The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 23 - The Race of His Life

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

With Henry Allen dead and Zoom's plan to destroy the multiverse revealed, Barry is more determined than ever to stop Zoom once and for all. Unfortunately, the rest of Team Flash have a plan of their own that an angry Barry Allen could only hurt. In the end, Barry Allen will have to race to save not only his world but all worlds and prove he really is the fastest man alive!


Influences

The Man In The Iron Mask (the masked man whose identity is kept secret by the villain), Star Wars (the villain trying to corrupt the hero who manipulates the same force as him), Crisis On Infinite Earths (The Flash needing to use his powers to contain the energy of a device capable of destroying multiple universes), the film Ghost (the Time Wraiths coming for Zoom), Back To The Future (the alternate past Barry fading out of existence after present Barry prevents his mother's death), Flashpoint (Barry Allen goes back in time to prevent his mother's murder) and every classic The Flash comic involving a race against the villain.


Goofs

So after all the talk a few episodes ago about how there was no way they could possibly stop Zoom without Barry getting his speed back, suddenly Team Flash comes up with a plan to do that in less than a day?

How exactly was Team Flash's plan to stop Zoom without Barry supposed to work when Zoom can fashion controlled breaches on his own now? Sure, they could have knocked him out of Earth One for a little bit, but he was bound to find his way back eventually...

The science behind how the Time Remnants work is hand-waved as Barry tries to explain what append to Wally and then basically says to forget about it.


Performances

Grant Gustin offered a varied performance through the episode. For the first time, we see Barry Allen truly enraged and you honestly believe he could easily kill Zoom at this point given half the chance. The final scenes in which Barry gives in to his anger but finds a way to focus it are as frightening as they are thrilling and showcase Gustin's range as an actor like nothing else in the series so far.

Danielle Panabaker also gives an amazing performance, playing Caitlin Snow as she tries to throw Zoom off guard with her talk of finally being ready to embrace the evil within her. It's a tricky thing for an actor to play someone who isn't an actor trying to act (we saw something of this last week when Caitlin impersonated Killer Frost)  but Panabaker does it well. She also nails the tone needed to drive home to Barry how out of control he is by pointing out that yes, in fact, she DOES know what it's like to see someone you love die in front of you.


Artistry

The opening chase/fight between The Flash and Zoom is a triumph for the special effects team and the greatest speed-sequence ever... up until the race between Zoom and The Flash tops it.


Flash Facts

Instead of the usual "My name is Barry Allen..." opening, the introduction to this episode covers the major events of Season Two.

There's a long tradition of stories in which The Flash must run a literal race in order to save the world. One of the more famous is The Human Race by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, in which a cosmic being amuses himself by forcing the champions of various worlds to race, with the loser's home-world being destroyed.

The Mercury Labs magnetar resembles the anti-matter cannon built by the Anti-Monitor in Crisis of Infinite Earths. This was the story in which Barry Allen apparently died in order to save the multiverse, burning out his life force creating a speed vortex capable of containing the blast of the anti-matter cannon.

Harry Wells also refers to Crisis on Infinite Earths, saying the number of Earths in the multiverse is infinite when Caitlin asks how many worlds Zoom could potentially destroy with the magnetar.

Zoom is said to be hiding out in an industrial park on Leawood.  In the original DC Comics universe, Leawood was the name of a blue-collar residential district in Central City and home to Central City Stadium.

The idea of one Earth being the main nexus around which all other universes are based has been key to most of the incarnations of DC Comics Multiverse.  Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, this central Earth was Earth One, which became the basis of the post-Crisis unified universe.  Following Infinite Crisis, the multiverse was restored with the central core Earth dubbed Earth Zero or New Earth. After Flashpoint, the central Earth was dubbed Earth Zero, New Earth and Prime Earth.

In the DCTVU, that central Earth is Earth One.

The death of Barry's time remnant is a direct reference to how Barry Allen died in Crisis of Infinite Earths.

When Zoom is taken by the Time Wraiths, his body begins to molder and disintegrate. Between this and his torn costume, he resembles The Black Flash - the angel of Death for speedsters in the DC Comics Universe. (Thanks to Michael Bartosh for pointing this out.)

Jay Garrick refers to his home-world as Earth Three. In the pre-Crisis and New 52 versions of the DC Comics Multiverse, Earth Three is home to the evil counterparts of the heroes of Earth One.

The ending of the episode mirrors the events at the start of the story Flashpoint - a mini-series where Barry Allen's traveling back in time to save his mother's life creates a divergent timeline where the world is quite different.


Technobabble

Zoom stole a magnetar from Merucry Labs that is capable of acting like an artificial pulsar. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation.

Harry says the magnetar will act as a power amplifier, with a highly magnetized dense rotating core. It could be easily weaponized and Cisco confirms that the magnetar is what he saw in his visions of Earth Two being destroyed.

The magnetar is capable of destroying a planet - perhaps more with the right power source (i.e. the energy siphoned from two speedsters racing).

Zoom says that Earth One is at the center of the multiverse - the access point to every other Earth. One trans-dimensional shock-wave there will destroy all the other Earths.

One lap around the inside of the magnetar loop will produce about one gigawatt of energy. Zoom needs 500 plus gigawatts to power the magentar enough to unleash the shock-wave that will destroy the multiverse.

Barry's time remnant creates his own out-of-phase pulse to counteract the one generated by the magnetar. His body cannot handle the strain, however, and the time remnant burns himself out, sacrificing his life to stop the magnetar from destroying the multi-verse.

Barry went back in time moments before he left, creating a copy of himself - a time remnant. This attracted the Time Wraiths, which Barry lured towards Zoom.

A power-dampener inside the iron mask prevented the real Jay Garrick from using his powers.


Dialogue Triumphs

Joe: Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit.  Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days. And that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts.

Barry: When I was in The Speed Force, I felt like... I had finally come to grips with her death. With not saving her when I went back. And then, the moment... where I'm finally at the place where I can move on, my father is taken from me. How am I supposed to ever find peace with that?
Iris: I don't know, Barry. But you're gonna have to find a way to do that or it's gonna tear you apart.
Barry: I just miss him so much already...

Joe: Bare? Don't race him.
Barry: It's not that easy...
Joe: Yes it is! You just say no! We find another way to stop him. Together. Like we always do!
Barry: And do what, Joe? Just sit around and wait for him to kill somebody else? Wally? Iris? You? No! No way!
Joe: He needs you, Bare! He needs your speed again to get what he wants! We have the advantage here!
Barry: All I have to do is beat him, Joe. That saves the multiverse! This whole city! All of you! I won't let another person I love die when I can prevent it.
Joe: This... isn't just about racing Zoom, is it? You want to kill this guy.
Barry: Of course I want to kill him, Joe! I want to do a hell of a lot more than just kill him! I want him to suffer! For everything that he's done! And he's going to!
Joe: C'mon Bare! Think about what you're saying.
Barry: I have to be willing to do whatever it takes. I'm sorry, but I'm racing him whether you want me to or not.

Joe: And I can't talk you out of it?
Barry: Not this time.
Joe: Then I'm sorry too.
(Harry shoots Barry in the back with a tranquilizer dart.) 

Caitlin: I made a mistake. I am so sorry that I abandoned you. But you have to understand what you said to me - that there was a dark side of me? That I was more like Killer Frost than I knew? I didn't want to accept that. I tried to lock the darkness inside of me. But you knew that was already a part of me now. And you're the only one who did. And now, I'm ready to accept who I really am.... I am so sorry that I hurt you. But now, I want to be that one that only you know. Please Jay. Let me try.

Zoom: I will say, if anything, Barry sure has an ample number of fathers to kill. 

Cisco: Barry, look at yourself right now. You're not okay! 

Barry: Cisco, my dad was just killed in front of me! Do you have any idea how that feels?!

Caitlin: Watching someone you love die? Yes, I do.

Barry: Cait...
Caitlin: Look, Barry... I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when this happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath and that's all we're telling you to do now...

Barry: What are the rules?
Zoom: One lap around the inside of this loop will produce about one gigawatt of energy. And I need 500 plus to power the magentar enough to do the job. Once its full, I win.
Barry: So all I have to do beat you is to stop you before that happens?
Zoom: Yep. It's that simple. But if, at any point, you decide you don't want to race anymore, Dear Old Dad Number Two is a dead man, as well as your little fan club.
Barry: They're not my fan club. They're the reason that I'm running. And why I'm going to beat you.

Joe: I see Jay - excuse me- Hunter stole your color scheme too.
Jay: He took a lot of things that were mine. (pointing to the winged helmet that belonged to Hunter Zolomon's father) Except for that. That's - um- that's all him.

Iris: He said it was his father's from the war.

Harry: Ironically, on my - on our Earth (looks to Jesse), this helmet stood for hope.
Jay: Yeah?
Harry: Yeah.

Jay: Well, maybe I can continue that sentiment. Take something from him for a change. Make it my own.
(Jay puts on the helmet and tilts his head back.)
Caitlin: It suits you.
Jay: Thank you. All of you, for saving me from Zoom. (looks to Barry) Especially you, Flash. 

Barry: You're welcome... Flash.
(Jay tips the brim of the helmet to Barry.)

Dialogue Disasters

Candace Patton's flat delivery of the word "Dad!" as Joe is knocked through the breach by accident.


Continuity

Zoom created another time remnant, whom he kills in front of Barry.

Henry Allen's tombstone bears the inscription "There is no better world than the one with you."

Barry refers to his going back in time to save his mother from The Reverse Flash in 123.

Caitlin refers to Zoom's line about measuring success by the number of victims from 219.

Zoom refers to his threat from 221 to show Caitlin no mercy if she abandoned him.

Cisco is able to fashion a controlled breach using his powers.

Cisco is unable to clearly vibe on Zoom when Zoom is on the move. Attempting to do so gives him a headache and he compares the visions he has to it being like his brain is channel surfing.

