The Television Streaming Thread: Now With Felonies

All the fanboys who wanted MCU Nonstop Action ™ from Falcon and Winter Soldier are having the sads because it’s going to be another character-driven series, this time about identity and racism in America. I kind of expected this, because of WandaVision and also because I have a semi-inside line to a lot of these D+ releases. Nothing spoilery, but one of my friends is an editor for Disney and knows the general ideas before the shows come out.

I fucking loved the first episode. I love seeing the “in between” scenes of these action characters. I love feeling sad at Bucky’s attempts to atone and angry at the implicit racial bias that follows Sam everywhere.

These series just make you realize how powerful a medium TV can be, and that true character development can, indeed, happen in a “superhero” title, when there’s actually time for it. The action piece to action piece to action piece movies feel so much shallower to me than this.

Yes, those wingsuiters were real. Pretty sure it was the Red Bull team.

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That actually has me hyped just a little for Falcon and Winter Soldier. Falcon in the MCU movies was just a blah character and never really understood why he was there. I might give D+ another month when the series concludes.

I gave in and subbed. So much stuff coming over the next year that I doubt I’ll ever feel like it’s not paying for itself.

The final scene in the first episode is absolutely infuriating for so many reasons…not because the scene is bad, but because of the implications.

I wasn’t excited for Falcon and Winter Soldier and after watching the first episode I’m still not excited.

I thought that an Avenger applying for a loan was absolutely ridiculous and getting turned down was even more ridiculous .

You’re supposed to feel that way. He didn’t get turned down because he’s an Avenger or because he’s been gone for 5 years.

He got turned down for the same reason they guy wondered if he played for LSU, or the same reason the government encouraged him to give up the shield so they could turn around and hand it to someone who better “represented American values.”

Implicit racial bias exists in banking, in housing, and in promoting mediocre white men over more-qualified black men, and the reason you’re angry and think it’s ridiculous is because the show is presenting it in a way that demonstrates it while placing it behind a premise that everyone, no matter their race, can understand and feel.

Many spoilers, read at your own risk:

Ya but

  1. A one man army super soldier Avenger is likely to be paid really really well so he just doesn’t fly over and join the other team.

  2. He knows/knew actual billionaires.

  3. He would have loan offers from banks/countries around the world just hoping to have him in their back pocket.

pretty sure the underlying point is that none of those things matter. They can’t overcome the fact that he’s Black.

Well, that’s just unrealistic.

is it, though?

I was joking, of course. But let’s run with it anyway

Do you think that LeBron James is ever applying for and getting turned down for that kind of loan? This guy would be an even bigger deal than LeBron James (or so I assume, I haven’t actually seen it).

Lebron has more collateral.

For the reasons Kep posted, this guy should be making a lot of money. I’m also assuming that’s true. As I said, I haven’t seen it.

I assume Sam is an honorable man who isn’t taking any money that can be interpreted as an attempted bribe.

The Avengers are applying for loans? wtf kind of boring story premise is this?

Every (and there hasn’t been many) MCU post-blip has handled it terribly IMO. 3.5 billion people appearing with no assets would have to be handled in a way other than “well go apply for a loan at a bank”. The world would be completely and totally f-ed beyond the constraints of what normal society/capitalism could handle. Especially since for sure there’d be massive fertility programs going that would have to be completely reversed. There would most likely be worldwide starvation issues among many other things.

Anyways, superheroes having financial troubles is a well-established comic book trope.

My guess is that some people will watch this and think that if the MCU didn’t have liberal bias, then the explanation that people returning complicated the financial world would turn out to be true and that there’s something wrong with the people who automatically assume this is racism.

Not everyone will have a house or job to return to. Is the government passing disaster relief to help them?

Can’t wait to thrill to the excitement of Dr. Strange doing his taxes.

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I wouldn’t call it a premise. It’s character backstory/setup, something the movies don’t have time to do.

I love it. I think a TV show that’s just one stunt after another is boring. But that’s me, I guess.

except that the showrunner and the writers have repeatedly come out and said “it’s about racism.”

I said some anti-woke people are going to think that way, not that it’s the case.