The Flash Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 15 - Enter Flashtime

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




Plot

When a nuclear bomb threatens Central City, Barry, Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick will have to enter into the otherworldly state known as Flashtime in order to slow things down enough to deal with the crisis.


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome, Mark Waid and Geoff Johns (multiple speedsters teaming up to face a crisis together.) and Green Arrow #100 (the inclusion of Veronica Dale and The Eden Corps, the plot of the hero needing to figure out how to stop an active bomb).


Goofs

Granting that fanatics are not always logical, the idea of an environmental terrorist group damaging the environment by setting off a nuclear bomb to show the dangers of nuclear power doesn't make a lot of sense. The Eden Corps in the original comics acted in ways that would destroy cities without harming The Earth as a whole.


Performances

The chemistry between Violett Beane and Tom Cavanagh is as fantastic as ever.  Their non-verbal acting in the final sequence as Harry and Jesse "talk" is particularly fantastic.

Grant Gustin does a fantastic job of selling Barry's exhaustion and frustration through the episode.


Artistry

The effects work for depicting Flashtime is rather impressive.

The energy effects as Barry attempts to draw The Speed Force out into negating the fission engine with a fusion reaction may be the single greatest action sequence in the show's history and the history of superhero shows ever, looking just like a panel from a Flash comic come to life.


Flash Facts

The formula the camera focuses on after the title stinger - 3x2(9yz)4A - is "The Speed Formula" in DC Comics. This was the formula said by the speedster Johnny Quick and, later, his daughter Jesse Quick, in order to use their super-speed powers.

The shoot-out between The CCPD and the Terrorists occurs at Waid Airfield. This is a tribute to Mark Waid - The Flash writer responsible for coming up with the idea of The Speed Force.

While never given an official name in the comics, the idea of "Flashtime" (i.e. speedsters being able to operate in a state of super-speed while the rest of the world around them seems to be frozen solid) has been explored in multiple comics and cartoons.

At the time this episode originally aired, there was a storyline in The Flash comic based around a similar plot, with Barry Allen, both versions of Wally West and Avery Ho (The Flash of The Justice League of China) having to work to save Central City from a device that was draining all the molecular motion from it in a bid to give Gorilla Grodd super-speed. Only Grodd, his minions in the criminal scientist cabal known as The Black Hole and the speedsters were unaffected.

The terrorist group who set off the fission engine is revealed at the end of the episode to be a group called The Eden Corps who are lead by a woman named Veronica Dale. Their goal was to show the dangers of nuclear energy. 

In the classic DC Comics Universe, The Eden Corps was a radical environmentalist group whom Oliver Queen tried to infiltrate in an effort to bring them down from the inside. He would wind up sacrificing his life in order to destroy a bomb The Eden Corps was going to use that would release a virus that would eat all the plastic in Metropolis. As in the DCTVU, it was run by a woman named Veronica Dale, who went by the codename Hyrax.


Technobabble

The bridges between Earths formed by Cisco's powers close after three picoseconds. A picosecond is one-one-trillionth of a second. Iris says that DeVoe's teleportals may close even faster than that.

Cisco develops a complex and eloquent algorithm to track the warping signatures of DeVoe's teleporting.

Barry says that he can't run the nuclear bomb out of town as the energy involved will speed up the reaction and it would blow up before he could get out of Central City. He also says that he and Jesse Quick don't have enough time to evacuate the city and get all the people out of harm's way.

The ARGUS device that the terrorists were trying to get to is revealed to be an experimental fission engine containing deuterium isotopes. It is contained within an inertial confinement cage to stop the radiation. With enough pressure, however, the isotopes will split and produce heat and light. The light will start out blue, shift yellow and then go purple before the engine explodes.

A breach is a controlled folding of space-time. As such, when a breacher like Vibe is moving at super-speeds and in a state of Flashtime, there is a lack of sufficient time for them to open a breach.

Without a connection to The Speed Force, a body cannot withstand the stress of Flashtime for more than a few minutes. This is discovered when Cisco begins to hyperventilate after about two relative minutes examining the fission engine with Barry. Even a speedsters enhanced physiology will eventually begin to wear down after an excessive amount of time spent in Flashtime.

A person's age and physical fitness seem to be a factor in how long they can withstand Flashtime. This is why the younger and more physically fit Vibe is not effected as quickly as Harry Wells. Jay Garrick, the oldest speedster, is also the first to start showing signs of physical exhaustion the longer he, Jesse Quick and The Flash spend in Flashtime.

Space-time breaches and portals to The Speed Force operate according to different laws of physics. This means that Barry can use a Speed Force portal to dispose of the fission engine when a breach cannot be established.

In nuclear fission, enormous energy is created by a chain reaction of atoms splitting and releasing neutrons. It is nearly impossible to reverse this process, but theoretically you can restore stability through one of two methods. One is to offset the loss of mass through nuclear fusion. The other, more promising method given the situation our speedsters are in, is to cool the engine down.

The 3 million tons of energy (or 3 megatons) generated by the fission engine is equal to 3 billion joules.

A lightning bolt contains roughly 1 billion joules of energy. This leads to Jesse Quick suggesting that she, Barry and Jay each throw a lightning bolt at the fission engine in the hope that it will generate enough fusion energy to balance the equation.

The Quark Sphere is a device which is filled with Barry Allen's unique genetic marker, programmed to track his DNA using the electrical current of The Speed Force. Used in tandem with The Speed Force Bazooka, The Quark Sphere was able to trick The Speed Force into thinking Barry is still there once The Speed Force Bazooka pulled Barry out of it. Barry is able to make use of The Quark Sphere here to act as a lightning rod which lets him draw the Speed Force energy needed to send fusion energy at the fission engine.

Caitlin notes that Jay Garrick's blood glucose levels are low following his time spent in Flash Time.

Harry reworks the Cerebral Inhibitor into a device that does the opposite of its intended purpose, allowing a person to hear the thoughts of other people. Using this, he is able to convey to Jesse the emotions he cannot articulate regarding his wife's death.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Has anyone seen Ralph today?
Caitlin: No. He's downstairs moving in. He's very nervous.
Harry: I don't know why.
Cisco: I don't know why, either. He's a superhero! People with powers are ready for anything,
(Cisco turns around, nearly running into Jesse Quick.)
Cisco: Ahhhhhhh! Son of a Breach!

(Jesse looks at an odd helmet on Harry's desk.)
Jesse: What's this?
Harry: That is a mental activity dampener. It's for DA Cecile Horton. Keeps her from hearing other people's thoughts.
Jesse: It's kinda clunky.
Harry: (laughs) That's what she said. (goes serious) Literally, that's what she said. The second version's more streamlined.

Harry: I came here to stop DeVoe!
Jesse: No. You stayed because of DeVoe.
Harry: A distinction without a difference.

