The Flash has returned to Central City from his meeting with Supergirl, and he has all the confidence he needs to face Zoom – but how? He has to break through to Earth 2 and then everything will be fine, right? Right? That answer…and more questions…will come from this episode of THE FLASH! Want to know more? Just follow us after the jump!
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
In this episode we see the origin story of the DCTVU’s Hunter Zolomon. Similar to the Thawne comics origin, Zolomon saw his father murder his mother in cold blood when Zoom was just a child…and we see the now-horrific origin of the saucer helmet in the DCTVU (ouch). As he grew up, Zolomon became a serial killer, sentenced to daily elctroshock therapy in an attempt to cure him…only to be part of the scenario that grants him super-speed when the Earth-2 accelerator accident happens.
Zolomon becomes Jay Garrick, the Flash…and Zoom as the same time. His idea? Give the people hope…then take it away again. Yes, he really IS that big a jerk. And, in this episode he comes back into play in a BIG way, because…
Barry is determined to face Zoom again, thinking he is now fast enough to defeat him. The tachyon device has now been shrunk down into a size that hides behind his chest symbol, and in fact he will be able to outrun Zoom, if only for a while. The trick is finding a way to face him.
Cisco has the ability, but needs focus…and the will to take on the task. He is afraid of turning “Vader” on his friends, but is convinced by Barry that it’s okay to do this. Harry reluctantly assists, only after being convinced by Joe West to help. How? By re-calibrating the shades that had belonged to Reverb (Cisco’s Earth 2 doppelganger) to give Cisco that extra “Vibe” boost.
Zoom appears and the race is on! Barry gains an advantage at first by using imagery of Zolomon’s parents…but the advantage is only temporary. Zoom gets away and captures Wally, who had just moved in to the West house, and trades Wally’s life for Barry’s speed.
We see a sequence in which Barry willingly gives up his speed – while Wally is spirited away before he can learn Barry’s other identity. Zoom attacks the moment he gains that speed, but is convinced to let him go by Caitlin…then Zoom grabs Caitlin and runs away!
We now have a de-powered Barry and a missing Caitiln, captured by Zoom! Things could not look much worse for Team Flash…and we are caught as well…at this cliffhanger until next week!
SUMMARY: This was a good episode, with some significant developments on a number of fronts. Wally is now has his own room in the West household. Iris is realizing she may want a relationship with Barry. Barry becomes the fastest he has ever been…and loses it all! There were some minor convoluted parts of this episode…using Hunter’s “time remnants” to explain how “Jay” could “kill himself” and still be around is one example. A more confusing point to me is why Wally is worth moving in to the West household but not good enough to share Barry’s secret (which is not much of a secret on this show once you start counting the people who know…). Still, this was overall a well-scripted episode with some excellent acting from the cast – and great special effects, especially for Cisco’s “vibing” the new breach to Earth 2. We are about to hit an episode where Barry is de-powered – it’s not usually my favorite plot line for the Flash, but this one does have some promise as long as we don’t have to wait too long for our favorite speedster to regain his mojo. I’ll hang in there until we see that happen…but for now I’m still looking forward to next week.
What do YOU think? Add your comments here!
The Flash loosing speed never heard of such a thing. He’s been getting beat down enough in the season’s. Come on do these writer read comics at all. This flash looks like a wimp. Love the show really but step it up people zoom. Or reverse or whatever villian the flash wouldn’t be taking beat downs like this. So how long you go n.a. drag this out. Pick it up the scarlet speedster need to start kicking ass and taking names not the other way around
I don’t know, I’ve read an awful lot of comics where the Flash loses his speed.
This was a good episode. Granted
But Man, I can’t help but feel depressed. 🙁
Because it appears there is no real version of Jay Garrick then. Just Hunter Playing the role of both hero and villain. And that really stinks cause Jay’s my favorite speedster. I know the show is suppose to focus on Barry but come on, The Flash is all about Legacy people!
Still, great acting overall with Cisco and Barry, Joe and Wally, Iris and Caitlin.
Oh, I’m just calling it, but the man in the iron mask, I figured it out. It’s Barry from the 90’s TV Show.
Now to cry some manly tears for Jay. 🙁
Yeah, I’m also disappointed to find that there’s no real Jay Garrick in the DC TV verse. It would have been better to have not included him in the first place. Now there’s a whole generation of viewers who know Jay Garrick first as a villain, not as the hero who introduced super-speed to comics.
Why is it that Hunter Zolomon always seems to end up representing the writers? Heroes needing tragedy in order to be better. Giving people hope so you can take it away.
It is a wearisome trend lately by DC to introduce characters with the same names, but nothing else in common with the original versions. At this point, I’m not even mad anymore, just depressed and tired. I would much rather have them create new characters than change almost every single aspect of these legacy characters that have lasted for more than half a century.
I think the man in the iron mask is going to be the real Jay Garrick. I’ve no idea how they’ll pull it off though!
…pliers?
Ha!
The problem is even if there is a real Jay Garrick on Earth-2 whose name he’s stolen, they’ve made it clear that the Flash persona and outfit are Zolomon’s inventions.
Yeah, I wouldn’t be too keen on that. I have to wonder if there’s another universe involved. With all the evil counterparts (especially Deathstorm), Earth-2 is starting to look more like Earth-3.
Greg Berlanti tweeted about the Jay/Zoom thing earlier (might be considered a semi-spoiler): https://twitter.com/GBerlanti/status/722882921854427138
In my head canon, there was WWII-era war hero/mystery man who inspired the monuments and uniforms — whom Zolomon conflates with his father all Freudian like. So it’s no surprise he adopted his identity. He’s Jay Garrick’s Reverse-Flash in a sense.
