This series is essentially a long film under the guise of a show - Captain America 3.5 if you will. It continues a similar tone of Winter Solider in that it's a more serious entry in the MCU - another political thriller but with heavier sociopolitical themes. I think it has a lot to juggle and mostly sticks the landing in terms of its mission.

The pros: the main characters. Both Sam and Bucky each have unique journeys post-Infinity Saga and they are very personal. They are both trying to find their place in this new world with unique struggles. Bucky doesn't know what to do with his time other than exact justice/revenge because all he really knows how to do is hunt. He needs to find something bigger to fight for and start the journey on living his own life. That said, the main focus is Sam. This show goes into race and what it means to have a black "Captain America". What does America stand for today? Should he even bother? - America has historically oppressed African Americans (enter Isiah Bradley). Or is the idea bigger than a country and that in of itself necessary to continue? I mostly really enjoyed the discussions surrounding this.

The weaker part are the Flag Smashers. They do ok in setting up their motivations but never really hit the nail on the head. I like that they are to represent more of an ambiguous villain/antihero group with empathetic goals contrasted with the GRC which represents autonomous big brother dictating how the world how is gonna be. Who's the real villain? I liked the idea and theory of that conflict but how it was portrayed just didn't hit hard enough for me.

All in all there was a lot of interesting sociopolitical commentary packed into this series. A lot of it hit but some of it didn't and those parts were kinda boring. Yes there's banter and chemistry between the leads to lighten the mood at times but this is mostly a political drama so if you're into that and liked the tone of Winter Solider and (most of) Civil War, you're gonna like this one - it's a Cap movie.