OK, I hate to be a contrarian, and I promise it's not _that_ bad, but I thought the finale/series was OK: I wasn't great and it wasn't bad. The finale had a bunch of character beats that didn't felt earned, and when one thinks too much the Flag Smashers' story arc, it's difficult to come up with much other than "huh." I mean, they're painted with such a broad brush I feel like we don't _really_ know what their motivation is, what their eventual/actual plan was, etc. The series vaguely mentions that they want to “return to how life was during the Blip” but fails to explain what that really means; the show doesn't delve into what the 'boarder situation' really means to the Flag Smashers. That plot line (sub-plot?) doesn't make much sense.
And there's not much explanation regarding what's up with John Walker, why he suddenly changed (kind of? He at least changed enough to be cool fighting side-by-side Bucky & Sam to take down the Flag Smashers), and it feels Marvel delivered him a pseudo-redemption arc that didn't exactly feel earned. I have an understanding of the comic character, and get that his arc has been 'complicated' anyway (as are most comic character story arcs when the characters hang around long enough); but it felt like he went from legit pure-villain material at the end of e5, into stepping in to help save the day out of know where in e6. And then we have Sharon Carter. The Power Broker revelation that only makes sense in an incredibly broad manner: as in "she was pooped-on by her government and now it's payback time" kind of broad comic book villainy that works better in the funny pages than the big screen/TV.
And our heroes seemed to have a fairly muddled character arc, as well. Bucky felt like he grew, and worked on his growth but Sam's felt a bit wonkier to me. It's like the creatives were setting up some deeper dive into the African American experience only to have him jump back into the hero fray because the plot dictated that big action 3rd act finale.
But, of course, the real question for me is always "does the movie/show/book/whatever art work well enough for me to not get too bogged down in its flaws?" In this case, I think the answer is "Yes." I can't not see Sam in his awesome suit and smile like a dopey kid. I can't not chuckle at Bucky's one-liners. I was happy to spend some more time with Zemo, and I'm glad he's still kicking around the MCU waiting to be sprung to populate another adventure*. I can't see Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (I'm just gonna call her "Val," consequences be damned) and not smile from ear-to-ear that we get her in the MCU and I sincerely hope to see more of her*
This show had some good action set-pieces, and made me at least chuckle a few times per episode. I certainly liked it better than some MCU films (I'm looking at your THOR THE DARK WORLD), and it was a fun way to spend every Friday for a month and a half. I likely won't think too much about the series in a week, but I don't have any complaints. I've mentioned before that "WandaVision" spoiled me into expecting more depth and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" gave me a somewhat stock comic book affair: some fun character bits, some conflict resolution, some awesome action set-pieces, little/no deep character development. That's not a bad thing, and I do love comic book movies obviously, but I feel like a six episode 45ish mins per series could've delved more into deeper character development. It was fun, and I can't wait to see Captain America again (and I _LOVED_ his new look) but for me it felt mostly disposable.
I am, on the other hand incredibly excited for "Loki" and the time shenanigans its promising us...
* I can't help but wonder that just as it feels obvious Marvel is setting up the 'New Avengers' w/their Disney+ line of series, I think the also might be setting up the MCU version of the 'Thunderbolts.' In which case Zemo was a member in the comics
** I think that 1) Val will almost certainly play into BLACK WIDOW, and that she originally had a cameo/debut in that film. 2) I have a feeling Marvel is setting Val up to be the anti-Nick Fury: a sort of villain master spy boss type - perhaps putting together the Thunderbolts...