(having an enmity that spans generations.)
At the end of the episode, I wondered why Barry was bothering disguising his voice, let alone even wearing his mask. Seriously, what’s the point anymore? Literally everyone else who knows Barry knows he’s the Flash.
Also, am I misremembering this, but didn’t Zoom reveal Barry’s identity to the world?
No When Zoom dragged Flash around town he left Barry’s mask on. After he finished gloating at the CCPD and Picture News he brought Flash back to STAR Labs THEN took off Barry’s mask.
Thanks. I knew I was mixing things up. But now I wonder, why DIDN’T Zoom reveal Barry’s identity?
Zoom needed Barry. Revealing his ID could lead to Barry going into hiding, or someone other than Zoom targeting his loved ones. Knowing Flash’s secret identity gives Zoom a level of control that he’d lose if he made it public.
If I ever get super powers and turn into a serial killer please don’t make it easier for me to kill more people.
They just ruined the series for me. How can Flash surrender everything without trying anything else.
#1 Flash is faster than ever and proved it by catching Zoom. #2 The team already went into Zoom’s lair without a speedster and freed both Flash and Jesse.
#3 When Wally was freed, Flash still had his speed and could have attacked Zoom right then. The rest of the team was ready with their weapons.
#4 If nothing else, Flash could have gone back in time and fixed his mistakes.
Instead, we have a team of brilliant characters who can solve any problem, but suddenly decided not to explore any of their options and just give the super-villain what he wanted, without the greatest speedster of all time to take him down.
I know it’s part of the Flash legacy to have him lose his speed, but how he lost it was extremely disappointing.
You hit the nail on the head for me. This was the most brain-dead episode I have seen on this series yet. In ways that defy all logic, and in ways that absolutely defy all character-building to this point in the story arc, everything has changed. Consider how the characters are making absurd decisions to form a contrived storyline:
– They are casual about opening portals. In fact, they casually try to get Cisco/Vibe to open a portal without having suit/gear ready. Flash didn’t even has his suit with him, let alone his new emitter! What were they going to do??
– The portal was left open for the entire second half of the episode. Now we are leaving portals open for deadly villains to come and go at will? To your home world. Seriously?
– Let me get this straight: Barry was so intent on getting to Earth-2 to stop Zoom forever, that he endangers everyone on Earth-1 in the process, not just once, but multiple times. And then, when their plan goes awry, he brings Zoom BACK TO EARTH-1 where Barry then disables himself, giving up all his powers, leaving him, his friends, and both worlds utterly defenseless. Sure, that fits. (NOT)
– For many episodes now, Barry hates Zoom so much that he can’t stop training to kill/stop him as soon as possible. However, in this episode he bypasses multiple occasions to do exactly that… EVEN AFTER THEY HAD WALLY SAFELY RETURNED! He wouldn’t even let Wells shoot/kill Zoom at point-blank range, even when Barry still had his powers!
– By the end of the episode, Barry WILLINGLY gives Zoom even more power to kill/murder/terrorize everyone on Earth-2, and leaves ALL OF EARTH-1 VULNERABLE in the process. Sure, this completely matches his character arc (puh-lease)!
See what I mean? I could go on.
I have seen it many times… these kinds of drastic character and plot shifts signal a show that is in trouble. I for one can’t abide this nonsense any longer. They are ruining what used to be a good show.
In the comics Barry is the source of the Speed Force and he cannot be disconnected from it. It is not something that can be extracted into a vile. The Speed Force is extra-dimensional. If the writers are following the comics they should introduce this part of Barry’s story.
Barry being the source of the Speed Force was only true in the comics for a very brief time, between Flash: Rebirth and Flashpoint. It was retconned in by Flash: Rebirth, and retconned out again in the New 52.
But the Speed Force being extracted into a vile is odd because the show is making it the same like drawing blood in a laboratory.
That is why I think he will get his power back without needing a shot.
Really happy with this episodes and looking forward to next week’s episode. Reminds me of the classic Wally West stories with George Perez covers! How can have a Flash story with a Flash without his powers? I hope they play it straight and not “we had a plan all along, Zoom” trick. But even then, I’m on board.
I’d be down with a “We had a plan all along, Zoom” next episode. They didn’t put up much of a fight going along with Zoom’s requests.
Did anyone take note of the line from Hunter when questioned if he used a speed mirage to kill himself he responded “Speed mirage? Uh no. I am not that fast.”
To me that is an admission that Hunter is not as fast as Eobard. If you recall in season 1 before Eobard killed Cisco he demonstrated his skill at manufacturing a speed mirage, and with considerable ease I might add. Barry managed to do it too when fighting Dr. Light a few episodes back.
Since Barry was finally able to harness the speed force thanks to Eobard’s tachyon enhancement instructions he should now be exponentially faster than Hunter.
Barry losing his speed was a downer, but this show is still number one for me. Nothing is definite until the finale.
I agree with Lee H about the man in the mask being the real Jay Garrick.
Also, I think Wally will learn Barry’s secret by the season finale or after he gains super speed like it was portrayed in the comics.
There have been pictures posted that show Barry unmasked while Zoom has Wally inside Star Labs. Didn’t happen in the episode though.
Those are probably stills of them on just the set, not in character.
Here’s a link that shows the photo:
http://www.ew.com/recap/the-flash-season-2-episode-18
Zoom has effects. Did they cut the scene?
Right you are. It looks like that was one that was left on the editing floor. In any case, I am glad they did not shoot that scene like that.
Im still hoping that the man behind the mask is another Wally West….Maybe a red haired green eyed one. I know its wishful thinking!