Afwife1992

I saw this as someone who is not a Diana fan and who is a Sutton fan. I'm also someone who has had 3 miscarriages--not to 'one up' Sutton or anything if Diana is reading. What Sutton said to Diana in the previous episode--questioning the bed rest--was wrong and, to Sutton's credit, she apologized for the sarcasm. And, not to get too TMI, I've been in Diana's spot of carrying a dead fetus, waiting for a full expulsion but having an incomplete miscarriage and needing a D&C. It is an awful, awful mindf*ck. And, combined with hormones raging all over, could *possibly* explain *some* of Diana's behavior. You are just so raw and if someone made the slightest remark, let alone a sarcastic one, well, I can see going feral. But, she also cast her own shade on Sutton's experience and she should have the grace and decency to give a *genuine* apology. Because, as Sutton says, you Just. Don't. Do. That. You don't question another woman's experience with the loss of a child. Everyone handles it differently, grieves to different degrees, but it just should not be questioned like that. Especially by someone who JUST underwent the same trauma. If anyone was feeling competitive, it was Diana and I can perhaps understand that, feeling as raw as she would be, but it's not an excuse. I think Sutton's genteel Southern Miss manners can come across as phony, the 'butter wouldn't melt in her mouth'/'bless your heart' kind of thing. But I do think she was being genuine then because of her own experience. And I do think she's the type of person, as seen by her dealings with Kyle, who doesn't like open conflict and likes people to get to the point of civility and, as she told Diana, to interact pleasantly. Doesn't mean you're best friends but I think she comes from a background that can put on that polite facade--not being fake but just having manners.

Yeah, the whole scene with Kyle/Sutton was off. And Sutton was definitely pissed. Given she and Garcelle were like the only ones to express sympathy for Tom's victims, I have trouble believing she'd been so blase about someone she knew having just gone through something so horrific. And PK has his faults but he seems to genuinely love Dorit and his kids. He was so upset at the get-together and Kyle's. I think he would've been in even worse shape though if that was literally the first time he'd seen her. It was touching how he kept breaking down. On lighter notes, I love seeing Garcelle and Sutton having a good time and being friends. #sutelle forever lol It's awesome to see a friendship grow organically. Hopefully Crystal will still be tight with them and away from the witch's coven. Erika was such a BITCH (what a shock) in her talking heads. She's really not even trying for sympathy except from amongst her gang.

Interestingly that it was only Garcelle called out as well. Crystal brought up race as well. More evidence, to me, that Rinna said it. Irony is, RHONY got pounded for their emphasis on race. I won't get into that here. Just suffice to say, I appreciated the discussions Garcelle and Crystal raised and how they raised them. I actually teared up during some of them and I do NOT usually cry watching RHs unless it's with laughter. It wasn't always the smoothest (particularly Crystal's 'oh tell me you're the girl who says you don't see color' and Sutton's reaction--plus the editing was really wonky on that) but ones like Garcelle's discussion over what Kyle's accusation of nonpayment meant, when she and Crystal talked to each other about how they don't have the privilege of not seeing race and the dinner table (at La Quinta maybe?) about how Garcelle worries all the time over her son as a black man. I wouldn't mind hearing about what Crystal may have experienced as an Asian woman during covid. These discussions WERE actually real and not the usual BS that often populates the shows. And I certainly felt less gross listening to them than I did hearing Erika spin lie after lie. (Except for when they badgered Garcelle into crying. Then, while I appreciated hearing the points she made, HOW she was brought to the point of making them was gross.) So Rinna can stuff it. Yes, we want escapism, especially in these times but the show brought a really good balance (unlike NY) in how and when it was discussed. And most of the cast seemed open to hearing it. I think even Dorit though she really doesn't get what's being said. Unlike others, I don't think she's racist but mileage obviously will vary. I do think she's very self-absorbed and doesn't always relate to issues that she can't relate to. But I don't get a mean-spirited vibe like I do with Rinna. At least Kyle gave it an attempt--even Kathy did. I think Sutton has probably had some conversations with both Garcelle and Crystal that were much different from her initial one with Crystal.

