Episode Three of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, titled “Power Broker,” offered a ton of new developments as far as the series goes. In addition to some returning faces, the episode introduces a new location, one that is very familiar to comics fans and opens up a host of possibilities for the MCU. In addition to that, it delves deeper into the reemergence of the Super Solider Program and answers a few questions posed in the first two episodes. So, what exactly goes down? Let’s get into it.
Keep in mind, everything below is a spoiler for this episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. If you haven’t watched it yet, do so first, then come back to read my thoughts on it.
“Power Broker” opens on a commercial for the GRC, the Global Repatriation Council, an organization that was mentioned in the previous episode. The goal of the GRC is to reintegrate the people who were displaced as part of the Blip, those returned five years into the future after the world had changed immensely. The goal of the GRC is admirable but is undercut immediately by a shot of a van labelled with the GRC logo ejecting a number of armed combatants, led by pseudo-Captain America (Wyatt Russell). The team infiltrate a café that’s assumed to be hiding Karli Morganthau (Erin Kellyman), the leader of the Flag-Smashers. Though the café’s proprietor denies knowing Karli’s whereabouts, it’s clear that he wouldn’t tell if he knew. His defiance is justified, however, in the face of John Walker’s arrogance, and there’s an anger simmering just beneath the surface of the new Cap that foreshadows some dark turns.
Meanwhile, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Sam (Anthony Mackie) visit Zemo (Daniel Brühl) in a German prison after realizing that he is their only hope for finding leads on the rogue super soldiers. Zemo, you may remember, is the ex-HYDRA agent who almost destroyed the Avengers and tore Steve Rogers’ and Tony Stark’s friendship apart in Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, Zemo plays coy, which convinces Bucky to break him out of prison. After a clever and quick prison break scene, Zemo takes Sam and Bucky on his private plane to a low-level contact in a little city called Madripoor.
Since the early trailers of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we’ve known that Madripoor would factor into the plot, and we finally get to it. As most comics fans are aware, Madripoor is a lawless city once run by Madame Hydra, who, as Viper, has had multiple run-ins with Wolverine. In fact, Wolverine spent time in Madripoor under the alias of Patch. Madripoor is an exciting addition to the MCU as it possibly bridges the gap between the Avengers characters and the mutants once owned by Fox.
But anyway, in Madripoor, Zemo leads Sam and Bucky to a bar to visit with a crime boss named Selby, and he instructs them to remain in character. Bucky has to act as if he is still under the control of HYDRA and play the part of the Winter Soldier, while Sam masquerades as a “sophisticated, charming, African rake known as Conrad Mack.” Interesting, Mack is an underused (probably for good reasons) Marvel character called Smiling Tiger, who fought alongside Baron Zemo on the Thunderbolts, so clearly Derek Kolstad, the writer for “Power Broker,” is going for the Marvel deep cuts. But I’m digressing again.
Sam, Bucky, and Zemo get their meeting with Selby, where they learn that a scientist named Wilfred Nagel reengineered the super soldier serum and is in Madripoor. But before they can get any further info on Nagel, and just after their cover is blown by a phone call from Sam’s sister, Selby is murdered. Sam, Bucky and Zemo high tail it out of the bar as a bounty is placed on their heads for the killing Selby. Luckily, however, someone is helping them from the shadows.
Enter Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Carter has been branded as a traitor, and she’s been on the run ever since, unable to return to the United States under threat of arrest. She’s been laying low in Madripoor making a living as a black-market art dealer. Carter takes the trio back to her place to hide out for a bit and get some info on Nagel’s whereabouts.
One thing I liked about this episode is Sharon Carter’s transformation. She’s grown cynical. Callous. Disillusioned by doing what’s right. Because she did what was “right,” she was branded a criminal and forced to leave her life and family behind, possibly never seeing them again. She has to be convinced to help find Nagel, and even then, only after Sam promises to help her get a pardon.