Zoom confirms that he created Velocity 9 on Earth Two, but that his continued use of it was slowly killing him. He tried several things to cure himself, including manipulating The Speed Force. This resulted in Time Wraiths being sent after him for breaking The Speed Force's rules.

The Man In The Iron Mask is confirmed to be another speedster from a third Earth called The Flash, whose real name is Jay Garrick

Caitlin refers to Ronnie Raymond's death in 201.

Cisco uses the device from 221 used to broadcast Iris into The Speed Force to help Barry send a message to Zoom across dimensions.

Earth One is revealed to be the central link between all Earths.

Zoom says the line, "Run, Barry, Run."

Barry creates a time remnant, who sacrifices himself to generate a pulse that disables the magentar.

The real Jay Garrick is revealed to be the Earth Three doppelganger of Henry Allen.

Barry recalls that his father told him that his mother's maiden name was Garrick in 220 when he sees the real Jay Garrick.

Jay Garrick's costume as The Flash is just like the one that Zoom wore when pretending to be Jay Garrick, save that the original Jay Garrick didn't wear a helmet.

Jay Garrick elects to take Hunter Zolomon's father's army helmet and make it a part of his costume, restoring it's original intent as a symbol of hope.

Jesse and Harry Wells return to Earth Two. They take Jay Garrick with them and promise to help him find a way to return to his Earth, which is dubbed Earth Three.

Wells calls Cisco by his first name in stead of Ramon for the first time.

Barry tells Irish he needs to get his head together before he can think of starting a relationship with her. She agrees to wait for him.

Barry goes back in time and stops The Reverse Flash from killing his mother. The episode ends with Barry trying to comfort her.


Location

Zoom's lair on Earth Two.


Untelevised Adventures

Zoom refers to how he fought and defeated The Flash of another Earth, whose name was Jay Garrick. It was in parody of this hero that he posed as Jay Garrick/The Flash of Earth Two.


The Boomerang Factor

Honestly, the whole of Team Flash come off as sort of stupid trying to take on Zoom without Barry after how much has been said about them needing Barry, with his powers, to stop Zoom. This isn't quite as stupid, however, as Barry's decision to jack around with the timeline once again given everything he's learned so far about why time travel just makes things worse.


The Bottom Line

A largely disappointing conclusion that will ultimately be remembered for what it set up rather than what it accomplished. The battles with Zoom are just set-up for the reveal of the real Jay Garrick and the revelation that Season Three will likely be based on the Flashpoint storyline.  This begs the question... will the other CW shows be affected by this immediately?  Will this be the means by which Supergirl is brought into the main DCTVU?  The possibilities, sadly, are more exciting than this episode. But at least it will give us fans something to talk about all summer.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 22 - Invincible

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Barry has his speed back just in time for Zoom to unleash his metahuman army on Central City. And leading the pack is Black Siren - the Earth Two version of Laurel Lance! But Barry won't be alone in saving his city... much to Joe West's annoyance as Wally West starts trying to fight the metahuman invaders himself.


Influences

The Justice League of America comics of Gardner Fox (the various Crisis crossovers, Black Siren is clearly inspired by the evil Earth Three counterparts of the Justice League) and the Vibe comics of Geoff Johns (Cisco's creates a focused sonic blast for the first time).


Goofs

How the hell is Black Siren still walking after being hit by a car?

The whole idea of Earth Two counterparts being mirror-images of their Earth One counterpart is just unsound on the face of it, given how many infinite Earths there are.

Katie Cassidy's performance as Black Siren is just awful. This is curious given her best work on Arrow was in an antagonistic role in Season Two. Playing the vampy villainess proves beyond her talents, however, as her delivery is rushed in every scene she's in and seems to be doing a bad impression of Danielle' Panabaker's Killer Frost.  As Cisco says, she's "just a poor imitation."


Performances

Keiynan Lonsdale dominates his scenes as Wally West.  Wally's been an afterthought and/or a hostage for most of the second-half of Season Two. Here, however, we finally start to see something of the young man who could one day be The Flash himself.

It's a brief thing, but I loved the scene between Cisco and Caitlin where he comforts her over her seeing Zoom everywhere since escaping him. Partly because it's so rare to see a close male/female friendship like this on television but also because Danielle Panabaker masterfully portrays what PTSD anxiety attacks are like and Carlos Valdes likewise does a good job showing how to comfort someone going through such trauma. And kudos to the writers for scripting this scene.


Artistry

The opening battle between the police and Zoom's army is a perfect balance of good FX work and fight choreography.

The special effects for the Canary Cry used here are closer to what we saw in Supergirl for Silver Banshee and much better than what we saw in Arrow.

The special effects as Barry runs into Mercury Labs to save everyone are top-notch.


Flash Facts

One of the metahumans in Zoom's army is a flying man who throws green fireballs. This could be an evil male version of Beatriz da Costa (a.k.a. The Green Flame, a.k.a. Fire) whose powers included generating green flames and flying.

Black Siren's costume is clearly a tribute to the comics version of Black Canary, being made of black leather and fishnets - though the fishnet material is on her arms rather than her legs.

The scene where Dr. Tina McGee and Dr. Henry Allen meet is a nod to the 1990s The Flash TV series, where actor Amanda Pays played a different Dr. Tina McGee and actor John Wesley Shipp played Barry Allen.

The name of Black Siren comes from the Justice League animated series.  That show featured a heroine from an alternate Earth called Black Siren, who was clearly meant as a tribute to the Golden Age Black Canary.


Technobabble

Mercury Labs was equipped with a Crash Survivable Memory Unit - a black box for buildings.

Joe wields a new anti-metahuman weapon - a gun which fires shock-collars that latch onto a metahuman and render them unable to use their powers.

Cisco's Vibe Tech didn't work on Earth Two because their dimension operated on a different frequency. Barry suggests there might be some way to use that and the technology Pied Piper used to fight The Time Wraith to create something capable of disabling all the Earth Two metahumans at once.

Strictly speaking, Barry is technically correct saying Mach 50 is not a real thing. It would be more accurate to say that it's not a real thing on Earth. The highest Mach regime runs from Mach 10 to Mach 25, and measures the speed needed to maintain a low orbit in Earth's upper atmosphere. The speed of light in a vacuum, by contrast, is Mach 880,991.09.

According to Harry, any sound over 200 decibels will kill an ordinary human at close range. The blast from Black Siren which Barry survives is charted at 250 decibels. To put this in perspective, a sound of 150 decibels can permanently rupture an ear drum and is the equivalent of a jet engine taking off at close range. The highest recorded sound in human history was 194 decibels.

All matter vibrates at its own unique frequency. Disrupting the frequency disrupts the matter, like how an opera singer can shatter a glass with her voice. People from Earth Two vibrate at a higher (and, according to Cisco, more erratic) frequency.

Hartley postulates that they could create a dimensional tuning fork of sorts. If Barry runs fast enough around Central City to create a refracting field, the tuning fork will send out a pulse that will bounce off of the wave, split apart and collide with itself over and over, amplifying it into a higher frequency on the Earth 2 spectrum. When that pulse hits anyone from Earth Two, it will disrupt their nervous system, knocking them unconscious.

Wells designs special headphones to protect himself and his daughter from this pulse.

Harry Wells makes use of a 75 KTSB 40,000 watt reverberating sound amplifier, designed to single out the operating frequency of every single Earth Two being on Earth One, which, when contained and magnified by The Flash creating a sound pressure wall around Central City, will render all of the aforementioned Earth Two beings without special ear protection conscious.

Cisco creates a special cell for Black Siren in The Pipeline, using double-panned sound-proof glass.


Dialogue Triumphs

Iris (opening voice over):  Some people are calling it "the met apocalypse" - the days when Central City was overrun by an army with powers beyond imagination. But in these dark times, we must never forget our own strength. Our own power to fight back. That it is only in the blackest of nights that we can truly see the light and know for sure that we are not alone. We are never, ever alone.

Dr. Tina McGee: There may be one more possibility. A few months ago, I saw Harrison Wells running out of my facility. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm certain it was him. Is there any way he could have anything to do with this?
(Enter Harry Wells, standing in the doorway with a coffee mug.  Dr. McGee's jaw drops.)
Harry: A few months ago? Sure. Now? No.
Barry: Yeah, there are a FEW more things that we could catch you up on, Dr. McGee...

Wally: The Flash can't be everywhere at once! I have to do what I can to help! I have to show him I was worth being saved!
Joe: Wally... you ARE worth it.
Wally: Really? Am I? Because last time I checked, I'm the guy who avoided his dying mother for weeks.  I'm the guy who shamed a bunch of other guys and illegally took their cars from them.  I'm the guy who caused The Flash to lose his powers and start this whole damn Metapocalypse in the first place!
Joe: Wally...
Wally: Last time I checked... I have a whole lot to make up for. And that's what I intend to do.

(Barry enters his lab. He finds Zoom looking over Barry's timeline his mother's murder.)
Zoom: You know, I never saw the crime photos of my mother's murder? Well, I guess I didn't need to. I got a ring-side seat while you got whisked away. Too delicate, I suppose.
(Barry just stares at him.)
Zoom: Not just a hologram after all, are you Flash? (He meets Barry's gaze) Interesting.
Barry: I know you didn't call me up here just to banter. Let's finish this. Right now.
Zoom: Actually, I did. I called you up here to tell you you can't keep running from one meta to the next. Around and around. Like a dog chasing its tail.
Barry: I'll do whatever it takes to stop you.
Zoom: If only that were good enough. 'Cause here's the thing - I know you. I know you. I know what's holding you back. You and me? We're really just the same person.
Barry: (scoffs) Yeah, you keep saying that, but that's not going to make it true.
Zoom: You'll see. We are. Same tragic background. Same reason for running. Same desire to be the fastest - to be the best. The difference? You think your anger is dirty somehow.You want to be seen as pure. The hero. Doesn't it get exhausting? (frantically) Doesn't it get exhausting, Barry?! It was exhausting playing Jay, believe me!
Barry: I'm not pretending.
(In the background, a seismic rumble is heard.  Barry looks across the skyline to see another building starting to collapse.)
Zoom: Now if it were me, I'd let that building tumble without a second thought. But you... you'll never let that happen, will you? That's why I'm going to beat you, Barry. Because you always have to be the hero. And while you're playing the good little boy... I'll be busy winning.

