The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Review: New World Order (Season 1 Episode 1)

It seems we can’t lose, not with Marvel’s elaborate ensemble films and certainly not with this Sam and Bucky solo series.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 1, “New World Order,” capitalizes on the promise of heart-pounding action and gritty political dealings with a first mission that is heavy on the setup and generous with the fan-fare.

Between the laughs and punches, this introduction delivers us long-overdue insight into who these men are and why their collective traumas deserve our attention.

This first episode isn’t just a love letter to Captain America’s legacy, it’s a love letter to the films that afforded Team Cap a legacy worth celebrating. The story sacrifices little in its bid for bold cinematic storytelling by focusing once again on the man, rather than the soldier.

The Falcon Flies Again:

Falcon’s breathtaking high-altitude mission sets a strong tone for this action-series. The intricate movie-like sequence demonstrates Sam’s undeniable skill in the air and delivers one of the coolest aerial battles since the first Iron-Man film.

I will say the jagged transition from Sam’s bedroom to the military mission to Tunisia isn’t as smooth in execution. It’s a shame because Sam’s quiet moment alone with the shield and the chaos of suiting up as the Falcon is a nice contrast.

It’s also nice to see how this series will give a hundred-year-old orphan and a modern-day soldier common ground through their shared losses. Sam had a family to return to after The Blip, but he is still a man out of place in this new world and it’s taking its toll.

Mackie skillfully navigates a quieter, more subtle, trauma as Sam tries to be the superhero his nephews and sister need. But after five years of fending for herself, Sarah Wilson doesn’t need a saviour to swoop in and Sam is left to grasp onto the Falcon mantle for vindication.

The bank loan scene is uncomfortable, and all too crucial when demonstrating to viewers the difference in the way the Falcon and Captain America’s mantles are treated. Steve would have had a bank loan secured before he sat down, yet Sam gets interrogated about who signs his superhero paychecks. The injustice is muted, but its presence is enough.

Even Super Soldiers Need Therapy:

I present to you, Bucky being ripped to absolute shreds by his therapist a.k.a. the greatest gift Marvel has ever given us.

This might be one of my all-time favourite scenes from the MCU, and not just because Bucky gets his stoic ass handed to him in the form of self-care. This one scene of superb dialogue establishes that Bucky’s pardon for his crimes as the Winter Soldier doesn’t acquit the trauma he continues to endure as a 106-year-old man alone in the world.

The layers of trauma being pulled back one by one are suffocating in the way this stage of Bucky’s story should be. It helps that his therapist challenges him in ways few can. She is a worthy advisory for his self-loathing and while these two are sparing with words, their battle of the minds is highly entertaining.

This therapy scene has so many great Bucky Barnes one-liners — his specialty. However, it truly reaches its peak when Bucky ensures his “shrink” that he followed all three rules of his healing process while brilliantly timed flashbacks demonstrate he broke every single rule.

Using comedy to convey the dark truth that this Senator is still benefitting from Winter Soldier’s work is a great direction for Bucky and it keeps him away from the brooding vigilante trope. This list is sending Bucky down a fascinating path to self-redemption; while laying into the lovely brand of chaos comedy Marvel’s films have cultivated.

The Return of The Winter Soldier:

This series is taking big swings and none could be bigger than the return of The Winter Soldier, one of the MCU’s most chilling villains. That initial reveal when Bucky bursts through the wall with his muzzle and the long-haired wig is so shocking, I’m still struggling to catch my breath!

The way Stan manages to land his sites on this role and duplicate that killer gaze after all this time is terrifying, as is the way this show expertly builds an emotional redemption storyline out of this one devastating kill with Yori and Bucky.

For fans who haven’t stopped thinking about Captain America: The Winter Soldier since it first premiered in 2014, this episode is a glorious minefield of easter-eggs dedicated to the film that started Sam and Bucky on this path to greatness.

The call-backs start immediately and they just keep coming as a fun cameo from Batroc is accompanied by the very score we hear when Cap infiltrates the French mercenary’s ship in the film.

That familiar score is wielded brilliantly throughout the episode, later stirring up more nostalgia when Yori mentions his son’s death and the Winter Soldier’s spooky theme music begins to play as the camera closes in on Bucky’s reaction.

Honoring the Legacy:

In stressing these minor details, Falcon and The Winter Soldier recognizes there’s a third character to this act who can’t be overlooked, and that’s Steve Rogers.

Chris Evan’s Captain America may be absent from this next chapter, but his legacy lives and breathes in every single scene. Falcon’s decision to have the Captain America mantle and shield sealed away in a museum is a touching tribute to our friend, and certainly not something viewers had anticipated.

The show’s decision to spit on that gesture and pass the shield onto some random white guy expertly guts viewers before we even see John Walker step out in the suit. That unrelenting shot of Sam, his face already beginning to process an injustice he didn’t believe could happen in his friend’s name, says more than dialogue ever could.

This is no longer as simple as Sam taking on the title of Captain America, it’s about him defending the legacy of his friend and drawing attention to the racial injustices these superhero projects so often overlook in the passing of the torch.

In tarnishing Roger’s wishes, this series has evoked a powerful desire in us to see the greatest Avenger avenged for a crime society has no right to commit in his name. One can only hope Marvel doesn’t gloss over the retribution these authorities deserve for committing this atrocity.

Here’s to More Bucky and Sam:

This episode delivers on a lot of Bucky content, something I’m still not able to process given this man hasn’t said more than fifty words since The First Avenger. It is refreshing to have this series confirm what we’ve always known — Bucky Barnes is a cranky old man with a heart of gold.

The old-man jokes that follow Bucky at every turn are hardly a tired bit. Bucky brings a girl flowers and he gets called old-fashioned. Bucky fails to understand online dating and casually mentions he hasn’t danced since 1943. It’s all incredibly important to the brand this series is building.

Going forward I would love to see more dedicated fan-fare to Sam’s time as Falcon. Unlike WandaVision, there’s a lot of setup for this series and the majority of that has rested on Sam’s shoulders so far. I hope the decision to tear into Bucky’s past first means we’ll do the same with Sam and his wing-man, Riley when the time comes.

This first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is backed by such incredibly in-depth storytelling and resourceful likeability, how could you not want to follow Sam and Bucky till the end of the line, and beyond?

Theories & Other Thoughts:

• Fake Pietro or Fake Captain America, choose your fighter.
• I assume the use of past tense when discussing Steve Rogers is because Sam and Bucky told everyone he disappeared after Endgame, and not because they had a funeral off-screen for him — Steve is alive and happy dammit!
• The way that Steve made those adorable pop-culture lists when he was reentering society and Bucky made a list too, but for much more devastating reasons *whispers* it’s not fair.
• Rhodey!
• It’s lovely to see Bucky hanging out with people closer to his age but did he have to befriend the sweet father of the boy he killed? I am eager to see Yori’s presence continue to bring out the softness Bucky is determined to hide from the world.

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New episodes of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier air Fridays on Disney+.

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