Fridge / The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Fridge pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned!

Fridge Brilliance

General

• The fact that the world was massively destabilized, both by the Snap and then the Blip, gives the MCU a lot of leeway when it comes to things like Artistic License – Law, Artistic License – Economics, and other such breaks from reality that might strike audiences with specialized knowledge as inaccurate. For example, engaging in unilateral military action to intervene in foreign nations against supposed terrorists, and with a formerly wanted and conditionally free mass murderer in tow, is probably a lot easier to get away with under the pretext that national governments across the globe are still too horribly screwed up to say no. Or are even happy to let someone else decide this is their problem, because the government who would otherwise have to formulate a response already has enough on their plate.
• Just as Steve Rogers's mother was named Sarah, so too does Sam have a sister with that name. It's another way in which the two share a special kinship.
• Walker is significantly less skilled in hand-to-hand combat than Steve Rogers was and Bucky and Sam are (likely because his background was in more firearm-heavy normal soldiering) and is easily manhandled by both the Flag Smashers and Dora Milaje before he takes the serum. However, once he does take it, he generally proves combat superiority over the Flag Smashers and can take on both Sam and Bucky in a fight. Which makes sense, given what we know about this version of Super Soldier Serum: it doesn’t “pump up” the body of its users, and simply elevates them proportionate to their current physique. Walker was already an abnormally strong, fast, and durable soldier, so when he gets elevated to Super Soldier, he gets back a slight physical edge over people he was stronger than when they weren’t Super Soldiers yet.
• In the first Captain America movie, The First Avenger, Erskine and Colonel Philips argue over who should get the serum. Philips wanted Gilmore Hodge, a brutish but physically exceptional soldier as the perfect candidate. Erskine preferred Steve Rogers, the emaciated, sickly kid because of his heart. In the end, Erskine proves to be right, because he chose Steve based on the content of his character, not any ability he had. John Walker is an echo of that, because he was chosen solely for his service record and physical ability rather than the content of his character, and the result is disastrous.
• Why is Lemar a lot less unstable, more optimistic, and not as easily stressed as John during their tenures as a superheroes? Simple, the mantle of Battlestar had far less expectations than Captain America's. It's an entirely new mantle with no predecessors and thus Lemar can choose how to shape it while John Walker is struggling to live up to a mantle that set a high standard because he lacks the personality traits that Steve Rogers had that made the mantle so iconic. When Walker becomes the U.S. Agent, he showcases the same optimism that Lemar had because he no longer had any high expectations taking on the new mantle he was given.
• Why does Zemo seem different in this show? He is more mellow and friendlier to Bucky when in Civil War, he dismissed Bucky as hardly innocent when confronted for his crime of bombing the UN. Zemo is different because he has had time, seven years specifically, to reflect on his actions. Also, why does his mission only focus on super-soldiers rather than the Avengers again, despite still having some ire towards them? Because after learning about the Battle of Earth, Zemo probably realized that he was out of his depth attempting to take on dozens of superheroes instead of just a handful like in Civil War and that the Avengers are at least a necessary evil in his book in case someone like Thanos shows up; in fact, considering his vengeful crusade helped leave Earth defenseless against the aforementioned Omnicidal Maniac, it's not inconceivable that he sees himself as an Unwitting Instigator of Doom.
• Steve Rogers Jumped at the Call and had his origin story of becoming Captain America (and all that went with it) neatly packaged into a two-ish hour movie. Sam went through (in screen time, anyway) about six hours of internal struggle before fully embracing his role as America's new superhero face - as well as Bucky Barnes' friend and mental caretaker. Remember one of Sam's most well-known lines after he was introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier ^note incidentally, the title card at the end of the series changes to "Captain America and the Winter Soldier, similar to the film's name: "I do what [Steve] does, just slower."
• Red Skull's line in Captain America: The First Avenger about how he has seen the future and there are no flags came true here, albeit only for a few years as the world was unified with no borders as a result of what Thanos did. Red Skull was right, granted not in the way he thought he would be. It also makes for a weird connection between him and Karli Morgenthau, due to the latter fighting to return the world to that state, as well as adding more ammo to Zemo's argument that he doesn't care if they have different motivations because Karli is becoming a supremacist.
• Henry Jackman using his themes from The Winter Soldier and Civil War may seem like Recycled Soundtrack but doing so brings the meaning of those themes from those movies and adds to this series' story and brings some musical continuity.
  • The Winter Soldier theme represents what the title of Captain America mean in the modern world and what Captain America will do to fight the establishment. This theme plays twice in this series. In this series, it plays when a character is given the title of Captain America, first when Walker is publicly announced as the new Captain America and second when Sam is cleaning Steve's shield. Captain America is the title of someone who fights for truth, freedom, and justice for all. Walker fails the title because he just follows the government while Sam decides to use the title and role to try to change the establishment.
  • The Civil War theme represents Captain America losing their title. In this series, it represents John's inner turmoil, playing when he is conflicted between accepting the truth about Lemar's death and believing his own delusion and when he is conflicted between choosing his revenge on Karli and choosing to save the GRC. The theme plays right before John is forcefully stripped of Steve's shield and the title and right before he abandons his crafted shield and tries to save the GRC. The theme foreshadows that John will give up the title voluntarily like Steve.

