What If…? The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier? — Season 3 Episode 3 Spoiler Review and Recap

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So far,What If…has gonetwofortwoin its most recent season. Tacking on a new story based around The Red Room and the events that would sparkCaptain America: Civil Warseems like a way to keep the audience in its pocket. “What if…The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” returns David Harbour as The Red Guardian, and pairing him with futureThunderboltsco-star Sebastian Stan, the Russian buddy dynamic could go well. However, “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” struggles beyond that corporate mandate.

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“What if…The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” Recap

In security footage, we see the events leading up to the assassination of Howard Stark by the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). However, The Red Guardian (Harbour) stops the shooting just before it occurs. After the credits, we return to The Red Guardian getting his assignment in Ohio. He wants to take on the mission from an American sleeper agent known as “The Rook.” Dragov tells him there is no such mission just before taking a call from his underlings. For the mission, he’s waking up The Winter Soldier.

Angered by being overlooked, Alexei/The Red Guardian threatens to show Dreykov what he’s capable of. Over a montage, he makes his way to America, posing as “Bob Toledo.” Meanwhile, the KGB activates The Winter Soldier. Both arrive in America, and Alexei interrupts the assassination. The two brawl before they run from police sirens.

In the woods, the two Russian assets check the packages. The serums were mostly destroyed in the fight, with only one surviving. More importantly, Howard Stark survived. When Bucky calls in, the Red Room tells them they’ve been compromised. They’re on their own for extraction.

Agent Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) arrives at the scene to take stock of the fight. He discusses the case with Ranger Morales (America Ferrera). At first, he’s unimpressed with Morales, but when she points out the blue goo from the package, Foster takes her seriously. He tells the other agents to be on their A-game because of the danger the Russian assets pose.

At a fast food restaurant, Alexei rants about capitalism to an hourly worker. Bucky steps in to get them over the hump, and while they eat, Alexei explains they can meet The Rook in Vegas. After stealing a car, they are stopped in the desert by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Foster pegs them immediately, but before he can stop them, Bucky opens fire.

Alexei takes off, flying through the checkpoint. Foster gets picked up by Morales, and the two lead a high-speed chase. During the chase, they knock out Morales’ vehicle, causing Foster to activate his Goliath powers to chase them. While driving through a cornfield, Alexei takes the fight to Goliath and knocks him out. To finish escaping, Bucky drives their car off the cliff.

That night, Morales finds the car. Foster asks her to join the case, and they discover evidence the super soldiers are heading to Vegas. In a vet’s office, Alexei and Bucky patch themselves up. Bucky took a pair of bullets in his arm, and while Alexei bandages his wounds, they talk about their past. During the conversation, Alexei reminds Bucky of his time at Coney Island as a child. When Alexei goes to get a new car, Bucky receives a call from Dreykov. Bucky is ordered to kill Alexei.

Bucky and Alexei arrive in Vegas to meet with The Rook. They are surprised when they’re met by Obadiah Stane, who refuses to help them return to Russia. Alexei realizes that Stane is not the revolutionary he believed he would be. Instead, he’s a “capitalist pig” who only gave information to the Russians so they would kill Howard Stark.

While he monologues, Stane tries to draw a gun on them. Bucky blocks the bullets with his metal arm and knocks him out the window with the Red Guardian’s shield. Stane dies when he hits the concrete. He won’t follow that mission; as they bond, a Russian task force attacks.

The super soldiers escape out the window while Morales and Foster find Stane on the ground below. They chase after Bucky and Alexei, who easily beat Goliath again. However, as they escape, they end up cornered in a stadium. Bucky tells Alexei about Dreykov’s order to kill the Red Guardian. When the Red Room tries to mindhack Bucky again, Alexei helps him stop the process. Empowered on their own, Alexei and Bucky choose to fight back against the combined S.H.I.E.L.D. and Red Room forces.

Afterward, Bucky has been recaptured by the Red Room. Dreykov demands to get details from Bucky about Alexei, and he tells the KGB that he died a Russian hero. Meanwhile, “Bob Toledo” coaches a middle school gym class. He’s interrupted by Foster, who asks him if he’d like to serve the country again. Alexei agrees, and in the future, he’s present with The Avengers during the Battle of New York.

Is “What if… The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” worth watching?

For the first time thisWhat If…season, “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” feels less essential. The buddy-cop dynamic has worked for The Winter Soldier in the past. He’s an excellent character to bounce ideas off, and let your protagonist stand out because of his flat demeanor. That’s true in “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” as well, but unfortunately, repeating the task for the third time feels a bit tiring.

That does not mean “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” is bad. It’s just kind of repetitive. The best aspects of the episode were pulled out of Alexei inBlack Widow, and while they’re still funny here, watching the animated Red Guardian is far less exciting than the live-action David Harbour. His vocal inflections come through the dialogue, but “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” can never allow him to truly shine.

Additionally, Bucky/Sebastian Stan feels too hurried this time through. We’ve seen his redemption arc a few times now, but even in those stories, it took Bucky a minute to realize he was more than a killing machine. “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” does not have that darkness or that PTSD that Stan brings out in live action. This might be the most frustrating mark against the episode.

“The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” provides plenty of laughs and some cool action scenes. However, it is far from required viewing. It feels as if Marvel Animation was asked to give Stan and Harbour a test run beforeThunderbolts, and “The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier” was the result. At least it bodes well for that movie.

What If… Season 3 releases on Disney+ on December 22.“What If… The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?” premiered on December 24.New episodes release daily through December 29.