Star Spangled Man

Picking up from the first episode revealing the "fake" Captain America aka John Walker, we get an inside look into his personal struggles. He seems to carry an imposter syndrome thinking he doesn't deserve the shield (which he doesn't). Through the entire scene we get glimpses of what John Walker looks like working out with the shield, which is eerily similar to scenes of Cap in previous films. In the interview with Good Morning America, Sarah Haines lists John Walker accomplishments and states, "MIT took tests on his body and he graded off the charts on endurance, speed, strength, and.." right before she lists something else John Walker cuts her off. This is something to pay attention to because I believe he has already received some form of the super serum already. 

We get a glimpse of how Sam and Bucky feel about the new manufactured duo starring Captain America and BattleStar, in which Bucky could not take the tension anymore after Lemar Hoskins tells everyone his nickname as BattleStar and leaves. John Walker makes the situation worse by showing how tone deaf he is by telling Sam, "he needs Captain America's right hand man." That was the overall theme of this episode showing the racial defend that exists in the MCU. Rarely has the MCU decided to dive into such a sensitive topic being that they owned by Mickey and friends but they tackle the issues that I believe most fans have been wondering for some time now. It's interesting how the government were so quick to pass off the Captain America title to John Walker and how Sam being an Avenger doesn't matter in the outside world. The best overall depiction of racism in the MCU came in the form of the first black Captain America. Bucky informs Sam about someone he knows (the MCU is in love with introducing characters like this) and that person is Isaiah Bradley. When we first get a glimpse of him, Isaiah has a stone cold look in his face almost like he is seeing a ghost. He even states that he wanted to make sure Bucky was real and that's why he let him in the house.

First, we learn that Isaiah was one of 30 black males who were experimented on with the super serum and the only who survived. Second, we learn he was apart of the Korean War and battled toe to toe with the Winter Soldier actually taking half of his Vibranium arm. Lastly, we find out that after successfully pushing back Hydra's forces and Isaiah was put in jail for THIRTY YEARS after saving the war. Another black hero shut down by the system and his history wiped away in favor of a white man. The acting of this scene by Carl Lumley was outstanding and showed the outright disrespect black hero's get in this world. We also got references of the Power Broker and Zemo, so the next episode will be action packed compared to this one but the overall message was what I wanted to focus on. Let's see if the MCU will revisit this injustice throughout this season.