It's funny because I've been binge watching RHOBH and I'm on season 8, ep.5. In it Erika is discussing Tom's accident with Mikey with one of her assistants. (I don't think it's Mikey but I don't pay much attention to her 'squad'.) She has just arrived back from her Tokyo trip with Lisa Rinna. She's been back three days according to her. She says she got the call about Tom and it sounded like maybe she was still overseas or had *just* gotten back. But it doesn't sound *at all* like she was there when they initially admitted him and had to make any decisions about operating on his brain or not. She talks about the ankle and she does sound genuinely (at least as much as her blank face and emotionless voice can express) worried. She talks about him sleeping a lot and her watching his breathing and pain threshold. That she saw a 'flash of just kind of fear' even though he doesn't like to talk about 'that kind of stuff'. But it sounds more because she'd never seen him significantly injured (and a broken ankle is not joke though it's not a severe head injury for sure) and because it's making her realize he may not always be here because he *is* elderly. She wonders if she could handle everything on her own (this is in a talking head), keep everything, keep it together, will she 'be able to stand on [her[ own two feet?' is her 'life gonna change?' that 'things could change...everything be taken away' in a second. The incident isn't brushed over getting a segment and a couple talking heads but she definitely doesn't seem like he was more injured or that she's covering it up. It genuinely seems like it was a broken ankle period and there's nothing to indicate he heroically scampered up the hill after suffering a blackout concussion. She even says 'these things happen' and 'it could have been worse', 'that people have had much worse accidents'. Like, why mention it so much if she was secretly covering something up? It didn't seem like she was trying to sell a story that everything was fine so much as stating, yeah, a broken ankle is bad but it wasn't more serious than that. Plus, it's just three days since she's back and she's hanging out, it looks like, in her little home away from home chatting and chilling. If it's three days (and maybe slightly more if she was just coming home from overseas when she got the call but hadn't arrived) and it had happened like she *now* says it did, the WHY ON EARTH isn't she at the hospital? She's totally filming. Which also means that BRAVO crews were around a LOT which means there's plenty of film to subpoena. And if her costars from that period--Kyle (who she specifically talked to about it at a lunch), Dorit and Lisa R should know this. I'd at least be asking on the sly about it. But you know that Andy isn't going back and gathering any receipts. But I hope some of the plaintiff's lawyers are.

They could do what they did with Teresa on RHONJ. Though there they postponed filming at a point, I think. But she's even done jail time and is still on the show.

I've been binging previous seasons and just saw the episode where she was out at lunch with Kyle and mentioned Tom's accident and ankle injury. So there's bound to be hours of tape (video and audio) around that period that could be subpoenaed. He never was like that early in his career. I wonder if Rinna has rubbed off on him. Didn't Billy Bob Thornton say he suffering from 'manorexia'? But maybe Harry fixates on exercise because he sure likes to cook and seems really good at it. I was watching an episode just last night where they had a big barbecue and he made some delicious looking food and even homemade pies!

I am not ashamed to say that I went and bought a knockoff version of that red Baccarat votive lamp. lol Mine was just $34 but it looks *really* nice. I could buy like 25 of them for the price of one of Kathy's. :) As for her goofiness, I think it's true but played up a bit. I still laugh when I remember her showing up and the season 6(?) finale where Adrienne was doing her fundraiser and Kathy was like 'you do magic now?'. lol

