If you thought John Walker couldn’t get any worse, you were wrong.
While the tone of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has leaned more towards the dark side thanks to its subject matter, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 4 contained a horrific scene never before seen in the MCU.
And it’s all thanks to the new Captain America and a certain Super Soldier serum.
It was only a matter of time before Walker got his hands on the serum. He wants to be everything that Captain America was, and, in his mind, that includes being a Super Soldier.
Plus, his ego is too fragile to not take the serum. Maybe he can handle having his butt kicked by a few strong Flag Smashers, but he draws the line at being taken down by the Dora Milaje.
If that doesn’t say enough about the underlying flaws in his character, I don’t know what will.
Walker: The Dora Milaje don’t have jurisdiction here.
Ayo: The Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be.
Yes, Walker was a brave soldier who received multiple Medals of Honor, but he is also stubborn, selfish, hot-headed, and ignorant.
And as we learned from Abraham Erskine on Captain America: The First Avenger, the serum amplifies every single thing about a person. That’s why Steve was chosen, and that’s why Walker would have never been.
Walker is reminiscent of Gilmore Hodge, a soldier who was a candidate for the Super Soldier program during World War II. He was Chester Phillips’ first choice to be Captain America, but Erskine pushed for it to be Steve.
As we all know, that turned out to be the right choice. Hodge represented everything a good soldier should be, as does Walker. But Steve represented everything a good person should be, and that made all the difference.
Bucky: Maybe you’re wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.
Zemo: Touché. But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?
Both Hodge and Walker couldn’t see past their agenda and wouldn’t budge on their clear-cut opinion of right and wrong.
Thankfully, Hodge never took the serum. But, through Walker, we are seeing what would have happened if he did take it.
Walker took the serum, and while it made him super strong, it also heightened all his negative qualities.
In a fit of blind rage, he killed a man in cold blood. He was overcome by his anger at seeing his best friend, Lemar, die at the hands of Karli. Since he couldn’t get his hands on her, he murdered the only Flag Smasher he could find.
The title of this episode, “The Whole World Is Watching,” didn’t make sense until this very last scene as a crowd watched and filmed Walker killing the man.
It was horrifying, to say the least, as it paralleled the scene on Captain America: Civil War when Steve defeated Tony. But Steve stopped, Walker didn’t. This nailed the head in the coffin for the new Cap. It’s going to be hard for him to get redemption now.
The show has taught us to be wary of Walker ever since he appeared on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 1. But, now, all we feel is hatred for a man who is Steve Rogers’ complete opposite.
The consequences for Walker are unknown, but we doubt he will ever have to face any in terms of the law. But the world, outside of America, is sure to hate him even more than they previously did.
There might even be more sympathy for the Flag Smashers.
Karli: So, you want me to stop because people are getting hurt, right? But, Sam, what if I’m making the world a better place?
Sam: It’s not a better place if you’re killing people. It’s just different.
Even though Karli admitted to being fine with killing people in the name of her cause, this episode also gave us more insight into her motives. And, to be honest, she does make some fair points.
We are not meant to see her as this person who is one hundred percent evil and irredeemable. Instead, we see her as Sam does. She’s a kid who wants to make the world a better place, but the way she is trying to do so isn’t right.
It’s funny because, at this point, we sympathize more with Karli than we do with Walker. Maybe it’s a question of who’s redeemable and who’s not, but there’s no doubt that they both have to answer for their actions.
They have killed people and they are so far gone in believing that they are right that they cannot take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Sam, on the other hand, has always been able to do so, if his talk with Karli is any proof. That’s why Steve chose him to be the next Captain America and that’s why he is the perfect person to have the shield, not Walker.
Karli: I’m trying to figure out if I need to kill your brother. I thought I could trust him. I got the impression that he and I had some things in common, but then it turns out he’s working for your new Captain America.
Sarah: I didn’t choose him.
Karli: Who would you have chosen instead?
Sarah: My world doesn’t matter to America, so why should I care about its mascot?
We could never blame him for not taking the shield, though. It carries a lot of weight for Sam, and this show is all about his journey to being comfortable taking on the Captain America mantle.
With two episodes to go, however, Sam hasn’t made a ton of improvement to mentally get to that place. We just hope he can soon and in a way that feels natural.
While everyone else engaged in masterfully choreographed fight sequences, Zemo escaped.
It has been a joy to watch his team up with Sam and Bucky, but Zemo is still an untrustworthy murderer on the loose that needs to go back to prison. But the Dora Milaje will not let him get very far.
Although their fight scene on the hour was entertaining beyond belief as they kicked Walker’s butt, it was also way too short.
You are free.
Ayo
Hopefully, Ayo and the rest of the army show up again, especially since their story with Bucky feels unresolved. They wouldn’t show the flashback of Bucky finally being free of his mind control or Ayo easily disconnecting his arm for nothing.
Bucky’s time in Wakanda as the White Wolf ties into his story arc on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. And we have a feeling that Ayo will be instrumental in Bucky’s growth and him finally moving on from his time as the Winter Soldier.
What did you think, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Fanatics?
Will there be any consequences for Walker? Are you anxious for Sam to take back the shield? Where did Zemo go? Do you hope to see more of the Dora Milaje?
And would you take the serum?
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier airs Fridays on Disney+.
Sarah Little is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.