The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Review: One World, One People (Season 1 Episode 6)

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is no more. There is only Captain America, The Winter Soldier, and one incredibly ambitious season finale.

Ambitious feels like the right word to describe what The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 6, “One World, One People,” attempts to do here. From the jump, this final hour uses movie-grade action to propel the plot towards something promising.

Yet as the conflict wraps up, it becomes apparent this series never had a complete grasp on the larger story it was attempting to tell, and Marvel still cannot craft an end battle for television that utilizes its punches.

This finale may lose the larger battle, but it allows our new Captain America to stand with his head held tall, and that’s enough to tip the scales in its favour.

Here’s the thing about The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it’s a flawed show, just as this finale is flawed. It also has an incredible repertoire of strengths and for me, those strengths ultimately outweigh its flaws.

That’s not to say I didn’t want this episode to be smarter, to weaponize its misdirection like it weaponized the shield against us. This finale gives the illusion it’s one step ahead of us, and it breaks my heart to realize this final hour just is not capable of masterminding that kind of ending.

This finale isn’t building to a fight, it’s building to a speech. And this isn’t a series finale, it’s an introduction to a much larger Captain America franchise led by Sam Wilson on the big and small screen.

Devoting an ending to tackling all that, means the story takes a backseat and for many of us that’s unacceptable. However, for those wanting to see Marvel prioritize the first Black man to publicly take on the title of Captain America, that choice to hold onto Sam for support allows this series to stick the landing.

Shhh… Captain America is Talking

Anthony Mackie gets the full Captain America treatment. So regardless of all the things this finale gets wrong, Sam is not one of them.

His Captain America suit is red, white, and blue perfection.

It pays homage to the comic books and looks absolutely incredible onscreen. Creating a super-suit that allows Sam to use every tool in his arsenal from the wings to the shield to Red Wing, and still look effortlessly cool fighting in it is no small feat.

The choice to cut the conflict off at the knees is unwise but it does set the stage for this episode’s crowning achievement — Sam’s speech. Cap is known for his speeches, so having Sam stand before the GRC on national television and fight for basic human rights is more rewarding to his origin than any beatdown.

Sam Wilson: I’m a Black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don’t I understand? Every time I pick this up, I know there are millions of people out there who are gonna hate me for it. Even now, here, I feel it. The stares, the judgment. And there’s nothin’ I can do to change it. Yet I’m still here. No super serum, no blond hair, or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better.

Sam’s speech invokes the pain and anger that we feel in our cores as human beings. Allowing him to speak honestly about the negativity a Black man holding the shield will inevitably fuel drives home the emotions Mackie is dredging up.

Sam’s victory tour doesn’t stop here. The finale uses his newfound power to bring Isaiah Bradley justice as Sam unveils a monument to him in the very museum Steve and Bucky are honoured. Immortalizing Isaiah’s achievements in bronze is the only reasonable payoff for a storyline that has come to define this show’s success.

This convoluted story would be nothing without Sam Wilson and that couldn’t be more apparent than with “One World, One People.”

Here’s to the Villains

For a finale that finds the time to give Walker meaningful character development, I don’t understand why other (more promising) villains are criminally underutilized and discarded at a moment’s notice.

From the moment Karli Morgenthau walked onscreen her fate was sealed. That has not stopped Erin Kellyman’s likeability from getting us excited at the prospect of her sticking around for more projects.

This episode crushes the Flag Smashers before they can leave an impact but Karli shines in demonstrating the uglier sides of radicalization. Her fear is crucial to reminding us this super-soldier is still a scared child that wanted to make a difference.

This series gave us this incredibly complex anti-hero and decided her death meant more to the cause. I get it but I also know reducing Karli to a plot device is a complete waste of an exceptional character.

Even Batroc seems like a casualty of this finale’s unnecessary body count. The French mercenary has been with us since Winter Soldier and regardless of how one-note he is, his death feels cheap. Small players like him are what make these connected stories work. That said, you don’t threaten Sharon Carter and expect to survive.

The finale’s fast-paced introduction suggests this fight is fair. Yet it quickly becomes clear that these villains were never going to succeed the way we needed them to. But they could have and that might just be the greatest loss of all.

