By After hitting the reset button and establishing a new status quo during the season premiere last week, The Flash has a lot of new ground to cover. After seeing how well it managed to incorporate wacky comic book ideas like time travel, I was very interested in how it was going to tackle DC’s multi-verse, where not only multiple words exist, but the characters from those worlds need to interact with the Star Labs crew.
Although this episode was a bit of a retread of season one’s formula, there are enough new bits to keep me going.
The mysterious man who broke into Star Labs at the end of the previous episode reveals himself to be Jay Garrick, a Flash from another world. He claims Barry’s world is in danger thanks to rifts in the dimension that allow other worlders through. It’s why Atom Smasher and this episode’s baddie Sand Demon have twins in Barry’s world. This season’s new villain, Zoom, has been dragging these baddies out in an attempt to kill Flash. Zoom wants to be the fastest man alive, and will do everything in his power to make sure that happens!
Garrick fell into the singularity last season, losing his powers in the process. He’s been spending the last six months following the Star Labs crew around and figuring out their stories, which makes him seem less trustworthy than he’d like. But Barry’s not quick to trust his story since he’s still feeling Harrison Wells’ betrayal last season. So Barry suggests Jay Garrick take tests to prove his speedster powers.
During all of this, we’re introduced to this season’s other new addition, Patty Spivot. She’s a cop relatively new to the force and wants to join Joe’s metahuman task force since her father was murdered by last season’s baddie, Weather Wizard. She is Barry’s new love interest and practically worships the ground Barry walks on. There’s not enough to her character yet, so unfortunately she just seems like someone added to the cast so Barry can fall in love again. She’s got Barry’s personality, love of science, and is basically girl Barry. Anyway, she gets kidnapped by Sand Demon and Barry is forced to accept help from Jay. As Jay has learned some speed force tricks, he teaches Barry how to throw built up lightning energy. Barry then rushes to save Patty, and hits Sand Demon with his new trick. It looks like Jay is going to around for the long haul to teach Barry some new tricks.
This plot arc is like the first season with the a baddie being another speedster and Barry having someone who’s aware of the speed force guiding him along. But I’m hoping the writers know their characters enough to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Something is weird about this whole situation, so I hope Barry gets to the bottom of it soon.
Final Thoughts:
- Cisco’s slowly becoming Vibe and using his powers more and more. It’s also given he and Dr. Stein an interesting reason to team up in future episodes as Stein’s the only one who figures out something’s wrong.
- Speaking of Dr. Stein, I’m loving his giddy science energy. It’s hilarious seeing him figure out the multiverse’s faux science.
- Is Catilin attracted to Jay? She mentions how good his body looks.
- We hear a bit of Tony Todd as Zoom, who’s costume is a cool black, and I can’t wait for him to show up in full.
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