Streaming Saturday #17: The New Adventures of Old Christine

Good news, Ticketholders!

As of Thursday, I am fully vaccinated. I'm exhausted and I have muscle aches from the waist down, a swollen shoulder, and headaches from the neck up, but that seems...normal? My elderly parents both feel the same symptoms, so I can only hope and try to carry on as normal as possible.

Speaking of hope, I hope that the title of this week's post doesn't violate my SPOILER Warning! Which is in effect as of now.

To those who have been anticipating a brutal dose of comeuppance for what John Walker (Wyatt Russell) did at the end of the previous episode--who hasn't?--prepare to be satisfied...and, not. This episode, titled "Truth" (perhaps setting up for the finale to be called "Justice and the American Way"?), draws another Walker/Rogers parallel by continuing the Civil War comparison that ended "The World Is Watching" last week (Cap did not deal the killing blow against Iron Man, whereas Walker followed through against his opponent victim). The opening fight this time mirrors the Cap/Bucky/Iron Man brawl at Civil War's end, with a savage Walker caught between Sam and Bucky, who are able to recover, and later bond over, Cap's shield. But our titular duo suffer massive technical injuries in the process, while Walker...walks...with little more than a broken arm and a public decommissioning to his name.

Following his decommissionary hearing, the SPOILER from the title of this post comes into play, with a surprise cameo from the as-yet-unreleased Black Widow movie. It feels a little awkward because the scene plays like we're supposed to already know who the character is (because if not for COVID--and the live-action Mulan playing better in China--we already would have seen them by now). But with a shallow amount of Google-diving after the fact, it's still an awesome reveal.

With the Falcon suit short two wings, Sam returns home to his sister, Sarah (who is still short two mules, until Sam and Bucky show up, that is--OLD WESTERN REFERENCE!!!), and the community comes together to repair the Wilson family boat that went unfinanced in the pilot. Bucky hitting on Sarah here suddenly reminded me that his romantic subplot with the bartender from the same episode went nowhere, as did his attempts to make amends with the Japanese man whose son he killed in a flashback, also in the pilot. However, Bucky does have an amicable parting with Zemo before the latter is "escorted" to Wakanda. Bucky also asks Ayo (the head of the Wakandan guard--the Dora-Milaje) for a favor, while Sam visits Isaiah Bradley for some racial context regarding the concept of "Captain America" and takes part in a training montage to show off Anthony Mackie's Marvel bod. The episode ends with Sam opening Marcellus Wallace's Wakandan briefcase (which most likely holds a vibranium Falcon suit, but we'll see), and in the series' first post-credits scene, Walker is shown Iron Manning together his own shield.

Could the new player in town be the Power Broker? Is it Sharon Carter, like many speculators think? Or is Zemo just that good that he can run his criminal empire from a Wakandan prison? Will every intriguing plot point get the "Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger!" treatment to keep the fan boys rage-drooling on their devices in perpetuity?

Get caught up and watch next Friday's episode on Disney+ to find out!

I am Captain Ticketmaster!

I am going to take something for my vaccine side-effects and pass

Out!