May, 2021 - Cagey Logic

VelociCoaster Review – 4/30/2021

May 13, 2021August 29, 2021Kyle Vinicius

Last week, I was given an opportunity to ride Islands of Adventure’s newest addition, the Jurassic World VelociCoaster. Now that soft openings for the ride have commenced and the intrigue about the ride has reached feverish pitch, I’ve decided to share my experience on this thrilling new coaster.

After entering Jurassic Park from the Hogsmeade side, a pathway splits into two by the Watering Hole: the right side continues as the thoroughfare of the themed land, and the left leads to the coaster’s entrance where a large attraction stands with a smaller one affixed announcing it is “Opening June 10th.” On top is the perfect circular signage of a coaster train accelerating with a group of raptors dashing on the bottom.

Once the left path is taken, guests soon arrive at the new entrance plaza of the coaster, occupying what was once the old waterfront of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. The opposite side of the plaza has a new entrance, using the bridge that bypasses Hogsmeade, linking Jurassic Park and the Lost Continent. As you progress, the Zero-G Stall element (one of the airtime opportunities of the second half of the coaster) looms above you.

Entering the plaza, it is apparent that Universal’s creative team put in enormous effort to guarantee the plaza both fits the theme while showing off the impressive engineering of the marvelous coaster. An open space with several palm trees on the side opens before you, and the ride entrance looms in the background. To its left, you see the drop from the 155 ft Top Hat element. On its right are doors that open to the bottom floor of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, now transformed into the VelociCoaster Store, the gift shop. Universal also put a test seat to the right, so guests can try it out for size and comfort.

Queue

The giant letters spelling “Jurassic World VelociCoaster” shout its name proudly in the instantly recognizable font from the films found throughout the land. Two small raptor statues lay claim to the top of the structure, just in case you foolishly believe you are safe. Inside, guests traverse a long room with light and sound effects. At the end lies a pedestal where a group of 4 raptor statues lunge at the queuing guests. Right behind them, a part of the coaster sticks out (assumingly the Top Hat) with the train dropping. Mr. DNA, the same character who explained Jurassic Park’s trapped-in-amber DNA cloning ingenuity in the 1993 film, informs guests what they should expect as they enter the raptor paddocks, including useful facts about velociraptors.

Guests continue to another room with red light effects as well as an opaque window, showing the first launch of the coaster. Right after, guests witness a group of raptors giving chase. Ominously, one in back stops and sniffs around before moving on. This room is an excellent example of how innovative Universal was willing to go with the queue elements.

Further on, you enter another room with switchbacks and a video of the animated host, Mr. DNA, explaining procedures for guests placing items in the lockers. He also explains guests must keep their Park Ticket in order to access the other side, where guests retrieve their waiting items. In addition, you also see a clips of the coaster going through the layout, as well as various books including one by Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and a coaster train model.

Entering another room, you come across the grooming stations where, according to the videos, raptors undergo “complex comprehensive examinations” after every cycle. In these stations, guests actually see two raptor animatronics (one to the left and one to the right) in face restraints. The left one in particular is very close to the line, so much so that guests even feel the air exhaled from their noses. I found these animatronics were very well-crafted with articulate and realistic motion from their eyes to their cheeks. Their motions even shook the paddock, which added to the tone of imminent dread and excitement.

Lockers/Metal Detectors

After this room, Mr. DNA appears again giving instructions on the subsequent locker room, as well as the metal detectors guests must pass through. This is another part of the queue I believe is successful. Ever since 2014, Universal has implemented mandatory lockers for all their outdoor coasters, like the Incredible Hulk Coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, and (formerly) Dragon Challenge. Some say the cause of this measure can be traced back to 2011 when two incidents on Dragon Challenge occurred, involving guests throwing small objects that caused injuries to other riders (including the loss of sight for one).

This outrageous behavior may have resulted in the elimination of the dueling feature, a signature aspect of Dragon Challenge (dating from before its Harry Potter retheme, when it was Dueling Dragons). On the other hand, as someone who has personally witnessed a rain of phones and personal items falling at another park, Universal’s policy implementation of metal detectors on the major coasters to prevent such injuries seems wise.

This policy change exposed design flaws almost at once. For starters, lockers were placed at the beginning of these rides. Guests generally like to keep themselves entertained in long lines by bringing their phones to play games. Especially in today’s era of smartphones, lockers and metal detectors at the beginning of a queue cause guests to become bored and impatient without their phones.

