The episode begins exactly where it left off from the previous episode when Ayo pulled up on Bucky. We get a beautiful flash back in Wakanda involving Ayo freeing Bucky from his Winter Soldier commands. That scene was quite possibly the best acting I've scene in a MCU installment, the sheer relief and sadness Bucky expresses in that moment was heart wrenching. Bucky tells Ayo that Zemo is a means to an end buying him and Sam eight more hours to resolve this issue with the Flag Smashers. Sam, Bucky, and Zemo go back to the compound to find answers about mama Donya.
Zemo finds out about where Mama Donya's funeral will be but acts oblivious when Sam and Bucky ask him if he got any leads. Zemo's story in this show adds so many layers to the character that we weren't shown in Civil War. The plan is explained is to let Sam speak to Karli by himself but the impatient Captain America wannabe forces his way in leading to a scramble in this church like building. Zemo escapes and finds Karli with the super soldier serum and shoots her twice causing the serums to drop on the floor then Zemo crushes almost every vile. John Walker catches Zemo in the act and hurls the shield at Zemo's head. Cut to creepy music being played as John finds the last vile and fulfills he's decent into madness.
Later, we catch up with Sam, Bucky, and Zemo arguing in their hideout about what happened. John Walker and Lemar Hoskins barge in demanding Zemo's arrest and insinuating attacking Sam and Bucky, which leads to an awesome view of Lemar confused with John's decision making. The Dora Milaje show up and wreck havoc, easily dispatching Lemar and decapacitating John Walker with an awesome spear throw in between the shield and arm of John Walker. Ayo fights Bucky and disconnects his Vibranium arm with slick hand movements that involve hitting the pressure points in Bucky's shoulder. With all this commotion going on, Zemo being the true villian that he is escapes using a bathroom hatch. The Dora Milaje realize this and leave to search for Zemo, and we get another scene showing John Walker slowly letting his demons in as he says, "They weren't even Super Soldiers" with a defeated look.
The final act of this episode is probably my favorite sequence in FAWTS. Marvel needed a meaningful tragedy to happen to John Walker to make him fully turn heel, so they killed off Lemar Hoskins. All season it seemed like Lemar was steering John away from evil but now that he is dead, John goes berserk. Chasing any Flag Smasher he can find and John Walker murders Niko in public (THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING) by bashing him with the iconic shield. Niko noted earlier he was a Captain America fan so this scenes carries more weight as his blood drips off the shield. We are in unfamiliar territories with this involving Marvel, which is why I'm VERY interested in how this will carry over into future installments.
