The Flash has easily been one of the top superhero shows, but this was certainly a strange episode for the powerhouse we’ve come to know. Everything in this episode should have been bombshell after bombshell, but I feel like we are being teased just a little too much; albeit, there could still be that payoff later in the season. And, it’s not to say this episode was bad because it certainly wasn’t. But, it’s far too easy to point out some flaws versus any other episode this season, or last.
This episode revolves around the backstory of the mysterious Zoom. As we saw in Supergirl, The Flash was using a Tachyon device and momentarily breached into the Supergirl Universe. It was a little strange scene, because we only saw him gone for a second or two; and, there was really no mention of Supergirl or National City. It just seemed like a perfect time for a smaller easter egg, but it wasn’t even mentioned. Having said that, Barry is getting much, much faster, and he is even faster than the villainous speedster, Zoom.
As much as this is a huge revelation for Barry, Cisco has some of the best scenes in this episode. They need Cisco to take a peek through to the other side, and the only way that he can do so is by channeling his inner Reverb. Wells tunes his glasses which allow him to tune into Earth 2 and track Zoom. Barry asks him why he is so freaked out and it’s actually not because of seeing Zoom. It’s his fear of turning into Reverb. That fear that, similar to Darth Vader, that he will succumb to the darkside and become a nemesis to Barry. This is certainly a neat scene because, as we later find out, this is essentially what has happened to Hunter Zolomon in contrast to Barry.
We learn that Zoom saw his mother kill his father which forced him into an orphanage. The night of the particle accelerator explosion was the same time Hunter was being electrocuted. Thus, the evil that would engulf Earth 2 was created. This really parallels Barry’s mother dying, in a sense. But, the big difference is that Barry had Joe and Iris, whereas Hunter clearly had no one to guide him through life.
The major question that kept popping up was, if this was one of the most famous killers on Earth-2, how didn’t Wells recognize him? Yes, he paraded around as Jay Garrick, but they certainly look close enough that it should have thrown up some red flags. It was explained that the Jay Garrick we saw get killed as he stood mysteriously close to the breach was indeed planned and was a Jay from another time.
Once they did “capture†Zoom, instead of tossing him in the pipeline as with the other metas, Barry had a long drawn out talk which, of course allowed Zoom to escape. Not only did Zoom escape, he took Wally with him. I am not sure what it is with heroes wanting to talk to villains before fully apprehending them, but it is quite ridiculous.
Care to take a guess the only way they are able to get Wally back? Barry has to give Zoom his speed. So, that would make Zoom the only known speedster on any of the Earths, thus making him impossible to beat. I am assuming that they did lace Barry’s speed with with something, or I hope so anyway. If they didn’t, that would have been one of the dumbest moves in a TV show ever.
Wally is safe and sound, but in natural villain nature, Zoom was about to go after Barry. Using her feelings for Jay Garrick, Caitlin was able to talk him down. This did work, but now she is in a cage alongside the man in the iron mask. Oh yeah, we still don’t know his identity, and I certainly have no idea when we will ever find out. The first tease or two were interesting, but it seems a bit heavy handed now. I never thought we would figure out about Zoom before we did the man in the iron mask.