Furthermore, the queues for Hulk, Rip Ride Rockit, and the former Dragon Challenge were not designed for a convenient back-and-forth procedure where a guest with their phone is caught and must return it to the locker (or with a non-rider). In a worst-case scenario, this causes chaos with angry guests.

On VelociCoaster, Universal fixed both of these problems entirely by situating the lockers within a room deep in the queue, just before the station. Guests not only keep themselves entertained in a potentially long queue, but also they can take memorable pictures of the great artistic detail placed along the line.

Moreover, the locker room is brilliantly designed, with an open space where guests wait to place their possessions. The lockers come in groups of stations with about 40 slot, each with a distinctive dinosaur logo presenting their station. So… how do the guests retrieve their items once they exit their ride? Well, there is actually an opposite side of the locker room where exiting riders can do so, simply using the door behind the slot.

Universal solved the problem brilliantly!

In addition, posters throughout the line advertise either rides that already exist in the Jurassic Park section (Pteranodon Flyers, River Adventure, and, of course, VelociCoaster). Other posters include different attractions from the movie like the Gyrosphere (from Jurassic World), T-Rex Kingdom, Camp Cretaceous, Indominus Rex, and Mosasaurus. Interestingly, two of them, Camp Cretaceous and Indominus Rex, tease “Coming Soon.” Hmmmm…

I am not sure whether these are hints at future additions; such as a future retheming of Jurassic Park into Jurassic World, perhaps turning Camp Jurassic into Camp Cretaceous, or the Indominus Rex being added to a potential transformation of Jurassic Park River Adventure into Jurassic World like they have at Universal Studios Hollywood. Of course, these could simply be story elements.

Either way, it is an interesting addition there…

Preshow/Station

After the locker room, guests take two flights of stairs into the preshow room where we meet Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) who introduces the attraction to guests from the control room. She is joined by Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), who appears very concerned about this idea. He attempts without avail to convince guests to “go home” before caving into Claire asking her to give guests a “waiver” to sign. Grady explains his experience breeding raptors before warning guests that there “will be virtually nothing between you and four wild, hungry animals.”

Things look worse as workers agitate the raptors inside the paddock, causing them to get more aggressive. Grady, in response to Dearing’s question on what guests can expect, says this:

Well, every second you’re out here, you’re gonna be at risk. I mean, you’ll be going fast, but it doesn’t matter because there’s really no overestimating a raptor. They’re quicker than you realize, Claire!
Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), VelociCoaster

He explains that the raptors are “fired up” because they haven’t been fed and have caught the scent of the guests. Dearing continues to obfuscate, reassuring guests that this attraction is under control, while Grady ends with this:

I tell them the raptors are dangerous, they say “put a roller coaster in the paddock.” What could go wrong?
Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), VelociCoaster

Dearing than explains how Jurassic World and InGen partnered to create a train with infrared sensors on the headrest. She says that the train has “cutting edge security technology” and a “reinforced carbon fiber body,” enabling riders to “travel in complete safety.”

From here, the video ends while guests move towards the station.

I feel that this Preshow video was well made, showing both Howard’s and Pratt’s great acting (particularly Pratt, who of course not only played Owen Grady from the Jurassic World franchise, but also Peter Quill/Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy).

A window at the back of the station room shows the first half of the coaster in spectacular fashion. Meanwhile, riders are separated into 12 rows, where 2 guests board from their respective rows, loading each train up to their capacity of 24 riders. As the train approaches, its LED lights on the bottom glow blue. The gates open, and guests pull down their restraints from above. However, unlike an over-the-shoulder restraint (like with Cheetah Hunt for example), the only rider restraint is a lap cushion; essentially, a lap bar.

Ride Experience

The train proceeds outside of the station into turns, surrounded by barriers, before heading into the Raptor Paddock room, home of the first launch. You are greeted with Grady’s voice in the background, and as you look to the left where the opaque window is in the queue, raptors start running out of the paddock. Right after, the train launches into an immelmann loop, followed by a dive loop. Just after this dive loop is where the on-ride camera shoots photos.

The train then proceeds through a curve, followed by an airtime element, and another curve through a rock structure, before cutting between two raptors, who are facing the train. Another curve follows and a second close raptor encounter. The ride then progresses through another rock structure, before dipping into the ground where the second launch is (fun fact: this part of the ride can be seen from a viewable barrier by the Raptor Encounter near Pizza Predatoria). This first half of the ride was definitely very immersive.

