THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER IS BETTER ALL AT ONCE

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is an interesting concept. An episodic continuation of the Captain America specific stories of the Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, it finds Sam Wilson as the heir apparent after the events of Avengers Endgame. Originally, the show was a weekly episodic for Disney+. However, watching the series all at once instead of week to week made it far more entertaining for me.

A fairly divisive series for fans, TFaTWS has complicated politics surrounding the mantle, which give Sam pause when considering how to proceed. Furthering this is the arrival of US Agent — a “true” Captain America replacement who is handed the shield after Sam makes the initial decision to hand it over to the US government.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is Stronger Viewed Straight Though

As a black man in America I already sympathized with Sam Wilson and Isaiah Bradley’s respective plights while watching the first time. However, I admit that the episodic nature made me feel disconnected and the show overall felt disjointed during its initial run. The week to week narrative did not work as well here for me as it did for the multiple-era TV sitcom setup that WandaVision was successful with.

Things Make More Sense

We all lose little details from week to week that keep us engaged in the narrative. This particular show as a political thriller has more subtle moments than the more bombastic obvious good vs. evil movies. An example would be the “breadcrumbs” left during the episodes to figure out who the Power Broker is. It is easier to keep track of those clues watching it all at once.

Keeping track of the Flag Smashers’ shenanigans was also easier. Karli Morgenthau’s descent into madness was a lot easier to digest. Going from seemingly selfless to outright power grab is paced better.

I also perceived John Walker’s devolution to be more seamless

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