The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 recap

In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3, “Power Broker”, Sam and Bucky team up with an unlikely ally, meet an old friend, and play dress-up.

There are some wins for Sam and Bucky in this episode of the Disney Plus show. But the bantering duo may have got themselves in over their heads this time.

Sam and Bucky have never seen eye to eye—their only connection was Steve Rogers, who it turns out, was 100% of their impulse control. These two are like headless chickens without direction.

Case in point—the plan to stop super-soldiers hinges on breaking a guy like Helmut Zemo out of a high-security prison. This is just the kind of ammo John Walker needs to discredit Sam and Bucky.

It’s made worse by the fact that Bucky decides on his own—without involving Sam—that Zemo is more useful outside than in. How is this going to work out for them?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 – The Baron

Zemo is way too pleased to be out of prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3. And it turns out he was rich this whole time? Dude has a secret garage full of amazing vintage cars. And a jet! And a private butler!

Apparently losing his Barondom when Ultron destroyed Sokovia and killed his family, did nothing to hurt his bank account or assets. Zemo must be sneaky if he managed to hide all this from the government while he was in prison.

Well, at least Sam and Bucky get to travel in relative luxury. Their destination? Madripoor. X-Men fans, you may commence screaming.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been expanding its visual vocabulary through the Disney Plus shows. We get to see a bit more of that initiative with the introduction of Madripoor in this episode.

Now, we’ve had Evan Peters as Quicksilver in WandaVision, and now Madripoor. Will the MCU be bringing in the X-Men somehow through these shows? Or is this just a way to string the fans along?

There are no X-Men in sight, but there are a lot of threats. Zemo is well-known in Low Town (of course) in Madripoor, but Sam and Bucky need disguises. Bucky has to pretend to be the Winter Soldier, and Zemo’s personal bodyguard.

Sam takes on the role of Smiling Tiger, a man who he vaguely resembles. He ends up wearing the most ridiculous and colourful outfit, but the role doesn’t require much work—stand and glare.

Zemo enjoys ‘activating’ the Winter Soldier a bit too much. All that therapy Bucky’s been undergoing? It’s back to zero now.

When they’re finally taken to their target, Selby (Imelda Corcoran), Zemo really crosses some boundaries. Not only does he offer to give the Winter Soldier to Selby in exchange for information about the super-soldiers, but he’s positively handsy with Bucky. Consent is a thing, Zemo.

The plan gets derailed by a phone call. Sam’s sister, Sarah, still has a boat she needs to live off of and no loan from the bank. She needs Sam to think of something. And that’s it—the Smiling Tiger ruse falls flat and the team are fighting again.

But they seem to have a guardian angel helping them out from the shadows. Who could it be?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 – The Doctor

Well, of course, it’s Sharon Carter, aka Agent 13. The trailers and announcements for the show told us she would be here. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3, Sharon finally makes an appearance.

While Sam, Steve, and Bucky had retreated to Wakanda after the Sokovia Accords fiasco, Sharon got the short end of the stick. She lost her job with the CIA—obviously—and she’s been on the run since. Her father doesn’t even know where she is.

Once again, we see how the Avengers were living in their own universe. And everyone else was left to pick up the pieces of their lives once the Avengers ‘saved the day’.

Sharon’s been hiding out in Madripoor and let’s just say, she’s living a very different life from before. She’s got a gallery where she sells stolen art. Woman’s got to make a living somehow.

I love that Sharon is doing well for herself. She lives in High Town in Madripoor, which is much nicer. She hosts huge parties where she meets influential people and makes big sales.

At one such party, we get to see how badly Zemo dances… I mean, the point of this scene is that Sharon finds out the location of who recreated the new super-soldier serum.

Dr Nagel (Olli Haaskivi) was trying to recreate Dr Erskine’s serum without much success. Until he was given access to Isaiah Bradley’s blood. Nagel successfully synthesized a new serum, one that was more refined.

But then Nagel got snapped and when he returned five years later, his work was gone. Until someone else showed interest—the Power Broker. This is the man who’s been threatening Karli Morgenthau. Now we know why.

Karli stole all the serum from Nagel and gave it to her fellow Flagsmashers. Power Broker wants it back. And soon, he’s going to need Karli and her crew more than he did before.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 – The GRC Depot

While Sam, Bucky, and Zemo get the details on the serum from Dr Nagel, Sharon finds herself contending with a whole bunch of goons. She does an admirable job in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3, but it doesn’t stop them from almost being blown to bits.