Now we arrive at the second launch where the ride is thrusted to 70 mph, propelling the train up the 155 ft Top Hat, followed by a 140 ft drop right beside the ride entrance. There is no way to exaggerate the thrill with the wind on your face and the airtime on top! What follows is also epic; a Zero-G Stall element where riders are flipped upside down, but are brought back the same way they entered the element. It is a feast of hangtime!

Next comes a series of curves over the lagoon between Jurassic Park and Hogsmeade, speeding past the bridge to the Lost Continent. First you go through a curve, followed by another one into an airtime hump. The train crosses the bypass bridge again before returning to the direction of the station, but the ride is far from over. Not only is there a bunny hop element (which is a great opportunity for airtime), but a barrel roll, which I feel is one of the strongest parts of the coaster. Wow! The proximity of the lagoon as the train inverts is crazy enough, but they add a hangtime even better than the Zero-G Stall, ESPECIALLY with the lap restraints!

The ride ends after a couple more curves, entering a barriered area. You hear more dialogue between Dearing and Grady, the latter showing a feeling of relief that things worked out better for the guests.

Exiting/Gift Shop

Exiting the station to the left, you descend a flight of stairs to the other side of the locker room where you retrieve your items, as described earlier. Guests then exit the ride building into a small shop where they can purchase their on-ride photo. The subsequent inevitable gift shop, “VelociCoaster Store,” situated on the bottom floor of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, follows. Here there are additional lockers as well as items such as ride shirts, masks, and toys.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I found this ride experience as a whole to be spectacular. The queue line design is probably one of the best Universal has done; from the interactions with the first launch, to the animatronics in the line. The acting in the preshow was great, and I’m really happy with the design of the locker rooms!

As for the ride experience, while I view Hagrid as a better overall ride experience (story, theming, and experience), VelociCoaster definitely ranks among the best coasters in Florida in terms of sheer thrills, and is likely Universal’s best in that regard! The airtime was legit, and the hangtime was just thrilling! In terms of other Intamin Blitz Coasters I’ve ridden, I believe VelociCoaster is better than Cheetah Hunt and is right up there with Maverick!

Even better, VelociCoaster serves as a quality thrill ride substitute to the recently removed Dragon Challenge. While I view Hagrid as an excellent improvement over Dragon Challenge, Universal was down one extreme coaster with the removal of its predecessor. VelociCoaster not only brought back that missing element, but one-upped it!

In my opinion, Universal built themselves a killer addition, yet again! I definitely recommend this amazing coaster!!

T. Kingfisher’s The Hollow Places

May 8, 2021July 2, 2021Michael

T. Kingfisher’s novel, The Hollow Places, is an exploration of darkness that illuminates our world and ourselves. Grounded in the tradition of horror, Kingfisher tells a plucky tale of survival when faced with the worst possible perils. Her characters are lovable and happily willing to go the wrong way for our pleasure, for which we are greatly grateful.

The Setup: Kara, a recently divorced freelance graphic designer, needs a place to live, someplace affordable. Faced with the prospect of returning to live with her mother, the 34-year-old is relieved when her Uncle Earl offers her a job and a spare room backstage at his Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy of Hog Chapel, NC.

Kara takes the new job by the horns and helps Earl to catalog his questionable collection. She even makes a friend, Simon, the gay barista from the coffee shop next door. Her uncle decides to take care of a much-postponed back surgery, leaving Kara to mind the store. The fun begins when she discovers a hole is punched in the wall. She and Simon try to repair it, but a sublime darkness slips through. What else can they do but go investigate?

The Characters:

Kara: What makes Kara most endearing to me are her foibles, like how she cyberstalks her ex, which is disturbing, but also so very sad. Her most vital trait, though is that all-important horror story impulse for a character to go just exactly where they shouldn’t. Kara has this cool feature in abundance, and the reader is served a banquet of terror with a flourish.

The story is told through Kara’s frank, somewhat confessional voice. The psychic distance between the reader and the storyteller appears to be very slim indeed, but Kara demonstrates enough intelligence the reader might suspect critical portions are being withheld. The story asks for us to accept Kara’s forced acceptance of the impossible, of which the possibility she tongue-in-cheek lambasts her Uncle Earl for entertaining. In any case, T. Kingfisher has crafted a likeable character with metaphorical warts, and the reader’s response is near-automatic: We must cheer for her.