I felt for both Sutton and Crystal on that boat. Like Sutton, I have awful anxiety (diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and social anxiety (not at a disorder level and sometimes it's better than other times) and I just cringed when Crystal called her 'crazy' and irrational. Yet, looking at it from someone else's perspective, especially someone who doesn't know her, how else is she going to come across. She hasn't really seen anything but her anxiety. But I sympathize with Sutton because I've been there. Especially with feeling like you're being excluded or talked about--and sometimes you really are which just feeds the paranoia and then you over-react to even the hint of it. And then that behavior feeds the exclusion/talking about and it is just a cycle. And I think Crystal is just the opposite of Sutton--composed, cool, confident--and she just doesn't get her At All. She's the newbie here and is trying to feel her way and she hasn't gotten anything positive with Sutton. And she's bluntly saying that which is pretty refreshing rather than just stewing and air kissing and saying it's all cool and then bad mouthing her later. And leaving her house could have set her off. My hubby is military (recently retired) and everything time we moved was a Danger Zone for me. It's a comfort and control thing. I think both of them are nice people--with flaws but not a bad hearted person. Her anxiety at least doesn't take the vicious levels of some other housewives on this and other shows. And I get the roller thing even though it looks, to borrow Crystal's word, crazy. But touch and things contacting with your skin can really help, even if it is somewhat of a placebo thing. And I like Sutton for the most part because she doesn't seem mean or vicious (and she actually has some money lol) but, with her anxiety, this is really not the place. edited to add: I am soooo here for Garcelle dragging Lisa Rinna in such a cool, calm matter. lol Rinna is like 'this is where I messed up' and Garcelle's like 'yep' and Rinna looks aggrieved that she's agreeing with her. lol She just know how to handle someone either not kissing her butt, excusing her or picking a fight over it. It's about time she was really held to account for her nasty behavior. And she's totally not sorry anyway so I'm especially here for Garcelle giving it to her. She was friends, or at least friendly, with Denise for like 20 years and couldn't wait to turn on her like a viper--even doubling down on it. She's just sorry she got dragged for it all over the forums and social media. I'd actually change my opinion on her if she said 'You know what, covid made me evaluate a lot of things in my life. I was trying to be relevant (or whatever word), got sucked into the mob mentality and used Denise for it. It made me a shitty friend and I dont' expect her to ever forgive me for it. As a friend, I should've been defending her or at least not piling on her. But I'm genuinely sorry.' But she never will.

My comic book nerd self freaked out the second she gave her full name the previous episode. I almost missed all of what she said because I was like 'oh no they didn't just introduce her.' And, yes, the wardrobe for US Agent--it pretty much confirmed for me that his Captain America outfit was a little 'off' in sizing or what have you on purpose. It was just one more way it felt like he *shouldn't* be Cap. This fit so much better. Yes to Isaiah's spot at the Smithsonian. It's like it can't make up for everything, not even close, but here, at last, is some recognition.

