Oh man this episode had me so excited.

The action within it and the new quartet had me absolutely glued to my TV. I understand Zemo is a hated villain, but this episode really made me love him. Not to mention, I was pretty happy that my theory from last week, that Bucky and Sam would play a part in his escape, ended up being true. Although I suppose if we want to get technical, Sam had no part and Bucky hypothetically didn’t either. Speaking of someone who was hated, I was also pretty okay with Sharon in this episode. Maybe it was because she wasn’t being shoved at us as some random love interest and actually has some depth now. I hope she stays on Sam and Bucky’s side, and for her sake I also hope that Sam does eventually get her the pardon. My thoughts are that since we see Sam and Bucky with the shield in the trailer, Sam eventually does become Captain America, he will make sure she is pardoned. Since rumor mills have continuously talked about her being a possible love interest for Bucky, I hope they build up her character before they do anything with her being a love interest again. If she eventually does end up with Bucky, which I think is possible only because in the first episode, we find out Bucky has tried online dating and went on a date (which seems just like a weird detail to throw in there randomly), then I think she could be really good for him. Trust me, that hurt to say as a Bucky fan, but it’s true. I have hope for her character and I really don’t want Marvel to mess her up. Although, it would also be really interesting if she ends up being a partial villain. At this point, she has the perfect back story for it and just because she helped Sam and Bucky doesn’t mean she isn’t going to double cross them.

I need to get the John Walker tea off my chest. Obviously, we don’t like him, but he felt more like a villain to me in this episode than Zemo, an actual villain did. We can definitely see that he is in the process of breaking down. This guy doesn’t sit right with me at all. I think, while it is painfully obvious that he isn’t Steve, we need to still recognize that he is becoming more and more different than Steve, almost the opposite even. Him asking the guy who was helping the Flag-Smashers if he knew who he was so was just so blatantly arrogant, something Steve had never been and something he would hav never done. The Captain America mantel never once went to Steve’s head and instead made him a better version of who he was. As the series progresses, I believe we will see John unravel more and more, and I still stand by him somehow getting his hands on the serum. It just feels like something he would do as he realizes more and more people could care less about this Captain America wannabe. He expects respect that he has never once earned in that suit, which will lead to his spiral.

Let’s talk about one of the two most important parts of the episode: Ayo. She brings in a whole new situation to the show, wrapping Wakanda and Bucky’s ties to the nation into all of this. Keep in mind in case you forgot in Zemo’s sudden coolnness, that he did kill their King. My hope is that Ayo sticks around with Sam, Bucky, and Zemo, adding to the group as she watches over Zemo until she returns him to prison or Wakanda. Either that, or she will become a bump in the road for Bucky and Sam in furthering their search for answers. I do hope that Bucky being behind Zemo’s escape doesn’t damage his relationship with the Wakandans, but instead him of all people trusting Zemo to a degree helps Ayo in understanding his importance to their mission. I do wonder how her appearance in the episode is also going to effect Black Panther 2 possibly and if we may get a throw away line in reference to how they may explain Chadwick’s death within the MCU. Most of the show was filmed in 2019, so it is likely we may not get anything at all since Chadwick had not passed yet. However, because the show finished filming later on after being shutdown due to Covid for awhile, so if Ayo sticks around, there may be a reference. Either way, her cameo is exciting and I’m intrigued to see how they move forward with her appearance in the show.

I did say there were two important parts of the episode, didn’t I? The Powerbroker is very important to keep in mind and is likely to be the main villain moving forward. Not so much for being bad, but more for being, well, let’s just say problematic. The issue with the Powerbroker is that in the comics, he is the one behind John Walker and Lemar Hoskins’ (Battlestar) newfound ‘powers’. He does also have ties to Ms. Marvel, which is set in place in the Phase 4 timeline. The biggest likelihood with him is that he will end up helping our fake Cap into becoming more like a superhero, enabling him to become the biggest problem for Sam and Bucky.

Karli needs to be a concern for the sake that she killed people for her cause, showing that while she may have been a sympathetic villain before, she is turning more and more dangerous as she grows more desperate. The biggest concern as well is the fact that there were 20 test tubes of the super soldier serum, but as of the beginning of the show, we only know of 8 super soldiers. Obviously we also know these were all stolen, which I’m sure the Powerbroker isn’t thrilled about. As fans, we need to be aware that there is a lot more at play than the original episode or two gave us. We have a lot of storylines that are becoming intertwined and a lot of possible villains running around. With the possibility of 12 other super soldiers yet to be made, the worry is who exactly ends up taking it, and more importantly, where is it?

This may be just because I am a huge Bucky fan, but I would like to point out something that maybe everyone caught, or maybe not. When he was acting as the Winter Soldier in order to be “undercover”, people were recording him. Now he was pardoned, however, a lot of his pardon was based on the idea that he lives a quiet, peaceful life. And as we saw in his therapy, he wasn’t to hurt anyone. Unfortunately, I think he is going to see some repercussions, unless Sam and him succeed in taking down the Flag-Smashers, which may be his only way to not be possibly arrested for his actions. I also worry for the toll that some of this is taking on his newly redone brain, which I think Sam also was worried about throughout the episode. As much as Zemo has started to grow on me, we can’t forget he is a villain. The first thing he said to Bucky was his trigger words, don’t forget. His intentions are not completely pure, and as much as I love Sam and Bucky, they are bumbling idiots half of the time. If Zemo is ready to leave and escape, he will, which is why I am hoping Ayo plans to stick around.

Every week just keeps getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what happens next week. I’m sad that we are halfway through the show, but I think that it will help lead up to the other half of Phase 4, the part that won’t be quite as mystical. But only time will tell, so I hope you guys have been enjoying TFAWS as much as I have and will stay tuned until next week for more. As always, comment your own thoughts and theories and if you have any thoughts or theories you want me to touch on, feel free to message me directly. See you all next week!

Image: “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3”, Chief Editor, Dailyhindnews