Simon: A very likeable gay man, the barista next door is Kara’s perfect cohort. He is such a good friend that he offers to kill Kara’s ex-husband. To which she responds, “You’re sweet to offer.” Simon believes he consumed his twin in the womb, that his left eye is actually her left eye. Ninja tip: If you intend to explore the sublime territory of willows and bunkers where shadowy monsters lurk and creep, choose someone like Simon who will entertain outrageous possibilities. Together they are smart enough to mark the only bunker that takes them back home with a stick.

Uncle Earl: Another supporting character with a critical role, Kara’s uncle is a point of quirky stability. Besides his devotion to Kara, his most endearing feature is a fervent belief in a wide degree of systems, which is unconventionally open to thoughtful consideration, a rarity in any time and beyond virtue now. Uncle Earl is thoughtful too. To make Kara feel right at home, he hangs these antlers above her bed:

Tone:

One of the great delights of the story is how it draws from horror story tradition. An example is the introductory description of Simon:

“He looked exactly the same now as he had the last time I had been here, five years ago, and exactly the same as he had when I’d first met him, nearly a decade ago. Simon had to be nearly forty, if not older, but he looked about eighteen. Somewhere, a portrait was probably aging for him.”

Kingfisher’s narrator casually references Dorian Gray. There are tons of genre references throughout the story, including, of course, the willows themselves. The author addresses this in her notes:

H. P. Lovecraft wrote that “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood was one of the most terrifying stories ever written. Before I read it, I assumed that this probably meant some people in it weren’t white, and I began it preparing to roll my eyes a bit. But “The Willows” is a genuinely disquieting story, for all the occasional excesses of the prose. Some lines stick with you—“the frontier of another world, an alien world, a world tenanted by willows only and the souls of willows.” Frequently, a line from a story that sticks with me is what eventually spawns a book. My first horror novel, The Twisted Ones, was derived from the line in Arthur Machen’s “White People”: “And I twisted myself about like the twisted ones.” That line stuck in my head, and eventually I had to write a book to unstick it. With The Hollow Places, I found myself thinking about this alien world, tenanted only by willows, and by strange alien forces that seek to change humans, who make funnel shapes in the sand and who are attracted by human thought… … and by otters and corpses and boatmen and a number of other elements. It seemed like an interesting place. Not a good place, but an interesting one. — (from Author’s Notes at the end of the novel)

The Hollow Places woman links a willow's roots with its trunk and branches. — The Hollow Places Draws Its Force From Horror Tradition and Radiates Forward

For anyone who has read Blackwood’s novelette, “The Willows,” that casual reference of the otter is enough to provoke a chill. Blackwood paints a land of horror, one where willows “were interlaced one with another, making a great column… their limbs and huge bodies melting in and out of each other, forming this serpentine line that bent and swayed and twisted spirally with the contortions of the wind-tossed trees…. nude, fluid shapes, passing up the bushes, within the leaves almost — rising up in a living column into the heavens.” T. Kingfisher manages to draw from this heritage and reinterpret it through her characters. Along the way we are treated to scenes like this:

This is downright scary, but throughout the characters maintain a level of humor that is both truly mad and entirely admirable. The reader will experience paragraphs of likely doom will provoke guilty laughter, often at Kara and Simon’s expense. Well I did anyway, but let’s be real about this: they had innumerable opportunities to turn around. I can’t feel guilty about schadenfreude this time.

The combination of the wit of the narrative voice, the humor, and T. Kingfisher’s writing chops that transform nightmares into a compelling reality of danger and delight all make The Hollow Places a feast for the horror aficionado, but this novel is also a portal fantasy. Its self-awareness is reflected in the fact that Narnia is mentioned 17 times by name.

So there you have it: Funny, likeable, queer-positive characters placed in an environment of absolute horror of the finest tradition. The Hollow Places is pure joy. T. Kingfisher is the pen name of Ursula Vernon, who is also an advocate for aspiring writers.

Like the first novel reviewed in this column, Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians, one reason I read The Hollow Places was to research it as a possible Hugo nominee. I feel the portal fantasy aspects of the story justified its consideration. While I did not eventually nominate T. Kingfisher’s novel for the Hugo Award, I discovered a story I love and a wonderful author, which is the real payoff for doing this every year.

Opinion: The Politics of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

May 7, 2021June 8, 2021Kyle Vinicius

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier concluded its run on April 23rd with a thrilling episode, “One World, One People.” It certainly delivered in terms of great fights, MCU moments, and characters.

