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The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 4: Would You Take The Serum?

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier‘s fourth episode, “The Whole World Is Watching”, is now available on Disney+. This episode is perhaps the most action-packed yet! Of course, here’s the obligatory spoiler warning for the episode. I’d like to also give a second warning just in case you haven’t watched the episode yet. This one gets violent, especially at the end.

The first scene of the episode is a huge reveal. We’ve known for a while that Bucky somehow managed to free himself from Hydra’s brainwashing, but it turns out Wakanda had a large part in this. Ayo was specifically the one who helped Bucky free himself. It’s a very heartwarming moment, but it’s in both of their pasts now. In the present day, Ayo seeks Zemo, but after some negotiating she agrees to give Bucky eight hours to continue their mission. Zemo’s a good tour guide, after all. He’s been incredibly helpful, despite his villainous history, and he only continues to prove his worth.

Sam, Bucky and Zemo begin their search for Donya this episode, who is Karli’s mother figure who recently passed away. It’s hard to feel sympathetic or connect with Donya since she was never on screen. Despite this, Donya clearly meant a lot to Karli and the other refugees, and they hold a small funeral in her honor. Zemo uses his cunning – and a bag of Turkish Delights – to persuade a child to tell him when and where this funeral will be. He almost uses this as leverage against Sam and Bucky, since he’s clearly enjoying his freedom. The trio also meets up with Walker and Lemar, who successfully tracked them down. The plan is that Sam will infiltrate the funeral and talk to Karli one on one while the others stay behind. It’s a plan Walker hates, and he manages to get everyone else to hate it, too.

Before the others crash the party, Sam manages to make some headway with Karli. He doesn’t want any more bloodshed, but still empathizes with Karli’s cause. She’s incredibly wary of him at first, but we see later on that she wants to trust Sam. But their time together is cut short by an impatient Walker, and by the end of the inevitable chase sequence, Karli is shot by Zemo but manages to escape. She also leaves behind the rest of the serums, and Zemo destroys all but one. Walker knocks Zemo out with his shield before he can reach that last serum, and he pockets it. Curiously, he tilts his head as he spots the serum, something that Zemo got called out for doing earlier in the episode. For Zemo, it meant he was scheming and being generally evil. For Walker, it indicates his transition to the dark side. I thought it was a clever but subtle way to continue introducing his change of character.

After the funeral, the five return to their temporary base of operations. Zemo gives Sam an interesting question: if he had the chance, would he take the super soldier serum? Sam doesn’t hesitate and says “no”. Later on in the episode, that same question is brought up between Lemar and Walker. Lemar doesn’t hesitate either, but his answer is a firm “yes”. His argument is that it would’ve helped during their time in Afghanistan, which Walker seems to agree with. It’s an interesting parallel, especially considering that Lemar hasn’t done anything huge that would make him seem villainous like Walker. He appears to be a genuinely good person who just wants to help his friend and support him through thick and thin. Meanwhile, we know Sam’s a good person, yet he outright denies the theoretical question of taking the serum. It really goes to show that the serum is a huge point of conflict. Just because you take the serum doesn’t mean you’re a good person, and just because you’re a good person doesn’t mean you should take the serum. In fact, we’ve already seen the serum fall into the wrong hands.

It isn’t long before tensions flare. The Dora Milaje come for Zemo, and Walker tries to take Zemo under his custody first. They both get into a fight, which Sam and Bucky get roped into, and this allows time for Zemo to escape. Predictable, yes, but the fight was fun to watch. Walker got his butt handed to him and he knew it. It’s likely one of the catalysts that made him take the super soldier serum, albeit off screen. We discover this as Karli arranges a meeting with Sam through his sister Sarah. She still hopes that he can be trusted, but unfortunately their peaceful meeting quickly turns dark. Walker tracks Sam and Bucky down and forces his way in. Lemar’s captured in the process. He manages to escape, but shortly after, he gets knocked into a support beam and killed on impact.

This sends Walker into a rage. As the Flag-Smashers run, Walker catches up to one of them and beats him with the shield in front of a large crowd. There’s a shot of Walker with blood on the shield, and he doesn’t look remotely upset at the crime he’s committed. He likely decapitated the poor Flag-Smasher with how much force he used! This scene definitely paints Walker as more of a villain, and he continues to tip the scales between who the true villains are. Is our main antagonist Zemo, the Flag-Smashers and Karli, or Walker? Seems like all three of them are, at this point. At least Karli’s got some leeway for redemption.

Overall, this episode started out fun, but quickly turned dark. I was actually shocked at the ending scene with Walker killing the Flag-Smasher. Sure, I expected him to be a morally grey character, but that was just evil. And now that he took the super soldier serum, he’s even more dangerous. There’s only two episodes left, and something tells me he’s not gonna prove he’s worthy of the serum. I wonder if Zemo will have anything to say about this…

What did you think of Episode 4? Do you have any predictions for the next episodes? Let us know in the comments or send us your thoughts on Twitter!

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Kayleigh Clark