I wanted to follow this up with an expanded thought. While I believe what I said, there are some scenes that are really, really good. - Almost anything with Zemo - Sam's speech in Episode 1 - Bucky's scene in Wakanda - John Walker losing his shit with blood on the shield - John Walker in his high school dressing room (made me feel for him despite wanting to hate him) - The therapy scene was comedic gold I'm sure I've missed a few but there are some brilliant scenes despite the flaws, IMO>
All good observations, I also think there is a lot of things pointing towards Battlestar/Hoskins being his conscience and him dying is symbolic of him fully losing his grip on right and wrong.
So the guy that got his skull bashed in by Cap's shield was the same dude in the beginning of the episode who said he was a fan of Captain America growing up. God damn, Feige. God damn.
To expound on this... I've only watched it once but I remember several emotions. First he was scared. Then got angry. Then broke down. Then finally a happy smile right at the end. I thought it was a great scene.
I mean Karli is obviously the better of the 3 by a mile. Walker sucks the most to me, Zemo is a broken man from losing his son (Completely understandable). She's on the Killmonger, Vulture tier of bad guy where you get everything they're doing and completely sympathize and even might find yourself pulling for them.
Also and I cannot stress this enough, Zemo is fantastic and I want more of him moving forward. Sam, Bucky and Him are just great all around. They've done a great job. I do love how easily Sam has just slid into the moral compass position that Cap use to hold. Obviously setting it up for him to take the mantle.
I think this is part of the thing that has given me trouble with the series in terms of how to view Sam's role in it, and is something I'm kind of trying to figure out if I'm the problem when I watch it. A lot of superhero stories feel like the hero trying to figure out who they are. The hero part is easy for a lot of them. The human part is not. With Sam in this series, it kind of feels like the opposite where Sam knows exactly who he is, but is trying to find his way as a hero without someone like Cap who he trusted to lead him in the right direction.
Zemo’s beliefs about supremacy and the dangers arising from that makes so much sense from a dude that grew up in an Eastern Bloc state. If Karli wasn’t powered, you’d have to think he’d be closer to her side than Sam/Bucky. It was cool to show him acknowledge that Steve is the exception to the rule.
I mean, the reason Cap gave him that shield is because just like Himself he knew Sam would always make the morally correct decision no matter the consequences. I also feel like the part in bold in your statement is what’s actually making me enjoy the show even more. At his core Sam has the same qualities Cap did before taking the serum.
I believe Helmut is the 13th Baron Zemo and going all the way back all their first names start with an H.
They’re still following orders though. Once you take that shield ur making those decisions. Sam is a complete badass but being the big swinging dick is different from just doing what ur told
I feel like karli is in a big time struggle right now. Seems like she is right on the edge between being an antihero or being a straight up villain. Seemed like she took a step to the latter when she killed the guards for no reason then threatened sams family.
I wonder if the “bad guy” shifts from being Karlie and the Flagsmashers to Walker and Sharon for the last couple episodes.
Sharon being the big boss would be fucking lame. Although, I could understand why she'd be a bad guy, but it would still be lame. If there's one person who has every right to hate Steve and the US it's her. Neither of them disappeared and he didn't once try and help clear her name when it would've been easy after everyone got erased.
Counterpoint you don't get attacked by a shit ton of bounty hunters if you're that big of a swinging dick either. She could've just had someone else take them out.
Are we even going to see much more of Walker going forward? I'm kind of expecting his run is pretty much over at this point. Seems like he served his purpose for this show at the end of ep4.
unless when he is ordered back he refuses to give up the mantle, and then Isaiah and Steve Rogers show up to help Sam and Bucky whip his ass which is my nerd dream
It seems like they want us to believe she could be the PB, but her actions in ep3 don't make sense if she is. Presumably she's the one who shot Selby during that meeting, which is what put the bounty hunters on them in the first place. Then she fought all the other bounty hunters at the docks or wherever they were meeting Nagel. Making her the PB would be a 24-level twist just for the hell of it. Only thing that seems weird to me about it and makes me wonder if they still might do it is how invested she seems to be in the serum, her reaction to seeing Nagel dead after Zemo shot him, and her talking to Sam about the PB wanting it back from Karli. And also her current lifestyle and access to satellites and such.
It'll be Bucky that has to beat Walker and take the shield back...and then realize that Sam is still the one that should be carrying it
The only reason anyone says Karli is better than Walker is because Wyatt Russell is doing a fantastic job portraying John Walker to be as unlikable as possible. Karli straight up tied up a bunch of innocent people and blew up the building they were in and killing 3 of them in the process, threatened a civilian and her kids. Walker may be a pretentious douche that's trying way too hard to prove himself worthy of the mantle of Cap but him seeing his best friend murdered in front of him justified him retaliating and killing a terrorist (from his POV).
There's also only 2 episodes left, only so much fan service cameos and twists/cliffhangers can be done.
Karli is an oppressed person who was having to scrap by for food and shelter and watched her friends die because of these outside forces she's fighting. For no good fucking reason mind you. If you can't understand her rage that's on you. Her goal was to piss Sam off to see what his reaction would be. It was a test and he probably passed.
She's not that nuanced lol, she's a kid that thinks her way and only her way of doing things is the right way, yes she has a backstory and has been through a lot but she's not making chess moves on Sam to try to get him to join her side. Like Zemo said, she's a supremacist, perhaps not in the classical sense but definitely in her own way.
I think she's a bit more nuanced then you're giving her credit for. She did after all rob the PB, and build an super human fighting force from virtually nothing in a pretty short time span. Her cause has spread on a global scale in what a few months? We can agree to disagree, but I don't think you're giving her enough credit. She has every right to be mad as hell.
She straight up told Sam the only reason she isn't killing him is because it serves no purpose, she wanted to kill John Walker to send the rest of the world "a message", she only regretted killing Lemar because she was trying to kill Cap and he got in the way, it wasn't because she realized she killed a good man or her actions directly resulted in her friend paying the price. Her blowing up a building and telling her friend "this is the only language these people understand" is clearly the serum and power getting to her head.
I mean the parallel the show is setting up here is Karli and John Walker, not Karli and Sam. Both of them are considered heroes by people in their corner despite questionable actions in the past, both took the serums out of necessity in their circumstances (Karli so she could help her people, John so he be on an even playing field to be worthy of the mantle) and both have made rash choices due to inherent character flaws that have resulted in people close to them paying the price for their fuck ups.
No good guy has ever made a secret phone call and said "we have a problem" to an unseen other party That's classic bad guy talk
And with only 2 episodes left they aren't introducing another new face to be "the power broker", this is a self contained story, the people we've already met are the players we have imo. Sharon is 100% the power broker.
If not, then the power broker will.be revealed at the end as a teaser for some future story/tie-in to future project