve to guide him. The ghost of Steve should be heavy over the proceedings. And sure, we have plenty of references to Steve and past films starring him. We have Zemo playing a large role. We have Sharon Carter showing up again. And at the end of the episode we have Ayo showing up, providing a link to Bucky’s White Wolf identity. We have so many characters in this show that there’s barely any room for the series to address its two leads. It has to spend precious time explaining via awkward exposition dumps just who everyone is (in case you haven’t watched all of the films), what they’ve been up to since we last saw them on screen, and why they matter to the story. And my god, was “Power Broker” bogged down by a heaping of too much exposition.

As someone who was never all that invested in the Captain America films, I was grateful for the refresher on just how Helmut Zemo and Sharon Carter fit into things, but I found myself continually frustrated that the show was willing to spend precious minutes making sure we understood how much of a villain Zemo was (even though he has the same ultimate goal as Bucky and Sam at the moment) and how much of a badass Sharon is (now that she isn’t relegated to flirting with Steve), instead of giving us time with the Flag Smashers, John Walker, or one-on-one time with Sam and Bucky. Do I believe that Bucky’s choice to free Zemo will end up biting him in the butt (although I’m sure nothing all that bad will befall him in the way of consequences – because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from WandaVision, it’s that the MCU can acknowledge the bad things done by characters but is unwilling to let them actually have to pay for their actions in the end)? Absolutely. Do I suspect we’ll see Sharon again, swooping in to save the day? I would bet money on it. But when you’re halfway through a series, you can’t be adding additional characters to the game board, even if they are characters fans know and love (or at least would enjoy seeing again). At this stage in the game the show should be ramping up to its climax, not dumping more information on us.

At this stage, we should understand who our villains are and why they are doing what they are doing. If the Flag Smashers and Karli (and her Super Solider team) are our villains, we should know far more about her and them. We know she lost someone she cared deeply about in the resettlement camps. We know she is Robin Hooding to get refugees food and supplies. And we know that she’s just escalated to bombing a GRC facility after robbing it. But we don’t really know who she is. The beauty of TV, compared to film, is that you have the time to dive deep into characters – who they are, what they’ve been through, and what they want. Why TFATWS seems to eschew this perk of being a TV series in favor of big action pieces and a lack of character development has left me completely puzzled. If they don’t care all that much about fleshing out their villains, why make the TV show at all? That is, unless the goal of this series isn’t really to help us learn more about our title characters and the villains they are battling.

And here we come back to the homework assignment of it all. When the series began, I assumed it was a show meant to serve as Sam’s Captain America origin story. But I’m starting to get the sinking feeling that it’s setting up something very different. Considering we’ve yet to meet the mythical Power Broker (again, there are only three episodes left, and he appears to be the series’ true villain), perhaps Marvel is saving that reveal for the end of the series, setting up a future MCU villain for Bucky and Sam (and others) to try to take down. Perhaps the addition of John Walker to the story wasn’t just to include an interim Cap to allow Sam to compare himself against, but rather to set up an antagonist for a future MCU project. If you look into Walker’s comic arc, you’ll see a disturbing connection to the Power Broker that would make for an interesting future MCU storyline. With the number of hanging threads in the series thus far – and the limited time to tie them off in a satisfying manner – perhaps we aren’t supposed to view TFATWS as a TV series at all. Perhaps we should be thinking of it as a long piece of exposition for the next film outing for these two characters. After all, I can’t imagine Marvel and Kevin Feige would create a series that is a love letter to television in WandaVision – showing that they fully understand the strengths of the medium – only to completely ignore all of the great things TV can offer for characters, villains, and storytelling as a whole. And that’s both troubling and disappointing to this TV critic.