“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Recap: Fun Times in Madripoor

This week’s installment of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes us to the exotic land of Madripoor — a locale that should be very familiar to Marvel Comics fans — for lots of action and a few fan favorite characters returning. “Power Broker” was a fun one to say the least!

Hypothetically… | After Bucky (Sebastian Stan) meets Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) in his prison cell in Berlin, Bucky runs an idea by Sam (Anthony Mackie) regarding starting a prison riot to sneak Zemo out of prison so he can help them track down the super soldier serum. When Sam disapproves, Zemo walks in, revealing that Bucky has already done it!

Zemo promises to behave, staying that since he already killed all of HYDRA’s super soldiers in “Captain America: Civil War,” he has to finish the job. Meanwhile, Walker (Wyatt Russell) loses it on a suspect who won’t give up Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), who is in Latvia mourning the death of someone close to her.

Welcome to Madripoor | Zemo takes Bucky and Sam to the island of Madripoor, a safe haven for pirates and outlaws run by an unseen figure known as the Power Broker. Zemo knows someone named Selby (Imelda Corcoran) who could help find out who’s making the serum and disguises Sam as a gangster to get them the introduction. Zemo offers Selby the Winter Soldier as her bodyguard in exchange for the information, when she gives up the name Dr. Wilfred Nagel as the manufacturer of the serum.

But at that moment, Sam’s sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye) calls him, giving the game away. Selby orders her men to kill them, but she is shot and killed by a sniper and word of her death immediately gets sent to everyone in Madripoor, along with a bounty on Sam, Bucky and Zemo. The three of them are running for their lives when none other than Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) arrives! Sharon is now a wanted fugitive for helping Team Cap in “Civil War” and is hiding out on the island in a badass penthouse, where she hides the trio from the bounty hunters.

Time to Blow Things Up | Sam promises Sharon a pardon if she helps them find Dr. Nagel and she tracks him to a shipping container by the docks. Nagel (Olli Haaskivi) is hiding in a secret lab in the container and confesses to Sam, Bucky and Zemo that he was hired by the CIA to recreate the serum until he was dusted in the Snap.

When he returned, the CIA shuttered the program and so he sold the serums to the Power Broker, but Karli and her crew stole the vials before he could make the sale. Nagel also mentions that Karli wanted the serums for a sick woman in Latvia. While Sharon makes short work of the bounty hunters outside, Zemo finds a hidden gun and shoots Nagel just as a rocket is fired into the lab. In the confusion, Zemo escapes, but finds a vintage muscle car in another container and drives back to pick up Sam and Bucky.

Sharon stays behind as the trio head to Latvia to find information on Karli, while Walker discovers evidence that Sam and Bucky broke Zemo out of prison. As Sam and Zemo go to the apartment that Karli’s friend died in, Bucky notices Wakandan beads strategically placed on the street and meets Ayo (Florence Kasumba), a member of the Dora Milaje, who demands to see Zemo.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is now streaming on Disney+.