(Barry looks around the frozen crime scene as if searching for inspiration. His gaze finally falls on Cisco.)
Barry: I need right now you, man.
(Barry places a hand on Cisco. There is a shock of electricity as Cisco begins moving.)
Cisco: (looking around in confusion) Wha- what is going on?
Barry: You're moving with me at super-speed.
Cisco: What?! Is this what it looks like when you run?
Barry: More or less.
Cisco: (looking at the still unmoving Killer Frost) I'd say it's a little uneventful.

(Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick run in on Barry talking to the sped-up Harry Wells.)
Jay: What the heck?!
(Harry grabs at Barry.)
Harry: Get her out of here.
Barry: I'm gonna - I'll try.
Harry: (gasping) Allen... Allen.
Barry: All right.
(Harry nods as Barry lets go and Harry freezes back in place.)
Jay: How do you do that?
Barry: Uh - I'm not sure. I've been able to do it ever since I came out of The Speed Force.
Jay: That's a hell of a new trick!
Barry: Look, right now...
Jay: I know. Jesse showed me the nuke.(sighs) We're in trouble, kid.
Barry: Well, I don't know. Wells has an idea that he think might work.
Jesse: Yeah? What is it?
Barry: We send the bomb into The Speed Force. Let it detonate in there.
Jay: Like hell you will!
Barry: What do you mean? Why not?
Jay: Because, Flash, if you do that, we may lose The Speed Force forever!

Killer Frost: Barry? Don't let Caity die.

Jesse: Okay. What if... I don't know... what if we run back in time and stop this bomb from ever going off?
Barry: No. Jesse. We can't do that.
Jesse: Yeah, well, it's kind of our only option.
Barry: It's not an option.
Jesse: Even if it saves the city and everyone in it?!
Barry: It's not saving them, okay? The second you alter the timeline, everything changes. Especially the people you love. Trust me. I learned that the hard way.
Jesse: Yeah, well maybe a new version of my dad isn't the worst thing in the world.

(Barry and Iris kiss as Barry starts to let go of her.)
Iris: Come back to me.
Barry: As fast as I can.

(Joe runs over to Barry.)
Joe: Flash?!
(Joe puts his hand on Barry's chest as if feeling for a heart beat. Slowly, Barry's eyes flutter and he moans.)
Barry: (his voice dry and crackly) Are we dead?
Joe:  ... no?
Barry: (sighs) That's good.
(Barry pants and closes his eyes, clearly exhausted.)


Continuity

Barry was first shown as being able to lend his speed to other people in 410

After the opening scene, the first scene after the title stinger starts "8 Minutes, 48 Seconds Ago."

Barry is attempting to push himself to become fast enough to follow through one of The Thinker's teleportals.

Cisco is able to map every time The Thinker teleported over the past three years. These include when The Mechanic grabbed him after absorbing Izzy Bowin's powers in 414, the attack on Iron Heights Prison in 413, the alley where he abducted Barry in 409 and The DeVoes' house.

Ralph is moving into a basement room in STAR Labs, due to being nervous about being grabbed off the street by The Thinker.

Jesse Quick was last seen in 316, though a hologram of her appeared in 403.

Apology Cubes are a technology used on Earth Two, similar to Break-Up Cubes, which were first referred to in 403.

The first version of the Mental Activity Dampener from 414 is seen.

The death of Harry Wells' wife is mentioned, though the circumstances are not specified. Harry was unable to save her.

Jesse accuses Harry of never dealing with his wife's death. Harry denies this.

Jesse says that she found peace by talking about her mother's death.

Waid Airfield is one of the airports in Central City.

Cisco is unable to form breaches while operating in Flashtime. This means he cannot do what he did in 410 to send the excess radiation generated by Fallout to a dead Earth.

Jay Garrick was last seen in 323.

Jay Garrick has never seen another speedster temporarily lend their speed to a non-speedster.

Barry has been able to lend speed to other people since leaving The Speed Force.

Jay says that a nuclear explosion in the heart of The Speed Force could potentially destroy it.

Killer Frost has no frame of reference for what heat feels like until she begins to exhaust herself trying to cool the fission engine while in Flashtime.

Jay Garrick tires out before he can add his lightning to that of Barry and Jesse.

Jesse runs out of energy after trying to talk to speed up her father and, failing that, talking to him.

Iris refers to the events of 401 and how Cisco and Caitlin used The Speed Force Bazooka to extract Barry from The Speed Force.

Jay announces his intention to retire as The Flash of Earth Three as soon as he finishes training his replacement - an unnamed woman - to become the new Flash.

Barry is told to not use his powers and rest for a few days following his time in Flashtime.

The words that Jesse hears her mother saying - "Because in the vast night sky, you are the only star I see." - are the same words that the Earth One version of Tess Morgan said to Harrison Wells that inspired the name STAR Labs in 117. This seems to confirm that the Tess Morgan of Earth Two was Harry Wells' wife on Earth Two as well.

A sign on the counter at C.C. Jitters promotes a spring special on their Killer Frost iced coffee drink.

For the first time ever, Caitlin has a memory of something that Killer Frost did while in control of her body. In this case, she remembers Killer Frost being taken into Flashtime by Barry, trying to freeze the fission reactor and then Killer Frost feeling worried about her.

The mystery waiter from Barry and Iris' wedding in S308 who later made an appearance in 411 when Ralph and Cisco were getting coffee makes another appearance. This time she bumps into Harry and Caitlin, literally spilling a Killer Frost drink on their table. She makes reference to being there to meet some people for the first time and being kind of nervous - an act that fades as Harry gets annoyed and leaves while a sympathetic Caitlin says she hopes that her meeting goes well. The waiter ominiously says that "It did."


Location

The Speed Force.


The Bottom Line

A definite improvement over the last run of episodes and a strong contender for one of the top-five best Flash episodes of all time. Rather than feeling like a piece of filler given the absence of any major plot elements from Season Four (no Ralph, no DeVoes), this episode feels like a return to basics. Even the romantic scenes between Iris and Barry don't feel as forced somehow, though that's largely down to Gustin's performance and how effectively he portrays a Barry Allen who has been working for days without sleep, from his perspective and is looking on the woman he loves as if it really will be the last time he ever sees her.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 13 - Attack On Gorilla City

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




Plot

When Jesse Quick returns to Earth One seeking help after her father is abducted, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Julian travel to Earth Two. They are quickly captured by Grodd, who claims he needs their help to stop Solovar - the leader of a secretive city of super-intelligent gorillas - from launching his own attack to take over Earth One!  Meanwhile,Wally is anxious to get to spend some time with Jesse but there seems to be some kind of wall between them now...


Influences

The Planet of the Apes films (Julian name drops the franchise, the concept of an intelligent ape uprising, the general aesthetic of the Gorilla City sets) and the Indiana Jones films (Julian's explorer outfit.)