Before we continue, consider this a spoiler warning. If you have not watched any episodes of this series yet, or if you have yet to watch the finale, it is highly recommended that you do not read any further. In addition, just as indicated in the title, you are forewarned that this post is a literary discussion of the political messaging of a popular SFF series. If a political discussion isn’t your cup of tea, feel free to pass this one up.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in. The thing that stuck out the most for me were the themes of racial inequality and imperialism that ran deep throughout the short series. While some were not perfectly portrayed, the fact that the series raised these important questions in conversation, especially in these days of systemic racism, impressed me.

Racism

Before the series premiere, Malcolm Spellman, executive producer of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, promised the viewer an exploration of a “conflict for a Black man confronting those stars and stripes.” In addition, Spellman stated that Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) will “emerge from this story as a hero of the times and a hero of the people today. And that journey of whether it’s even appropriate to deal with the symbol, the Stars and Stripes, to me, felt super, super relevant and timely.”

Because the exploration of racial inequalities was so apparent in this series, occupying, in fact, a core position, central to the plot and the series discourse, Spellman largely succeeded in this case. This exploration, of course, is not unique to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Hints of the “stars and stripes” topic were explored in Endgame after Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) gave Wilson the shield of Captain America, the latter replying that he feels the shield “belongs to someone else.” In addition, in Black Panther, the MCU also beautifully tackled the legacy of slavery in the antagonist, Killmonger, displaying a Black man who was torn between living in a country that had enslaved his ancestors or his home country that did not accept him.

This series tackled more themes of racism, this time on the institutional and systemic level.

In the first episode, “New World Order,” Sam Wilson gave the shield away to the Smithsonian Museum as a preservation of Rogers’ legacy. At the end of that episode, though, the US Government decided to manufacture a new Captain America, giving the shield to a man named John Walker (Wyatt Russell) despite Wilson’s wishes to keep it preserved. Sam must watch the broadcast of Walker exiting the building in fury holding the shield meant to be Rogers’ legacy.

Walker was portrayed as another character that had visual characteristics of Steve Rogers: blond-hair and blue-eyes (obviously, however, a very different, more arrogant personality than Rogers). Shown here is the implication that the US Government preferred characteristics just like that for the next Captain America instead of what made Rogers the hero he was: his unselfishness, morality, and the will to do the right things.

Episode 2, “The Star Spangled Man,” dived even further with the introduction of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a veteran of the Korean War as well as the first African American Super Soldier. Bradley, having become a Super Soldier himself, was sent to South Korea to take down Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who was the Winter Soldier at that point. Although he failed to assassinate Barnes, Bradley was able to wreck half of the Winter Soldier’s metal arm.

Despite his service, however, the US Government arrested Bradley, fearing the ramifications of a Black Super Soldier. He spent the three decades after that being experimented on by the government as well as HYDRA, essentially being treated as a lab rat. In the 1980s, Bradley escaped after his death was faked by a nurse, relocating to Baltimore where his grandson would take care of him and hide his whereabouts. This treatment of Isaiah is a thin-veiled representation of the Tuskegee syphilis experimentation that lasted from 1932 to 1972, where about 400 Black men with syphilis were left untreated, and as many as 100 were killed.

Here, Bradley’s story portrays government racism in respectful as well as even disturbing context.

The next scene, however, cuts right to the chase, depicting the injustice of systemic racism and how it affects policing. It is a poignant reminder that though this series is fiction, it articulates the real life pain many Black, indigenous, and POC suffer every day. A heated argument between Wilson and Barnes attract cops to the scene. They singled out Wilson, a Black man, and ask for his ID. Furthermore, the cop asked Barnes whether Wilson was “bothering you?” Only their discovery that Wilson was Falcon stopped the cops from outright arresting an Avenger. From there, they would proceed to instead conveniently arrest Barnes for missing his mandatory therapy session.

I don’t have to explain this scene here. It’s an obvious representation of the systemic racism found in police departments underscored by recent killings by police of Black citizens like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ma’khia Bryant. While it did feel like a scene they just added in (the story would flow the same if the cops didn’t harass Wilson and just arrest Barnes), it is an effective shot at racial profiling by police officers, a major problem in the US, one that denies equal justice to many citizens. For that reason, I must give the Spellman’s team kudos. This scene was a perfect example of the racial inequalities this series explores.

