the falcon and the winter soldier episode 2 has just released on disney plus and i've had
a chance to watch the episode which includes some decent action easter eggs and more to break down
in particular i'm going to be explaining the plot and ending for episode 2 of the new marvel show
entitled the star-spangled man in the aim to help you guys gather a greater sense of what's happened
this analysis will also contain spoilers so if you do happen to be someone who hasn't watched
episode 2 of the falcon and the winter soldier then i would recommend watching this video
after you've caught up if you want to see more videos on all of the disney plus marvel shows
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also if you enjoyed this video remember to give it a like rating but without further ado let's dive
into my breakdown and explained video for episode 2 of the falcon and the winter soldier
so the drama in the falcon in the winter soldiers first episode was all caps or at least the new
captain america revealed in the final moments of the series opener who looked sure to clash
with cap's ex sidekicks sam and bucky and episode 2 doesn't take long to introduce us
to this character aka john walker an ex-football player and decorated soldier who was drafted in
last minutes to take on this rather unusual role episode 2 begins with an extended introduction to
walker and at least initially he's not quite as bad as his sneaky introduction would have
suggested in fact by contrast walker seems like a pretty decent guy he has a good friend a nice
girlfriend and seems more or less like an ordinary guy keen to be the best captain america he can be
on screen this plays out as walker parroting around a football field and signing autographs and
action figures to a remixed version of the song star spangled man introduced in captain america
the first avenger as a theme for steve rogers during his uso days one of the most intriguing
parts of the first avenger which was largely drops later on was the theme of captain america as a pr
exercise largely useful to sell war bonds and engage with staged foes rather than a
useful agent in his own right here we get a hint of that again as walker delivers a good
morning america interview full of platitudes even though i never met him he feels like a brother
he says of steve rogers and notes that like the original cap he has the guts to see him through
a task outside of the pr angle it's interesting to compare walker to steve rogers more generally and
the series definitely wants us to certainly there are parallels walker's friend lamar notes that he
can't punch his way out of problems anymore which directly echoes something scarlett johansson's
black widow said to steve in captain america civil war and he knows how to handle the shield
but there are also some key differences back in the first avenger dr erskine's big gamble
was to use the super soldier serum on a small asthmatic man rather than the athletic soldiers
he was offered his reasoning because a strong man who has known power all his life will lose respect
for that power but a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion clearly walker has
been strong all his life and as much as he's not yet a villain we do see the first stirrings of his
arrogance and entitlement in this episode keen as he is to enlist bucky and sam to his cause largely
for the optics of having steve's wingmen on side of course currently the wingmen barely have each
other's backs let alone anyone else's fresh from the revelations of walker's new role bucky tracks
down sam to have it out after an episode that needlessly kept them apart last week it's odd that
the show without too much real interest throws them together especially when bucky then just
decides to help sam with his government work for no reason still at least they're now teaming up to
take on the flag smashers who bucky wants to fight immediately while sam urges more caution we're not
assassins sam tells him slightly hypocritically considering he blew up about eight people in
the last episode eventually they do battle these strange new foes but are largely overpowered by
what sam and bucky now recognize as super soldiers like steve was and bucky still is until walker and
his sidekick battle star which is his friend lamar show up unusual as it is to see someone else use
the shield it's not a bad first showing for walker in combat he certainly holds his own better than
sam and bucky who are suckered by the flag smasher leader khali apparently the true leader of the
group being threatened by a mysterious outside figure but sam and bucky still aren't willing
to accept him as the new cap and instead head to track down another lead said lead will be of
great interest to marvel fans as it introduces a classic marvel character to the fold carl lumblies
azia bradley known as the black captain america in the comics he was presented as part of an attempt
to recreate the super soldier serum after steve's creation briefly taking a costume and shield meant
for steve for a mission in an act that had him known as a bit of an urban legend however unlike
steve azaya's story didn't have a happy ending leaving aside the ethics of being experimented on
asia was treated poorly by the us military later being captured by nazis and court-martialed when
he did manage to go home later in life he also suffered mental and physical decline thanks to
the effects of the super serum that had been used on him and became childlike in his later years
it seems like at least some of this story is being replicated in the falcon and the winter soldier
though so far it seems the detail of bradley being a version of captain america has been scrapped as
opposed to him just being a super soldier either way we don't find out bradley's role just yet
still angered by the years he was experimented on despite his heroism and unwilling to trust bucky
thanks to his years as the winter soldier asia throws falcon and bucky out delivering them to
some police officers who after racially profiling falcon arrest bucky for missing his court-mandated
treatment john walker of course returns to get them out leading to a genuinely pretty
funny joint therapy session of falcon and bucky that raises some issues between them
bucky's insecurity about his redemption looks set to be a key theme throughout the series and
it's quite honestly the thing that i found the most interesting in the show however despite
walker's slightly cocky assertion that bucky will now be working with him the titular duo
would still rather take on the flag smashers alone word of advice then stay the hell out of my way
walker replies with some slightly sinister music so yeah it looks like we might see a turn of his
character as the episodes pass elsewhere the flag smashers are chased by the mysterious power broker
but managed to escape raising new questions about who this unknown figure really is
and how he was able to bestow these super soldier powers on random freedom fighters
but perhaps bucky has a lead on someone who can help a man with connections to hydra the evil
organization that assire had hinted could be behind all of this okay then we're gonna go see
zemo sam agrees it's exciting to see daniel brawl join the fray as baron zemo and hopefully they
build on his earlier performance in civil war to create a new take on his old villainous character
but that was my brief breakdown video explaining the plot and ending for episode 2 of the falcon
and the winter soldier altogether this was an episode that started to hint at the bigger
storyline of the show while also dropping some of the quieter threads like sam's money issues and
bucky's struggles from before but quite honestly with us being a third of the way into this season
i was expecting a more compelling story there's not much motivation for sam investigating the flag
smashers for the government motivation that is any different to walker and i have no idea why bucky
has decided to get personally involved instead of just carrying on with his life it feels lackluster
and although there's elements that remind me of the winter soldier which i really love there's
also elements like the underdeveloped reasoning behind the story which make me want more built
interest don't get me wrong the mix of action and captain america easter eggs is great but i need
more to pull me through the surrounding story but overall i'm giving episode 2 of the falcon
and the winter soldier a 6.5 out of 10. i hope you guys enjoyed my breakdown and brief review
and overall i'm still looking forward to seeing what happens in episode 3 of the new marvel show
which i will be covering on the channel next week i'm also intrigued to hear all of your
thoughts on episode 2 so let me know down below in the comments section as well as listing your
predictions for episode 3. for more content on the falcon and the winter soldier then don't
forget to subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications also if you enjoyed this video
remember to leave a like rating i am covering every episode of season 1 alongside bringing
constant updates on all the new marvel shows so make sure to keep a lookout for whenever i post
but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some noise