Episode 1: New World Order

• Tony never actually paid the Avengers, which makes sense when you stop to think about it. Those who stayed at the compound full-time, which would be at least Sam, Wanda Maximoff, and Vision, got free room and board at the New Avengers Facility with full access to all of its amenities, from TV and internet to world-class medical facilities, so Tony never paid them because he is already paying for the vast majority of their living expenses. Any extra money Sam needed for discretionary spending would almost currently come from any secondary income like his share of his family's fishing business, or from the team licensing their names and likeness.
• Batroc manages to stun Sam inside the plane... then proceeds to practice Bond Villain Stupidity and not kill him, but instead suit up and begin the air chase. But of course; Batroc was established when he first appeared to be a Challenge Seeker rather than a No-Nonsense Nemesis, forsaking his initial escape opportunity to engage Captain America in hand-to-hand combat with a Grin of Audacity. Why would he kill Falcon when he could partake in a similar challenge on Falcon’s turf, flying through the air? Batroc simply is that kind of Worthy Opponent-seeking soldier of fortune.
• A very nice Call-Back to Captain America: The First Avenger occurs at the end of the episode when the senator introduces Walker as the new Captain America, with it being very similar to when Senator Brandt tried to introduce Steve as Captain America as his best friend in the first movie. However, Walker showed up for the ceremony while Steve didn't, demonstrating that one big difference between the two is Walker likes the spotlight a lot more than Steve did.