Goofs

Tom Cavanagh's voice for when Harry Wells is possessed by Grodd isn't intimidating.

The green-screen work during Barry's "I will not kill him" speech looks a bit off.


Performances

Watching Violett Beane and Keiynan Lonsdale play off of each other is the best part of the episode.


Artistry

The art design on Gorilla City is fantastic.

The CGI for the gorillas is top-notch.


Flash Facts

First appearing in The Flash #106 (April/May 1959), Gorilla City was a technological Utopian society society founded by super-intelligent, telepathic gorillas, who were enhanced by a meteorite. In the original comics, Grodd was originally a rogue member of this society.

Solovar also first appeared in The Flash #106. The progressive leader of the Gorilla City gorillas in the comics, Solovar was respected for his wisdom and his impressive psychic powers. He weathered several attempts by Grodd to overthrow him and usurp control of his people.

Julian lies to Captain Singh, telling him that he and Barry are going to a morphology conference in Bludhaven. In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is a city near Gotham City which was patrolled by the vigilante Nightwing.


Technobabble

Jesse says that she and her father took a week to translate a mathematical cryptogram that was sent to their STAR Labs on Earth Two.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Harry's my friend. I'm not just going to abandon him. I'm going back to Earth Two.
Cisco: And I suppose you'll want somebody to come with you who is going to open those breaches for you?
Barry: We had... so much fun last time!
Cisco: (deadpan) Fun-ish.

(Barry is trying to explain where he is going to Julian, who he needs to cover for him at work. He finally lets the name Grodd slip.)
Julian: Grodd? The telepathic gorilla?
Barry: Yeah.
Julian: Where are you going? Are you going to the Planet of the Apes?!
Barry: No, it's just a city of them.

Jesse: When I first got my power, you were so lost not having yours. And I thought maybe part of the reason you liked me was...you were attracted to speed and not me.
(Wally chuckles.)
Jesse: I know! I know, okay? But... I saw you out there today! Being Kid Flash? You were complete Wally. You were scary complete.
Wally: I could have all the speed in the world. I'm not complete without you.

Barry: Solovar never wanted to attack Central City. You do.
Grodd: You took my home away from me and now I will take it back! The gorillas saw what you did, Flash. They saw you defeat Solovar and now they are afraid of humans and will do anything I order. And I will order them to invade your Earth and your city will burn!
Barry: You were planning this the whole time.
Grodd: Yes. Father taught me well. Always think ahead.

(Cisco proposes his idea that someone kill him to stop Grodd's invasion.)
Julian: He's right. Cisco's death would change the newspaper headline in the future.
Harry: Headline?
Caitlin: It's a long story.
Julian: But it would also make another one come true. The one about Killer Frost...
Caitlin: You want -me- to kill him?
Cisco: Think about it. Grodd doesn't know you have cold powers. You might be able to use them.
Harry: Cold powers? (To Caitlin) You have cold powers? (in revelation, to Cisco) I knew it! I knew that you and I did not get Barry out of that mirror!
Julian: Wait! Caitlin! If you kill someone, there's no going back. You'll be Killer Frost for the rest of your life. Now, I did not come all this way to see that happen!
Caitlin: (incredulous) Did you come here because you "live for danger" or to protect me?
Julian: (putting his emotionless mask back on) I just don't want to see you become something you're not.

HR: When it comes to love. you've got to go for it!  You know? Everything else be damned. Because if you don't, you're gonna end up being the kind of person that lives the rest of their life with regret. And I know that telling your dad that you're switching Earths - that's got to be a difficult conversation to have, but one that you've got to go for if you want to be happy. But - you know -  that's just my opinion. What do I know? I'm just a handsomer guy than your dad, with a song in his heart. Good luck, Jesse.


Continuity

Grodd was last seen in 207 just after being sent through a breach to Earth Two to a sanctuary that Harry Wells said was set up for gorillas who had been mistreated by scientists. Harry Wells also noted that there were talking gorillas on Earth Two.

Barry refers to the news crawl from 310 and the text "City Still Recovering From Gorilla Attack".

Jesse finds out Wally is a speedster now.

The Africa of Earth Two (or, at least, the part where Gorilla City is located) is not hot and has vegetation more consistent with a temperate forest than a tropical jungle.

Grodd is somehow able to repress the powers of Team Flash while they are imprisoned. It is unclear if he is doing this telepathically or if it is a property of the cages.

The Indiana Jones movies apparently exist on Earth Two.

Harry refers to the events of 304 and how they used extreme cold to free Barry from a mirror but it wasn't enough and Caitlin had to finish the job, secretly, with her powers.

Jesse decides to move to Earth One. She and Wally seem to officially become a couple.

Julian asks Caitlin out to dinner.

The final scene show Grodd assembling his armies, talking to Gypsy (or some version of her), telling her that she will open the breaches for him.


Location

Gorilla City on Earth Two.


Untelevised Adventures

How exactly Gypsy winds up under Grodd's control in the final scene.


The Bottom Line

Serviceable but not the slam-dunk one expected from the advertising. The Grodd plot is predictable and most of the cast is given little to do but sit in a jail cell and worry for most of the episode. Given the high-end Silver Age concept, the script is surprisingly joyless and it's Julian of all people who makes the inevitable references to Planet of the Apes. At least the production values are top-notch but the whole episode seems oddly lifeless.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 4 - The New Rogues

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



Plot

Two new metahumans - Mirror Master and The Top - emerge looking to settle an old score with Captain Cold. Barry and Jesse get in the middle of things, with Jesse's rash actions leading to disaster! Meanwhile, Harry Wells begins scouting the multiverse looking for another Harrison Wells that is willing and able to replace him on Earth One when he returns to Earth Two.


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome (creator of The Mirror Master and The Top) and the television series Twin Peaks (Cisco refers to it when explaining how he can make Barry's backwards talk understandable).


Goofs

It seems odd that Iris isn't the least bit disturbed by the idea of kissing Barry in front of her dad, like Barry and Joe are.


Performances

The romance between Jesse and Wally reaches its naturally conclusion and Violett Beane and Keiynan Lonsdale play it perfectly. Ironically, given that they are the younger couple, their relationship seems to be handled with more maturity than the romance between Iris and Barry and I put that entirely down to the performances of these two talented young actors.

Speaking of romance, Ashley Rickards and Grey Damon are stunning as The Top and Mirror Master. Turning these two Rogues into a romantic couple was a bold choice and damned if the actors do not make the most of playing a couple in love who are intent on building a new life for themselves... albeit by robbing Central City blind.


Artistry

The cinematography throughout the episode is stunning, taking full advantage of the mirrors on the set and using them to establish a number of arty shots.