Cisco: Birds! Why? It's like a Hitchcock movie in my head!

(As Caitlin has a panic attack, thinking she saw Zoom.)
Caitlin: I see him everywhere!
Cisco: Look. You literally just escaped the psychopath who kidnapped you, all right? So I think it's normal for you to have a severe reaction like this.
Caitlin: This is so much worse than that! I-I'm afraid all the time. I don't think I can ever move forward
Cisco: You will...
Caitlin: When?! Jay took everything from me! My confidence My trust! My sanity. I don't think I'll ever be whole again!

Cisco: (hugging her) Of course you will. I promise.

(Wally is sitting his his car, listening to a police scanner. Suddenly, The Flash runs up.)
The Flash: Stealing is illegal, you know?
(Wally looks at the scanner and chuckles, as if trying to think of an excuse.)
The Flash: Detective West tells me that you've been... fighting Zoom's army on your own?
Wally: Yeah. I want to help.
The Flash: I admire what you're trying to do. But the best way to help is to just leave this to the police.
Wally: Like you did?
The Flash: I do have powers, Wally. It is a little different. This isn't your fight. It's mine.
Wally:  No, it's all of ours. This is my city now too, now. And it's up to all of us to protect it.

(As Black Siren gloats over a deafened Flash, a car comes out of nowhere and hits her, sending her flying.  Wally West opens the passenger door and waves to The Flash.)
Wally: Get in!
(The Flash crawls into the car as Wally grins, guns the engine, and drives off into the night.)
Wally: Thought you might need a lift.
The Flash (still gasping) Yeah... thanks...
(The Flash exits the car, leaving Wally alone to grin and shake his head.)
Wally: You're welcome.

Joe: (To Cisco) This is where I play stupid and you explain science.


Continuity

Captain Singh is injured in the battle with Zoom's minions.

Caitlin makes her way back to STAR Labs, seemingly let go by Zoom. She's dehydrated, malnourished and in shock but otherwise fine.

Since returning from The Speed Force, Barry is overly optimistic and seems to think he's invincible, talking about how the universe is with them.

Cisco has several vibe visions of birds flying into glass windows and dying. Specifically, canaries.

Dr. Tina McGee figured out that Barry Allen is The Flash through simple observation of the fact that Barry seemed to be far too well informed regarding everything going on in her labs that The Flash was privy to but Barry Allen shouldn't have been.

Dr. McGee makes reference to seeing Harrison Wells rob her lab back in 204.

Dr. McGee learns of the existence of Earth Two and its version of Harrison Wells.

Jesse asks Caitlin to run tests on her to see if she's become a metahuman after being hit by the dark matter wave.

Caitlin is having PTSD flashes of Zoom.

Barry claims the Speed Force changed him and took away his fear.

Barry refers to the events of 217 and Pied Piper using his technology to take down a Time Wraith.

Black Siren's sonic powers seem to be me more powerful than Black Canary's.  She also seems to be a more accomplished fighter than Earth One Laurel Lance.

Black Siren is aware of the death of Black Canary.

Wally West's licence plate is 6EG-488.

Cisco is right-handed. His Earth Two counterpart, Reverb, was apparently left-handed.

All dopplegangers are mirror images of themselves, at least in terms of which hand is dominant, according to Black Siren.

In a moment of duress, Cisco is able to throw a focused sonic blast at Black Siren, which sends her flying by accident.

For some reason, Jesse Wells is still effected by the pulse wave despite her ear protections, experiencing great physical pain. Harry Wells takes off his protectors and places them over her protectors, saving her but causing him to be knocked unconscious.

Barry, Cisco and Caitlin elect not to tell Sara Lance and Quentin Lance about Black Siren, based on Barry's own bad experiences interacting with his alternate-earth loved ones in 213.  She and several other metahumans are being contained in STAR Labs Pipeline. The rest are being kept at Iron Heights.

Captain Singh survived his injuries. He is aware that the captured metahumans are being kept someplace besides Iron Heights, but trusts Joe when he says he doesn't want to know where.

Captain Singh is unaware of the existence of Earth Two.

Joe West wants his grandchildren to call him Poppa - not Gramps.

A romance seems to be blooming between Tina McGee and Henry Allen.

The same can be said about Wally West and Jesse Wells.

Wally seems to figure out that Barry is The Flash.

In the final scene, Zoom seems to kill Henry Allen in the same spot where his wife died, in Barry's childhood home.


Untelevised Adventures

We don't see the the opening wave of Zoom's metahuman army attacking Central City, with the episode opening in media res in the middle of an all-out battle between the CCPD and Zoom's followers.

We don't see Barry saving the people at the second building collapse.


The Fridge Factor

For all the effort put into making Black Siren seem menacing, she's really not.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry's competence is severely nerfed in order to make Black Siren seem threatening.


The Bottom Line

A bit of a stumble as this season runs for the finish line, to use a running metaphor.

The script fails to properly build on the drama that could have been caused by Team Flash confronting an evil version of a fallen friend and Black Siren's presence is a distraction from the much bigger (yet oddly quieter - no pun intended) menace posed by an army of hundreds of evil metahumans. Had there been some attempt at showing Black Siren's background or allowing the whole team a chance to react to her, it might have worked. That failure, coupled with Katie Cassidy's muted performance, makes the Black Siren subplot largely pointless.

And yet, the rest of the episode has moments that work so well you can ignore how pointless the scenes with Laurel are.  Cisco trying to help Caitlin confront her PTSD. The brief flirtation between Henry Allen and Tina McGee. Every moment of Wally proving that he is his father's son and trying to be a hero? These moments make the episode into something tolerable, if not quite good.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 21 - The Runaway Dinosaur

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

With Barry presumed dead, there is no one left to defend Central City when Girder - one of Barry's first metahuman enemies - seems to have been resurrected by the second particle accelerator explosion. Iris volunteers to act as bait - an action Joe is naturally and strongly against. Meanwhile, in another time and place, Barry struggles to escape a surreal world populated by beings wearing the faces of his friends and family... a world that turns out to be The Speed Force itself!


Influences

The Flash comics of Mark Waid, particularly Terminal Velocity (The story which introduced the idea of The Speed Force as an otherworldly realm/afterlife for speedsters and general revelations about The Speed Force and how it works in the DCTVU), the film Contact (hero makes contact with an otherworldly being who takes the form of loved ones to make the hero more comfortable), The X-Files (Cisco and Iris stumbling around a lab with high-power flashlights ala Mulder and Scully, the "monster of the week" tone of the script regarding zombie Girder, Cisco name-drops the show referring to Barry's medical records as his "X-File".) The 1931 Frankstein (the general behavior of the zombie Girder), Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (the comedic tone of most of the zombie Girder scenes before he gets to STAR Labs, Cisco refers to the movie calling Girder "Abby Normal" and saying everything is going Young Frankenstein), Peter Pan (Barry chasing his speed through The Speed Force is reminsicent of Peter Pan chasing his shadow) and the children's book The Runaway Bunny (The Runaway Dinosaur seems to be a tribute to this book in both plot and title.).


Goofs

While Harry Wells has his hands in the proper place to do CPR to the unconscious Jesse (a rarity in most depictions of giving CPR on television) he is not using nearly enough force.

Shouldn't Henry look over Wally too, despite Wally seemingly being in better condition than Jesse? (He's sent home purely to increase the drama when zombie Girder shows up at The West House).

At this point, one wonders why Iris and Joe are still keeping Barry's secret identity a secret from Wally. It's particularly painful that Iris is going along with it, given how rightly annoyed she was at being endangered by her ignorance.  Seriously! How many times is this now that a super-villain has attacked The West home while Wally was there?


Performances

For the first time in what seems like forever, Grant Gustin is allowed to take center stage and do some real acting beyond playing the bold hero. We dare you to not get a little tear-eyed during the scene in which he recites his favorite book as a child from memory.

The actors playing the various aspects of The Speed Force all do a fine job of playing something "other" than their usual roles. There's just enough that is off-putting about their performances to seem slightly inhuman. John Wesley Shipp is particular effective in his sequence, seeming to want to comfort Barry as he cries at his mother's grave but knowing so little about humanity that it cannot even conceive of the idea of a comforting touch, much less the hug Barry sorely seems to need.

Tom Cavanagh's faces as Carlos Valdes tries to explain - badly - just what is going on with the Zombie Girder may be the finest moment of visual comedy in the show's history.


Artistry

The music for this episode during the Speed Force sequences is phenomenal.

The script, by X-Men: First Class writer Zack Stentz, is particularly strong in its dramatic segments.

Shockingly, given Kevin Smith's reputation as a comedic director, it's the dramatic scenes in The Speed Force which are the most memorable and strongly directed.

The special effects for the sequences in which Cisco and Iris both reach out to Barry in The Speed Force are amazing.


Flash Facts

The director of this episode was Kevin Smith. In addition to being a prominent podcaster and screenwriter/director, Smith is an occasional comic book writer, whose critically acclaimed run on Green Arrow brought Oliver Queen back from the dead in 2001.

The name of the Barry's favorite book as a child - The Runaway Dinosaur - seems to be a nod to the classic children's book The Runaway Bunny. Both stories deal with an animal child who wishes to be something else, who is assured by its mother that it will be loved no matter what it becomes and where it goes.