I was disappointed in this episode--and the disappointments been building with each prior one after it started so strongly IMO. Likes: Sam's uniform--very faithful to the comic book without looking *too* gimmicky. Not always easy (see Wanda's Scarlet Witch also). Except, for all Steve got teased (or should've) about being a big red, white and blue target, Sam practically glows in the dark! It's like 'shoot over here.' lol But it looks cool with the wings and all. Sam's wings: look very cool. Like how he's integrating him into the action. Especially to counterbalance the fact that he's not a seasoned fighter like Bucky or Walker or Steve (but no one can be Steve). Really loved him using the wings to prop him up when he was being pushed back. Sam's nephews hanging off Bucky's vibranium arm at the end. Very cute. Isaiah Bradley getting his spot in the museum. *cries* Also liked how he didn't all of a sudden becoming all mushy at the sight of Sam being Captain America. Decades of trauma doesn't go *poof*. He's like 'uh huh, we'll see' and Sam's like 'we will'. But Isaiah's not all misty eyed and patriotic again all of a sudden. Walker becoming US Agent. We're setting the pieces in motion for Dark Avengers and/or Thunderbolts. (Again, RIP Batroc) Zemo and his little smirk when he heard about the van explosion with the other flag smashers. (I knew there was no way they were getting to the Raft and sure enough. Boom.) He's such an ass and I love it. Things I didn't like: Overdoing the Sam imagery. Bathed in silvery light pushing up the truck. (And I'm sorry, his arms would've snapped) And descending like freaking Jesus or an archangel cradling Karli's body. Kind of eye rolling. Sam being more of a seemingly skilled fighter, with and without the shield, than we've previously seen. I mean how long was he supposed to be down in Louisiana slinging it around? (And don't get me started again on how Walker shouldn't have been able to be any more than decent with it either. He barely had time to touch it before they sent him out. The shield is awesome but it isn't magical. Steve had unique skills, including memory, and the serum enhanced them all. That's why he was such a good fighter, tactician, etc. He already had some of those abilities and the serum amped them up.) Steve was an unparalleled hand to hand fighter who probably trained at SHIELD daily. No way would Sam come close to being able to handle Batroc. I'm glad that Sam at least seemed to say eff it and just smashed through the window and took off. Let Sam use his own skills and unique abilities--like the wings. He had some really cool scenes with them--the one mentioned above but also bringing them around like, no pun intended, a shield. They're unique and mark him as an entirely new kind of Captain America in terms of fighting. He's not just emulating Steve Rogers like they pretty much John Walker do. I don't want to see Sam doing all kinds of fancy hand to hand moves all of a sudden or parkouring it all over the place. Plus it looks like Wakanda added some another snazzy features like the thrusters that helped him push up the truck. Let's seem him break all those toys out. The speechifying. First of all, it was *four* minutes. That's like a 10th of the whole episode. Just way too long. Second, I'm sorry, I get it but Sam *doesn't* know much about the situation. He was focused on other stuff until Karli started kicking up a fuss and I doubt he's been doing heavy research into all the issues. If I'm someone who's been actually busting their butt for *years* trying to work things out in a situation that was already bad and traumatic then became even MORE chaotic and all, I don't want to be lectured by a guy who has no background in any of the pertinent issues. I'm not going to march up to the UN or something and start lecturing them on issues that are way above my pay grade. The overall point of listening to other people like Karli and figuring why so many people followed her? Yes. Got it. Absolutely a valid point. Sam did seem that up close. But we don't need four minutes. Steve's Winter Soldier speech and Endgame speech were less 1 and 2 minutes. Sometimes shorter is more impactful. Sam just strikes me as more of a counselor than a speech-giver. I mean, it's not a requirement with the suit. Again, it's utilizing Sam's own powers and abilities. There's a reason he chose to be a VA counselor. He came close to talking Karli down off the ledge--without throwing a punch--before Captain America (Walker in that case) messed it up. If he was going to talk to these GRC people I would think he would at least go about it more along the lines of how he talked to Karli earlier--one that more personal, empathetic level rather than trying to just lecture them. This was like some 'very special episode' stuff. Mackie's a really good dramatic actor but this fell flat to me. I almost fast forwarded through it. And this leads to...maybe some of those four minutes could've been spent on Bucky's meeting with Mr. Yori. They spent time on his friendship with him, spent time showing his son's death and all we get in the end is like a 20 second scene? And we don't see ANYTHING after he says he was murdered by the Winter Soldier and that was Bucky? Cut to him leaving. Come on. I think Bucky spent more time flirting with Sam's sister Sarah in the previous episode than Mr. Yori in this one. Talk about one more thing with a build up and no payoff. And he sends the notebook off to Raynor? What, are they done therapy because the government may have something to say about that? Or was that totally dropped? It was kind of hard to tell since the rules seemed to have been chucked out the window. I mean, he wasn't supposed to hurt people, for instance. Bucky got so little time I can't even find something to bitch at. I wish he could've saved that second truck because I think actually saving people, when he's taken so many lives, could've been really impactful. And, maybe it's on purpose, but did any of the news people even know he did *anything*? Or is he going to again be relegated to 'sidekick' status as Walker derisively referred to him? I'd seen someone say that maybe Sam would be the new Captain America and Bucky the new Steve Rogers. Seems to me Bucky is just the same Bucky Barnes--there to help Captain America. He's not the Winter Soldier, he's not seemingly the White Wolf. He's just there. He even called in his Wakanda favor to use for Sam in giving him his nifty new suit. I didn't like Walker being called 'Cap' and I don't like it with Sam either. That's just my own thing. Steve Rogers is my favorite MCU character BY FAR and he's just the only Cap to me. Not Captain America, but Cap. Overalls: Overall, Bucky just getting really short-changed. It was