Well, there it is. There’s the episode we’ve been waiting for. If we had any doubts about who John Walker was before, that’s all cleared up now. If you haven’t watched the show yet, I would stop reading now because there will be spoilers this point forward.

I had mentioned in one of my reviews that we hadn’t seen the zealot of John Walker yet and boy was I in for a rude awakening. We knew it had to be coming, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so… violent. Speaking of violence, this show has had way more violence in it than I’ve expected out of a Marvel/Disney franchise. I’m not complaining. I think it goes hand in hand with the content and theme they’re trying to get across, it just came as a little bit of a shock considering it’s streaming on the same platform that the Mouse is.
There was a lot to unpack this episode. Zemo has a heart to heart with Sam and Bucky suggesting that no one should take the serum because it amplifies the worst in people and calls them “supremacists”. The Dora Milaje show up for Helmut Zemo because they’re out for his blood. John Walker also wants to take Zemo back. This ends up in a pretty rad battle between the Dora and John Walker and Lemar Hoskins. The Dora Milaje continue to be a force of badass impeccable power of strong female characters in the MCU and I am here for it. This encounter leaves John Walker completely baffled by his incompetence and acts as a catalyst for his existential crisis of whether to take the super-soldier serum he swiped from the Flag Smashers or not. Inevitably, he does. Sam tries to have a chat with Karli, the leader of the Flag Smashers, at Mama Donya’s funeral to talk her out of destroying the world, it seems to be going well, but then hyped-up John Walker storms in and ruins the whole thing. This leads to a fight scene that grievously injures if not kills Hoskins (who knows?) and sends Walker on a murderous rampage where he very publically executes a Flag Smasher with Cap’s shield. A harrowing image of the shield dripping blood is the last image we see as the credits start to roll.

This episode was intense. We’re sticking with a lot of mental health themes here. Sam is trying to take the peaceful way out of situations that still keep him in line with Captain America’s values. Karli is becoming more and more reckless and seeming to lose more ground. There’s a scene where the Power-Broker texts her and lets her know that she has to give up the remaining serums or else. We all know those serums are gone, so it’s clear she’s getting backed into a corner quickly. I have a theory that Sharon is the Power Broker, but it’s just a hunch.

I do appreciate that Baron Zemo’s motivations have never changed. He’s always sought to destroy these serums and do everything in his power to stop more super soldiers from existing. I like consistency. I don’t really feel like I can call him a villain so much anymore. He’s definitely complicated.

I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next episode and I’m so curious how they’re going to wrap this season in six episodes. Every episode is getting more and more intense, violent, and surprisingly suspenseful. Let’s see what Friday has in store for us.