Episode 2: The Star-Spangled Man

• Why didn't Bucky let Steve know about Isaiah Bradley's existence? Besides the fact that he and Steve didn't have proper time to catch up until after the events of Civil War, Steve's faith in the government had been eroded badly by the events of The Winter Soldier and Civil War. He never would have had the will or faith to take up the mantle of Captain America once more in Endgame, if Bucky had let him know exactly what the government he served so faithfully for years had been doing in its attempts to clone him.
  • Also while not directly said, during The First Avenger, Steve assembled a team with diverse racial backgrounds. Whether Bucky fully empathizes with the heavy racism black people face or not (in the later scene where the two cops question Sam, Bucky is outraged enough on Sam's behalf, but also just tells Sam to show his ID, unaware of the subtext), he must have known what virtues his best friend holds and not telling him about Isaiah's tragic story avoids further damaging his faith in the world and the country he was born in.
• Isaiah's existence makes it crystal clear why the US government wouldn't reach out to other, already-enhanced veterans to fill the Captain America role, such as Mike Peterson or Luke Cage (besides the obvious racist reasons). Any investigation into their pasts by the media, which would certainly occur, would have dredged up uncomfortable truths regarding the historical precedent of the US Government's illegal medical experimentation on black veterans (and incarcerated African-Americans), which would have almost certainly led back to Isaiah, and created a PR shitstorm for the propaganda they want the new Captain America to represent.
• Bucky's jumping off a plane without a parachute, while clearly something he thought he can do and survive (what with Steve doing it—and in the ocean at that), is also something he initially hesitates at doing. After all, his fall into a ravine is what turned him into the Winter Soldier—not to mention all of the fights he had near the sky (say, the Insight helicarriers and his unsuccessful helicopter escape in Civil War) never ended well for him either.
• The episode ending with "Lacrimosa" by Mozart playing as we look in on Zemo for the first time isn't just to emphasize his villainous nature. It also shows that he's a man of taste, which would be proven in the third episode.
• One could say Sam's penchant for not having a step by step plan could be seen as him winging it.
• Walker not being a Super-Soldier makes sense in the context of the US government's most recent attempt: Jeffrey Mace AKA The Patriot, who was a replacement Captain America in all but name. The version of the super serum they got working was temporary, and potentially lethal upon continued use, and using it again for PR would be risky. Furthermore, Mace was hyped because of his powers, and he gruesomely died within months of service, at least according to public knowledge (he actually died saving people, with his body mangled post-mortem). Having a non-powered Cap is the government's attempt to distance themselves from that fiasco. The government also learned from at least one mistake: they recruited a candidate who actually is an accomplished military veteran, meaning that he isn't a Fake Ultimate Hero who can be easily beaten in a fight, but someone who can hold his own even without being a super soldier.
• The "Star Spangled Man with a Plan" is updated from a big band piece to a marching band performance for Walker's debut, to convey that it's a more modern form of propaganda.
  • Not only that, but notice how the Custer's Grove High School marching band is entirely made of black people, as is Walker's wife and childhood best friend. But Walker, a white man, is the one up on the stage. Even in Georgia, a state where about a third of the population is black, it's still the white guy attaining success over everybody else.

Episode 3: Power Broker

• Knowing that Zemo is basically a villainous Batman, it makes sense how he was able to acquire an EMP and paid someone to disrupt the power grid in Vienna.
• Zemo having a German first name and accent, despite living in Sokovia, makes more sense given he’s a Baron; it likely means his family either hails from a line of noble Germanic transplants in a multi-ethnic state, compared to the more Eastern European-themed Sokovians, or that he got an education away from Sokovia.
• Some have raised questions as to how, given Zemo's newly revealed resources, his family ended up in danger during Ultron's final rampage. In actuality, this makes perfect sense; wealthy families such as Zemo's would tend to their own estates on the outskirts of the city, which in this case was outside the radius of the device Ultron built to turn Novi Grad into an asteroid. Naturally, the Zemos would have retreated to their estate, thinking it safe, only for debris to fall from the city, either while it was flying up or when Tony and Thor destroyed it to prevent the impact, as they were relatively close to where the city took off from.
• Sam regularly checks in on Bucky's mental health throughout this episode, gently asking him if he's OK, and trying to stop him and make sure he doesn't get Lost in Character as he pretends to be the Winter Soldier again. It makes sense that as a former veterans' therapist, he would be aware of potential signs of trouble and how to act around that.
• When Sam goes undercover as the Smiling Tiger, he's told that his supposed favorite drink at the bar is a shot with snake innards, which doesn't exactly sound pleasant to consume. But when Zemo describes the Smiling Tiger to Sam, he calls him a "charming African rake", and snake wine has a reputation for enhancing virility. Of course someone known as The Casanova would love a drink considered to be an aphrodisiac.
• Bucky's ability to hurl a metal pipe precisely at one of the bounty hunters after him, impaling her shoulder without killing her outright, is likely a result of him spending time with the Dora Milaje.
• Sokovia being annexed by its neighbors explains why, in Captain America: Civil War, no one considered repatriating Wanda Maximoff back to her country after the Lagos incident. Namely, Wanda's birth country no longer existing and its territory being divvied up between multiple countries. This would have made the post-annexation citizenship of any Sokovian immigrant, Wanda included, unclear, meaning that the U.S. government (or any government) had a huge problem if they ever tried to deport her.