supposed to be Falcon AND the Winter Soldier. We've been invested in Bucky's story since 2011. Now that this show has happened, anything we would've gotten about a final talk with Steve, more moving toward redemption, coming to terms with his past. It's all done. And we got very little. Overall, too much trying to be done in 6 episodes. It needed more like WandaVision since it was telling more of a world building story. And instead of being 3 movies worth, it was really 2 given that each episode wasn't near 60 minutes. And I still feel like more was done in any 2 movies of any of the trilogies. We had Karli and the Flag Smashers--ended abruptly and no real impact. I guess her death is supposed to make people care? Especially because the new Captain America said so? They introduced Isaiah Bradley (and, basically his grandson Eli who becomes a superhero himself, Patriot, in a few years but without close caption many people may not even know his name) and we heard his story. And I was invested but I also knew the comic and LOVE Carl Lumley (hello Cagney & Lacey because I'm that old lol) and he could sell anything. But it felt either not enough or too much because it was a few minutes in one episode, a little longer in another and then the conclusion. Sam's sister got more story and facetime. I would've rather they cut out that whole part and given it to Isaiah and Sam. Plus family stuff often bores me and we can get it other ways--show don't tell. We knew plenty about Steve's parents' influence just from the little bit--his mom was an immigrant single mother nurse during the Depression who worked in a TB word, 'got hit and couldn't shake it' and that Steve's dad died in WW1 from mustard gas and helped spur him to want to serve his country--especially in the 107th, his dad's unit, and the one Bucky winds up in. I mean, we saw more cumulative moments of Sam and his sister than I think we saw Steve and Bucky over 3 movies. And if we don't ever see her again, what really was the point? And shown more of Eli then because they're not putting the various Young Avengers in motion and not doing something with them down the line. I would've loved flashbacks to Isaiah's past--they could've utilized the actor playing Eli as the younger Isaiah if he's going to be in further episodes rather than his lines basically reduced to him having bad manners at the door. Same thing with Torres. He takes on the role of Falcon in the comics. Is he a walking, talking Easter Egg here? Like wink-wink? Because we saw him like twice and basically nothing after his intro. He's a likable character (likable enough I was sure he was going to buy it when he first had his run in with the Flag Smashers) with a comic book legacy and the actor is an appealing one. Too many 'bad guys' or pseudo bad guys. We have Julia Louis Dreyfus's character (though she was supposed to get her intro in Black Widow), we have Zemo, we have the Flag Smashers, we have Sharon (maybe?), Batroc, we have John Walker. Too many moving pieces. I mean, what the heck is the deal with Sharon? Is she really bad? Deep undercover? I still don't believe she could have been snapped (and Endgame showed she was) and then in six months built this whole nefarious empire. I don't know if she could've done it even if she hadn't been snapped given she went on the run with basically the clothes on her back. What was the point of breaking Batroc out to maybe kill Sam? And now we don't have Batroc anymore. RIP. Thanks, Sharon. She took him out, took Karli out and now no one knows her evil ways. Okay. Zemo probably had the best arc of the baddies so I can't complain too much there. We still don't have much of a handle on Walker though Wyatt Russell has done a really good job. And has had a good sense of humor about it given the toxicity that many unleased at him. And, again with the 'too much going on', Lemar's death had little impact on the audience because we barely knew him. We knew Sarah more. Heck, we knew Sam's nephews more. Again, more episodes or a tighter focus would've been good here. Because we know his death drove Walker over the edge but we don't really *feel* it. And even with Walker, his descent into crazy town basically occurred in the blink of an eye. And, conversely to Sarah, Walker has a family but we don't know anything about it really. Does she care that he's off being Captain America? She seems happy enough that he's US Agent. If you're not going to develop her at all why bring her on? Keep him unmarried and then Lemar's death his him even worse--plus now he has no one keeping him tethered or on the right path. Makes him more likely to latch on to someone like JLD. And seeing the big crowds at the end taking photos with Sam just reminded me of why I thought in the first episode--why doesn't Sam earn some quick money on whatever the superhero version of comic con is? I mean, don't tell me people wouldn't have paid money to have him fly him around or something. Cheesy? Yes. But desperate times and all. And then that just reminds me of how stupid the whole money situation was. NO WAY they weren't paid by Tony. People don't work for free--even superheroes. They were paid by SHIELD prior and then it seems that Tony underwrote the Avengers. He set up the compound, brought in people and, as he said, 'paid for everything'. It would've made more sense to say Sam's accounts were frozen when he was on the run. That Sam's sister had tried to get access when he was snapped as his next of kin but the government had enough to deal with after the snap that she was just given the run around and bureaucracy, red tape, yada yada. And then how was Sam supposed to get access again now that he's back? Take that background story to the bank and then let it unfurl the way it did--'just extend us this loan, I'm just waiting to hear back. I'm good for it, you know me./ I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson but we can't take that risk. Not even for the Falcon. But can I have your photo?'. But don't act like Sam had no money. This episode really brought down the season as a whole for me. I'd give it a C for the episode and a B or B plus for the season. I think with a tighter focus or an expanded number of episodes it could've been top notch because the chemistry was there, the pieces were there, the acting was great, the casting was great--there was just tons of potential. Yet it seemed to be so scattered sometimes and things that should've been more impactful weren't or things that should've been able to be said/shown easily were just pounded down on our heads while other things that needed more fleshing out were just left. But I'd watch a season 2 or a CA 4. I just would be less excited than I was for this season--which was off the charts excited.