The special effects work is solid throughout the episode, from the high-speed chase sequences to the "twisty world" effects when The Top uses her powers, all the way to the final battle with Mirror Master jumping from mirror to mirror to evade The Flash.

There's some nice comedic irony in the script, with The Flash beating Mirror Master using a hologram and a mirror trick.


Flash Facts

The industrial building Sam Scudder uses as a hideout is Broome Industries. This is a tribute to John Broome - The Flash writer responsible for creating both The Mirror Master and The Top.

Sam Scudder a.k.a. The Mirror Master first appeared in The Flash #105 (March 1959). A criminal since childhood, Scudder became obsessed with mirrors and the idea of entering into them. Eventually, he somehow succeeded, discovering a whole other dimension which he dubbed The Mirror World. Scudder also developed all manner of weapons and devices based around the manipulation of light - chief among these being lasers and holographic illusions.

The DCTVU version of Sam Scudder differs from his comic book counterpart in that his powers are due to his status as a metahuman rather than advanced technology. He has the power to teleport himself and others through reflective surfaces. He can also trap people inside of mirrors.

Harry Wells says that there was a Mirror Master on Earth Two, but he wasn't a metahuman. He was a criminal armed with some sort of special mirror gun. Wells doesn't know how the gun works, but speculates that the gun had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two-dimensions. This is a nod to the Mirror Master's powers in the comics.

Harry Wells identifies the Mirror Master on Earth Two as a man named Evan McCulloch.  In the comics, Evan McCulloch was the name of the second Mirror Master. An orphan with a dark side, Evan fell into the life of a criminal. After building a reputation as the sort of man who could reliably do dirty deeds with no questions asked, McCullouch was approached by the FBI - who had taken possession of Sam Scudder's costume and equipment after his death - and offered a chance to work for them while posing as a super-villain.  McCulloch played along at first but eventually went rogue (literally!) and soon fell in with The Flash's Rogue's Gallery.

The Top a.k.a. Roscoe Dillon first appeared in The Flash #122 (August 1961). As a boy, Dillon was obsessed with tops to the point where he ignored all other toys. Falling into the life of a criminal as an adult, he got out of prison and decided to build a new career around his favorite toy. Dillon discovered that by spinning at tremendous speeds, he could dramatically increase his intelligence. This eventually lead to him developing psionic powers, including telekinesis, telepathy and the ability to instill vertigo in people. He was also able to possess the corpses of the newly dead, following his own apparent death.

Rosalind "Rosa" Dillon, the DCTVU version of The Top, is a gender-flipped version of the original Top and Sam Scudder's girlfriend. She has the power to cause intense vertigo in other people.

The character of Cecile Horton first appeared in The Flash #332 (April 1984). She acted as The Flash's legal console when he was put on trial for murdering The Reverse Flash.

In the DCTVU, Cecile Horton is a prosecutor with the Central City District Attorney's office rather than a Public Defender. She is also an African-American woman, whereas the comic book version was Caucasian.

We see four versions of Harrison Wells from other dimensions - two of which are named by a specific Earth number. Curiously, these numbers do not correspond with like numbers in the official number of the various universes that make up The DC Comics Multiverse.

The first alternate Harrison Wells (aka Hells Wells) dresses like an American Old West cowboy and speaks with a Texan accent. This may be a reference to the DCM Earth 18 - the Wild West inspired world of the characters seen in the story Justice Riders.

The second Harrison Wells is dressed in a steampunk costume, with a top-hat and goggles. He is identified as being from Earth 17.

In the DCM, Earth 17 is also known as The Atomic Earth. In that world, the crash of the rocket carrying Superman to Earth triggered World War III and 97% of the world's population was killed in the ensuing nuclear fallout.

Curiously, this second version of Harrison Wells would seem to be a better fit for the DCM's Earth 19 - the setting of the story Gotham By Gaslight - a world in which various heroes came into existence during the Victorian era, but various advanced technologies existed.

The fourth version of Harrison Wells comes from what Caitlin labels Earth 19. As mentioned above, Earth 19 is a steam-punk setting in the DC Comics Multiverse.

Cisco refers to Twin Peaks and the character of The Man From Another Place in explaning how he can record Barry's speech when he is trapped in the mirror world and turn it into something they can understand using backmasking.

Joe understands the technique of backmasking and refers to hidden messages being placed in Ozzy Osbourne albums. Officially, Ozzy only did this once - as a sarcastic response to the accusations of hidden Satanic messages being found on his albums when played backwards. That message "Your mother sells whelks in Hull." was itself a parody of an infamous line from the film The Exorcist.

This episode confirms that Caitlin's cold powers allow her to chill an object to Absolute Zero. In the DC Comics Universe, only Captain Cold - out of all the villains with cold-based powers - has the ability to lower temperatures to absolute zero with his Cold Gun.

Ironically, The Flash uses a hologram of Captain Cold and an optical illusion to trap Mirror Master. In the comics, holograms and optical illusions are two of the Mirror Master's most frequent tools.

The Droste Effect is the technical term for when an image appears to repeat into itself forever. The effect is named for Droste cocoa powder - a popular Dutch brand, whose packaging was the first recorded instance of the effect in 1904. Artist M.C. Escher was fond of employing the effect and - as Barry notes in this episode - the effect can be created by standing between two mirrors, creating the illusion of the person between the mirrors repeating into infinity.


Technobabble

Jesse Quick is almost as fast as Barry, her top velocity peaking at just under Mach 3. This is just over 2300 mph.

Jesse's heart rate while running at top speed is 100 BPM.

Harry constructs a "fishing pole' satellite with which to broadcast his "bait" - a message embedded with a tachyon-enhanced laser.

Harry describes his "bait" as "a complex algorithmic cryptogram, designed to test deductive reasoning, intelligence quotient and problem-solving skills." Harry also describes it as an invitation and an elaborate "Help Wanted" ad. Cisco describes it as a riddle.

Harry speculates, when asked about the Mirror Gun of the Earth Two Mirror Master, that it had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two-dimensions.

Sam Scudder is able to travel in and out of mirrors by linking Einstein-Rosen bridges through anything with high solar reflectance. Or, in simpler terms, he creates wormholes through reflections.

The Earth 19 Harrison Wells complements Harry's embedding secondary measures in the primary data string of his cryptogram.

The sounds made by a person trapped in a mirror sound backwards in the real world. This means that Barry can't be understood by his friends until Cisco figures out a way to take what he says and play it in reverse.

Cisco uses backmasking - a recording technique where sounds are recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards - to translate Barry's speech when he's trapped in the mirror world.

Barry is unable to phase through the mirror once stuck inside it because the molecules of the mirror, once used as a wormhole by Scudder, are in a hyper state of flux. In order for the molecules to reach a state Barry can phase through, they need something incredibly cold to slow them down.

