The second episode of the MCU’s Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier dropped on March 26, and fans were excited to see the titular characters finally team up. The show is clearly going for a bit of a buddy cop, action crime drama sort of feel and it’s a welcome tone to the MCU. However, the main characters so far aren’t really fulfilling the roles they need to to make sure they stand out in that genre.
Typically in a buddy cop movie or series, the film showcases a pair of characters (most often men) that are either best friends but opposites, or it’s an enemies to friends kind of situation. While they don’t need to be completely polar opposite people, each character needs to bring something different to the table. Generally, this is played out in the “good cop, bad cop” kind of trope, where one character is the good cop that is very morally strong and plays things by the books, and the other is a bit of a rule-breaker and rough around the edges. This isn’t always the case, but it most often is. At the very least, the two characters always have differences that viewers would think would cause a problem, and sometimes they do, but at the end of the day it plays out to the players strengths. So far in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, this element is missing.
While Sam and Bucky are very much different people and different characters in the show, that doesn’t mean they automatically fulfill the roles they need to. They are having a conflict about Sam not fulfilling Captain America’s wish to take on the position, and their different opinions on that are very present. What isn’t present is that ‘opposites attract’ dynamic needed when they are working. Though in the second episode there was one moment where it looked like they were kind of fulfilling the genre and wanting to do things differently, it was only the once. Every other time they had to do something together, there was no element of that give and take that a viewer would expect or look for. As of right now, their perspectives are just too similar.
Part of the problem so far seems to come down to mannerisms. At the core of the relationship in all buddy cop movies and shows, the characters do share the same values and goals. It’s really their mannerisms and tactics where they begin to differ. If their values and goals were too different, they wouldn’t get along with each other the same way, but their opposite mannerisms and tactics provide that opposites attract dynamic. It seems that the MCU has so far tried to work backward here. Sam and Bucky have almost the exact same mannerisms and tactics. However, their viewpoints and perspective are where the conflict is. The backward opposite dynamic could have been a specific choice that the writers made to try and do something a bit different, or it could have been an unintentional oversight. So far if it has been intentional, it hasn’t been as effective as it could have been.
Right now in the series, there seems to be a big push to put Sam in the lead role, as he feels primed to take on the role of Captain America. It’s what Steve wanted and Bucky is pushing him to do it, and Sam is clearly meant to be the “good cop” part of the trope. Bucky is a little damaged, he’s rough, he’s got a tough past and he sometimes wants to break the rules. Typical “bad cop” position. In that sense, they couldn’t be more different. However it’s kind of weird when they are finally together and viewers know they have these different views and perspectives, and their tensions are expressed by them acting the exact same way. They have banter and a rapport, but it’s so monotone.
With only two episodes released, and only one of which where the characters were actually together, it’s of course too early to tell whether this will be a problem that is fixed or whether it’s one that will put a bit of a damper on the whole series. The intention for a tone and style that would fit a buddy cop genre is still there, and it’s not absolutely necessary that they completely fill out the trope exactly like other works have. Other works have succeeded in changing things up a little to make them unique, such as the 21 Jump Street films and 2013’s The Heat, but those films both still have characters that express themselves differently, in turn causing friction when it comes to their work. It’s kind of a necessary part of fitting into this genre, and so far The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is missing it.
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