Yeah, we'd always been left to imagine it and fill in the blanks based on expressions, etc. I never for a moment thought Steve didn't tell Bucky everything. Bucky a) obviously knew Steve wasn't coming back (at least not young) because he said he'd miss him even though he was only supposed to be gone 5 seconds and b) he wasn't surprised to see Steve and gave a nod to Sam to go talk to him first as well as acknowledged him getting the shield. Nothing was a surprise. Head-canon wise, I always thought Steve talked about what it meant for Bucky. There's still debate about whether he created a time loop (where he was *always* the husband) which the writers say and whether there was a new timeline (which the directors say). If it was the former, he couldn't change the past to save Bucky (and that would be quite a discussion) as demonstrated by 'we can't just go kill baby Thanos' but if it was a new timeline, I could see him telling Bucky he would save *that* version of him and give him the life he could've had. Also, if it was a time loop, he could've offered to take Bucky back and Bucky said no feeling he had so much to atone for that he couldn't just take the Mulligan. I think, given that they just say Steve is 'gone' and not 'dead' or 'back to his own timeline' that Marvel doesn't want to definitely say (at least not now) so we won't see, or hear, whatever the full discussion was. We may just get tidbits like Bucky's brief remark to Sam and have to fill in the blanks. The shield thing is so bogus. Howard created the shield using the vibranium he himself got from somewhere (likely the black market) based on little tidbits in canon. He was also an independent contractor basically doing what *he* wanted for the military and they were just lucky to have him. Then the shield was frozen with Steve for all those decades. It was seemingly immediately returned to him when he wanted it. Then in CW, he gives it back to Tony who holds on to it until he returns it in Endgame. Steve then bequeaths it to Sam and it's *Sam* who gives it to the museum. They didn't requisition it. Then the government swooped in and nabbed it. Nor did Sam show any compunction about just walking away with it after walker imploded and is toting it around deciding what *he* is going to do with it. No one is beating down his door. The problem with Sharon is that she also stole back Falcon's wings in CW and those are government property--or at least the proprietary technology even if Tony upgraded them. They were invented when Sam was a pararescueman. And that's on top of helping them escape and giving the classified intel in the first place. But, yeah, she should definitely be off the hook for the shield IMO.