Bucky Barnes Will Be Just Fine

No one likes to see a character as fine as Bucky Barnes shoved to the side in the titular hour for the likes of John Walker, not when his character was so often reduced to a silent entity in the films.

That said, there are worst ways to have Bucky spend this hour than fighting alongside Sam. Despite the lack of dialogue thrown his way, Sebastian Stan is perfectly equipped to portray everything he is feeling through telling facial expressions.

Just as Mackie does his best work during this episode, Stan doubles down on the emotional journey of Bucky by allowing gut-wrenching pain to radiate through him in his confession to Yori. We once again see Stan expertly pull back Bucky’s layers to expose that raw vulnerability we’re never prepared for.

Bucky Barnes: You don’t think I ever fought for something bigger than myself? That’s all I ever tried to do, and I failed twice.

The development Bucky has undergone is incredibly valuable, and I wish we could witness more in this final hour. Regardless, we have had the wonderful privilege of watching this character evolve from a brooding assassin to a loveable dork.

The man shows up to a cook-out wearing sunglasses and runs after Sam’s nephews holding a store-bought cake. Given this is peak Domestic Bucky, you will not see me lose sleep over squandered potential.

Sharon Deserves Better

In case it’s not clear in her pointless rants about power or the bizarre choice to force a villain-origin story on a character that has minimal screen time, but Sharon Carter deserved better.

The Power Broker reveal is a disappointment for anyone hoping “Justice for Sharon” wouldn’t mean a one-note villain arc. Alas, Sharon is outed as the Power Broker through a series of dialogue exchanges that feel so wrong for her, not even Emily VanCamp can sell us on the words coming out of her mouth.

It’s not that Sharon has no right to be angry for being tossed aside, it’s that we haven’t spent enough time exploring her motives to justify this change of character. The Sharon we know from Winter Soldier stood against a room of Hydra agents, and now she’s taking on a similar manifesto.

There’s subtlety in how Sharon is causing misdirection throughout the episode. Yet, instead of orchestrating an end credit reveal that she is the Power Broker and responsible for the majority of the finale’s conflict, the show squanders any potential by outing Sharon before she can get her barrings.

I have no idea where Sharon goes from here, having been reduced to poor writing yet again. I do know this injustice has Peggy Carter rolling in her grave as we speak.

Captain America and The Winter Soldier

As a devoted Team Cap fan, I’m honoured to witness Sam and Bucky redefine their relationship in such groundbreaking and fun ways. It has been years of loving the smallest parts of these characters to finally have them get their due in this in-depth series.

This season has stumbled and it has soared but there’s no denying Mackie and Stan have taken these characters, and Captain America’s legacy, to new heights. I can look to Bucky and Sam and know this series did something so incredibly right.

Sam Wilson is setting a new standard as Captain America and Bucky Barnes is reclaiming the Winter Soldier alias as a hero. Regardless of what comes next, whether it’s a season or a film, I will gladly follow these two to the end of the line and beyond.

Earth’s dorkiest co-workers have proven they are capable of more, and who are we not to give it to them.

Other Thoughts:

• “I’m Captain America.”
  “I thought Captain America was on the moon.” Everyone can go home, this wins!
• The devotion to using music that defined Steve Roger’s journey throughout this series is commendable. I mean the use of “Lemurian Star” when Sam is fighting Batroc and “Fury” before the transport blows up is *chef kiss* perfection.
• Sam coaching a hostage through hijacking the helicopter exudes Captain America: The Winter Soldier energy.
• Sharon low-key shading Bucky for not doing his job is a power move and I respect it.
• Bucky hated Red Wing but still requested the Wakandans give Sam’s suit two baby Red Wings because he knew the man missed his bird robot. I can’t!
• Sam refusing to fight Karli is a direct parallel to Steve refusing to fight Bucky. I didn’t need to be attacked emotionally like this by both Captain Americas.
• Congrats to John Walker for doing the bare minimum to call himself a hero.
• The only acceptable sequel to this season: Bucky and Sarah get together and break the news to Sam. He does not take it well but oops Bucky is already on his way to being a step-father thanks to all those store-bought cakes.

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All episodes of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are available to stream on Disney Plus.

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