What’s my motivation? It’s an old stereotyped question any method actor will supposedly ask when preparing for a scene. But, it applies here in a different way – put better as “Why am I doing this?” It fits when talking about why Barry is moving so quickly to fight Zoom.  Linda Park may well ask that question at one particular point in this episode (don’t worry, we’ll get to that). And, the entire Flash team wants to know just why Wells is doing…whatever he’s doing as well. All this and more in “Enter Zoom”, Episode 6 of Season 2 of THE FLASH!

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

Last episode we met Doctor Light, portrayed in this continuity as the Linda Park of Earth Two. She was captured and placed in the Pipeline, but managed to escape while leaving behind her uniform. That’s key to what happens next, as the Flash convinces the Earth One Linda to take on that uniform in an attempt to draw out Zoom. There are multiple points in time when Earth One Linda wonders “Why am I doing this?” as the episode progresses. But, she does step up even at great risk to her own safety. She is a key part of the plan that Barry and Wells have cooked up for Zoom.

There is a lot of debate about taking on Zoom now rather than later. Barry wants to do this now, as does Wells – but the rest of the team has little to no trust for Wells at all and want to slow down. Barry still moves forward…

And things go downhill fast.

The fake fight between Earth One Linda (masquerading as Doctor Light) and Barry is comically bad (which makes sense since Earth One Linda has no idea how to be a bad guy). But, Zoom isn’t immediately drawn out. When he does show, the battle is brutal and ends…very badly. If you saw the show (or if you see the trailer for next week) you know what we mean.

So, why do any of us do what we do? Barry finally has to realize why he wants to fight Zoom now, that he is still motivated by what the Earth One Wells/Thawne said in that video about Barry never being happy…ever.  Joe convinces him that he really needs to get Thawne out of his head and go for what makes him happy now. That takes him right back to Patty Spivot, and their chemistry is simply outstanding.

Patty, for her part, is left wondering why Joe is doing what he’s doing…or rather not doing, as in the fact that Joe isn’t trusting her with what is going on. She knows Joe, and possibly Barry, are hiding things from her, but she can’t get to the bottom of things yet. It will be most interesting to see her reaction when/if she finally learns Barry’s secret.

Why does Wells do what he is doing? We see that his daughter Jesse (he refers to her once has “my little Jesse Quick”) believed Jay Garrick’s accusations, and before Harrison Wells can do anything about it Zoom attacks and kidnaps her. Wells came to Earth One hoping to use Barry to defeat Zoom and save his daughter, which explains both his mission and the extreme jerky attitude he has been showing.

Just a note…Cisco manages to “Vibe” Wells after several humorously pitiful attempts…finding out that Zoom still has Jesse captured, and thankfully that she is still alive (at least for now).

The one question that remains unanswered is “Why is Zoom doing all this?”…other than, well, he can. Zoom is powered up to a level that even The Flash can’t attain. Barry’s attempt to throw lightning a la Jay Garrick fails miserably when Zoom simply catches the lightning bolt and throws it back at Barry! This was far too early to fight.  That leads us to a brutal conclusion of the fight, with serious consequences for Barry Allen.

NOTES: This episode had a great mix of action, high drama, and comedy. The fight scenes were brutal…except for the “fake” scene with the Linda Park of Earth One and The Flash. THAT scene was perfectly over-the-top in every way. Still, the big moment of this episode was the fight with Zoom, who is depicted as truly monstrous here. The creative team has given us a bad guy whose appearance truly gives me the creeps…and that’s a good thing.

SUMMARY: This episode had a number of big moments, building up to a HUGE moment that will have significant consequences for our favorite speedster. On the way to that moment we had excellent character development for several members of the team, along with more build-up of the excellent chemistry between Barry and Patty. This season started out in high gear and has just not let up…not for even a moment. If you wondered whether they could build up Zoom to be as formidable as the Wells/Thawne Reverse Flash of last season…the answer is no…this version of Zoom is even more powerful and more frightening. Another great episode – what do you think? Please leave your comments below.

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