I think he wildly dialed it down. The first episode emphasized him not wanting to use force (being forbidden to actually) and we've seen it on his face in Madripoor too. He could've broken Walker's face like he did Steve's if he'd really unloaded with that vibranium arm. His Wakanda arm is even stronger than his CA:WS arm and he beat Steve to a pulp back then. Granted, Steve wasn't hitting back as hard as he could but Walker doesn't have nearly Steve's fighting skills either. I saw the arm break coming though--there were a lot of callback scenes to CA:WS and CW in that fight. The shield tossing, the two-on-one and Steve had broken Bucky's arm rather than kill him on the helicarrier. If Bucky had wanted he could've grabbed Walker by the neck and choked him and there wouldn't be much he could do. Even in CW with the German soldiers, Bucky told Steve he didn't want to kill anyone (though he did throw one who Steve had to catch and say 'come on man') but he wasn't going to get captured and executed either. He also fought T'challa more defensively than offensively at the airport. Bucky/WS on the helicarrier was the last time we saw balls to the wall fighting Winter Soldier. He took his goat tending break for x number of months in Wakanda (he came out of cryo sometime between Civil War and a good while before Black Panther) and stepped away from fighting until T'challa showed up with the arm. Then he said wearily 'where's the fight?'. It was obvious he hadn't done anything close since coming out of cryo until they battled Thanos, then he was snapped, then he came back for the Endgame battle (which was mostly firing his gun) and now here we are.

