The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3 (TV Review)

We are now at the halfway mark for Marvel's latest series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and so far this series has been some of the best content within the MCU. After the final moments of episode two revealed the return of a specific character, we finally see the return of the antagonist from Captain America: Civil War.

This week's episode continues the driving plot for the series, but now that we are half way through the show, we are getting a few answers to questions given in the first two episodes. At the same time, it continues to set up character motivations, plot points and other driving forces of the show to build to an explosive finale that I and many others want to see.

In episode three we see the return of the fan-favourite villain, Zemo (played by Daniel Brühl), and the way the show writers reincorporate his character back into this ever-expanding universe felt fitting, earned and a great way to have a character like this come back. We saw all of his grudges, trauma and pain on-screen back in 2016 so now that this new threat has emerged, it really does feel fitting to see Brühl's coniving character return and team up with the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He is also established to be a very unpredictable character which left me to question his morals and motivations.

The chemistry each actor has with one-another is brilliant to see in this show. The way that Bucky (Sebsatian Stan) and Sam (Anthony Mackie) worked together had been the highlight of the previous two episodes and now that we have Zemo joining in with the two leads, it adds a new character to join in with the running humour of the show.

The action is also brilliant here; while episode one and two were fairly light on the fight sequences, the latest chapter of the show dials everything up to 11 and is on full display. We see Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) taking down criminals while Bucky, Sam and Zemo are in high-octane chase sequences. Marvel have already established the stakes, characters and story so we are now starting to see the beginning of what will be a fantastic latter half to the series.

The show also doesn't feature that much of John Walker (aka Captain America) in this episode. He is in one brief scene at the beginning which I think is pivotal to his character arc and then isn't in the rest of the episode! Comparing this to episode two where he is a very prominent figure, he is almost non-existent here. He is starting to let the fame and celebrity status go to his head and the brief sequence that we see him in very clearly shows that.

Nonetheless, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode three is brilliant. Seeing Zemo back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a real treat and the character progression is perfect. We are starting to see the plot converging and I cannot wait to see where the final three episodes will take us. The action is some of the best in the entire franchise and this is already one of my favourite projects that Marvel has ever released.