Episode 4: The Whole World Is Watching

• Given that Bucky originally received his new arm from the Wakandans, it makes sense that they would have installed a failsafe to deactivate the arm in case Bucky ever went rogue and became an adversary of Wakanda.
  • It also adds an extra layer of poignance to Bucky's shocked expression when Ayo disarms him, that the only people (aside from Steve Rogers) to show him unconditional kindness didn't fully trust him in the end.
• The Dora Milaje initially deciding to take the shield before giving it back to Walker is more than just a cool shot of a black woman with the star-spangled shield; they (as did T'Challa and the rest of Wakanda) knew of Steve's character and even got to witness it first-hand during the conflict against Thanos. Likely, the Wakandan government also didn't trust Walker to succeed that man as well as utilize the vibranium shield properly. Ayo's team were likely given two missions; one, to re-arrest Zemo, and two, (unbeknownst to Bucky and Sam) reclaim the shield (and its vibranium) if Walker is deemed too much of a risk.
  • As for leaving the shield anyway, Ayo might have decided to gamble and see if Steve's two brothers-in-arms would wise up and take the shield from Walker themselves. And even without that, what is essentially a foreign nation's secret serve taking away a symbol of America (even if its ingredient metal is theirs) would likely give Wakanda too much unneeded attention and scrutiny.
• Despite the acclaim he has as a soldier, Walker is shown to regard the events that led to that acclaim as a source of deep shame and regret. This would actually justify his By-the-Book Cop behavior as Captain America. Keeping to regulations and rules would help him avoid winding up in a repeat of the scenario, and as a super hero instead of a military officer he gets the luxury of not having to engage as a soldier to get results.
  • Walker's worries also explain Lemar's concern about going off the books last episode. He would be very much aware of Walker's PTSD and just why he has it, so seeing him choose to engage in behavior that even slightly resembles what gave him his PTSD would be a massive red flag. It would also explain why he supports Sam trying to talk Karli down instead of going in guns blazing. He's well aware that Walker is on a knife's edge and letting him act up will just make things worse, so a more peaceful solution that has the benefit of keeping Walker from being put in a position where he might have to make a bad call would be far more appealing to him.
• When Walker loses to the Dora Millaje, one might justify it by the assumption that most of Walker's training was in firearms, and he only recently started focusing on fighting with his shield, while the Dora are primarily melee combatants.
• Unlike Episode 2, Bucky is now able to take out multiple Flag Smashers easily. There are two reasons for this.
  • He's now used to their element of surprise, unlike in episode 2 where Bucky was taken by surprise by Karli.
  • The abandoned building they were fighting on is far more spacious than the moving 18-wheelers he, Sam, Lemar, and John were fighting on, making it harder for the Flag-Smashers to tag team him.
• It's in Walker's whole murder of Nico that the real differences between him and Steve show. In Civil War, Steve brought down his shield on Tony's arc reactor to disable Tony's suit. In FATWS, Walker beats an unarmed Nico to death. Walker used lethal force in a moment of rage with super strength he wasn't accustomed to yet in broad daylight in the middle of a crowded square and beat a defenseless man to death. Steve used just enough force to disable an armed opponent who was actively attacking him and Bucky.
  • It's this moment that highlights the fundamental difference between who these two characters are at their core. Everything about Walker is designed to showcase what would have happened if Steve hadn’t been who he was. And this is something that was highlighted in the last episode by Zemo (of all people) when he was talking about super soldiers, directly noting that Steve was the exception, not the norm. Steve was the abnormality by bring such an incorruptible person. This is represented by having Nico, the Flag Smasher who idolized Captain America growing up, get killed by the very symbol he looked up to (both figuratively and literally).
• While part of why Walker kills Nico is simply rage and wanting to kill any Flag-Smasher because he likely sees them as guilty by association for following Karli, the fact that it was Nico makes some twisted sense. It was Nico who held Walker in a grip so Karli could stab him, which lead to Lemar leaping in to try and pull her back to save his friend, which lead to Karli punching him into the pillar and killing him, which means that Nico would be indirectly responsible in Walker's rage fueled, unstable mind.
• It makes sense that Lemar would be killed in battle, because he takes comicbook-Bucky's place as Captain America's first sidekick.

