The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Originally posted by KingD19
In Bucky's defense, they made John much closer to his comic levels than a single dose of SSS in the MCU should make him.

Even Cap couldn't send someone flying across the room riding the shield with their gut. And he hit him hard enough to send sparks out of his Vibranium arm.

I wish they hadn't made Bucky the punching bag to show off Psycho Cap, but it is what it is. They had to nerf him this entire series so Walker would look good as a villain when he finally snapped.

Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily Bucky being weak. More like my initial prediction that Walker, already being a peak human at base, is simply more powerful than a regular Super Soldier after taking the serum. I mean unless we assume that Bucky's vibranium arm is much weaker than his old one, Walker is simply way stronger than the others, considering we consistently saw Cap get overpowered by Bucky's old arm in the films whereas it took

Spoiler:
Bucky using both arms and Sam pulling with his thrusters to aid him to break Walker's hold on the shield.

I do hope Bucky redeems himself in the last episode though. I mean, yeah, Walker is uber powerful, but all Bucky has done is beat up fodder while looking bad in every other instance. Even him beating up the Flag Smashers isn't that impressive by his usual standards, considering he has way more training and experience than them. The only thing that can really be said in Bucky's defense so far is that he's making an active effort to hold back from killing, whereas pretty much everyone he's fought has fought with murderous intent.

And John seemed to heal up really quickly from the broken arm as well, based on him being fully healed while building himself a new shield during the post-credits sequence.

And Sharon enlisting Batroc and getting him out of jail further leans into the idea of her being the Power Broker.

Originally posted by carthage
Damn Bucky jobbed as shit he was Johns ***** throughout the fight

Falcon has actually improved though.

Falcon will probably be even better in the finale, considering

Spoiler:
he has the shield, presumably new vibranium wings and even got a training montage at the end of the last episode, which is often used as plot tool for a power/ability creep.

Bucky's stuck in his own head IMO. I think he's so afraid of reverting to his old self and going haywire that he subconsciously nerfs himself from fighting at his best. He even says in episode 5 that

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the fact that he's still having nightmares means he's still "there" and that the Winter Soldier is still inside him, something that he is afraid of.

looking forward to this show rebranded as

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Captain America and the Winter Soldier

Originally posted by Mindset
Bucky in the show has been consistently inferior to Bucky in the movies.

Falcon has actually improved though.

I didn't like the arm drop of doom especially.

Just detaching like a lego toy.

Originally posted by Mindset
Bucky in the show has been consistently inferior to Bucky in the movies.

Falcon has actually improved though.

It's because he's depressed or something.

The finale was kind of a letdown for me. There were some good moments, but it was heavily overshadowed by the extremely inconsistent character portrayals in the fight sequences, especially when taking into account previous episodes and considering the series as a whole.

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Sam can fight head to head with the Flag Smashers who, based on Sharon's comments when she was trying to lure Karli back, weren't as inexperienced as we'd initially been led to believe. But then he struggles heavily with fighting Batroc, who's simply a skilled human in street clothes.

Rage-mode Walker goes from being able to fight multiple Flag Smashers at once in episode 4 to struggling with similar numbers during the finale, and despite being able to out-muscle her gets floored by Karli, who then struggles to land a hit on Sam who's not even fighting back, who in turn got whooped and nearly beaten by Walker while having Bucky as a teammate. And the other Flag Smashers who were getting easily beaten in episode 4 by Bucky, Walker and Sam can now give Bucky and Walker problems in H2H.

Seriously, this is CW levels of inconsistency

I vomited a little bit in my mouth when he said “We built this country”.

It's like I said in Vscomic off topic.

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Walkee is poorly written. His bigotry is way over the top, and he's a pathetic fighter. More of a punching bag against the alt-right then a real character.

I was ultimately let down. There's a lot I liked but a LOT more I hated.

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I liked all the racial topics it tackled. It's relevant and I've seen those exact opinions about Falcon becoming Cap online. I also liked Walker and the modern Cap angle they took with him. I LOVED Isiah's story line and the conclusion to it. I enjoyed Cap and Winter Soldiers newfound partner dynamic and friendship. Zemo was fantastic and once again took the W.

Everything else, I wasn't a fan of. Sharon was a lame character this go around and it feels like they just didn't know what to do with her. Villain Sharon was just annoying and I personally hope she doesn't show up too much in the MCU now that Cap is gone. I don't know how she's related to GOAT Peggy.

The Flag Smashers were a pointless blip in the MCU's history, and already irrelevant.

Batroc being shot by Sharon is a waste of a better character. They should have played up him vs Falcon more. I also got the impression that he was a more seasoned/professional merc, so him threatening the powerbroker (a dangerous and well funded individual) for more pay (breaching contract and thus destroying his rep) while pointing his gun at someone she doesn't give that much of a shit about (point it at the powerbroker if you're going to try to blackmail) just felt like a stupid rookie move. And what happened to "I don't care about money, I just want Falcon!"?

As already outlined, the power levels were super inconsistent throughout, for everyone. After Walker took on WS and Falcon, I should be able to argue he can take on Cap. On the other hand, he got KOed pretty quick by that lead Flag Smasher and there is no way that would happen to Cap. Falcon was a beast for most of the series, and then he struggled hard with Batroc before overwhelming him.