The author of The Runaway Dinosaur is given as Ethan Rhys Helbing. This may be a nod to the on-line RPG Sacred - where Ethan Rhys is the name of a powerful armor set - and to The Flash writers Aaron and Todd Helbing.

The idea of The Speed Force as an otherworldly realm and afterlife of sorts for speedsters was first introduced in The Flash storyline Terminal Velocity. In this story, Wally West became absorbed into The Speed Force but later returned from it, guided by his love for his girlfriend and future wife, Linda Park. Later stories revealed that Barry Allen, rather than dying during Crisis on Infinite Earths, was instead absorbed into The Speed Force.

This episode references several of the ideas Mark Waid introduced during his run on The Flash regarding The Speed Force. Chief among these are the idea of The Speed Force being a place as well as an energy source, that speedsters are given power when The Speed Force "notices" them and the idea that a person's love may allow them to become an anchor for a speedster, so they can find their way home now matter how far or fast they travel, as Iris seems to be with Barry here.

Harry Wells quotes Karl Marx - "History repeats itself first as tragedy and then as farce."

Jason Mewes - the actor who played drug-dealer Jay in many of Kevin Smith's movies - has a cameo as the man whose car is destroyed by Girder outside of the Big Belly Burger.

Cisco refers to the zombie Girder as "iZombie" at one point and asks if he is still following Iris. iZombie, of course, is another CW show based on a DC Comics series. It's a double reference joke as actor Greg Finley, who plays Girder, also plays a zombie on iZombie.

The titular dinosaur of The Runaway Dinosaur is an Maiasaur. The name - a combination of Greek and Latin - roughly translates as "good mother reptile". This was in reference to the first fossils of the Maiasaur which proved that they fed their young in the nest - the first evidence that some dinosaurs did care for their young in the same fashion as mother birds.


Technobabble

Harry constructs a simple feedback loop. When Cisco vibes on Barry, his brain waves send Harry the necessary data to pinpoint whatever dimensional pocket or corner of the universe that Barry is stuck in. The loop will then electrically stimulate Cisco's prefrontal cortex while opening a breach, which will give Cisco physical access to Barry and let him be the beacon that guides him home.

It is later determined that other people can see Barry in The Speed Force while Cisco is vibing in the simple feedback loop, if Cisco makes physical contact with them. This is what allows Iris to make contact with Barry.

The stray energy from the second particle accelerator explosion reactivated parts of Girder's brain. Cisco disassembled STAR Labs' MRI to set up two large electromagnets. Caught between the magnetic field the magnets generate, it should disrupt the energy wave that reanimated Girder. Iris likens this to wiping a hard drive clean.

Barry is able to charge the electromagnets using the spin from his running in a circle around Girder, like an electric turbine.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry walks down the steps of his childhood home and into the crime scene where his mother was found dead. He sees Joe West kneeling in the middle of it.)
Barry: Joe?
"Joe": (looking up and standing) Good to see you, Barry. But I'm not Joe.
Barry: You're not?
"Joe": No.
Barry: And all of this? It's not real?
"Joe": How do you feel being back here?
Barry: I feel awful.
"Joe": We... thought you'd be more comfortable talking to someone who looked familiar. And in a place you know.
Barry: We?  Who is 'we' exactly?
"Joe": That's a little hard to explain... Sit, Barry. (motioning to a chair) Sit.
(They both sit down.)
"Joe": How much do you know about The Speed Force?
Barry: It's the source of my power. It's what makes me a speedster.
"Joe": Yes! And no. When the first subatomic particle sprang from The Big Bang to form reality as you know it? We were there. When the last proton decays, stops vibrating and plunges the universe into heat death? We'll be there too.
Barry: I'm talking to The Speed Force?
("Joe" nods.)
Barry: Isn't that like saying that you're having a conversation with gravity or light or...
("Joe" just grins. Barry stands, looking confused.)
"Joe": You need a minute? It's okay if you do.It's a lot to take in.
Barry: So you're saying that I'm - I'm talking to the source of my power, which just so happens to look like... my adoptive dad? That's trippy.
"Joe": (chuckles) We pretty much invented trippy here.
Barry: Look, I'm - I'm not sure why you brought me here, but you need to send me back. My friends are in danger from Zoom...
(A black blur moves past the window.)
Barry: Did you see that?
(The blur goes past again.)
"Joe": You're not going back. Not until...
Barry: Until what?
"Joe": Until you catch... that.
(Joe points at the blur.)

"Iris": Do you remember this place? Where we first kissed?
Barry: Yeah, of course, except that wasn't you.
"Iris": We thought you'd find this place and our appearance less upsetting. Yet you seem upset?
Barry: My friends, my city... my whole world is in danger. Zoom is on a rampage with the power that he stole from me and you are keeping me here!
"Iris": You were given a rare and precious gift and you rejected it.
Barry:  No, I did not reject it! I gave up my powers to save someone's life! To be a hero! I nearly killed myself to get them back when you brought me here! Wherever here is!
"Iris": That's not what we meant.
Barry: If you would rather have given these powers to somebody else, why did you give them to me?
"Iris": Because you are The Flash, Barry.

Joe: Wells...as a parent, believe me, I have nothing but sympathy for what you're going through. Listen to me closely when I say to you - we have a lot of fires burning at the same time and if we all work together, we just might be able to put them out. Let Henry take care of your daughter. Me and Iris will handle this Girder situation. But you and Cisco are the scientists. You're the only one who can bring Barry back from wherever the hell he is right now!
Harry: (quietly, slowly becoming more determined as he speaks) Ramon? Give those medical records to Henry and meet me in the Breach Room in five minutes. We've got work to do.

(Barry finds himself in a cemetery. He sees a man from behind, looking at the graves.)
Barry: Who are you pretending to be now?
(The man turns around. He looks like Henry Allen.)
Barry: I don't have time for this!
"Henry": Yes you do, Barry. You have all the time in the universe. Literally.
Barry: No, I don't! And how can you stand there in judgement and accuse me of rejecting my gift?! Do you have any idea how much I've done since I was struck by lightning?! How many I've helped with the power that you gave me?! (quietly) What I've sacrificed?
"Henry":  Of course we do.
("Henry" begins walking, guiding Barry towards a particular grave.)
"Henry": You've saved countless lives. And now you are the only thing standing in between your world and unspeakable evil. And yet for all of that, you've never been here.
(Barry kneels down to look at the grave. It belongs to Nora Allen - his mother.) 

Barry: Why did you bring me here?
"Henry": Your mother's death happened to you, Barry. It made you who you are. But have you accepted it? Really accepted losing her? Maybe that's why you couldn't come here... because that would make it real.
Barry: I know it's real. (sobbing) Every day I know. I had a chance to save her. You saw what I chose.
"Henry": And you're at peace with that decision?
Barry: (sobbing, forcing a laugh) "At peace". How could someone ever be at peace with letting his mother die? Deciding that his life was more valuable than hers?
"Henry": Do you really think your mother would have wanted you to die for her? And out of all the people that The Flash saved as a result of that decision, what about them? Do their lives have value too?
(Barry looks up and sees the black blur again.)
Barry: I don't have to listen to this. I have to get home.
(Barry gets up and goes running after the blur.)

(Barry returns to his childhood home and chuckles. He enters the living room and sees his mother.)
Barry: Mom?
"Nora": Hi, Barry.
Barry: You're not my mother... (exasperated) Why are you doing this to me?
"Nora": We're not doing anything to you, sweetheart. You're just so tired. Sit, Barry. Sit.
(Barry sits down with "Nora.")
Barry: You were right all along. I haven't accepted it. I don't think I ever will.
"Nora": My beautiful boy... you have to find a way.
Barry: How?
"Nora": I don't know. But I know this. What you've become? It's wonderful. A miracle even. But it won't make bad things stop happening to you. Even The Flash can't outrun the tragedies the universe is going to keep sending your way. You have to accept that. And then you can truly run free.
Barry: (sobbing) I know. I just miss her. I miss you so much...
"Nora": What if I told you that she's proud of you. And of the man that you've become?
Barry: Who's telling me that? The Speed Force or my mother?
"Nora": Both.

"Nora:" (reading) "Once there was a little dinosaur called a Maiasaur. One day he told his mother, "I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were a T. Rex, I could chimp with my ferocious teeth!"
Barry: (from memory) "But if you were a T. Rex," said his mother, "how would you hug me with your tiny little arms?" "I wish I were an Apatosaurus," said the little dinosaur, "so with my long neck I could see high above the treetops." "But if you were an Apatosaurus," said his mother, "how could you hear me in the treetops when It old you I love you?" "What makes you so special, little Maiasaur?" said his mother. "Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or pointy beak? What makes you special, is that out of all the different dinosaurs in the big, wide world, you have the mother who is just right for you. And who will always-"
"Nora:" - love you."

"Nora": Run, Barry. Run.

Cisco: (To Barry) I'm so glad you're back! Because we're about to die!
Barry: Wait, what?
(Zombie Girder pounds against the door. )
Cisco: So...
Harry: Girder.
Cisco: (speaking rapidly and waving his hands as Harry looks like he wants to interject but is unsure where to start correcting Cisco.) Girder came back to life and he's all Young Frankenstein now and he only recognizes Iris and she lured him to my workshop so we could de-magnetize him but the machine shorted out, so he's about to come through that door and smush us all into chunky salsa and possibly eat our brains
(Harry's jaw drops and he sticks a finger in Cisco' face.)
Cisco: I don't know. Jury's still out on that.
Barry: All right. I've got it. I will lure him to your workshop abn we figure out a way to turn the power back on. Okay?
(Cisco and Harry look at each other.)
Both: Plan H.

Henry: It's been quite a day, huh? Not so much "one damn thing after another" as "every damn thing all at once".