Episode 5: Truth

• Right before we see Sharon, the camera focuses on two paintings in her gallery. In particular, it focuses on the face of a bearded man prostrate in agony. That face belongs to the bottom left figure in Théodore Géricault's Raft of the Medusa. The painting dramatized a real incident in which a ship was wrecked due to the incompetence of a captain who had been awarded the position despite being unfit for the post.
  • The man in the lower left corner also bears a resemblance to Nico, who was murdered by an unworthy captain in the last episode.
• This episode ultimately cumulates Sam's journey towards accepting the role of Captain America, and each of the characters encountered thus far helped to cement his decision towards that, simply by acting in opposition to the idea he should take up the part.
  • First, comes the entire U.S. Government, who effectively tricks Sam into handing over the shield so they can pawn it off on someone else. A lot of their motivation is implied to be entirely racist, for, as Isaiah Bradley puts it, the government can't handle the idea of a black Captain America—a point of view that really hasn't changed since the 50s, as poor Bradley's situation demonstrates.
  • Next, comes John Walker, the man chosen to be Captain America by the aforementioned government. He's clearly not fit for the role, having been chosen for his service record rather than his heart like Steve was, and effectively is given this massive responsibility he wasn't chosen for yet wanted, in opposite to how Sam was chosen to take up the mantle yet didn't want. The government is eventually forced to strip him of the mantle to mitigate a PR catastrophe caused by his violent behavior.
  • Afterwards comes Bucky, who's the only character who isn't opposed to the idea of Sam being Captain America, in spite of the fact that Bucky is close to the role (given his past relationship with Steve); he's more upset that Sam got rid of the shield, feeling that him doing so threw a lot of Steve's decisions into question, including whether or not he could effectively redeem himself from the horrors he undertook as the Winter Soldier.
  • Baron Zemo acts in an even more interesting stance, as he's not opposed to the idea of Captain America so much as he is to the thought of beings as powerful as him wandering around and using their abilities however they so please, seeing as it was responsible for the death of his family. He does admit Steve is an exception to this line of thought, but he still feels no one should have that much power.
  • Sharon Carter effectively treats the mantle of Captain America as a Broken Pedestal, seeing as Steve (inadvertently or not) left her high and dry for the last several years, and she feels the role is a curse.
  • Karli Morgenthau acts as the anti-Captain America; she fights for what she feels is right, but acts with none of his morals or duties, and feels that the role is little more than a relic of a bygone era—an era of which saw those looking to survive no better off than they were following the Blip.
  • Finally, comes Isaiah Bradley, the first man to effectively be the new Captain America following Steve's disappearance. He was a true hero in every sense of the word, yet all he ended up with was 30 years of torture, experimentation, and imprisonment. As such, he comes to see the role as something no black man should ever take on, feeling that the world hasn't changed from when he tried to fill in some very big shoes the government had no intention of him filling.
    • With all of this pushback from everyone, Sam finally comes to understand one of the biggest truths of Captain America, as quoted by the man himself (or, as indicated in Civil War, by Peggy):
    "Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — 'No, YOU move.'"
    • All of those people (sans Bucky) told him that the mantle was not meant to be wielded by him, and he almost agreed with them. But in the end, he planted himself firm and stood true to this principle, that no matter what anyone else told him, he is Captain America, with the most affirming facet being that he never states it out loud, but you see the resolve in his face.
• There's symbolic framing in how Sam's arsenal as Captain America reflects two of the heritages he'll be carrying forward. The shield is an all-American, pure representation of nationalism. The suit is a favor from Wakanda, a global African superpower. So not only is this an African-American captain going forward, but a harmony between nationalism and globalization that the Flag-Smashers and the GRC have been fighting over, and a way to bridge the gap and find a better mindset.
• During the fight at the docks several episodes ago, several of the bounty hunters look surprised to see Sharon. At the time it appeared to be a result of her Big Damn Heroes shenanigans, but it now seems possible they knew who she was. Special mention goes to the guy she pacifies between containers, then executes anyway.
• When we see Walker's own version of the Captain America shield, notice that while he has put his medals on it, they're on the inside, facing only him. Rather than an empty boast, only he could see them, meaning that he was using them to remind himself he's more than what he is on his worst day - which is a neat bit of foreshadowing of his What You Are in the Dark moment where he proves that, if he's given time to think, he'll save innocent people over revenge.
• The fight between Sam, Bucky and Walker is a dark reflection of both the final confrontations of The Winter Soldier and of Civil War. Like in The Winter Soldier, Bucky is fighting someone who is dressed like Captain America but isn't his friend Steve. This is compounded by the music at the end being very similar to the theme End of The Line. Like in Civil War, the last man standing in the fight drops the shield after the fight. Unlike Civil War, Bucky is the last man standing and the shield is dropped next to the true Captain America.
• Isaiah Bradley has a very stubborn dislike of Steve Rogers, to the point of having an Irrational Hatred entry about it in his character folder. But when one thinks about it, why WOULD Isaiah have a positive opinion about Steve? As Sam (and the audience) find out about his story, the only real difference (aside from when it happened in history) is that Steve was celebrated and became Captain America while Isaiah was thrown in jail, and he and his unit got scrubbed from history books. Then the news says ANOTHER blonde, blue-eyed white man is chosen to be Rogers' successor, and afterwards Steve's supposed wingman shows up at his doorstep with the iconic shield (it's also implied Isaiah figured out Sam was at least considered to be the next Star-Spangled Man). To Isaiah Bradley, Steve Rogers is nothing but a reminder to him that he will never be honored and remembered for the simple reason that he's black. So of course, he has nothing but vitriol and hatred for Steve.
  • Isaiah's thoughts make a lot of sense: given the way the United States has historically treated it's black population, why the hell would any self-respecting black person want to take up the mantle of Captain America? Sam doesn't respond, but one can almost see a thought forming in his head: "This country isn't just 'theirs'. . . it's ours, too. Unless we stop fighting for it, then we hand it to 'them.'"

