If the second season premiere of The CW’s The Flash showed us the crew being moved out onto the launch pads, last night’s episode showed them blasting off into orbit. In the interest of full disclosure, I really enjoyed last week’s The Man Who Saved Central City. I thought that it gave us a great look into the life of the cast of characters that we grew to love last week, while wrapping up enough loose ends for us to move forward.
As comic fans, we all want to see the storylines that we love come to life without crossing over too far into the realm of camp. Last night’s episode, The Flash of Two Worlds, pulled this off perfectly. As a matter of fact, I’m going to go ahead and say that if you didn’t find a lot to enjoy during last night’s episode, then you’re either too picky, or the show just isn’t for you.
This episode saw Barry continue to recover from the shell shock that Harrison Wells / Reverse Flash inflicted on him last year, albeit with help from Jay Garrick. Teddy Sears executed the role perfectly. Not only did he come off with the swagger and lingo of someone who was “penned” in the 1940’s, but he was able to slide into the pseudo-mentor role perfectly. He also rocked the helmet and jacket, which was nice to see. The last thing I wanted was a “modernized” Jay Garrick costume. His look and demeanor made sense when you saw his version of Earth, complete with a mid-century modern aesthetics and retro color schemes.
He may not have grayed temples, but he is older, more experienced, and willing to help others. The only thing that he doesn’t have are his powers, which hopefully isn’t a permanent thing. Am I the only one who hopes that he sits in Harrison Wells’ chair and charges up for a bit?
It was fantastic to see them work as a team after Barry had time to work through his initial apprehension. From training in that warehouse setting to taking on Sand Demon, it was a moment many of us have wanted to see since the show first announced that they’d be bringing in Jay Garrick. And the fact that they actually were able to incorporate a tribute to the original Flash of Two Worlds cover as they rushed to help Patty Spivot was genius.
What made the episode work so well was the chemistry between Grant Gustin and Teddy Sears. Without a doubt, they made this episode, and in the course, the answered the dreams of a lot of Flash fanboys across the country. However, as good as these two were, we cannot ignore just how awesome the other characters were!
Iris West seems to have moved away from being the object of Barry Allen’s affection. When people complained about her character last year, it wasn’t due to the fact that actress Candice Patton couldn’t act. People just wanted her to be and do more. Thankfully, our prayers have been answered. She has taken on more of a traditional best friend role. Every superhero needs a weather vane, and I’m hoping that Iris fills this role for Barry long term.
Cisco discovering his powers was also intriguing to watch. With Dr. Wells gone, it is up to Dr. Martin Stein to fill that mentoring role for the young scientist, at least until he goes off to join Legends of Tomorrow. The two share a large amount of chemistry, and are always good for a few funny moments. And speaking of funny, how awesome was it to see Caitlin Snow take on the role of comic relief again? Drooling over Jay Garrick was one thing, but the joke about the full body scan had me roaring.
It will be interesting to see if Patty and Barry enter into a similar relationship that they did in the New 52. The two clearly have similar personalities. In fact, Patty seems to be more in line with Barry’s quirkiness than even Felicity Smoak. She also has a great motivation for wanting to join Joe West’s Metahuman task force. Not only was it a great callback to the Mardon’s (Let’s not forget that Weather Wizard is still out there!), but it also quickly removed her from the list of people who are there just “for the hell of it.” She wasn’t just written into the show to be another love interest for Barry. She has a genuine motivation for wanting to take on dangerous rogues.
All in all, I thought it was one of the best episodes of The Flash. There was action, suspense, and our first good look at Zoom. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Tony Todd would be perfect as the voice for this super villain. Oh yeah, totally called it! (I know the rest of the internet said it would be awesome too, but just let me have this folks…just this once!)
Moving forward from here, there are a few things that we need to see. First off, we need more of Jay Garrick. This is still Barry Allen’s show, but there’s no reason to show Jay onto the back burner so soon, especially if the muiltiverse is going to be a thing throughout the season.
We need Zoom to show his masked face to Barry and the gang sometime soon. With Garrick, Allen, and the rest of the S.T.A.R. Labs team working together, almost any undercard villain will be fairly easy to defeat. We’ll of course see the return of favorites like Captain Cold (coming next week!) and Golden Glider, but it’s going to take a lot to up the ante from last season. Reverse-Flash was a terrifying villain, and Tom Cavanagh played him flawlessly.
Whether or not Harrison Wells is a good guy or not on Earth 2 remains to be seen, but that’s next on the list. Making him evil in two worlds would be fun, but it would be an even better twist if he returned to his role as mentor and adviser. Well, it’d be fun for us. Not for Barry.
The best thing of all is that the show kept what made it special. We got comic-inspired goodies, insider imagery, and real world consequences all wrapped up in a fun little package. Some may think that it’s too early to tell if The Flash will suffer from a second season jinx, but I doubt it. Too much is going well for me to write this favorite off. We still have to wait and see whether or not Joe’s estranged wife will bring Wally West into the picture or not!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go sit in front of a clock and wait until next Tuesday!