(Barry and Iris walk to Nora Allen's grave.  Iris holds an umbrella. Barry kneels down with a backpack and puts some flowers on the grave.)
Barry: Joe offered to take me so many times. I always found an excuse to say no.
(Barry opens the backpack and pulls out a copy of The Runaway Dinosaur, which he places on Nora's grave.) 
Barry: My mom and I read this when I was little. Do you know it?
Iris: Yeah. I never really liked that book.
Barry: Why?
Iris: Because it was about a mother who was always there for her child, no matter what, and that wasn't my mom. Or yours. We never had anyone who was "just right" for us.
(Barry stands and takes the umbrella from Iris.)
Barry: Didn't we? I'm seeing things a lot differently now. I wasted so much time being angry about what I had lost when I had so much. My dad. Joe. And you. The truth is Iris, I don't know what this is between us. Or where we go from here. All I know is you're everything to me and you always have been. And the sound of your voice will always bring me home.


Dialogue Disasters

Cisco: A zombie? For real? (unusually flat delivery from Carlos Valdes here)

The whole nonsensical scene with Zombie Girder destroying a Hummer and the requisite Jason Mewes cameo that peppers almost everything Kevin Smith has ever directed.  As a Kevin Smith movie scene, it wouldn't be bad. Tonally, however, it feels totally out of place on The Flash.

Joe: I've been meaning to ask you - uh, how are you feeling?
Wally: Tired but fine, I guess.
Joe: So you don't notice anything... different?
Wally: (confused)  Uh... no.
Joe: I mean, I want you to know that you can talk to me if you're scared. Or if you have questions about how your body's changing.
(Iris groans in the background.)
Wally: I think you're a little late for the puberty talk, Dad. I've seen the Internet.


Continuity

Jesse's heart actually stops following her exposure to The Speed Force energy.

Harry Wells knows CPR.

Wally seems to be perfectly fine.

Jesse winds up in a coma similar to the one Barry was in after he was struck by lightning. Her heart-rate, reflexes and breathing are fine, but she still isn't waking up despite this.

STAR Labs has a morgue, where they kept the bodies of dead metahumans and Eobard Thawne conducted experiments on them.

The second time The Speed Force speaks to Barry is as Iris, at the park by the lake where Barry kissed Iris before time-traveling for the first time in 115.

Zombie Girder trashes CC Jitters.

Apparently the TV show iZombie exists in the DCTVU.

Barry has never visited his mother's grave.

Barry refers to the events of 123 and how he could have saved his mother but didn't.

Barry knows the book The Runaway Dinosaur by memory. It was his favorite book as a child.

Barry awakens Jesse by touching her hand. As he does so, a jolt of Speed Force energy seems to go into her.

Henry Allen decides to stay in Central City.

Barry goes to visit his mother's grave for the first time with Iris.

Iris did not like the book The Runaway Dinosaur because it reminded her of how she didn't have a reliable mother who would do anything for her.

As the episode ends, Zoom has assembled an army of Earth Two metahumans in the Central City Police Station and given Caitlin an ultimatum - stay her and side with me or leave and know I'll show you no mercy the next time I find you.


Location

The Speed Force.


The Bottom Line

Harry Wells says it best "History repeats itself first as tragedy and then as farce."  The whole episode retreads familiar ground, with Barry once again getting a second chance to find closure regarding his mother's death (as in last year's Fast Enough) and Girder's returning in an even more violent form.

The segments involving Girder are very much a farce and a mostly unwelcome distraction from the truly moving drama of Barry coming to peace with his mother's death. Thankfully, the humor coming from the cast themselves is on much firmer footing. Overall, the episode is a strong one though it may have benefited from nixing the return of Girder completely.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 20 - Rupture

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Zoom returns to Earth One, now intent on conquest. And he is not alone, having brought with him the metahuman Rupture, who is out for revenge against those responsible for the events that led to his brother's death. And who is his brother? None other than Cisco's Earth Two counterpart, Reverb! As Team Flash rushes to find a way to stop Zoom and Barry debates whether or not he can run the risks that come with reactivating the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator a second time to restore his speed, Iris wonders whether or not to reveal her new-found romantic feelings for Barry.


Influences

Justice League of America's Vibe #1 (Origin of Rupture), Fringe (Cisco compares Harry's reduced particle accelerator to The Vacuum from this show.), World of Warcraft (Cisco evokes the name of Leroy Jenkins and refers to Rupture as the World of Warcraft version of his brother), The Princess Bride (Cisco calls Rupture Inigo, in reference to a character who was out to avenge his father's death), William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Barry's indecision here while being beset by the demands of multiple father figures mirrors Hamlet's main conflict), the Harry Potter books (Harry makes a sarcastic jibe about Cisco making a wand to go to a Harry Potter convention that turns out to be accurate, Cisco shouts "Expecto Patronum" when summoning the lightning bolt), Back To The Future (the need for a precise lightning strike to make an invention work, Cisco shouting "Great Scott!" - the catch phrase of Dr. Emmett Brown) and the 1931 Frankenstein film (much of the imagery with Cisco on the roof of STAR Labs, Barry strapped down and Harry playing the mad scientist).


Goofs

Harry says that Rupture is a metahuman but then says that all of his power comes from his scythe.


Performances

Nobody really stands out this week but the team effort of the ensemble manages to salvage a fairly clunky script that tries to substitute pop-culture references for wit.


Flash Facts

While meeting Cisco at a bar, Dante requests that the bartender put on the Diamonds game.  In the DC Comics universe, The Diamonds were Central City's Major League Baseball franchise.

In the pre-Crisis DC Comics universe, Cisco Ramon was the oldest of several brothers, His younger brother Armando developed the same sonic-based powers as his brother and, following Cisco's death, became a hero to honor his sacrifice. He went by the code names Reverb and Hardline.

In the New 52 DC Comics universe, Cisco was the youngest of the three Ramon brothers. The oldest brother was Armando and the middle brother was Dante.  The three were attacked during Darkseid's first invasion of Earth, with Armando presumed dead and Cisco developing his Vibe powers after being caught in the wake of an exploding piece of alien technology.

It was later revealed that Armando Ramon did not die but was teleported to the planet of Apokalyps. It was here that he was brainwashed and trained as a warrior, serving directly under Steppenwolf - general of Darkseid's armies. Armando was given the power to travel between dimensions and given the name Rupture.

The DCTVU version of Rupture is the Earth Two version of Dante Ramon. He seems to be primarily based on the New 52 version of Rupture in terms of costume and he wields a similar weapon. However, he is nowhere near as powerful as the New 52 Rupture, who has powers on par with Vibe and is able to travel between worlds independently. Also, his name is Dante Ramon - not Armando Ramon.


Technobabble

Cisco develops a holographic projector that, using STAR Labs satellite, is able to protect a hologram of The Flash anywhere in Central City. This encourages the illusion that The Flash is still up and running, provided The Flash doesn't need to do anything that requires touching something, speaking or going indoors.

Cisco is later able to overcome this difficulty, using a mobile version of the same system that can be contained with a van. This enables him to place a hologram of The Flash inside C.C. Jitters during the fight with Rupture.

Harry builds an abbreviated version of the particle accelerator that Eobard Thawne built on Earth One. Harry figures out a way to isolate the antimatter and dark energy, directing the to Barry instead of across the whole of Central City.

Jesse is able to "hot-wire" the door to The Time Vault. She says there is a motor inside the wall. All they have to do is provide electricity for it to turn on and open the door.

Harry also injects chemicals used in fingerprint analysis into Barry's body, as these chemicals were present in his system when he was struck by lightning.


Dialogue Triumphs

Cisco: (As he's getting readyAll right, Cisco. This is where all those countless hours gaming in your basement are about to pay off.

Henry: I've watched you grow ever since you became The Flash. And I am so proud of that man. But ask yourself - do you really need powers in order to be that person?
Barry: It just feels like every time something good happens in my life, it's taken away.
Henry: Well, maybe it's time we did something about that.

Caitlin: You know they're going to figure out a way to stop you, right?
Zoom: Who? Barry? Wells? The police? No. Nobody can stop me now. Not anymore.
Caitlin: So what's your plan? You're just going to kill everyone?
Zoom: Not everyone.
Caitlin: Then why are you keeping me here?
(Zoom has another flashback of his being condemned to a cruel orphanage.)
Zoom: Because I don't want to be alone anymore.
Caitlin: I am never going to be with you!
Zoom: You think that you're not like me. But I've seen the darkness inside of you, Caitlin. Just like it was inside Killer Frost. All you have to do is unlock it.

(Joe and Harry set Wally and Jesse up inside The Time Vault, turning it into a panic room of sorts.)
Joe: All right. We'll bring down some more supplies later. (hands a tablet to Jesse) How you can reach us.
Jesse: And exactly how long are we supposed to be in here?
Joe: Until someone lets you out. This isn't ideal. None of it. But Zoom's here. And until he's taken care of, this is what we're doing. This is the safest place for the two of you right now.
Wally: What are you going to do?
Joe: Whatever we can.
Wally: Joe, let me do something!
Joe: Wally, there isn't anything you can do right now. Sit tight.
(Joe exits through the door. It starts to seal up as Jesse runs for it.)
Jesse: Okay, but what about the -
(The door is sealed.)
Jesse: - bathroom.
(Jesse looks at Wally and they both chuckle.)
Wally: This room have Wi-Fi, at least?

