WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The 6th, and final, episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has finally come out and it was a great season finale. (Some might say it was even better than WandaVision’s season finale.) All of the plotlines were tied up nicely, and we were led into what we should be expecting for the second season in the post-credits scene.

Before going all geek mode into the episode, I feel that the elephant in the room needs to be addressed first. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has always offered us a diverse cast of superheroes and supervillains to root for or against, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was really the first MCU series or film to address the issues of race in America straight on. While in the beginning it was not as straightforward, the last two episodes really dived into the issue. It all came to a climax with the Falcon’s speech about unity and seeing things from other people’s perspective at the end of the episode. I think it is perfectly fine to have this message, and it was definitely very moving for many people.

Now we can all geek out about the episode and all the references and hints for what’s coming next.

First of all, let’s discuss the reveal of the Power Broker as Sharon Carter. I have so many problems with this character. First off, the Power Broker has never been a relevant character in the comics, where he was eventually revealed to be Curtiss Jackson. He was created as a satire of people’s obsession with being healthy. (Yes, this is real.)

Next we have the death of Karli Morgenthau. I honestly did not like her character at all, due to lack of development. Her character had no arc, so to speak; she ended up as the original angry teenager she started off as, and she got killed as a result. For those not familiar with it, Karli is not an actual character from the comics, but instead she’s inspired by another character who was a villain from a different timeline (Earth 616). He was just as boring as Karli and their plotlines are pretty parallel, except that he didn’t die. Anyway, I’m not going to lie and say she didn’t make a good villain, but there would have been way better alternatives.

Then we have the new costume revealed for Captain America and finally U.S. Agent. Both of those reveals left me speechless. They were absolutely amazing, and looked exactly like the comics, which led me to already guess how Season 2 is going to end. Overall, the costumes are amazing and couldn’t have been any better.

Finally, let’s talk about Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and Zemo’s ending. Valentina (also known as “The Countess”) serves as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics. In the show, it is not clear if they’re going to give her the same role, because she seems to not be on the side of the good guys for now. Choosing Julia Louis-Dreyfus is probably the best choice for the role; she is a very talented actress and I am excited to see how she will develop this character further.  As for Zemo, I really think he should’ve been pardoned, but that’s not a big deal. But what is a big deal is that he is in “The Raft”. 

For those unfamiliar, “The Raft” is a special prison that holds super-powered individuals. Now this is not confirmed in the MCU, but in the comics, one superhero that is held there (by his own will) is Sentry. I won’t spoil too much, but if Sentry is also held in “The Raft” in the cinematic universe, then I am excited to see how everything is going to end in the new phase. 

This final episode gave us fans a lot of new content and predictions, and I think it was one of the best endings we could have possibly gotten. Overall, it was extremely satisfying.

Bring on Loki!