Episode 6: One World, One People

• Sam and Sarah throw a block party in Louisiana in honor of Sam becoming Captain America as well as the boat being up and running, and Bucky is there too having a great time. Bucky was quite literally invited to the cookout.^note "Invited to the cookout" is a term of endearment for allies to the African-American community.
• Sam's new jet pack flare being blue not only symbolizes Sam officially embracing the role of Captain America but also symbolizes that his latest suit is his strongest yet. A blue flame burns hotter than a red flame. Sam's new suit is not only made of Vibranium at least for his wings and jet pack, it also has two Redwings and allows him to fly far faster than he could with his older suits.

Fridge Horror

General

• How likely is it that the Wilson Family Seafood business started struggling because Sam was branded a criminal and was on the run as a fugitive for 2 years and wasn't pardoned until he was revived 5 years after he got dusted?
• The entire series has a theme of villains who started out as decent people who didn't get help when they needed it badly.
  • Karli Morgenthau, a disenfranchised teenage girl turned supersoldier freedom fighter/terrorist.
  • John Walker, a traumatized soldier thrust into the spotlight when the government decides to make him the new Captain America. In trying to live up to Captain America's legacy, he becomes more deranged as he faces defeat after defeat until his best friend dies at Karli's hands. Given his Other-Than-Honorable discharge, he won't even be eligible to seek therapy from the VA for his considerable problems, leaving him all the more vulnerable for further slippage, or as we see, further manipulation.
  • Sharon Carter, a former CIA agent forced to go off the grid after helping Captain America's faction during Civil War, now turned powerful supervillain power broker.
  • Baron Zemo, once a military officer and nobleman, turned to cloak-and-dagger villainy after the destruction of his homeland and loss of his family.
  • Which calls into a new perspective some of the more heroic characters who face systemic struggles: Sam is a famous superhero but can't get the banks to give him a loan to save his family home, nor does it prevent him from being stopped over minor pretexts by local law enforcement. Following Steve's example, Sam refuses to give up, but we see many other characters consider him perhaps a bit foolish for not recognizing (or at least admitting) that the game is rigged against him.

