WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 3, "Power Broker," now streaming on Disney+.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's third episode, "Power Broker," takes a page out of WandaVision and opens on a positive note, with an in-universe commercial for the previously mentioned Global Repatriation Council. An affirming narrator tells us that they're here to help "you get back to the way things were" via their motto of "reset, rebuild, restore."
In real life, though, the GRC takes on a much darker tone. A van with the branding opens up to reveal John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who's infiltrating the cafe in Munich that housed the Flag Smashers last episode. However, the trail goes cold when the owner refuses to give up the terrorist organization, prompting an aggressively outraged reaction from Walker. Hoskins (Clé Bennett) insists they give up after finding yet another dead end. But the new Cap decides to forge forward, trying to find someone with "a better hand."
Sam (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) are doing just that in Berlin as they go to visit their old foe Zemo (Daniel Brühl) in prison. Bucky insists on going in alone, given the history the two of them had. That comes out in their first encounter since Captain America: Civil War, as Zemo steps out of the darkness, repeating the words he said previously to send Bucky into Winter Soldier mode. After seeing a glint of Bucky's old life in his eyes, the villain immediately figures out why he's there: He needs him.
We cut to a dark warehouse, as Sam laments working with a man capable of so much evil, reminding Bucky about all the mayhem he caused in Civil War. Bucky responds with a "hypothetical" of breaking Zemo out of jail, using the chaos of a fight between prisoners along with a handy guard disguise. As Zemo enters, that exact plan having happened, Sam is understandably irate. But Bucky pleads with him, asking Sam to stick his neck out for the former Winter Soldier as he did before.
With Zemo now part of the gang, he shows off his family's collection of cars, eyeing and bagging a familiar purple mask. He re-expresses his desire to stop any chance of superpowered beings from becoming an army, be they Avengers or Flag Smashers. The tour through Zemo's lap of luxury continues when they fly off on private jet. He gets his hands on Bucky's list of people he's wronged from the premiere, which is revealed to be Steve Rogers' from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After a brief interlude about how great Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" is, Zemo preaches about how putting superheroes on pedestals has caused us to forget their flaws, leading to cities falling apart, wars starting, and people dying.
We then cut to Latvia, where Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kelley) plays soccer with children at a GRC resettlement camp. She's brought away to be at the bedside of an older woman. It's a more tender side of the Flag Smashers' leader than we're used to, as she tearfully apologizes to the woman and kisses her on the cheek, surrounded by other ill people.
The trio lands in Madripoor, an Indonesian island with over two centuries of lawlessness to its name. They come in undercover, with Sam having to gulp down a distinguishing drink with snake organs to maintain his disguise. As Zemo introduces the "Power Broker" as the ruler of all things in Madripoor, they're approached by some seedy-looking individuals. Bucky is forced to go back into Winter Soldier mode, as he easily dispatches many bar patrons. And the display gets them on the radar of the very person they're there to see.
They head in to meet Selby (Imelda Corcoran), the owner of the bar. Zemo offers her the Winter Soldier in exchange for intel on the Super Soldier serum. She reveals what she knows, saying the serum was manufactured by Dr. Wilfred Nagel here in Madripoor. They're interrupted, though, by a call to Sam from his sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye). Though he tries to play it cool, the jig is up. The guys get a saving grace when a mystery shooter suddenly takes out Selby. But the bad news is they now have an exorbitant bounty on their heads.
The three get thrown in the line of fire almost immediately, with all of Madripoor turning on them. But more shooters take out their pursuers, courtesy of a surprise appearance from Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). She is far from a friendly face, though, resentful that helping them in Civil War made her go off the grid in Madripoor for the past seven years. Despite her hostility, she gets them off the street and into her art gallery in High Town, one of the assets from her new role as a hustler.
While changing them into new clothes, Sharon expresses her heel turn when it comes to superheroes, calling it "all hypocrisy." Now it's Sam's turn to negotiate, as he offers his old friend a possibility at a pardon and a chance to step back on U.S. soil in exchange for intel on Nagel. Despite her initial hesitation, she complies, leaving the trio to awkwardly enjoy a bumping Madripoor party that night.
The next day, Sharon tracks Nagel to a shipping container. As she impressively fends off the encroaching bounty hunters, the guys meet with Nagel (Olli Haaskivi). The scientist reveals that he was recruited by HYDRA, then the CIA to synthesize a new Super Soldier serum using the blood of onetime Captain America Isaiah Bradley. Nagel was Blipped away before he could finish the initial round, and after coming back, the Power Broker helped fund him to finish the job. He made 20 vials of the serum, but they were all stolen by the Flag Smashers.
As Sharon comes in to warn them about the outside situation, Zemo suddenly shoots and kills Nagel. The group can barely react, though, as the lab blows up from a rocket launcher. Zemo has escaped, leaving Bucky and Sam to fight amongst themselves as they and Shannon try to fend off the bounty hunters. The Sokovian comes in to save the day properly masked up, with a sweet ride to boot. Sharon coldly bids them farewell, reminding Sam of his promise of a pardon. And we get a fun callback to the very encounter that prompted this series, as this time it's Bucky's turn to refuse to move his car seat up.
In Lithuania, Karli and her crony Kovich (Desmond Chiam) scout out a GRC supply depot. She laments the death of "Mama Donya," the woman whose bedside she was at (revealed by Nagel to have died from tuberculosis due to overpopulation at the refugee camp). Karli always wanted to be a teacher, but the returns from the Blip sent her to the streets of Madripoor. There, she sought the serum to protect them, hoping to help bolster the kids suffering in the camps. She also somehow knows Nagel is dead, expecting the Power Broker will come crawling to her soon to beg for what's left of the serum.
Back at Zemo's former jail, Walker and Hoskins look into the prison break. Walker is immediately onto Sam and Bucky, figuring they were behind his release. He then decides to veer from red, white, and blue towards grey. The new Cap wants to go a bit outside of his jurisdiction, reasoning, "You think if we get the job done, they're really gonna sweat us on the how?"
With some downtime in Zemo's plane, Sam ruminates on what they just learned. He's furious at what happened to Sharon, as well as Isaiah not even being regarded as a person. "Makes me wonder how many people have to get steamrolled for this hunk of metal," he says. Bucky disagrees, saying the shield represents something to a lot of people, including himself. And while Bucky has plans to take the shield back from Walker, Sam had another: Destroy it and everything it stands for.
The Flag Smashers clear out the supply depot, which the GRC had apparently been sitting on for six months. Karli leaves the council members tied up, saying they're doing what it takes to survive. But she shows that attitude comes with a violent streak as she blows up her car, along with all of the people left inside. When Dovich protests the attack, she responds, "This is the only language these people understand."
We're back in Lithuania, as the guys are looking into Karli's previous visit to the camp thanks to intel on the dying woman the Flag Smasher leader was visiting from Joaquin Torres. Bucky stays behind, though, noticing a couple of small pieces of surveillance equipment. It leads him to an alleyway, as he says, "I wonder when you'd show up." The camera pans around to reveal quite the surprise: Wakandan Dora Milaje warrior Ayo (Florence Kasumba). She has four simple words for the former White Wolf: "I'm here for Zemo." And after the former villain turned new ally came to the front of this action-packed episode, it's safe to say the Falcon and the Winter Soldier audience is as well.
Directed by Kari Skogland, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Wyatt Russell, Noah Mills, Carl Lumbly and Daniel Brühl. A new episode debuts each Friday on Disney+.