The story in general just kind of felt like it was just blundering from instance to instance. This was my biggest disappointment. I was hoping for this show to take the political thriller/intricate conspiracies with widespread consequences angle the Cap movies took, and that's what I expected. There was some of that with the Flag Smashers but they were just ultimately pointless, and they felt like the under dogs the entire time. I never once felt like Cap and WS were really taxed or dealing with something some normal law enforcement and military couldn't handle.

Also

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Cap refusing to fight the Flag Smasher at the end right up until she almost executed him was stupid as hell. There is NO WAY Rogers would have done that. She almost succeeded in killing Cap, which was a pretty big goal of the Flag Smashers. Remember Rogers moving towards Iron Man with his shield up in the finale at the bunker in Civil War? And that was a friend. This was a random terrorist (and that's what she was regardless of his last speech; I did agree with the general message of using the label to avoid certain truths or color an argument a certain way though, that was a good point) trying to kill him. You don't almost sacrifice the mission just to prove a point about how much you're against using violence to solve problems.

Originally posted by Arachnid1
Also

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Cap refusing to fight the Flag Smasher at the end right up until she almost executed him was stupid as hell. There is NO WAY Rogers would have done that. She almost succeeded in killing Cap, which was a pretty big goal of the Flag Smashers. Remember Rogers moving towards Iron Man with his shield up in the finale at the bunker in Civil War? And that was a friend. This was a random terrorist (and that's what she was regardless of his last speech; I did agree with the general message of using the label to avoid certain truths or color an argument a certain way though, that was a good point) trying to kill him. You don't almost sacrifice the mission just to prove a point about how much you're against using violence to solve problems.

Falcon was a like a veteran counselor or something.

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It seemed to me Karli wasn't going to shoot him. She was panicking, but Sam wasn't in danger of being shot anyway. His suit and wings are bulletproof. If it wasn't for Sharon "Power Broker" Carter killing Karli and using her moment of hesitation to make it seem like she was gonna shoot Sam, Karli would've been brought in, and would've confessed to knowing who Sharon was.

Originally posted by Mindset
Why are you expecting Falcon to act like Steve?

Falcon was a like a veteran counselor or something.

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That's a good point, but he's also a veteran himself who ran a thousand ops long before he met Steve. Counselor or not letting a literal terrorist execute you doesn't seem like a move a seasoned soldier would make. Especially since he was protecting Sharon there. Karli would have killed her right after. It wasn't the right move.

Originally posted by KingD19

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It seemed to me Karli wasn't going to shoot him. She was panicking, but Sam wasn't in danger of being shot anyway. His suit and wings are bulletproof. If it wasn't for Sharon "Power Broker" Carter killing Karli and using her moment of hesitation to make it seem like she was gonna shoot Sam, Karli would've been brought in, and would've confessed to knowing who Sharon was.

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She clearly was about to shoot him at the end. She took aim, braced, grimaced, and everything. Sure, she was conflicted, and hesitated, but she was going to follow through like she always does. She's killed tons of noncombatant civilians for her cause. She wouldn't stop just for Sam. Sharon saved his life there.

Originally posted by Arachnid1

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That's a good point, but he's also a veteran himself who ran a thousand ops long before he met Steve. Counselor or not letting a literal terrorist execute you doesn't seem like a move a seasoned soldier would make. Especially since he was protecting Sharon there. Karli would have killed her right after. It wasn't the right move.

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She clearly was about to shoot him at the end. She took aim, braced, grimaced, and everything. Sure, she was conflicted, and hesitated, but she was going to follow through like she always does. She's killed tons of noncombatant civilians for her cause. She wouldn't stop just for Sam. Sharon saved his life there.

this was a well thought out series. i enjoyed it.. can't wait for more adventures

I wouldn't be surprised if

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Batroc isn't actually dead. He gets shot and goes down, but there isn't really any follow up there (unless I missed something), unlike Karli who it was made clear that she died. And based on his reaction before he drops, he gets hit in the torso, not in the head. So, he could definitely still be alive somewhere.

I also find it kind of funny that the person who was most efficient at handling the Flag Smashers was

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Zemo's butler.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
I wouldn't be surprised if

Spoiler:
Batroc isn't actually dead. He gets shot and goes down, but there isn't really any follow up there (unless I missed something), unlike Karli who it was made clear that she died. And based on his reaction before he drops, he gets hit in the torso, not in the head. So, he could definitely still be alive somewhere.

I also find it kind of funny that the person who was most efficient at handling the Flag Smashers was

Spoiler:
Zemo's butler.

Originally posted by Mindset
He clearly had a soft spot for her that was shown multiple times. He tried to talk her down multiple times. He didn't think she was going to kill him.

Hell, she even told him in an earlier episode that she doesn't want to kill him because he wasn't wearing the star so it would be pointless. It didn't align with her ideals. She only wanted to kill Cap and smash flags. Then he showed up wearing the star and holding the shield and he expects her to not kill him because they had a 5 minute conversation once a week prior? The same lady who blew up innocent civilians and is buffed by the SS serum? The ends justified the means with her, and Wilsons entire gift is being able to read people.

There is no way that wasn't a dumb move. Yes, he empathized with her cause (as he should, his argument was spot on), but it still doesn't make sense for him to not just take her down and proceed from there. At least in that scenario, she'd still be alive.

Kinda disappointed walker didnt pull up to the last fight and start blowing mfs away