(Joe walks into a lab where Wells is scribbling equations on a plastic clear-board.)
Joe: Wally and Jesse are all good.
Harry: Thank you.
(Joe looks at the condensed particle accelerator Wells has built.)
Joe: So this is what it takes to get Barry his speed back?
Harry: Yeah. It's not uncomplicated, but... almost there.
Joe: I've told you before - once Barry makes up his mind, it's impossible to change it.
Harry: Well, then we need to convince him that this is the only way before he decides not to do it, right?
(Henry Allen enters the lab.)
Henry: Shouldn't have to convince anyone to do anything against his will. Joe, we're talking about Barry, right? I mean, I can't... I can't imagine that you don't feel the same way.
Joe: Henry, right now I don't know what the right thing to do is.
Henry: Seems clear to me.
Harry: This isn't just about your son, Henry. It's about the people in Central City. About saving those people. This is about stopping Zoom.
Henry: Your daughter is safe! This could kill my son!
Harry: I'm not going to let that happen.
Henry: The last time he was struck by lightning, he was in a coma for nine months! How did that happen?
Harry: I know what I'm doing!
Henry: You're messing with something that is out of your control! And what if it did work? I mean, what then? Joe? He goes up against Zoom? The monster that snapped his back, almost killed him and then took the one thing that he's convinced now he needs to make him whole?!
Harry: This is the way. This is the only way! The people of Central City need The Flash!
Joe: Guys...?
(They turn around to see Barry standing in the doorway.)
Barry: I know that you care about me. Each of you. In your own way. You all have your own point of view on this. But the decision is mine. I have to make it on my own.

Zoom: (To a video camera) Central City! The Flash you've seen in your streets is a fake! A hologram meant to give you hope. But there is no more hope. There is no more Flash. And there is no one left to protect your city... from me. (To Captain Singh) Tell the rest of your force, Captain, that their policing days are over. (To Barry) You're only alive because of Caitlin. Try something like this again and my affection for her won't stop me from killing you.  Or the rest of this city!

Barry: One of the cops Zoom killed tonight... he had a son. Same age I was when Mom was murdered. And now another kid has to grow up without one of their parents because The Flash wasn't there to stop that monster! I left this city unprotected by giving up my powers to Zoom. I enabled him to rule this Earth. I need my powers back.


Continuity

Henry Allen has been spending the last few months living in a cabin outside of Central City.

Garrick is the maiden name of Henry Allen's mother/Barry's grandmother.

The TV Show Fringe - which Cisco references - does not exist on Earth 2.

Cisco has a vibe vision of his brother. This later turns out to have been Rupture.

Wally tells Joe he's thinking about quitting engineering to do something to help people - maybe become a cop.

C.C. Jitters is one block away from the CCPD headquaters.

Dante Ramon, Cisco's older brother, was last seen in 116.  Dante refers to the events of the episode and how he and Cisco were kidnapped by Captain Cold and Heatwave.

Cisco and Dante have not grown closer in spite of their shared experiences.

Cisco does not like watching professional sports.

Dante does not own a car.

Iris confesses her feelings to Barry.

Dante finds the letter that Cisco wrote in 213 that he asked Caitlin to give his family if he didn't return from Earth Two.

Zoom kills all the cops on Captain Singh's task-force except for Joe West and Captain Singh.

Zoom also kills Rupture

Harry has a list of metahumans from Earth Two.

Harry notes that Earth Two has less metahumans than Earth One, since he was able to contain the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator explosion. He suggests it just seems like Earth One has less metahumans since most of them stay in hiding due to presence of The Flash.

Cisco uses the Weather Wand he first built in 115 to create the lightning needed to give Barry his speed back.

Wally and Jesse are caught in the energy blast formed by Barry's dissipation.


Location

Wherever the cabin that Henry Allen was living is located.


Untelevised Adventures

Harry tells the rest of Team Flash about how Zoom took over Central City on Earth Two - by killing government officials and police officers and recruiting metahumans for his army, killing anyone who opposed him.


The Fridge Factor

Iris doesn't seem to have any purpose on the show now apart from being a romantic interest for Barry. At least Candice Patton has made the character likable - a task that Katie Cassidy failed with Laurel Lance under similar circumstances on Arrow - but it is still worrying that Iris has nothing else going on in her life after some broadly successful attempts to give her a story of her own.


The Bottom Line

There's a lot of good moments in this episode. Unfortunately, they involve the subplots that get the least amount of attention. Seeing Caitlin use her brains to help the team despite being Zoom's hostage is good. Seeing Jesse and Wally interact and bond despite their different backgrounds is interesting. And the conflict between all of Barry's father figures is well-acted if nothing else.

By contrast, seeing Cisco try to bond with his annoying jock brother reminds us why we haven't seen the character in over a year. Seeing Iris decide that NOW is the time to unburden herself on Barry makes her seem selfish and unsympathetic. Rupture may be the least-interesting metahuman villain to date and is certainly the most undefined. And the ending in which Barry "dies" would be unconvincing even if we didn't have a preview less than a minute later assuring us that Barry is just lost in time and space.

Overall, it's very flatly written, saved only by the charisma of the ensemble cast and has little purpose other than setting up the grand finale for the second season.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 19 - Back To Normal

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Left powerless in the wake of his latest encounter with Zoom, Barry Allen is blindsided when a  metahuman named Griffin Grey mistakes Harry for the Earth-One version of Harrison Wells and abducts him, hoping Wells can cure his condition. As the newly discovered Jesse Wells works with Team Flash to find Harry, Wally West confronts his father with a request regarding Joe West's connection to The Flash. Meanwhile, on Earth Two, Caitlin discovers she's not the only captive Zoom's keeping and plans an escape...


Influences

Numerous The Flash comics where The Flash is rendered temporarily powerless, the Silver Age Superman comics (using Harry's unique watch signal to track him seems to be a nod to Jimmy Olsen's special watch for summoning Superman) and the 2006 The Flash series (character of Griffin Grey).


Goofs

Why doesn't Wells try and use his chemistry knowledge to create something that will disable Griffin rather than watering down a placebo in a bid to stall for time? Granting that Griffin seems canny enough to recognize the formula if Wells tries to create chloroform or sulfuric acid, it still seems highly out of character for Harry not to try and fight his way to freedom.

By the same token, Team Flash seems awfully quick to utilize a plan that will almost certainly end lethally for Griffin Grey. If they have enough time for Felicity Smoak to send them material to create a reinforced Flash costume, surely they have enough time for Cisco to devise a reinforced hand-cuff gun like what they used to trap Zoom in last week's episode. Or something else similarly non-lethal!


Performances

Danielle Panabaker steals the show this time around. Between Caitlin being more than just a damsel in distress and playing opposite herself with another vampy turn as Killer Frost, Panabaker's scenes are the most fun part of the episode.

On that note, Bart Sears does a damn good job of making Hunter Zolomon even creepier without the mask. He manages the neat trick of looking like a confused boy as he experiences his flashes of the past, even while acting like the creepiest of stalkers in how he talks to Caitlin.

Keiynan Lonsdale has a great moment when Wally explains why he feels the need to thank The Flash in person for saving his life. It really opens Wally up as a character and shows something of the good heart the character should have.

Violett Beane hasn't had much to work with in previous episodes, her character primarily existing to give Harry motivation for his actions. This episode flips the script, with Jesse having to work to save her father and Beane proves more than capable of keeping pace with the rest of Team Flash.

Tom Cavanagh is always a delight as Harry Wells. In this episode, however, we get to see something we haven't seen a lot from him - honest regret for his actions. Well, the actions of another version of him who wasn't really him, but the sentiment is there all the same.


Artistry

The opening montage in which Barry deals with the petty annoyances of a morning at work that his speed used to help him deal with is inspired and well-directed. Nice use of Desmond Dekker's Israelites as background music too.

The special effects for Zoom saving Caitlin from Killer Frost are well-executed and the scene is well-directed.


Flash Facts

In the comics, Griffin Grey was the roommate of Bart Allen - the second Kid Flash (formerly known as Impulse) and the fourth speedster to be called The Flash. Grey gained the powers of super-strength, energy manipulation and fast-healing after being caught in a bomb blast. Dubbing himself The Griffin, he tried to establish himself as a costumed crime-fighter but soon learned that his powers were draining his life-force and aging him prematurely. After abducting Jay Garrick in a bid to study how the elderly speedster had stopped aging, he died after staging a bridge-bombing in a bid to regain the favor of the city.

The DCTVU version of Griffin Grey has the same weakness as his comic-book counterpart. His powers are limited to super-strength and enough endurance to not be hurt by walking into a moving car. He was a junior in high-school at the time of the particle accelerator explosion and disappeared when he was a senior, due to his powers making it impossible for him to pass as a teenager.

Joe, Cisco and Barry confront Griffin at Ace Chemical. In the DC Comics universe, Ace Chemicals was the name of the company in Gotham City where the man who became The Joker was exposed to the chemicals that bleached his skin .


Technobabble

People from different Earths vibrate at different frequencies. This causes them to leave cellular dead zones wherever they go on another Earth. Harry is able to track Jesse by following the trail of these dead zones.

Cisco developed a crash-assist style-device for the STAR Labs vans. This allows him to tell where the van has been and to see what happens should something damage it.

The carbine cell Zoom used to trap Barry Allen proves equally effective at containing Killer Frost.

When examining the crash site where Harry disappeared, Barry concludes that the STAR Labs van hit something strong enough to exert an equal amount of force back onto the van.

The device Caitlin rigs up to free Killer Frost operates by running an electrical current through a cable, which heats up the carbine in the cell window. This, in turn, will speed up the electrons, weakening the molecular structure of the window as they move faster and faster.  Once it heats up enough, it should become as fragile as glass and easily breakable.

Griffin Gray's genes mutated, with the functional myostatin of his cells being essentially gone. Myostatin is a protein which hinders muscle development in the body, causing excessive muscle growth in animals lacking it - i.e. super-strength.

As a result of his super-strength, Griffin is also suffering from oxidated stress - the protein and DNA in his body are being ravaged by oxidants. In short, the more he exerts himself using his super-strength, the faster his body wears-out and he ages.

Jesse is able to locate her father, tracking the signal on his metahuman-detecting watch. Since the signal is meant to go to a server that doesn't exist on Earth One, it just keeps sending the same signal over and over.

