The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has reached Episode 5, “Truth”. The longest episode of the series to this point picks up directly after John Walker’s shocking actions in the previous instalment. You can find more of Popped’s Disney+ and Hulu coverage here. Spoilers ahead.

Spoilers ahead.

For more related Popped coverage, read our MCU catch-up guide.

Plot

Starting immediately after the last time we saw John Walker, he is now on the run from Bucky and Sam now holding a blood-stained shield. following the public and brutal murder of one of the Flag-Smashers. They all end up in an abandoned warehouse of sorts and soon square off. Walker consistently refuses to give up his prized possession, and we’re treated to a wonderful action sequence – at many points during the fight Walker overpowers both of our heroes, even going as far as to completely damage Sam’s Falcon wings. but in the end – John ends up broken and bruised, with Sam and Bucky retrieving the shield.

Soon after, Torres finally reappears after some radio silence, as the GRC are revealed to be conducting raids and are searching every camp. Bucky heads to find Zemo, whilst Torres and Sam discuss their next step. The whole thing is now an international incident, and are now taking jurisdiction following John Walker’s actions. As Sam leaves, he leaves behind the wings with Torres – potentially letting us know Torres will be taking up the mantle – we know he’s always wanted to tool around with the tech, and now is his chance.

Later, Walker appears at his court-martial, where he is stripped of all his benefits and titles, including his title as Captain America – one he has worked extremely hard for. In a show-stopping performance, Wyatt Russell conveys the anger towards the council, and it is simply superb. He claims, “I am Captain America.” as he leaves, and once outside the court, he is met by a familiar yet new face.

Contessa (played by Julia Louise Dreyfuss), shows up following Walker’s court martial. She tells him that she would have killed the Flagsmasher too, and leaves him her card, black on one side, white on the other, and says she will be in touch. When Walker looks at the card, he responds, “There’s nothing on it.” More on her character later…

Karli returns to the GRC camp and finds it has been raided and shut down. In an emotional scene, she remembers the people she lost, and cries in anguish about how hard it is to be a person in this world, and decides “it’s time” – for what though? This is followed a bit later in the episode where we discover Sharon Carter is on the phone to Batroc the Leaper, and she asks him for another favour… potentially this could be pointing to her being behind his appearance in Episode 1 too! The favour, however, is one for Karli as she soon arrives in New York meeting Batroc, with the plan to blow up the GRC meeting that will decide to scoop them up and wrangle them up like cattle to their home countries. She sends some sort of signal, that almost everyone in Central Park receives. It alerts them and they walk over like an evil mob.

Meanwhile, Bucky tracks down Zemo who found at the Sokovian memorial, dedicated to the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Zemo warns Bucky that the only way to defeat Karli is to kill her, and in response, Bucky pulls out his gun and aims it directly into Zemo’s forehead, however, when Bucky pulls the trigger, all you hear is a metal click as he drops the bullets he clutched in his hand and lets them fall to the ground. Zemo looks up, relieved that he isn’t dead at this moment, only to see Ayo and some of the Dora Milaje. Ayo tells Bucky / White Wolf), that Zemo will live out the rest of his days in the Raft, after making the suggestion it would be prudent for Bucky to show up in Wakanda for the time being.

Sam returns to visit Isaiah Bradley. “They will never let a black man be Captain America. Even if they did, no self-respecting black man would ever wanna be.” Isaiah tells Sam of his wife, who died whilst he was in hail, who wrote to Isaiah but he was never allowed to receive his letters. He tells Sam also how many were given different serums, but in the end, it was only Isaiah who survived, and later experimented on. Sam, more troubled than ever, goes home, deciding to make a go of it with his family. In what is a cute scene, following everything the Wilson family did for them, the local community comes together to help get his boat back in shape

In a half training, half discussion scene, Bucky and Sam discuss the shield and also the threat that is Karli. Sam tells Bucky that to find peace, he can’t just say sorry to everyone in his book and instead should try to offer services to them, so Bucky can get something out of it, and get over his nightmares a different way. It’s a great scene cause these two have great chemistry on screen, and it is a credit to Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie.

In the dying moments, we get the GRC at their meeting which is shortly interrupted by the Flag-Smashers, and whilst the episodes end as the action is about to begin – the stage is set for the Season Finale next week… including the tease of what I believe to be a Wakandan Built Suit for Sam! And a mid-credit tease of John Walker building his own, new Captain America shield…

Little Details

There were so many details in this episode. First off, we have to talk about Julie Louis-Dreyfus showing up as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine was a member of the European jet-set and a citizen of Italy. After both her parents were killed for aiding some unspecified resistance movement, the Contessa found her life meaningless. Desiring to carry on in their places so their deaths would not be in vain, she eventually was contacted by the international espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and entered a training program to become an agent. At some point in her comic history, The Contessa secretly joined Hydra, taking the identity of Madame Hydra – I think it would be fair to point out that this could point to Hydra still being present in the MCU, and could tease things to come… Interestingly, Vanity Fair reports that Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’ appearance in the most recent episode was not the original plan for her debut. Instead, the Contessa was set to appear in Black Widow… teasing she is sticking around for a while!

The Sharon Carter Powerbroker Theory takes a hit this episode when Sharon is shown to literally help the Flag-Smashers, by aiding them and supplying them with both Batroc and the weaponry. It still could be that Sharon is revealed to be the Powerbroker, but it appears Sharon is helping them so she can return once again to the US… However, if for some reason Sharon is revealed to be a Skrull, I won’t be happy lol

Torres is being set up to take on the mantle of Falcon, and I am here for it! We last see him in this episode with the damaged suit, and now that its been teased and shown that the Wakandan’s have provided Sam with a brand-new suit, it is very clear Torres will keep the suit and make it his own…

Nice little detail, The story Isaiah tells Sam is borrowed directly from his comic book mini-series, which also happens to be the episode’s title: Truth.

Zemo is sent to the Raft, probably the most known high-security facility in the MCU, and definitely, the biggest hint that we’re getting the Thunderbolts soon rather than later as it came as a shock that the Dora Milaje didn’t want to take Zemo back to Wakanda, more than likely due to the fact he murdered T’Chaka… Now, we don’t know who else is in the Raft currently, but if someone like Abomination or even Justin Hammer were in there, we could be getting a post-credits scene teasing the villainous team-up! And it could be Madame Hydra who sets it up now too!

Predictions

In terms of predicting events, I want to be a bit more explicit this week, and it helps as I think a lot of things are clear at this point

Sharon is gonna show up in the states somehow in the finale
The Vibranium Suit will be dope
I do see Karli dying… it’s a shame but I feel Walker may kill her if anything
Thunderbolts / Villain Team Up Post Credits tease (with maybe Madame Hydra setting it up too