Zemo takes the time to kill Nagel though. Told you Power Broker would need Karli soon. Zemo maybe slippery and untrustworthy, but he keeps saving the team. What is his deal?

Sam and Bucky know their next stop—Latvia, to a Global Repatriation Council (GRC) camp where Karli was last seen. Sharon won’t be joining them. She’s wanted for her crimes in the US. Madripoor won’t extradite her so she has to stay. It’s up to Sam to clear her name so she can go home.

But Sharon may not be as helpless as she seems. She hops into her car and tells her aid that she’s got two big problems. Does Sharon mean Sam and Bucky? Is she on a mission of her own? Whatever it is, she’s not telling Sam and Bucky her whole story.

In Latvia, Karli is mourning. She’s lost someone, Donya Madani (Veronica Falcón). We don’t know who Donya is and what she means to Karli, but she was clearly someone Karli cared for.

Donya dies of TB, which she contracts from the cramped conditions in the GRC camp. Earlier in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3, we saw an ad about how the GRC were uniting people and helping the returned get back to their lives. So far, they’re doing a great job. /sarcasm.

Karli isn’t happy with the GRC. She also knows that the Power Broker is on their tail now that Nagel is dead. Karli wants to make a statement. She and her crew raid the nearest GRC supply depot—these supplies have been kept from the people who have needed them for months.

This has been the Flagsmashers’ MO this whole time. But it’s about to change. Karli traps a bunch of GRC soldiers in their depot and then blows it up. This is… not a great look.

Fans have been concerned about the major villains in the show being led by a biracial woman. So far, it’s seemed that the Flagsmashers weren’t really hurting anyone. That changes with the events of this episode.

Having said that, the Winter Soldier killed a whole bunch of people, destabilised international politics, and murdered Tony Stark’s parents in cold blood. And he’s one of the leads in this show. Maybe Karli should get the same amount of leeway?

In the meantime, Bucky leaves Sam and Zemo to follow some interesting breadcrumbs. Who is leading him away from his mission? Those Wakandan drums will get anybody’s heart-pumping. It’s Ayo (Florence Kasumba), one of the Dora Milaje!

Why is Ayo here? Does Wakanda need Bucky for something? Is he going to be chastised for teaming up with Zemo, who killed King T’Chaka? We can’t wait to find out!

Final Thoughts – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 is Great Entertainment

We’ve had a heavy couple of episodes, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 lightens the mood with more banter, throwbacks, and a big dose of fun.

MCU fans will love the throwbacks to Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man—that Zemo appreciates the soundtrack more than Bucky does is a bit creepy though. Does he really believe that or is Zemo saying what he thinks Sam wants to hear?

Zemo’s return is very welcome. His dynamic with Sam and Bucky is fascinating—he’s almost the anti-Captain America. I’m interested in finding out why Zemo keeps leaving the team, only to return. He’s on his own agenda—we just don’t know what that is yet.

Sharon Carter has a bigger role to play here. She’s clearly hiding something, but is that a good thing or bad? This show should be fleshing her character out, but I don’t know how that’s going to happen with only three episodes left.

Fans are understandably excited about Madripoor. It’s like nothing we’ve seen in the MCU so far—all skyscrapers and neon.

There’s definitely a South-East Asian aesthetic seeing as Madripoor is located near Indonesia. But it’s disappointing that there are barely any South-East Asian characters in Madripoor.

We’ve seen the same thing happening over and over again—from Blade Runner to Firefly, South-East Asian architecture and municipal planning have been used as set-dressing, while ignoring the people that actually live in that part of the world. For Marvel to do this in 2021 is discouraging.

I was relieved that there wasn’t yet another scene of racial tension involving Sam. Black communities have to live with this every day—they don’t need to see one of the rare Black superheroes dealing with it on a weekly basis.

I want to see what the show does with the Flagsmashers. I don’t want them to be portrayed as out-and-out villains. We need more nuance than that but is that asking too much of a Marvel show?

It feels like there’s so much to wrap up with so little time left. How is this going to work? I guess we’ll have to find out next week.

What did you think of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is airing weekly on Disney Plus.