Once chilled to absolute zero, the mirror has to maintain zero-point energy long enough for Barry's molecules to pass through it. While doing this, they have to account for the internal energy of the mirror's molecules. This means that while absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature, it is not the lowest enthalpy state possible.

Harry and Cisco try to overcome this issue by building a molecular decelerator onto the cryogenic generator. However, it is only able to lower the temperature of the mirror to -280 degrees Fahrenheit. This is roughly half as cold as Absolute Zero, and is equal to -173 degrees Celsius and 99.8167 degrees Kelvin.

Absolute Zero is 0 degress Kelvin, -273.15 degres Celsius and -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Droste Effect is the technical term for when an image appears to repeat forever. Barry refers to it as an infinite reflective loop.

Every inch of Sam Scudder's cell has been modified with an anti-reflective material, to prevent him from using his powers.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Scudder is dressed in a fancy suit, admiring himself in a full-length mirror.)
Scudder: How do I look?
Dillon: Better. (pauses) How much?
Scudder: Do we really need to ask that question?
Dillon: Our take wasn't that big.
Scudder: Big enough.
(Scudder takes her by the hand and spins her in front of him, holding her close as he looks at their reflection.)
Scudder: The only question you should be asking is what size rock you want dangling from this beautiful neck. A kiss from you makes my world spin.
Dillon: (chuckles) You're so full of it, you know that?

(Barry trips Jesse as they are racing around the track in The Speed Lab)
Jesse: Okay. Well... that wasn't very heroic.
Barry: Nope. But there is a lesson in there somewhere.
Jesse: What's that?
Barry: The difference between having powers and having precision.
Jesse: What do you mean?
Barry: I mean, it's gonna take more than speed to take down some of these metas. You've got to think. Anticipate. When you enter a new environment, you've got to case every inch of it. You never run in blind.
(Barry suddenly stops, looking astonished.)
Barry: Oh my God...  I've become Oliver.
(Barry laughs as Jesse looks confused.)

(As Harry is describing the criteria he is using to test his doppelgangers.)
Cisco: Will it test their attitudes, too? I'm not sure I can stomach another Wells with your bedside manner.
Harry: I care for you too... you jack wagon!

(Wally enters the room where Jesse is thinking. He points to her mask, dropped on the floor.)
Wally: Aren't you going to need that?
Jesse: What's the point? You know, I thought I was ready. But clearly I'm not.
Wally: Jesse, you can't blame yourself for this. What happened to Barry...
Jesse: - was totally my fault! I mean, he told me to stay back but I didn't listen! You know, I just ran in blind and... and now he's stuck, so...
Wally: Look, you made a mistake. So what? I mean, I'm sure Barry made a lot of mistakes at first too.
Jesse:  ... yeah.
Wally: Don't let this destroy your confidence. You're meant to do this, Jesse. You're meant to be a speedster. That's why you have these powers and I don't.
Jesse: You're just trying to cheer me up. (sighs) I know you said you don't want to hang, so...
Wally: Uh, no. I said I didn't want to hang out because I was scared. Because you live on another Earth. But...I realized I don't want to be scared of that anymore.
(Wally moves in and kisses Jesse.  They hold the kiss a moment and then laugh softly.  Wally steps back does a courtly bow and offers Jesse her mask. She takes it with a wide smile on her face.)

(Mirror Master jumps into a mirror and comes up behind Captain Cold. He tries to punch him but his fist just goes through him. Captain Cold flickers and turns around.)
Captain Cold: Bang!
(The hologram of Captain Cold fades away as The Flash walks into the Hall of Mirrors.)
The Flash: Funny thing about holograms - they're just pale reflections of the real deal.


Continuity

Mirror Master and The Top both gained their powers on the night of the particle accelerator explosion. Leonard Snart was present, ready to kill Scudder for violating his rules about spending their share of the loot while the heat was on.

Mirror Master was apparently pushed three years into the future when he fell into the mirror.

There are metahumans with telekinetic and cloaking powers on Earth 2. Harry suggests both as possibilities for how The Rival was killed in his cell in Iron Heights in 302.

Jesse Quick's costume resembles that of the villain Trajectory from 216, with the addition of a Flash logo.

While training Jesse, Barry refers to the speech Oliver Queen gave Barry while training him in how he had to learn not to rely exclusively on his powers in 108.

Oliver told Barry about Captain Cold leaving with the rest of The Legends.  Barry apparently told Joe about this in the pre-Flashpoint timeline, but didn't in the new timeline.

Caitlin has never been fishing before.

Barry has never taken Wally on a run at super-speed before.

Jesse kisses Wally.

Wally admits to being attracted to Jesse, but he doesn't want to start getting romantic with her when she's eventually going to go back to her Earth. They agree to be friends but Wally laters changes his mind and kisses Jesse.

Four versions of Harrison Wells from other Earths are able to solve Harry's test.

The first alternate Wells dresses like an sheriff from the American West and speaks with a Texas accent. He identifies himself as "Hells Wells" and says he has a checkered past he'd rather not speak about right away.

The second alternate Wells is from what Cisco dubbed Earth 17. He speaks with a British accent and wears a steampunk-style outfit with a top hat and goggles.

The third alternate Wells speaks French and is dressed as a mime.

The fourth alternate Wells is wears a trilby hat and button-up vest with a t-shirt and jeans. He is from what Caitlin calls Earth 19. He seems both nice and not-evil, according to Cisco.

Caitlin uses her ice powers to chill the mirror in secret when Harry and Cisco's improvised device can't get the job done.

Caitlin's powers allow her to lower temperatures to absolute zero.

The CCPD has the ability to monitor specific cells in Iron Heights from their main station.

Joe realizes that Cecile Horton is flirting with him but is afraid to ask her out.

Cisco vibes across 18 dimensions for the first time.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 19 asks to be called HR. He has a much better sense of humor than Harry Wells, speaking in a mock deep voice and saying "Greetings Earthlings" when he first meets Team Flash.

Harry tells Cisco that their device didn't work and that something else removed Barry from the mirror.

Harry and Jesse return to Earth Two, with Harry trying to tell them never to do something just before he vanishes.

HR Wells also likes Big Belly Burger as much as Harry.

Barry decides to move out of Joe's house and get his own place.

Caitlin's cold powers appear to be getting out of control, as she freezes the water in her shower by accident. Her lips have also begun to turn pale blue and a streak of her hair is bleached white.


Untelevised Adventures

The Top was apprehended at some point in the past after her powers manifested and locked up in Iron Heights' metahuman wing.


The Fridge Factor

The scene of Caitlin in her shower is a little fan-servicey.