The side story with Sam and his sister Sarah (Adepero Oduye) is another periscope into racial. Sarah owns a seafood restaurant in Delacroix, Louisiana. During the Blip (the MCU time period where half of all life turned into dust when Thanos snapped his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet), Sarah struggled to keep her business operating while raising a family of two kids as a single mom. Sam must convince Sarah not to sell their family boat.

I feel like this plot tackles the overall systemic disparities that put Black citizens at a disadvantage vs white Caucasians, which is widespread. Episode 5, “Truth,” gave a very heartwarming moment when the community came together to help the Wilsons rebuild their boat.

Another thing I liked was the development of Bucky Barnes’ character. He would evolve from a character still haunted by his past as Winter Soldier as well as one who showed anger towards Sam Wilson for giving up Rogers’ shield into an understanding partner to Wilson who saw what he had to struggle with as well as one who wants to make amends with the people he hurt.

One thing I noticed how Barnes’s white privilege is explored, particularly in “The Star Spangled Man,” the second episode. Right after the meeting with Bradley, Wilson confronted Barnes, infuriated that he hid the fact that there was a Black Super Soldier. Furthermore, when the argument triggered the cop to interfere and harass Wilson for his ID, Barnes told him to “just give him your ID” intending to calm the tension (though again displaying his white privilege).

By Episode 5, “Truth,” Bucky is more emphatic towards Sam’s decision to retire the shield as well as his overall struggles.

Finally, we get to tackling the Stars and Stripes itself. Sam would meet with Isaiah Bradley again in “Truth” after fighting Walker in Riga. Isaiah would continue to talk about his past, such as the US Government taking in additional Black soldiers to test the Super Soldier Serum on. After hearing an officer’s intention to destroy the POW camp where the Black soldiers were held to erase the evidence, Bradley broke in and freed them. Again, this gives a reference to the historical experimentation of Black people.

After Sam, distraught about Isaiah’s story, suggested revealing it to the world, Bradley said:

Man, that’s why you’re here? You think things are different? You think times are different? You think I wouldn’t be dead in a day if you brought me out? You wanna believe jail was my fault because you got that white man’s shield. They were worried my story might get out. So, they erased me. My history. But they’ve been doing that for five hundred years. Pledge allegiance to that, my brother. They will never let a Black man be Captain America. And even if they did, no self-respecting Black man would ever wanna be.
Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), Falcon and the Winter Soldier

This displays the symbolism of the shield, which is a reference to the benefits and recognition white people have had over the years while, despite the many achievements and inventions made, Black people are not held in the same standard. It also displays the racial inequalities in the country that still have yet to be solved.

Isaiah’s story is wrapped up in heartwarming fashion upon seeing Sam don the Captain America mantle, saying a great line: “You’re no Malcolm, Martin or Mandela” (referring to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela; iconic Black figures that fought against racism and imperialism). Sam would send him to the Smithsonian where he set up an exhibit for Isaiah Bradley’s story, bringing the Black Super Soldier to tears.

It’s obvious that racism was a topic that was taken very seriously by Malcolm Spellman as well as his writing staff (who were “largely” Black). There was another batch of themes that was tackled by “Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” While not as perfect, these themes formed a basis and I absolutely appreciate that. So, without further ado, let’s get to the second half:

Imperialism

Racism and imperialism have a relationship with each other; after all, the settlers’ ambitions in the colonial era came from the feelings of superiority they had over the indigenous people that lived in the regions they conquered, such as the Americas or Africa. However, the reason why I have this part separate from the other is because I feel like it deserves its own section to talk about.

I applaud the fact that this series tackles the effects that imperialism have on the people that lived there, especially with today’s world still dealing with such effects, such as the Middle East or Africa. Spellman certainly set up a very good base for that idea with the introduction of the antagonists of this series, the Flag Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman).

I’ll admit; initially when I first heard that the antagonists for this series were called the “Flag Smashers,” I was kinda nervous that they would be portrayed as some group of villains who are “anti-American” (something a right-winger would do). But, I actually felt that this group was portrayed properly.

The Flag Smashers’ main goal was a world without borders, as well as a return to the society that existed during the Blip era, and members, including Karli Morgenthau, were shown to be sympathetic characters. Sam Wilson as well as Lemar Hoskins (Clé Bennett), the sidekick/friend of John Walker, were also shown to have sympathized with the Flag Smashers. Even after Karli’s radicalization, Sam refused to fight back against her, understanding her struggles.