Jesse and Cisco upgrade the lining of Barry's costume using the same compound Ray Palmer used in developing his ATOM suit - dwarf star alloy  It is super-strong yet super lightweight Unfortunately, they only got enough material from Felicity Smoak to cover the chest-piece of Barry's suit and their best guess is that it will only be able to absorb one of Griffin Grey's punches.


Dialogue Triumphs

Killer Frost: (upon seeing Caitlin)  What do you know? I can still pull off brunette!

Jesse: (To Harry) I may be afraid of Zoom but I'm just as afraid of you!

Caitlin: So what does Zoom need you for?
Killer Frost: THAT is an excellent question, Caity. You know, I've been asking myself the same thing. But it doesn't matter now. I'm not gonna stick around much longer.
Caitlin: Wait - I thought you said your powers don't work inside that cell?
Killer Frost: They don't. You're right. So you're gonna help me get out of here.
Caitlin: Why would I help you?
Killer Frost: Listen, honey. There is no way you're making it down that cliff all by yourself. So let's make a deal. You. Get me out of this box. And I'll help you get home. I might even throw in some wardrobe tips for free.

Harry: Look. I'm sorry this is happening to you, but there's nothing I can do to fix it.
Griffin: Well, that sucks. Because if you can't figure out a way to help me, Dr. Wells, you're going to die soon too.

Wally: Look, I've been reckless my whole life. Racing cars. Pushing limits. I did everything at full speed without a care in the world. But it wasn't until Zoom took me that... that I really thought I was going to die. And I WAS going to die... if The Flash didn't do what he did. He gave up his powers to save me - a guy he didn't even know! No one's ever done anything like that for me before. I need to tell him how much that means to me.

Griffin: How do you sleep at night? Knowing you've destroyed so many people's lives?
Harry: I don't.

Killer Frost: You know, once I saw you, I realized why Zoom didn't kill me. Because I look just like you. Now... he won't need me anymore.
(Killer Frost throws an icicle at Caitlin. We see time slow down as Zoom enters the room, phases through Caitlin, grabs the icicle, and drives it into Killer Frost's chest.)
Zoom: No. I don't.

Harry: When your mother died, honey... something inside me broke. I couldn't protect her. And I swore, I swore on her grave, no less, that I would protect you. And then Zoom took you, and I snapped. I just snapped! I couldn't breathe, I... I couldn't lose the only other person that I love.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah, I get that. I understand why you did everything you did to protect me. I mean, you were only missing one day and I would have done anything to find you! But, I mean... I need to know that - that's never going to happen again, okay? Every time I stay out late or get in trouble, you can't track me down or hurt someone because you're trying to save me.
Harry: Yeah, but... you're in danger.
Jesse: I know!
Harry: (stepping closer to her, taking her shoulders) Okay. I'll make you a promise. I promise you I will be the kind of father that you can be proud of if you promise me you'll never run away from me again.
Jesse: (laughing) Okay. Okay. Deal. (hugging him) I love you.
Harry: (hugging her back) I love you too.

Caitlin: Please. Take me back to my Earth.
Zoom: You know... I've always measured my success by counting the number of victims I've had. But... now I think I'm going to widen my scope. Start counting the number of Earths I conquer instead. You want to go home? Let's go. After all, this Earth has already been brought to its knees. (giggles manically)

(Barry enters the lab and looks mournfully at The Flash costume. Harry comes in behind him.)
Harry: Wow. You're here early.
Barry: Yeah. I couldn't sleep.
Harry: Me neither.
Barry: I know that we just took down Grey without my powers, but... I have no idea how to get Caitlin back without them.
Harry: We can't, Allen.
Barry: Then what are we going to do?
Harry: Gray... Gray kidnapped me because.. he thought I was Harrison Wells from... this Earth. And I know he was talking about another guy, but I just... I can't help but think... I still haven't paid for what I've done.
Barry: What does that mean?
Harry: I thought... when you, when we... closed the breaches that I could just forget about everything I've done. But I can't!  But I realize... what I can do. You are going to get your speed back, Allen. And I'm gonna help you do that.
Barry: How?
Harry: (chuckling) By creating another particle accelerator explosion.


Dialogue Disasters

Every line where Jesse is referred to as Jesse Quick. Yes, ha-ha, we know where this is going...


Continuity

Cisco uses his Vibe powers and Zoom's helmet to check on Caitlin and confirm she's alive.

Killer Frost is seen for the first time since 214. Zoom was apparently unable to kill her because she reminded him of Caitlin. He did, however, imprison her in a cell like the one he used to contain Barry.

Cisco is able to match the fingerprint and blood-sample Barry found at the site of Harry's kidnapping to Griffin Gray. He also ages the picture he got of Harry's kidnapper and matches it to an age-adjusted picture of Griffin Gray.

Griffin Gray is 18 years old and was a Senior at Central City High School. He had a girlfriend named Jenny, whom he planned to marry and have kids with.

Bio-chemistry was one of Jesse Wells five majors in college. She seems surprised that having that many majors is uncommon.

The Earth Two Caitlin Snow was a victim of the STAR Labs particle accelerator explosion, but she was not employed by STAR Labs, At the time of the explosion, she had just flunked out of medical school and was living with her mother, who became a frigid narcissist after the death of her brother, Charlie.

The Earth One Caitlin Snow never had a brother, but says that her mother is also a cold-as-ice bitch, like Killer Frost's mother

Barry refers to the first time he saved Iris from being hit by a car, back in The Pilot.

Griffin Gray is skilled enough at chemistry to recognize it when Wells spends half an hour diluting a formula.

Location

Earth 2 - Zoom's Lair.


Untelevised Adventures

Harry somehow knows that he and his daughter are not the only people from another Earth hiding out on Earth One. This seems to be more than a reference to the Earth Two version of Dr. Light, last seen in 205.


The Fridge Factor

Averted, as Caitlin makes a good attempt at escaping her imprisonment with Zoom. It might have worked if it hadn't been for her evil doppelganger...


The Bottom Line

Another villain-of-the-week episode where the action is secondary to the subplots. Thankfully, some of the least developed members of the cast get some much needed development and it's fun watching Caitlin interact with her evil twin. Unfortunately, the script tries to do a little too much and some aspects (like Wally's "Full Speed' monologue) work well while other's (Barry's speech about time stopping and it just being him and Iris) fall flat. These few flat moments are entirely due to the script, however, and the entire cast shines with what they have to work with.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 18 - Versus Zoom

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

With the tachyon device designed by The Reverse Flash assembled, Barry thinks he's now fast enough to take the fight to Zoom. But how will he breach the boundaries between worlds again? The answer may lie within Cisco. But does Barry really know what he's in for?


Influences

The Flash comics of Geoff Johns (character of Zoom) and the Star Wars movies (Cisco's trying to access his powers is like various young Jedi trying to tap into The Force and Cisco even refers to his fears of becoming Darth Vader.)


Goofs

Given how famous Hunter Zolomon apparently is on Earth Two, you'd think Harry Wells might have made a connection between him and Zoom before now. At the very least, the disappearance of such an infamous criminal should have attracted attention even if no one immediately connected him to the super-fast criminal gang-leader who appeared at roughly the same time.

Just how did Zoom get back to Earth Two without Cisco's help?  We saw Cisco close the breach after Zoom emerged from it.  For that matter, how does Zoom leave Earth Two again to return Wally to Earth One? (Presumably Cisco weakened the fabric enough that Zoom could travel independently as he did before?  THIS IS CONFIRMED IN THE NEXT EPISODE.)


Performances

This is a great episode for Jesse L. Martin, who hasn't had much to do this season. His scenes bonding with Wally and talking father-to-father with Harry are both great moments. But his best scene in the episode comes near the end when it is Barry who has to comfort him in a tough moment for once. Playing a tough guy falling apart is a tricky task but Martin makes it look easy.

It's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, but Candice Patton gets a great moment of non-verbal acting as we see the disappointment on her face when Barry doesn't seem upset about the idea of her going out on a date with another man.

Danielle Panabaker hasn't been given much chance to explore Caitlin's reactions to her latest love interest turning out to be a villain. But she makes the most of what little time she has in this episode.

Bart Sears transforms himself in this episode, seeming to be an entirely different actor that we saw earlier in the season in his portrayal of the unmasked Zoom.


Artistry

The special effects throughout the episode are amazing.

While this show doesn't usually match Arrow in fight-choreography, the fight between Zoom and Flash in the fourth segment is a great one in terms of blocking and movement.


Flash Facts

In the original The Flash comics, Hunter Zolomon was the second villain to take on the identity of Professor Zoom, though he usually went by Zoom for short. After his father was outed as a serial killer and murdered his mother during a police stand-off, Zolomon went to college and studied to become a criminal psychologist. He specialized in the profiling of low-level super-villains and eventually married his college girlfriend, who was the daughter of his mentor and favorite professor.

Tragedy struck when an on-the-job mistake caused the death of Hunter's mentor. As a result of the incident, his wife left him, he was fired from his job with the FBI and his leg was injured in such a way that he was permanently unfit for field work. He eventually found work with the Keystone City Police Department, where he befriended the third Flash, Wally West, and helped him with a number of cases

Hunter Zolomon became Zoom after an attack by Gorilla Grodd left him paralyzed from the waist down. When The Flash refused to use his powers to go back in time and prevent Zolomon's injuries, he attempted to use The Cosmic Treadmill in The Flash Museum to go back in time himself.  The resulting explosion caused Zolomon to become "unstuck" in time, giving him the ability to control the speed and direction in which he traveled through time. This effectively gave him powers that appeared to be the equivalent of super-speed, without him connecting to the same Speed Force as other speedsters. The accident also drove Zolomon insane, causing him to fixate on the idea that heroes need tragedy to define them to become better. This caused him to focus on attacking the loved ones of various heroes - particularly The Flash.