The Bottom Line

A rare episode where one wishes we saw more of the villains of the week than the supporting cast. Mirror Master and The Top are two of the better baddies to be introduced in recent memory and the interplay between them as a couple is a neat twist on the usual villain partnership. It's certainly a lot more interesting than the forced humor of Wally feeling awkward getting romantic with Iris in the same house as Joe. The romance between Wally and Jesse is more enjoyable, precisely because Violett Beane and Leiynan Lonsdale underplay their scenes. Again, less is more and the episode - while enjoyable - would have done better to sacrifice some of its subplots.  Maybe introduce Joe's new love interest and the new Harry Wells another time?

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 16 - Trajectory

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



Plot

A speedster is committing crimes in Central City and The Flash is the prime suspect!  Thankfully, Team Flash is quick to figure out that this new speedster is a woman but they'll have to run themselves ragged to bring her to justice before Iris is forced to write an article blaming The Flash for her crimes by her new editor.


Influences

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (the direction of the sequences of Eliza Harmon talking to Trajectory seem to be inspired by the scenes where Norman Osborn spoke to The Green Goblin - another villain who got powers from a strange formula and fell victim to madness) and The Flash comics of Mike Baron, particularly The Flash Vol. 2 #12, which introduced the Velocity 9 drug and had The Flash being questioned after a variety of robberies committed by a super-speedster occurred.


Goofs

We're told that everyone in a ten block radius was robbed within six minutes during Trajectory's first crime spree. Surely there was a video camera somewhere in that radius which could have gotten a shot of Trajectory and proved she wasn't The Flash?

By contrast, how DID the newspaper get such a clear shot of The Flash and Trajectory next to each other?


Performances

Violett Beane hasn't been given much chance to do anything on the show besides play the damsel in distress. This episode corrects that, though unfortunately it does this just before she is Put On A Bus. Still, it's a good send off for the character.

On a similar note, Allison Page manages to inject a truly tragic note into her performance as Trajectory. It would have been all too easy to play her as a generic crazy villain but there's enough subtlety at play that the viewer is kept guessing until the end of the episode and you feel genuinely sorry that Barry couldn't talk her down.


Artistry

The sequences with the super-speed fights include some of the series' best special effects to date.


Flash Facts

In the original comics, Eliza Harmon was a fan of super-speed heroes. She was given super-speed powers after she volunteered for The Everyman Project - an initiative sponsored by Lex Luthor to give superpowers to ordinary humans while allowing Lex to legally build an army of superhumans that were beholden to him. Eliza was one of the first heroes to join Luthor's superhero team - the new Infinity Inc.- and was given the codename Trajectory. Unfortunately, Eliza's powers were unstable and she turned to drugs to be able to slow herself down enough to function. Her volatile personality caused her to argue with Lex Luthor and she fell to her death after he deactivated her powers.

The DCTVU version of Eliza Harmon is a friend of Caitlin Snow's and a former co-worker at Mercury Labs. She reverse-engineers the Velocity 9 - nominally as a means of getting ahead on her work- but develops a split personality who revels in causing trouble that calls itself Trajectory.

As has been noted before, Velocity 9 in the comics was incredibly addictive and the side-effects of abuse included premature aging, exhaustion, red eyes, staring, salivating, and eventually death.

At the end of the episode, Jesse is seen getting on a bus for Opal City. In the DC Comics universe, Opal City is the home of the superhero Starman and known for its Art Deco architecture.


Technobabble

As the episode opens, the STAR Labs team is trying to help Barry reach Escape Velocity - the speed needed to defy Earth's gravity. This is roughly 11.2 kilometers per second or 7 miles per second. Or 40,270 km/h (25,020 mph).

Caitlin puts a micro-tracker in the most recent batch of Velocity 9, allowing them to track Trajectory.

In order to jump the collapsed bridge, Barry has to run at Mach 3.3. This is approximately 2,531 mph or 4,075 km/h.


Dialogue Triumphs

Harry: So, to reach Escape Velocity, you're gonna have to go... (scribbles on a pad and shows it to Barry) ... that fast.
Barry: Well, "that fast" is impossible. I can promise you that.
Harry: Ah-ah. "Nothing in life is promised except death."
Barry: Edgar Allan Poe?
Harry: Kanye West.

Barry: If the game is already rigged, why can't I level the playing field? I mean, if everybody else is cheating, how can - ? (pauses) I want to be fast enough to stop Zoom and any other speedster who tries to hurt my friends. Shouldn't I use everything in my power to do that?
Harry:  You want to take a short cut?  Is that right? You want to take a short cut? Remember this  you lose a chunk of your humanity every time you compromise your values.
Barry: (chuckles) I'm sorry, but that's real good coming from you.
Harry: So don't be like me. Be better. Be like Jay.
(Barry looks at the Velocity 9 vial and drops it, letting it break on the lab floor.)

Trajectory: My name is Trajectory.
Cisco: Oh, why do the crazy ones always name themselves?


Dialogue Disasters

Pretty much every single scene involving Iris's new editor. There's too much to list here but it seems like they're trying to make him out as a charming cynic but the performance coupled with the dialogue make him out to be a sleazy version of J. Jonah Jameson who has no ethical problems with romancing a female subordinate.


Continuity

Harry Wells is apparently a Kanye West fan, quoting one of his songs to Barry.

Beyonce Knowles was a Senator on Earth 2.

The drink known on Earth 1 as a Kamikaze does not exist on Earth 2.

Cisco cannot dance. At all.

According to Joe, Trajectory was able to rob everyone in a ten block radius in six minutes.

Cisco has two Vibe Visions of the course of the episode - both of them are of Zoom and both of them are in close proximity to Jay's helmet.

Barry makes reference to the deaths of Earth 2 Joe West (213) and Jay Garrick (214) in explaining why he is determined to become faster.

Caitlin tells Barry and Cisco about Velocity 9 and the deadly side-effects caused by prolonged usage. She also tells them about how using speed-enhancing drugs was killing Jay Garrick and causing his cells to degenerate, which she discovered in 214.

Iris' editor claims to have won the Dornfield Award for Investigative Journalism for his work in exposing a corrupt mayor.

Both Jesse Wells and Harry Wells have PZ Negative Blood. This is apparently a common blood-type on Earth 2. There is no word on if there is an Earth 1 equivalent.

After overdosing on Velocity 9, Trajectory's lightning turns blue just before she is vaporized and her body burns into ashes while running.

Jesse Wells sneaks out of STAR Labs and heads for Opal City.

Barry deduces - based on Trajectory's lightning changing color - that Zoom must also be sick and dying from abusing speed drugs like Velocity 9. He then makes the intuitive leap that Jay Garrick IS Zoom.

Cisco handles Jay's helmet and has a vision of Zoom removing his mask... and seeing Jay Garrick's face.


The Fridge Factor

Iris doesn't come off all that well at the end of this episode. First for failing to call her new boss on his attempts to flirt with her and then for deciding she's interested in pursing that option - seemingly for no other reason than to fight her apparent predestination to wind up with Barry.


