The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has finally premiered on Disney+ and the first episode succeeds in establishing a promising foundation for the first season. No more than six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes’s (Sebastian Stan) adventure continues starting with a journey of self-discovery in episode one, ‘New World Order’.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The episode opens with Sam dressing in a black suit, packing the shield passed on to him by elderly Steve Rogers, and recalling their conversation at the end of Endgame:
Steve: ‘How does it feel?’
Sam: ‘Like it’s someone else’s.’
Steve: ‘It isn’t.’
– Avengers: Endgame (2019)
As we fade to black, the title appears accompanied by some uplifting theme music before we are thrown into a gripping action sequence. On a mission to rescue a military liaison from a group known as LAF, Sam shows off his new winged suit and allows us a glimpse at his upgraded robotic drone, Redwing. In addition to the new suit and tech, Sam encounters a familiar face for fans when he faces off against Batroc the Leaper, who was last seen in Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014).
Of course, the operation is a success and it’s followed by a conversation between Sam and his friend, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), regarding another growing cause for concern: the Flag Smashers. Torres informs Sam they ‘want a world that’s unified without borders’, an aim that appeals to many despite the chaos the group create. Sam leaves it up to Torres to keep an eye on them while he travels to Washington and delivers an emotional memorial speech on Steve Rogers to a crowd of onlookers, including James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). The shield’s fate is shown as Sam allows it to be displayed in the exhibit dedicated to Steve in the Smithsonian.
In a flashback dream sequence, we see the Winter Soldier ruthlessly killing several men before Bucky wakes up. Bucky later lies to his therapist and insists that he is not having any nightmares and they discuss his attempts at making amends whilst following the ‘three rules’: not to do anything illegal, nobody gets hurt, and announcing his identity and advise he is making amends. What’s even more intriguing during this scene is the glimpse into one of Bucky’s notebooks where he has listed the names of those he is after. Among those names is none other than H. Zemo, a.k.a Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), whom we last saw in Captain America: Civil War (2016). This only further establishes what we have seen in previous trailers for the show in that there will come a time that Bucky and Zemo are reunited. The only question is: who finds who first?
Alongside his therapy sessions and making amends, Bucky is attempting to live a peaceful life, making friends such as the older man Yori (Ken Takemoto). He even shows up for a date with a young lady that Yori tried to set him up with, though it doesn’t quite go as planned. We soon find out that Yori’s son is dead, and though not knowing how it happened tortures Yori, the truth that he died at the hands of Bucky during his time as the Winter Soldier becomes a shocking connection between Bucky and his newfound friend.
Much like in WandaVision, Sam and Bucky’s exploration as characters makes the episode so enjoyable. As an audience, we are finally getting to get a better idea of who they are as individuals as they journey to discover themselves through a series of choices and trials. While Bucky struggles with mental health, Sam faces some sibling rivalry with his sister Sarah and the challenges of aiding her in getting a bank loan to save their family business and home in a post-reverse-blip world.
After failing to procure the loan, Sam receives a call from Torres, who has been beaten up by one of the Flag Smashers he had managed to trace. As Sam watches the video footage of the Flag Smashers recorded by Torres, he remarks on how strong one of them is before Torres agrees.
“He was. I mean, bro, they went dark as soon as it was all over. But that’s their M.O. We gotta keep our eyes and ears to the ground till they pop up again.” Sound familiar? Well, Sam and Torres seem to think so, and it could be possible that they begin to investigate the Winter Soldier program more thoroughly or something similar to it. Regardless, it appears that the investigation into the Flag Smashers is what will prompt Sam to track down an evasive Bucky Barnes in the next episode. Closely following this cliffhanger moment, Sarah enters the room Sam is in and turns on the TV to show a press conference in which the new Captain America is revealed, and Sam watches as a fully suited Cap (his identity at the moment unknown) emerges with what seems to be none other than former Captain America, Steve’s shield…
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