'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' – Episode Six, ‘One World, One People’

And that's that, another Marvel Series over and I'm sat here waiting for the next series to kick off (which I think is 'Loki' but I might be wrong, can anyone help a Graeme out?). 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' started off as a bit of a slow-burner for me (I even managed to forget an episode one week) but swiftly became pretty much essential viewing for a Friday. And now it's done, where did the last six weeks go...?

Today saw me watch 'One World, One People' twice, just to try and take it all in; there is a lot to tie up in one episode and there is a lot happening because of this. I'll tell you what I thought in just a minute. Right now, I'll tell you that this post is probably going to contain more than a few spoilers so if you haven't seen this episode yet, you'll want to bear that in mind. For the rest of you, lets take a look at 'One World, One People'...

Everything has all built up to Karli Morgenthau taking down the GRC committee and both Sam and Bucky having to stop her and the rest of the Flag Smashers. Sounds fairly straightforward, right? Wrong. Fights between these two groups never go well and if that wasn't bad enough, John Walker is out for revenge, so is Batroc and just what is Sharon Carter up to...? And that's just part of what's going on in 'One World, One People' as we also get to see events play out in the aftermath of all this. Like I said, loads happening here.

So first things first... Sam is Captain America and that's how I'll address him going forwards. I think we've all sympathised with Sam's dilemma over taking the shield, not only was he not sure that he deserved it but he has had to ask himself whether he can reconcile that with how America treats anyone who isn't white. That's a question to be asked, and answered, over and over going on from here; for now we get to see Sam fight for what is right in the meantime and I've got a big smile on my face because the right guy has the shield now. Walker may have been chosen, by the US government, but Sam was chosen by the one man truly qualified to make that decision. It's great to see it finally happen and Sam proves himself better than Walker, right away, in that he knows when to fight and when not to fight. Captain America is brilliant at both as his confrontation with Karli shows. Just a quick word there, Karli deserved a much better end than the one she got. Karli was one of the more interesting villains because you kept asking if that was what she really was. And now we can't ask that question, which her character really deserved, and that's a real shame.

With that in mind then, it's a little annoying to see Walker get (and take) his shot at redemption. I mean, I get it; he had to go on and become US Agent but the white guy makes it through, and is redeemed, while the woman doesn't? That didn't sit right with me but we're here now and I'm actually looking forward to seeing more John Walker in the future. He was an awful Captain America but the only thing he did wrong was take on a job that he wasn't suited for (at all). I think he'll be a much better US Agent but we'll see. And what a speech from Captain America at the end of the fight; hopefully it will reach more people than just those on the show.

It's nice to see 'One World, One People' aim to tie off as many of the loose ends as possible, there are so many though that it's inevitable that some don't quite hit the spot. The ones that really need to hit that target do though and that's the main thing. I'm thinking of Isaiah, the one character who really deserved a happy ending, I suspect it was more bittersweet but maybe that's ok for now. Bucky... We know that he has more work to do so I'm happy for his ending to be a little more vague. And what about Sharon Carter...?

It's not often that I find myself literally cheering on characters from a TV show but I've been doing that more and more here and 'One World, One People' was no exception. It ends with a real mixture of hope that things can be better but with an underlying tension that it won't be for long (yep, I'm thinking of that mid-credit scene). I'm at a point now where I'll watch anything MCU anyway but I'm really looking forward to the next season (or the first season, depends how you look at it) of 'Captain America and the Winter Soldier'.

You can read all my other 'Season 1' posts Here.