The Bottom Line

Largely forgettable. The main purpose of this episode is to push everyone forward on unraveling the mystery of who Zoom is. Most of the cast doesn't get a chance to do much and there's not nearly as much good dialogue or humor as usual. And the subplot with Iris is just painful to sit through for several reasons. That being said, the cast give the material far more gravity than it deserves and even the worst moments (like Barry's enraged scream at the end) aren't nearly bad enough to outweigh the good.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 15 - King Shark

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




Plot

The closing of the breaches and the loss of Jay Garrick has hit the team hard. Harry and Jesse Wells must learn to cope with life on a new Earth. Caitlin throws herself into her work, closing herself off from everyone emotionally in a way that seems disturbingly familiar to Cisco. And Barry still can't shake the feelings of guilt regarding how badly he disrupted the life of his Earth-2 counterpart and cased Joe West's death.

Thankfully, they'll have little time for brooding when the Earth 2 refugee known as King Shark escapes from an ARGUS holding facility. Lyla and John Diggle travel to Central City to warn Barry that King Shark is out for The Flash's blood - a problem Barry will have to cope with while trying to get to know Wally West better.


Influences

The Flash: Season Zero #11-18 (aspects of this story were utilized in creating the Earth 2 King Shark, including his name and the Earth 1 Shay Lamden being a cancer patient) and Jaws (The episode's advertising specifically referenced the movie, Wally calls King Shark Jaws at one point and Cisco makes numerous references to the movie with his jokes.)


Goofs

Everything in this episode regarding King Shark contradicts the story-line in The Flash: Season Zero #11-18, which introduced King Shark into the reality of the show. This may not be an official goof, but it is odd since the comics were nominally meant to be set in the same universe as the show. The contradictions are noted in Flash Facts.

Why does King Shark just leave The Flash there after knocking him down outside The West home? It's not like ARGUS has had any luck hurting him so far and it wouldn't have taken that much time to grab The Flash and take him as a meal to go before the ARGUS team gets there.

King Shark claims to be able to track The Flash by scent yet this is contradicted by the later scenes in which Caitlin determines that King Shark was using passive electrolocation to track him.


Performances

John Diggle and Barry Allen have never gotten much chance to interact in any of the various Flash/Arrow crossovers. While they still don't get a lot of time here, the brief moments where they discuss Felicity and Barry feeling closed off from her and John warning Barry against taking on too much and giving into grief are both nice scenes. David Ramsey and Grant Gustin play them perfectly.

Danielle Panabaker nails it again this episode - both playing the grief-stricken, closed-off Caitlin at the start and in taking on the Killer Frost persona to prank Cisco at the end.

Violett Beane is barely given any more to do in this episode than her brief scenes as a girl hostage in earlier episodes. Still, we do start to see some of the sass and intelligence that her rather mentioned here and Beane does a good job of playing Jesse Wells here with what little she is given.


Artistry

The special effects that bring King Shark to life may be the best in the show's history. He looks amazingly real, even in the daytime scenes.


Flash Facts

Originally a Superboy villain, King Shark had two wildly conflicting origins - one that named him as a mutant that evolved from sharks as man evolved from apes and the other that named him as a son of an ancient Hawaiian Shark God. The New 52 incarnation of King Shark is a member of the Suicide Squad and has no clear background as of yet.

Curiously, The Flash: Season Zero comic introduced an Earth 1 version of King Shark in an eight-part storyline told in The Flash: Season Zero #11-18.  This King Shark was a sick man named Shay Lamden, who was caught in the Particle Accelerator Explosion while undergoing an experimental treatment involving shark cells.  The merger of dark matter and shark DNA transformed Shay into an ever-hungry monster, who the DCTVU version of Amanda Waller eventually recruited into The Suicide Squad. In the comic, his wife was named Christina.

According to Wells, the Earth 2 King Shark was a man named Shay Lamden who was a marine biologist before the Earth 2 Particle Accelerator explosion changed him into a half-man/half-shark creature, who fell under Zoom's control.

The Earth 1 Shay Lamden died on the night of the particle accelerator explosion.  He apparently died after the particle accelerator explosion caused every cell in his body to grow uncontrollably for three days, turning him into something not-human. Officially he was listed as having died of cancer. His wife, Dr. Tanya Lamden, is a research scientist at Nautilus Labs, where she studies sharks.

As in the comics, King Shark has super-strength, increased durability and bullet-proof skin. He swims fast enough that he can keep pace with The Flash running on water and claims to have the ability to track by scent.


Technobabble

Harry says that the quark matter energy used to seal the breaches prevents them from being opened ever again. Ergo, there is no way of reopening them and returning to Earth 2.

King Shark can only stay out of the water for a few hours before he has to return to a body of water and reoxygenate his blood.

Wally developed plans for a turbine-powered supercar. The car would have an engine like the ones used on some helicopters, only it would run on bio-diesel.

Barry points out the vehicle would have fuel economy issues, since the engine is basically a small-scale jet engine it will burn fuel quickly. Wally says this is why he wanted to use bio-diesel - so the car could run on anything that burns with oxygen.

Barry also points out that the noise generated by a turbine-powered supercar would wake anyone trying to sleep nearby while the engine was running.

Harry creates a probability distribution algorithm utilizing partial matching strategies, based on semantic trajectories (i.e. water, Central City, The Flash) to find King Shark. Jesse suggesst he also consider mobility behaviors.

Wally says the hardest part of his design was amplifying the torque without increasing drag. A heavier engine would only slow the car down but the streamline version he designed should optimize both torque and horsepower. Barry worries this won't be enough and suggests a one-to-one transfer gearbox to drop the output shaft of the engine, reverse rotation and send more power to the torque converter.

Sharks are predators that use passive electrolocation to find their prey. They sense the bio-electrical potential around the bodies of other fish. Caitlin theorizes that King Shark can sense the electricity in Barry Allen's body.

Caitlin then suggests that they can track King Shark using active electrolocation - this is when a fish generates an electrical field and uses it to find other fish by detecting disturbances in that field. Cisco calculates that they can use the STAR Labs satellite to generate a specific electric field and then measure any electrical distortions that correlate to a one-ton walking shark.

Cisco also crafts a "Flash lure" on a buoy, rigged to mimic and enhance the electric field Barry's body generates naturally.  He also stuffs it with what he thinks is enough tranquilizers to put King Shark to sleep for a month.

Harry crafts a container made of promethium metal to contain King Shark after he is subdued. He says it is impenetrable.

When running through things that could be going wrong with the scanner, Jesse Wells asks Cisco if he set the right distortion scope.

Barry ultimately defeats King Shark by using his powers to electrify the water around him, and throwing lighting at King Shark after running a circle around him.

Cisco tries to adjust the wavelength trigger on Reverb's glasses to see if he can get them to work on Earth 1.

