New series, first episode, let me break it down.

1. The Sam stuff was boooooooooring.
2. Sam giving up the shield even though Steve specifically gave it to him was a little close to the Spiderman: Far From Home moment when Peter hands over Tony’s glasses and chaos ensues. How many times do we have to see a character learn the “if you don’t handle it, someone less responsible/moral than you will” lesson?
3. I needed more information about Bucky’s pardon deal. This episode spent way too much time with Sam and not nearly enough time with Bucky, which is where the interesting stuff is.
4. Guys, is Steve Rogers dead? Are we assuming that? They say he’s “gone” but I guess it’s weird to not say he’s dead if he’s dead-gone, you know?

I feel even less interested in this series than I did after the first two episodes of WandaVision. I don’t care about Sam’s shrimping boat problem, especially because he’s not listening to his sister, who is saying what needs to be done. His need to be a hero is taking away her agency in whatever this situation happens to be. Seeing him just show up and start blundering around, telling her what to do was a little bit cringey to me. Also when we first meet Sam in Civil War he’s a smart dude, a smart enough dude to know that you can’t go into a bank with a wink and a smile, take a couple selfies like a celebrity and get a HUGE consolidation loan. Also this show seems to have forgotten that he’s a veteran…can’t veterans get special loans? I know I’m going off on a tangent here but this beginning for Sam was not great or consistent with what we already know about him.

Bucky is the more interesting party here, because he’s trying to make up for a past he had no control over. I don’t know how you punish someone who has been brainwashed for 90 years and forced to commit atrocities, it just seems excessive? Also if he’s been reverse brainwashed in Wakanda, isn’t that something that could be publicized? He’s part of that Smithsonian exhibit – if he’s such a dangerous, untrustworthy person why even include him there? I do think that it was kind of shitty for Steve Rogers to just leave him there to fend for himself (“I’m with ya to the end of the road”) and not speak on his behalf. Bucky was this terrifying, brainwashed super soldier until Civil War, then they freeze him Wakanda, then he’s back for Infinity War, he gets got by Thanos and then we only see him at the very end of Endgame. He gets no redemption arc with Steve at his side, and I feel like that’s inconsistent with both their storylines.

There isn’t a lot else to watch right now and the husband insists on watching these, so I’ll keep writing about them. This wasn’t a great start. Hopefully it will improve.

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