-" I know people out there hate me" as Black Captain America? WTF? I guess in this world, Michael Jordan, the Cosby Show, President Obama, and 40+ years of racial and media integration never took place and its still 1979. Very Few People* give a shit in 2021 what color Captain America is (*Very few White people care if Captain America is Black, let me say) and way fewer people give a damn than are praying to hate white people.
-The monologuing after saving the GRC folks was the worst and completely out of place to occur on the street live on TV. The Sharon/Batroc/Karli scene was out of an overheated NBC detective drama.
-Sharon's villain turn is weird and unexplained, given that she lived her whole life as a good guy, and then because she had to go on the run for doing the **right thing** she is suddenly going to become an amoral murdering crime lord? WWE explains heel turns better than that.
-The effort to slow-boil Karli's radicalization and "humanize" her was poorly done, I thought. It just seem haphazard, and the group dynamics felt forced.
-Mackie does a good job, I think, and I always like him onscreen, even saying bullshit lines. Wish it had been a crawfish boil at the end, rather than some kind of grill.
-Stan/Bucky's story in this is good, even though he is really the B story here it's well done.
-Bruhl/Zemo killed it with his time, and I am super glad they seem to be prepping for a bigger future for him.
The Isiah Bradley "parable" I get but sweet mother could you be more heavy handed. Again, its not 1980. It's like some of these people didn't experience the last 40 years and are just waking up expecting "the Jeffersons" to just be breaking new ground. "Archie Bunker" isn't holding a mirror up to American Society any more, either, FFS.
This whole series: "Hey , you know what's bad? RAYYYCISM. AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE. THEY HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT. ITS A STRUGGLE. ALSO IMMIGRANTS ARE GOOD AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE THEM YOU ARE BAD."
Got it, Chief.
Edit: Whitney Russell actually ended up doing a great job, and completely delivered on the promise of his hiring. I thought his performance was terrific and the story delivered a somewhat redemetive arc for him, so kudos there as well. It was satisfying in that regard, at least.
Edit2: And the list minute double twist of Hydra2/Zemo killing the captured Super Soldiers after using the catchphrase: Its like M.Night, but TWICE. DOUBLE-TWIST. /sigh. The next trend. Double-Twist endings: We subvert the subversion of audience expectations. You haven't even seen the final form of our trump card!
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