Falcon & The Winter Soldier: 10 Biggest Problems

9. Why The Hell Would Bucky Break Zemo Out?

the Falcon and the winter soldier
Marvel Studios

As well as Zemo feeling pointless to the story, another massive problem is the ludicrous way he got out of prison - in episode three, Power Broker, Bucky breaks Zemo out of prison (without consulting Sam) when he offers to help stop the Flag Smashers.

It's not quite the dumbest MCU decision to date - Tony Stark giving the Mandarin his home address on live television in Iron Man 3 still takes that title - but it's a close second.

Zemo might've been planning a new evil scheme, he could've killed many innocent people on his way out but Bucky still went ahead and put everyone at risk in an intolerably illogical manner.

The MCU isn't exactly known for realism or believability, but this was an unacceptably illogical plot point that made it so much harder to take the show's story seriously.

Worse still, this threatened to undermine Bucky's character arc. He spends the entire series feeling guilty about the people he killed as the Winter Soldier, yet he callously puts many lives at risk by freeing Zemo. What gives?

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.