Carter uses her connections to locate Nagel in a shipping container on the docks. Sam, Bucky, and Zemo break into the container which hides a secret lab, where Nagel is conducting an experiment. After a short bout of “enhanced interrogation,” they learn that Nagel worked for HYDRA but was recruited by the CIA soon after. He was able to reengineer the super soldier serum from a sample of Isaiah Bradley’s blood. He then disappeared in the Blip and when he returned, the government program funding him was shut down. He took his research to Madripoor and sold it to the Power Broker, where the twenty samples he created were stolen by Karli Morganthau.
After telling Sam and Bucky that Karli contacted him to help a woman with tuberculosis, Nagel is killed by Zemo just seconds before the lab is blown up by bounty hunters looking to collect Sam’s and Bucky’s heads. They survive the explosion and fight their way out of the container yard, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. (In their defense, though, Carter was the one who killed most of the bounty hunters.) This scene also provides a little insight into Zemo’s abilities. He’s more than just a spoiled brat out for vengeance; he knows how to fight.
We get caught up on the Flag-Smashers a bit, specifically Karli. We learn that she, at one point, wanted to be a teacher “like Mama Donya.” But after the Returned… returned, she got displaced and fled to Madripoor because it was the only place she could be protected. That’s where she stole the serum and used it on herself. She recounts the harrowing experience, wishing that the serum would kill her just to stop the pain. But she reinforces her vow to give the world to the “kids in those camps.”
Later, Karli and the Flag-Smashers loot a GRC depot in Lithuania, stealing food, medicine and supplies that are just wasting away. The Flag-Smashers leave their hostages behind as they make their getaway. Before the last car, the one carrying Karli, can get away, a vehicle explodes, destroying the building and presumably killing everyone inside. The explosion was intentional, part of Karli’s plan to escalate the Flag-Smashers’ reputation. Here is the point that she goes too far. Last week I commented that her plan to provide food and medicine to refuges displaced by the return is noble, but here she’s become a terrorist. Her ideals have been warped to extremism, and any benevolence she once had is lost.
Captain America and Battlestar (Clé Bennett) are at the prison in Germany figuring out the details of Zemo’s escape. Cap doesn’t think that Bucky’s arrival at the prison on the day of the breakout is a coincidence, and he knows something’s up. Battlestar says they can’t accuse Sam and Bucky of anything without evidence, but Cap is willing to bend the rules a little to solve the case, as it were. And here the wedge between Sam/Bucky and Cap/Battlestar drives a little further and may also push Battlestar closer into Sam and Bucky’s corner.
Zemo takes Sam and Bucky to a safehouse in Riga, Latvia, the same city where Donya Madani died. While Zemo and Sam go up to Zemo’s apartment, Bucky breaks away for “a walk.” He finds a few curious black spheres around the city, tech he seems to recognize. He holds one up and shouts, “you dropped something,” and when he turns around, a mysterious Black woman is standing before him. Roll credits.
So, who is that mysterious woman? Based on her shaved head, style of dress, and language she speaks, she is clearly Wakandan. That explains why Bucky recognized the tech and the woman. After Civil War, Bucky spent time in Wakanda to hide away from the world, and the Wakandans helped rebuild his arm. They also gave him the title of “White Wolf,” which was referenced in an earlier episode. She tells Bucky she’s there for Zemo, which also makes sense. Zemo orchestrated the explosion that killed T-Chaka, T’Challa’s father and original Black Panther. It’s likely that the Wakandans want revenge for murdering their leader and get closure on that chapter of their history.
The use of the Wakandans is also an interesting twist to the story. While the use of Madripoor was clear from nearly the beginning, Marvel Studios kept the Wakandans’ involvement a well-guarded secret. But I am excited to see how that twist plays out and how much they influence the rest of the story.
Also interesting is that, in an episode named “Power Broker,” we never see the Power Broker. They were referenced often and seem to wield quite a bit of power in Madripoor, but besides being a legend, they never make an appearance. It’s a not-so-subtle setup to what’s likely a pretty big confrontation later on.
We’re halfway through The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and so far, we’ve gotten a lot of story with only a few answers. With only three episodes left and so many dangling plots lines, the writers will have to work pretty tightly to bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. I have no doubt that they will, though, and I can’t wait to see how these final events shape the future of the MCU.