Episode 1: New World Order

• During his therapy session, Bucky is clearly uncomfortable with his therapist taking notes. Why? Because his trigger words were always written down in notebooks... maybe he's Not Quite Back to Normal, or even if he is technically, Bucky still fears another repeat. Plus, the last time a therapist with a notebook like that sat down to talk to Bucky, it was Zemo impersonating a doctor to using those exact trigger words to turn him into the Winter Soldier.
  • In fact, a lot of things his therapist does are actually highly unethical.
    • She announces to multiple people that she's his therapist, which is something that she is not supposed to do without Bucky's consent.
    • She refers to him by multiple names, which isn't good for his identity issues.
    • She has Sam join one of their sessions without even letting Bucky know, let alone getting his consent.
    • She reinforced that he was responsible for actions that he took while brainwashed and under mind control.

Episode 2: The Star-Spangled Man

• John Walker mentioning the "Big Three" to Sam and Bucky is a funny Brick Joke at face value. However, since Walker previously mentioned that the US military could track Sam through Redwing, it's not that much of a stretch to think that they might've been eavesdropping on him that way as well, which is how Walker may have heard that term. It's unknown how much else they might have heard on top of that. Or, alternatively, it's become common military slang and Sam and Walker both got it from the same source.
• Everything related to Isaiah Bradley. The U.S. Government, like HYDRA (and other groups) before and after them, were so desperate to recreate the success of Steve Rogers that they tortured and experimented on an American citizen and war hero.
  • Remember that in 1991, Howard Stark managed to successfully recreate the Super Soldier Serum; he likely had Isaiah's suffering and pain to thank for the fruits of that (unwilling) labor. Considering what we've seen from SHIELD's attempts at replicating the Pym Particle, it raises the question of just how many messed up projects Howard was involved in while completely oblivious to where some of the crucial scientific data was coming from.
• Edwin Jarvis stole the last vial of Steve's blood from Howard Stark and gave it to Peggy, trusting her to do the right thing with it. She poured it into the East River near Brooklyn, laying what remained of Steve to rest, giving herself closure, and preventing Stark or the US government from using it to replicate the Super-Soldier formula. However, it's implied the US Government, through incompetence, had disposed of the other tissue samples from Steve. This mistake meant that successfully duplicating the process was a dubious prospect at best. In turn, this led directly to the government experimenting on Isaiah and subsequently imprisoning him for 30 years, and more indirectly to numerous botched attempts at re-creating the formula.
  • Also, they seemed to be over compensating for the No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup situation by exposing Isiah to extreme Body Horror.

Episode 3: Power Broker

• Isaiah's blood was used to create more super soldiers without his consent or any sort of compensation. Now, not only does his story mirror that of the Tuskegee Experiments, but also that of Henrietta Lacks, the other historical example of exploitation of African-Americans for scientific research in the 20th century.
• The manner in which Zemo offers Bucky to Selby in exchange for information on the Super Serum comes with majorly Squicky implications. Specifically, how Zemo cradles Bucky's face while telling her that Bucky "will do anything" she wants, as if to directly demonstrate that he means that kind of "anything", as opposed to the Winter Soldier's typical services. That Bucky does absolutely nothing to resist such intimate contact suggests that this could have possibly happened during his time as the Winter Soldier, and yet another source of trauma to stack on the pile of all his other known ones.

