one thing i don’t think sam wilson is given enough credit for is his first interaction with steve. sam was employed by the department of veteran affairs, specifically to help people with ptsd and to run support groups. he recognizes someone suffering from the condition when he sees them, even if that someone is captain america.
he eases his way into conversation with steve, keeping it light, and then says “must have freaked you out coming home from the whole desfrosting thing”
& then steve sighs, looks away, makes the below face, and says “takes some getting used to” & immediately tries to extract himself from the conversation. this isn’t something that steve talks about. he says it was nice to meet sam, and begins to walk away.
the thing is, no one has pushed on steve. they ask him how he’s doing, he gives them some vague, bullshit response, and they let it go. but not sam. he knows that if he lets steve walk away, if he doesn’t extend a branch right now, he’ll never see him again & there may never be another person who will be capable or willing to provide him the help//support he so desperately needs.
so sam says, “its your bed, right? your bed. it’s too soft.” its a small, personal, but largely universal detail that stops steve in his tracks. he’s caught off guard and vulnerable.
& when sam asks steve if he misses the “good old days”, he’s actively studying steve, taking in his body language and what he says
when steve is about to leave, sam extends one more branch, and he says “anytime you want to stop by the va, and make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know” , which is an important distinction from “come down to the va for a support group meeting”
I think we need to talk about Endgame here for a second. Because when we see first see Steve five years later he isn’t fighting, he isn’t leading (that’s Natasha), he’s working as a support group leader trying to help whoever and however he can. That sort of therapy and those sorts of skills he could only have learned from Sam. And that’s why I’m so happy that the movie ended with him passing the shield on to Sam. Bucky was one of his oldest friends but Sam was the person to reach out and make sure he was okay after finding himself 70 years in the future. When left with nothing for a second time, Sam was the person he wanted to honor and the example he used for how to keep going. Steve spent the movie trying to live up to who Sam thought he could be and that’s why I think there’s no better person to be carrying the shield in the future.