Cisco suggests there is something wrong with Caitlin's circulation and that she might have Raynaud's Disease - a condition where blood flow to the hands is reduced in response to cold or emotional distress.


Dialogue Triumphs

Harry: In the meantime, I would not say anything about her counterpart from my Earth. That goes for Joe and Iris too.
Barry: Why?
Harry: Because you don't want to influence their reality in ways that should not be influenced.
Cisco: Like in the same way as when Barry time-travels?
Harry: Exactly. But also... what's the point? None of those people - they're not you're people. Their lives are not your lives. Never were. Never will be. Bury it. Move on.

(The Flash runs around Central City)
Barry: (V/O) So that's what we did. We didn't talk about Earth 2.
(We see Harry and Jesse moving into a room at STAR Labs with some cots set up.  Harry seems about to say something but then thinks better of it as he sees the unhappy look on Jesse's face.)
Barry: (V/O) We kept what happened there between the three of us and got on with our lives knowing there was nothing we could do now to stop Zoom.
(We see Caitlin in the lab hard, working with a flash of Velocity 9, until her gaze falls on Jay Garrick's helmet, which is on the end of her lab table. She sighs as Cisco watches her, clearly concerned.)
Barry: (V/O) Instead we tried to just adjust to our new circumstances. And cope with our losses. Jay's death took it's toll. It left scars on all of us. Some more than others.
(We see Joe and Iris setting the table for dinner at the West home. Barry watches them, looking sad.)
Barry: (V/O) And so to try and keep my my mind off thoughts of the surreal other-life I experienced that wasn't my own, I kept running. Waiting for some other metahuman threat to rear its ugly head and distract me from the frustration I was feeling.  And as fate would have it, I would not have to wait long.

Cisco: We're going to need a bigger Flash.

Barry: I just wanna catch this thing, man... have everything with Zoom and Earth 2 put behind us so we can just move on with our lives.
Diggle: You're starting to do that thing Oliver does, Barry. Carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Gotta stop that, man. It's gonna slow you down.

Cisco: You are not yourself, Caitlin. And it's freaking me out because you have this icy look in your eyes like you did over there.
Caitlin: Over there?
(Cisco makes a face as he realized what he just said)
Caitlin: You mean Earth 2?
Cisco: No. Uh... no. What I meant to say...was, um...
Caitlin: (advancing on Cisco) You met my doppleganger, didn't you?

Cisco: (forcing a laugh) What?! No!
Caitlin:(firmly) Cisco...

Cisco: Look, I'm not supposed to say anything.
Caitlin: Why not?

Cisco: Because I'm not supposed to say anything!
Caitlin: (firecely) Francisco Ramon, if you don't start talking - 

Cisco: Okay! Fine! Yes! I met your doppleganger! She's a cold-hearted ice queen named Killer Frost! A metahuman who enjoyed killing!  A lot. There! Great! Now Harry's going to kill me and throw my stuff across the room.
Caitlin: Cisco... I'm not a meta-human. 

Cisco: Okay, I hear you, but you're acting just like she did over there. You're being shut off. You're being detached. You're being cold...
Caitlin: Because I have to be right now! I just watched Jay get killed! Right in front of my eyes! Just when I was starting to feel normal again. Just when I was beginning to love! So, if I let myself feel? If I let all of that pain and anger out, it's never going to stop. And that's not gonna help me either. So let's just get back to this research and figure out how to find King Shark. 

Cisco: Okay.
 

Joe: I don't suppose my homeowner's insurance covers a Sharknado attack?
Wally: I don't understand you people. Jaws busts through your house like the Kool-Aid Man, The Flash shows up and ya'll just act like it's no big deal.
Iris: Yeah, well we've had a lot of weird thing happen in Central City over the past two years.
Wally: Weirder than a talking shark wearing pants?
Joe: Man, you'd be surprised.

(Barry tells Joe and Iris about how the Earth 2 Joe died)
Barry: I knew that it wasn't you. That none of that... was this life but... I mean, watching it happen in front of me. Living that? It didn't feel any different, because it was all still real! And Jay warned me not to get emotionally sucked in when I went there... and then that's exactly what happened. And now Joe West on Earth 2 is dead because I showed up.
Joe: Barry - that's not your fault.
Barry: Yeah, it is my fault. It's all my fault. Zoom? This King Shark? Jay's death? It's all because of me. And I just left an entire world at Zoom's mercy.

Cisco: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the suburbs, King Shark shows up at your house.

Diggle: Look, Barry - when I was in Afghanistan, I lost a lot of friends. Brothers. So losing Jay, I know what it feels like. You question yourself. Blame yourself for his death. And that guilt, it can tear you apart, but trust me, man - you gotta get control of it or it'll rip you up inside. Use this, man. Let it guide you. So it never happens again.

Barry: We're the ones who opened the door to Earth 2. We're the ones who brought Zoom here. But we are also the ones who are going to stop him.
Harry: How? How are we going to stop Zoom, Allen?
Barry: I don't know yet. But those breaches aren't closed forever. And we're not done with Earth 2. (Barry pulls the cover off of a glass case containing Jay Garrick's helmet) Jay's death was not in vain. We will meet Zoom again. And the next time, I will beat him. Whoever that monster is.

(The Masked Man on Earth 2 looks up as he hears a sonic boom.  Zoom enters the room, holding Jay Garrick's corpse, which he drops on the floor. The Masked Man begins to breathe more heavily, as Zoom pulls off his mask to reveal he looks like Jay Garrick!)
Zoom: Well, this is a complication...


Continuity

King Shark was last seen in 204.

In ARGUS code, a Code Seven is a security breach.

Amanda Waller spent the last two years monitoring metahumans, looking for "assets" that could be exploited - i.e. weaponized.

Barry refers to how Harry was able to track Grodd in 207 and asks him to work out a formula for predicting King Shark's movements.

Cisco designed the helmet for Diggle's costume.  Diggle confides that it could use some improvements, which Cisco agrees to tend to.

Wally is an aspiring engineer.

Reference is again made to Diggle feeling uncomfortable watching Barry run.

Cisco tells Caitlin about Killer Frost.

Barry tells Joe and Iris about their Earth 2 dopplegangers.

Barry refers to Zoom defeating him in both 206 and 213.

Joe is a slow reader.

Wally finally gets his car to where it can run on collected bacon grease.

Caitlin does not have the metagene.

Barry puts Jay Garrick's helmet in a glass case in the middle of the main lab at STAR Labs.

Zoom unmasks himself to reveal that he looks like Jay Garrick.


Location

A secret ARGUS facility in Star City.


Untelevised Adventures

ARGUS apparently captured King Shark after Harry Wells fought him in 204.


The Bottom Line

A wonderful episode and a good one to go out on before a month long break.