Episode 4: The Whole World Is Watching

• Walker's turn to his much more brutal side is a sickeningly dark reflection on how Steve began.
  • First, he discussed about the serum with Lemar and how taking it may change someone (like Steve did with Erskine), then, just as both Walker and Steve have taken the serum, they're both impressed at themselves at how they've become... only for the enemy they're fighting against (the Flag Smashers and HYDRA respectively) ends up killing their closest friend (Lemar and Erskine). So, both super soldiers end up chasing down what they both believed as their assailant, but said foe only ends up dying afterwards without either John or Steve gaining new information.
  • However, that's about where it ends, as whereas Kruger killed himself by cyanide pill because of his Undying Loyalty to Red Skull, Nico instead begs for his life but Walker himself ends up the one killing him. It just goes to show that, like Erskine himself said, the serum brings out one's true self, like what it did for Steve and John.
  • Playing off this...if the serum brings out the user's true self, does this mean that Karli's decision to bomb the relief building in the previous episode was influenced by the serum running through her veins?
• Prior to his death, Nico proudly tells Karli that he himself was a Captain America fan when he was younger. Who knows what was going through his head as John beat him to death with the shield he once loved?
  • Speaking of Nico being a Captain America fan, imagine all the young children in this universe who have become fans of the new Captain America; maybe they’ve convinced their parents to buy one of his action figures (which we know exist based on John signing one at his press debut in Episode 2) or made themselves a homemade DIY version of his helmet. What would they be thinking when they see their idol beat a surrendering opponent to death on live television? Would they be horrified, or would some of them think that Walker did what he had to and become inspired by what he did, thinking that Cap was doing whatever it takes to protect America?
  • As Harvey Dent once said in The Dark Knight, "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." As far as anyone is concerned, both things have happened to the Captain America legacy with this moment.
• The flashback in the opening tells us that Bucky got his programming broken for good shortly before the events of Infinity War. He had just gotten free of the brainwashing that had been tormenting him for most of his life, now having a chance to live a normal life, and he's almost immediately thrust back into fighting and killing, something which he's expressed that he's tired of doing. No wonder he looked and sounded so depressed when he asked T'Challa, "Where's the fight?"
• Somewhere out there old Steve probably saw the footage of "Captain America" using his shield to murder someone and probably felt very disappointed in Sam for not accepting the mantle like he wanted him to so that something like that would never happen.

Episode 5: Truth

• Howard and Maria Stark were assassinated because Isaiah Bradley faked his own death, if you assume Isaiah was imprisoned around 1961. Approximately 30 years later, he seemingly died, and his body vanished. Without Isaiah or his body, HYDRA, which was working from within the US Government/SHIELD/Military, needed a new source of material to experiment with Super Soldiers. Enter Howard, who had just independently recreated the serum. So Hydra had the Winter Soldier assassinate him and Maria in 1991 and steal the serum.

Episode 6: One World, One People

• Sam gave Isaiah Bradley a memorial in the Captain America museum, which is great, except the first episode shows that the US government isn’t above “reclaiming” what they see as property in order to fuel their own goals. Isaiah Bradley may be in danger of being taken in by the government and experimented on again.
  • The only thing that might take a bit of the sting off is that the memorial for Isaiah did not mention that he's still alive, suggesting that all Sam did was ensure people will now learn of Isaiah's heroics. However, that's up to speculation.
  • Attempting to take in Bradley, who is now a known figure and war hero, seems like a really stupid idea that would only succeed in turning the country against the government and bringing the wrath of Sam down on their heads. Isaiah's worry was based on the fact that his story was covered up and he's lived mostly in isolation and anonymity since and thus most people wouldn't know about his past or notice if he were to be captured. Now that he has a Smithsonian exhibit that tells his story, while pulling no punches about the injustices he endured, that's no longer the case. Plus given that Sam befriended him, he would notice if Isaiah disappeared under mysterious circumstances and he'd have a pretty good idea who's responsible. Adding on the fact that Isaiah was living in the very country that caused him so much grief for the better part of at least several decades and they didn't find him in all that time, and it seems that if the government is aware of his existence, they've decided to just let him be, for their own sake.
• The possibility that even if Karli is dead, someone, namely the U.S. government or whoever Val is working for, can steal her corpse and conduct experiments on it to recreate the super-serum from her blood. There's also the fact that, even after she and the Flag Smashers are defeated and killed, this will mean nothing if someone just decided to continue their legacy, which considering how many people supported them, is a very real possibility. Especially when you noticed that one of the Flag Smashers survived, one that can adopt Karli's name to become the MCU version of Karl Morgenthau.

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