Overall, I found the Flag Smashers very respectful in the portrayal of groups who have been systemically displaced by global powers. My only issue with this part was the story which fell the victim of the dreaded “6 episode series” trap.

Because of the shortness of the series as well as the focus shifting to Sam’s story, the Flag Smasher story felt very rushed, especially towards the end. I would have liked to see the writers expand Karli Morgenthau’s story, giving her a full closure, instead of just letting Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) kill her off so quickly. One method this could be improved would be a scene involving Karli standing in trial, defending her worldview to the world.

This could have definitely been done better…

If the season were longer, I feel like they would have had more time to give Karli a truly great story, rather than suddenly turning her into a radical (though this story was nowhere near as butchered as certain stories, such as Game of Thrones Season 8 that was rushed to a conclusion that was both illogical and unpopular).

Another part that discusses imperialism was John Walker’s rampage at the end of Episode 4. By Episode 3, Walker was already shown to be an arrogant and unstable person, insisting on attacking the Flag Smashers head on. In Episode 4, Walker aggravates Ayo (Florence Kasumba) and the Dora Milaje saying that they have “don’t have jurisdiction,” provoking a fight.

That last part already sounds like a reference to American imperialism, stating that other nations have no “jurisdiction” while the US itself attacks and influences countries like Iraq, Yemen, and Venezuela without “jurisdiction.”

However, the end of Episode 4 was what sent the new Captain America off the edge. During a fight he provoked between Sam and Karli, Walker’s friend Lemar Hoskins was killed by the Flag Smasher leader. This caused Walker to become hungry for revenge, and chase down Karli. He would find one of the Flag Smashers, Nico (Noah Mills), and brutally murder him with his shield in front of horrified onlookers, some recording him.

The episode would end with a shot of John Walker holding the shield of Captain America with blood splattered on the bottom.

That whole sequence, including the shot was just very well done. Here, we have a man dressed with American symbolism and carrying a shield with stars and stripes on foreign land murdering someone in cold blood. With the public watching in horror.

Going back to the “no jurisdiction” part, it felt artistically ironic that Walker would call out the Dora Milaje for that, yet is willing to murder on foreign soil. I saw this many times recently, as the US chose to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as contribute to more humanitarian disasters in places like Yemen, Palestine, and countless others.

With all of that in context, that image with the shield was perfectly done.

And last but not least, part of Sam’s speech in the final episode. As I stated above, I found the ending of this series to be rushed, especially with the closure of Karli Morgenthau. If there was one part that was done beautifully right, though, it was Sam Wilson’s speech to the Senator; and there was one part that tackles the problem imperialism keeps creating.

Senator: Sincerely. You did your part in dealing with those terrorists. Now we’ll do ours.
Sam: Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?
Senator 2: Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon. The terrorists only set us back a bit.
Sam: You have to stop calling them terrorists.
Senator: What else would we call them?
Sam: Your Peace Keeping troops, carrying weapons, are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right? What do you think those people are going to call you? These labels, terrorists, refugees, thug. They’re often used to get around the question ‘why.’
Dialogue between Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the Senator (Alphie Hyorth), and the 2nd Senator, Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Senator: You just don’t understand.
Sam: I’m a black man, carrying the stars and stripes. What don’t I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are going To hate me for it. Even now, here. I feel it. The stares, the judgment, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. And I’m still here. No super serum. No blonde hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better.
We can’t demand that people step up if we don’t meet them halfway. You control the banks. Shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an email, you can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is, who’s in the room with you when you make those decisions? Is it the people you’re going to impact? Or is it just more people like you?
I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for one second to ask, “Why?” You’ve got to do better, Senator. You’ve got to step up. Because if you don’t, the next Karli will. And you don’t want to see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is? Look, you people have just as much power as an insane God or a misguided teenager. The question you have to ask yourself is, “How are you going to use it?”
Dialogue between Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and the Senator (Alphie Hyorth), Falcon and the Winter Soldier

This speech was epic, showing a constant problem that third world countries face from global powers. The nations that have the power to change things for the better would ignore the reason “why” they commit atrocities in these impoverished countries and instead give upset people the label “terrorists” or “thugs.”

Overall, I found The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to be a great series that hits on most of their points. While I feel WandaVision was a more original, compelling story, I definitely recommend this series for its ambitious appraisal of the post-Endgame MCU.

If these two series are a sign of things to come, the future is bright for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.