Apart from the common starting-point of having a father who killed his mother, the DCTVU version of Hunter Zolomon is a totally different character than the comics version. The DCTVU Zoom lost his mother as a child whereas the comic version was about to graduate high-school when his mother died. The DCTVU Zoom was inspired to become a serial-killer rather than a crime-fighter by his murderous father and he gained his powers while receiving electroshock-therapy at the time of The STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion on Earth 2. He claims to have created the Jay Garrick persona as a joke - a means of giving people hope only to snatch it away when their hero - The Flash - proved helpless in the face of a more powerful villain. This is in total opposition to the comics' Zoom, whose motivation is to make heroes better.

This episode features several mentions of Keystone City. When Barry is first testing the tachyon device, we see a bulletin board advertising the Keystone Waterfront Development. Later, Barry and Joe both talk over how great the pizza in Keystone City is. In the DC Comics Universe, Keystone City was the original home of the Jay Garrick Flash. In the post-Crisis DCU, it is the sister city of Central City.

The exact location of Keystone City in the United States has varied from story to story, with some comics placing it in Ohio or Pennsylvania. Generally it is agreed that Keystone City is in Kansas and Central City is in Missouri, with the two having a relationship and position similar to that of Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri in the DC Universe.

The episode confirms that Cisco Ramon - like his Earth Two counterpart - has the ability to tap into the energy between dimensions and manipulate it. This is a rather broad definition of the powers exhibited by the New 52 version of Vibe in the comics.

The New 52 Vibe was able to create focused seismic blasts, sense the presence of other-dimensional beings, travel to other dimensions and even shut off the flow of energy from other dimensions, such as The Speed Force. Based on this episode, it appears that the DCTVU version of Cisco has the exact same abilities.



Technobabble

The tachyon device powers up the Speed Force in Barry's cells like a quick-charge battery. Barry describes the feeling as "different'.

The tachyon device allows Barry to run four-times faster than his maximum recorded top-speed with no visible effect on his vital signs. This is even faster than they've recorded Zoom moving.

Wells describes Reverb's powers as being able to tap into the multi-dimensional energies that separate the Earths. This allowed him to see through dimensions, detect people who traveled through the breaches between Earths and shoot focused vibrational bursts through his hands.

Barry theorizes that this would allow him to open breaches between worlds, which means Cisco could do the same thing. He is proven right, though Cisco needs his goggles to do it and has to do it at the site of a previously open breach.

Harry recalibrates Cisco's goggles to the electromagnetic frequency of Earth One.

Harry also creates a "tachyon absorption enhancer upgrade", based on the technology he once used to steal Barry's Speed Force energy. It will now do the reverse, allowing Barry to gain more Speed Force energy as he runs.

Cisco suggests weaponizing his goggles as a way to stop Zoom. Harry dismisses this, saying they don't have time.

Caitlin suggests modifying their pulse rifles to emit a low level EMF. Harry dismisses this saying they don't have the equipment.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Sometimes terrible things happen to us when we're children. Things that can define who we become. Whether we want them to or not. Some of us become stronger. The people who took me in helped me heal and move past everything that happened. They are responsible for who I've become today. But I know that I'm one of the lucky ones. Not everyone gets that kind of support. Without it, I don't know where I could have ended up or what I could have become.

(Barry explains that Harry refuses to work on finding a way back to Earth Two)
Joe: Well, I can't believe I'm saying this about a man I shot at and punched in the face, but I think you should listen to him.

Harry: There's another thing also, Detective. A favor. I would ask you to talk Barry out of reopening the breaches to my Earth.
(Joe laughs.)
Joe: Ah. I can't do that.
Harry: No? You can't find a way to change his mind for both our children's sakes?
Joe: Look, I think it's just as dumb as you do, but I learned a long time ago I can't talk Barry out of anything once he sets his mind to it. Zoom is terrorizing this other world - your world. He can't let it go. But look, why don't you do me a favor? Go with Barry. Help him.
Harry: Help him? Why would I do that?
Joe: Because he's got a much better chance of defeating Zoom if you're involved.

Caitlin: Are you okay?
Iris: I don't know what I am. (sighs) Last night I was supposed to go on a date. My first real date since Eddie died. But at the last second, I just - I couldn't do it.
Caitlin: Is it because of Eddie? Or because of Barry?
(Iris just blinks. She was not expecting that.)
Caitlin: I've noticed the way you've been looking at him recently.
Iris: Is it that obvious?!
Caitlin: Only to a woman who's been through the same thing.
Iris: Everything seems to be telling me that Barry and I are meant to be together. I mean, on Earth Two, we're married. In the future, we're supposedly married! And now that I'm finally ready to move on, I just wonder if that should be with Barry.
Caitlin: Everything seems to be pointing in that direction.
Iris: Do you believe in destiny?
Caitlin: Maybe for you.

Barry: Look, um - I know what it's like. Zoom? Getting him in your head?  How scary that can be.
(Cisco sighs and turns around from his work station.) 
Cisco: It's not Zoom. It's me.
Barry: What do you mean it's you?
Cisco: It's like right now I'm Annikan Skywalker. I've got the midichloreans. I've got the goods. The Force is strong with me. THAT is something I can feel. But if I start opening breaches to other worlds, doing all this other crazy stuff Reverb was doing, then... what if this is how I become Vader?
Barry: Dude, you're never going to become Vader -
Cisco: You don't know that! That is what happened to Reverb! He learned how to use his abilities and when he felt that - when he felt that power? He succumbed to the dark side.
Barry: Look, I get it. I really do. Every time I've learned a new ability, I've been terrified about what it might mean for me. What it could do to me, you know? But you were there with me. When I learned how to run on water? When I ran up a building? Or traveled through time? Just like I'm going to be there every step of the way with you. You've got something that Reverb never had. And that's Caitlin and Joe and Iris and Wells and me. Friends who are going to look out for you. And we're more than just friends - we're your family.

Barry: We would have helped you. We would have done anything we could to save your life.
Zoom: Not everything.
Barry: Caitlin found you a cure!
Zoom: A temporary one! I'm dying, Barry! There's only one thing that can get me what I need!
Barry: And you just don't care how many lives you destroy trying to get it? How many people you kill?!
Zoom: No, I don't! That feeling was taken from me a long time ago.

Joe: Barry, I know you... can't give up your speed to that monster, but... I also know that I want my son back and I don't know what to do.
Barry: I do. Wally, he's... he's part of the family. He's a part of our family. And we do whatever we have to to keep the ones we care about safe.
Joe: No, you - you can't give up your speed.
Barry: That's not your decision.  This is the only way, Joe.


Continuity

Hunter Zolomon's father, James Zolomon, was an ex-soldier. It turns out Zoom was telling the truth in 202, when he said the helmet he wears as The Flash belonged to his dad.

Like Barry Allen, Hunter Zolomon lost his mother when he was 11 years old. Unlike Barry, Hunter's father was guilty of murdering his mother. Ironically, whereas Henry Allen ordered his son to run and not look at what was going on, Janes Zolomon ordered his son to stay and watch what happened next. Whereas Barry was taken in by Joe West, Hunter was abandoned by his family and sent to an orphanage.

Barry briefly disappears during his first test-run of the tachyon device and asks how long he was gone. Though he doesn't get a chance to explain what that means, it seems likely this is the point at which Barry disappeared from Earth One and journeyed to the Earth of the Supergirl TV series during S118. We hear the Supergirl musical sting as he disappears and reappears, all but confirming this.

Wally recognizes Harry Wells.

Harry has Joe looking for his missing daughter.

Harry fixes Cisco's goggles so he can use them on Earth One.

Zoom has some kind of ability to sense the breaches opening.

Harry reverse engineers the technology he used in 212 to steal Barry's speed to enhance it instead.

Iris bails on her date with her editor because she is unsure about her feelings regarding Barry.

Wally moves into Joe's house.

Wells is able to engineer the tachyon device into a more compact model that Barry can conceal behind The Flash emblem on his costume.

Caitlin tells the rest of Team Flash what Zoom revealed to her about his Earth One counterpart being a man named Hunter Zolomon in 211.

On Earth Two, serial killers are rare enough that the few who exist are infamous and well-known to the public at large.

Huinter Zolomon was arrested for killing 23 people. He was incarcerated in the St. Perez Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane and treated daily with electro-shock therapy until the night of The STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion.

Barry tags Zoom with the same restraint gun that was used on him in 201
Barry reveals that the clue that made him realize "Jay Garrick" was Zoom was the Velocity-9 and the fact that when a speedster moves fast enough, their lighting turns blue, as revealed in 216.

Cisco is able to send a message to Zoom by vibing through his helmet.

Zoom laughs at Cisco's question regarding whether or not the Jay Garrick they saw die was a speed mirage, saying that even he is not that fast.  This suggests that Zoom is not as fast as The Reverse Flash Eobard Thawne, who was able to create speed mirages in 115.

Zoom explains that the Jay Garrick they saw die was his time-remnant - a version of himself from the past, similar to the Time Remnant of The Reverse Flash encountered in 211.

Zoom does not explain who The Man In The Iron Mask is, saying that nobody would believe him if he told them.

Wells re-calibrates the device that drains Barry's speed, giving it to Zoom.

Zoom abducts Caitlin.


Location

Central City on Earth Two - Many Years Ago
Keystone City on Earth One


The Fridge Factor

Granting that the scene is well-acted by Candice Patton and Danielle Panabaker, it is still troubling that the one scene in the episode focused on both of the show's female protagonists has them talking about their romantic problems.


The Bottom Line

This is just what we needed after the show's hiatus - a wonderful episode that gives all of the ensemble cast at least one moment to shine, with a focus on the relationships over the comic-book action. And then when we get the comic-book action... oh, baby!