It is not a great spoiler to tell that the second episode let John Walker shine a bit like the new Captain America. The opening focuses only on him and the preparation of his public debut with a great parade, and he tries his best to describe what Roger’s legacy means to him. The best part of this episode is its ability to make us believe that John Walker is not a big jerk so far and one could think the real bullies are Sam and Bucky here.
Aside from Walker, there are a lot of excitements here: Falcon and the Winter Soldier finally meet each other, while both try to swallow the presence of the new Captain. From the duo, Bucky is more pissed off of course, since he feels like Sam is shaming Steve’s legacy. We got another great action scene placed in Germany and a new character that makes Sam realize how complicated the legacy of Captain America is.
Both Anthony Mackie’s and Sebastian Stan’s acting are better compared to the first episode, it seems they started to enjoy the spotlight finally. The real surprise here is Wyatt Russell, who made the whole internet angry with a few seconds of screen time, and now he makes his character interesting, so cannot wait to see what he will do with it in the next few episodes.
Tech-wise The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues to bring good quality, even though it cannot add any extra enjoyment compared to the first episode. Maybe Henry Jackman’s melodies sound familiar here and there from previous Captain America movies, but that is not for sure.
The second episode is a tasteful follow-up of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I hope it will continue this way. This mid-tempo setting suits both the story and the characters very well and I hope the series will not start to run near to its finale.