There's a tight focus here and it's something that wasn't delved into in Captain America: First Avenger which was much less gritty, but the mantle of Captain America is that it should be held by the non-John Walkers. It was made clear with Isaiah Bradley's story and it wasn't fleshed out in CA:FA but Steve Rogers was just the type of who they wouldn't have chosen. It's light hearted with Col Phillips saying he's too skinny and all but, in reality, canonical Steve Rogers was a disabled, dirt poor son of Irish Catholic immigrants who lived in the Great Depression at the height of the eugenics movement. You can pull up the list of Steve's ailments and it's a mile long. Hitler would've had him gassed without blinking. In the US, his mother probably was encouraged to just let him die. So Sam taking on the shield and assuming the mantle is right in keeping. CA should be the defender of the defenseless and all that good stuff. The mantle *should* be held by those who know suffering or discrimination. As Erskine said, a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion. John Walker, while not some evil, mustache twirling villain, was just the type that the Army *wanted* to pick back in the day. A perfect soldier, not necessarily a 'good man'. As Bucky pointed out to Sam, he has his own path and it's not Steve's and it's not Isaiah's but there *is* a common denominator.

Well, that escalated quickly! **poor Lamar/Battlestar. I loved his little remark about how he has a little battlestar to draw if people want to ask him for his autograph. *He* would've made a better CA than Walker. He deserved better but at least it was really quick. I think he'd hate how Walker 'avenged' him though. And he was probably the last tether keeping Walker in line at all. You could see how shocked Karli was--she was just reacting--when Lamar died. She was fighting Falcon, a hopped-up Captain America and the Winter Soldier--it's easy to forget there was an actual non-enhanced (either in body or uniform) regular human there who can easily be hurt and killed. Everyone came to a dead stop. **Walker already had some issues and ptsd--at least based on some of the undercurrents of his conversation with Lamar based on what they did to get those medals. (Though I STILL have an easier time believing in aliens, androids and gods than in thinking someone of Walker's age, time of service, the conflicts he fought in--he only mentioned Afghanistan, and the fact that he's ALIVE than the fact that he has THREE MOHs. Only one person even has two. And most people who are awarded *one* are usually dead because the level of bravery usually demands the ultimate sacrifice. I just can't get over it. I wish they'd just said one MOH. It's not like that isn't 'good enough'. *end of rant*) So I'm reminded about Erskine's lines about the serum amplifying everything inside. (As well as his comments about strong men losing respect for their power while weak ones know compassion.) He's already unstable though functional for 'regular' life--but in the position he's in and now hopped up on the serum? Yeah, no. That's going to go badly. And it can be seen with Karli too--her desire for what she considers justice and her increasing radicalism in how it's achieved is just going to keep getting ramped up. As even Zemo had to agree--there's only been one Steve Rogers and his remaining uncorrupted. Erskine chose well. Plus, despite what Nagel said, there's only been one true success--Steve. Every other serum has had flaws--it's either been less powerful or it's gone really, really bad. I don't know if they'll go back to Isaiah but, comics wise, it was a very bad situation for him--and he was also the only survivor of the group it was tested on. We all know how Bruce turned out. **I can't help it. I love Zemo. Or maybe it's just Daniel Bruhl's portrayal of him. But I just get a kick out of him and his semi-flirtatious nature with Bucky. He did it with Steve too (the comment about being up close and seeing the little bit of green in the blue of his eyes). For someone who hates super soldiers he does sure like to flirt with them! You can just see Bruhl having a blast with this. When he was pulling the moves with the kids and the candy I was like 'once again, don't forget this guy was Sokovian Special Forces.' He knows Psy Ops, people! Don't let your guard down around him. Ayo certainly didn't! **speaking of Ayo. Loved the flashback to Wakanda and her calling Bucky 'White Wolf'. I wonder if he'll start to feel a pull between his identities? He's not really anyone right now. He'll never be the pre-war Bucky Barnes. He doesn't want to be the Winter Soldier (at least unless he reclaims it and flips it maybe). And he's not really the White Wolf. Who is he going to wind up being? It's intriguing (to me at least), more so than Sam's journey because we know he's going to end up Captain America. His is more in *how* than in *who*. And don't mess with the Dora Milaje. Keep your hands to yourself Walker. I knew she was going to beat his ass down when he put his hand on her shoulder. It's like, read the room, dude. She's is NOT putting out welcoming, kumbaya vibes. Zemo killed her king and she's here for him. Period. As she says, 'move or be moved'. That's sort of their philosophy. lol Unless she was snapped, she's had 7 years to brood (2 if she was snapped) about her failure (as she called it) in protecting T'chaka in Vienna. She is not trifling around. Loved the look on Bucky's face when his arm just shut down and fell off. Bucky should just pull a Steve (Mr Peggy Carter) and chuck the superhero business, go back to his hut in Wakanda and settle down with Ayo--he can be the househusband tending sheep while she's out kicking ass and taking names. Then she can come home and they can train with each other for fun. He's 106 and his life has sucked since 1945--just let the man go have some peace. **My girls swear Sharon is the Power Broker but I said 'nope'. She was snapped so could she really have built up a rep/business in the two years she was on the run and then just swoop back into it after 5 years of being gone? I don't think so. But she's playing some angle/agenda. **Loving Steve Rogers the way I do, it was actually stomach turning to see *his* shield dripping with blood. Steve killed people out of necessity but he also just disabled them when he could. He didn't even use a gun outside of WW2 (except for when he had to pick one up to return fire in Avengers). His primary weapon apart from the shield was hand to hand combat. (One wiki 'kill count' put him at 151 but 105 of them were Nazis, aliens or drones. Plus they counted everyone he ever hit with the shield as a death which I doubt they were. He was a solider but he was no ruthless killer and he certainly had the physical power to be.) That guy was unarmed. Yes, he was a 'bad guy' in terms of their pursuit but he didn't kill Lemar and it was just cold blooded murder. And a vicious one at that. Pure bloody overkill. So that last sight of the shield was stomach turning. Even Walker looked taken aback but I don't know how it'll affect him. There is one shot in one of the trailers of him (?) bent over the ground, upset. But it may just be about Lamar and not about the guy he just killed. Regardless, he is unraveling and it's happening FAST. It's sad too. Yes, he's no Steve Rogers. No, he shouldn't have taken on the mantle (though it's doubtful he knew about Sam or anything). Yes, he can be a bit of a douche. But he's not an evil guy. But it's going to end up really badly for him one way or the other. He's either going to end up dead or institutionalized or something. But there's no happy ending here that I can see. They may even incorporate some of the physically, emotionally and mentally degrading effects of the serum on certain subjects that are found in the comics Isaiah Bradley story. **I could get what Karli was saying and that's what makes this an intriguing story line. We've seen the 'bad side' of the blip. People lost their whole families (Clint), loved ones (Scott), died alone (Maria Rambeau). Just lived with the knowledge that their loved ones were 'gone' but didn't know if they were dead, would come back (which they did). How many people committed suicide because of their losses? How many people died because some brilliant surgeon was snapped? And I'm sure there were PLENTY of people who weren't all altruistic about resources. The black markets probably thrived in the chaos. Human greed doesn't disappear. But there were also obviously 'good' things that would happen. Abusive partners may have been snapped--and are now back. We've seen how Karli and how group think things were better off. Even Steve made the rueful comment about the water being cleaner and seeing whales as he drove to the compound. So it's not like it was 100% a good thing or bad thing--it was just a cataclysmic event which shook not just Earth but the whole universe. And now people have to live with the fallout of both the blip and the return. I've seen some people argue that it was TONY who was ultimately selfish because they could've just undone it--put things right back to the way they were--but he didn't want to lose Morgan. He liked the way his life was after the Snap and was willing to 'fix' it but not reverse it. The world could've avoided the resulting chaos. But there was never going to be a perfect solution.

I don't know what the eff I just watched. First we wait seemingly forever for Bellamy to reappear. Then, when he does, he's a pod person. Then he's pretty quickly killed off. I mean, WTF? Clarke and Bellamy are arguably the most important, longest relationship of the show--two of the few left from Day One, through all the ups and downs. Their bond was intense. And it was great too because it was not a romantic pairing. So it's bad enough for Clarke to have to shoot him but for it to feel SO anticlimactic? So..blah? No resolution/dramatic final scenes with Octavia? Echo? What we last saw was IT? I mean, what a crapfest. I'm with some of the others who have said they've watched from the first episode and are now ready to not even watch the remaining eps. And? If it *was* some kind of backstage bad blood, eff you to Bob Morley? It's doubly crappy to make his wife kill him.