I need one of the Buffer brothers to announce this ass-kicking that John is about to get, cause IT'S TIME! As Walker runs to some abandoned warehouse, still shocked from seeing Lemar getting murked in front of him, Sam and Bucky show up. At first, Sam and even Bucky are trying to talk John down. But of course, John doesn't listen to reason. He's full blown irredeemable now, so let the hands be thrown! Bucky goes in first, with Sam using his wings to throw John off balance. But since Walker has the Super Soldier Serum, he puts up quite a fight. He even launches Bucky a few yards away from him. (To be fair, if this was Winter Soldier not Bucky, John would have been washed!) Sam is doing good, landing blows, bashing him with his wings, but John has had enough of that and rips the wings off!!! The disrespect!!! Bucky rejoins the scuffle, and together with Sam, they end up breaking John's arm and doing some cool tag team shield bash, knocking Walker out cold. Bucky picks up the shield and intentionally drops it next to Sam's face, as if to say, "It's yours. Don't give it away again!"
After the fight, Sgt. Torres informs Sam that because of what happened with Walker, the government is taking over the investigation. Bucky is off to find Zemo, and Sam leaves his broken wings but finally takes back the shield! John goes to D.C, to face judgement for his actions, being discharged without any benefits(Damn!), and to cease all actions as Captain America. With his wife, John meets Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and offers him a blank card to keep in touch. Meanwhile, Zemo is at Sokovia, near a memorial when Bucky catches up with him. Holding a gun to Zemo's head, Zemo acknowledges that he's beat and is actually sincere with apologizing to Bucky. Pulling the trigger, Bucky does the old fake-out, with the gun having no bullets. He gives Zemo to the Dora Milaje. Ayo informs Bucky that Semo will be going to The Raft and Bucky should steer clear from Wakanda for a while. Bucky understands, but asks Ayo for a favor.
Sam goes back to Baltimore to talk to Issiah Bradley. Isaiah tells Sam how the shield doesn't mean anything to him, and how he was treated by the U.S. government. Sam tries to tell Isaiah that things are different now and he knows people, but Isaiah hears none of it. He's been through too much to even believe in a black Captain America. With that, Sam goes home to Louisiana. He and his sister Sarah call in some favors from friends of the family, and work on repairing the boat their parents left them. Bucky shows up and offers to help, along with giving Sam a mysterious suitcase. While Sam offers a place to stay, the two have a heart to heart about the shield's legacy. Sam and Bucky make peace with each other and they have a nice bro moment while practicing with throwing the shield. Sam voices his concerns to Sarah about what it means to be Captain America, Isaiah’s word weighing heavy on his mind. Sara actually encourages Sam to be his own version. With that, we’re giving a nice training montage with Sam practicing with the shield.
Sharon is back in Madripoor, and she gives Batroc a call about a possible job for him. Is she the Power Broker? Is she working for him/her? John is with Lemar’s family, trying to give them some solace. He also lies about catching and killing the person responsible for Lemar’s death. Like, every time you start to feel for John, he does some dumb-ass stuff like this! Karli is in New York, with the rest of her FlagSmashers and they meet Batroc. Batroc gives them some equipment for Karli’s plan to take control of a GRC Summit with more recruits! Sam is called by Torres, saying that the FlagSmashes are underground, but Sam watches the news and gets a hint of what Karli wants to do. Hanging up, we see Sam open the suitcase from Ayo, and he takes a deep breath with what he sees. This episode also has a mid-credit scene, with John in some sort of tool shop, building a new shield from scratch.
Quite a lot to digest, with this episode! While the opening fight was great, with the nice callbacks to Civil War, Countess Val making her MCU appearance, and Sam actually using the shield is great to see as well. Still there’s the mystery of who exactly is the Power Broker, and John possibly making an appearance as U.S. Agent. Hard to believe that the finale is next week. I predict way more action and I think Sam is finally going to get a new Captain America suit. And if Wakanda made it, you know it’s gonna be fire! Till next time, my fellow blerds!
