So what’s a world where a decorated police captain is a Capone-like smooth criminal, an assassin who doesn’t miss is now a cop that can’t hit water from a boat, and Barry’s greatest motivation for becoming his heroic self is alive and well?
Welcome to Earth-2, ladies and gentlemen.
After closing all but the single biggest and brightest of breaches on Earth-1, Barry, Cisco and Harry prep for their trip through the wormhole. Before heading to the other side though, Barry has a final dinner with his family where Iris voices her concern that Barry’s not jumping ship because he doesn’t have anything left on his world. “I know what I have here,” he tells her. “I love my life…I’m not trying to escape. “
Preparations made, the trio travels through the speed cannon and several visual Easter Eggs before setting down on Earth-2. A world with a golden hue, Earth-2 is both more advanced than Barry and Cisco’s world but with a distinctly old school style, from the cars, the dress, and various everyday items. The duo behaves like tourists on another world and Harry has to remind them they are here to do a job. Said job is complicated when Cisco’s vibe goggles don’t work due to the frequency between goggles and Earth-2 is out of line. Barry decides on the fly of a new plan: he kidnaps Barry-2, ready to take his doppleganger’s place (even Barry-2 became a CSI) to find out what the CCPD knows about Zoom.
His visit to the precinct is quite jarring when he sees Captain Singh as a gangster, Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot as a cop, partnered with Iris West. Even more startling is that Barry-2 and Iris-2 are man and wife. Even after a bit of unexpected PDA from Iris-2, Barry gets the biggest news when the two of them get home and she gives him the message that his mom called. It’s a heart-rending moment, one where Grant Gustin shines as he gets to talk to Nora Allen but it doesn’t last as Barry hangs up, realizing it may be the final time he ever gets to speak to his mother.
Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Joe, Kaitlin, and Jay have to not only figure out how to stabilize the wormhole to bring Cisco and Barry home but they have a new meta problem as well. Adam Fells, better known as Geomancer, is an earthquake causing havoc looking to call out the Flash. With Barry gone, Jay must take the mantle of Flash which means he has to take another injection of Velocity-6. Things work out okay—Joe and Jay combine to drive Fells back into hiding—but the revelation that V-6 and not Zoom is responsible for both Jay’s lost speed and his dying cells is a revelation whose fruits will be bared in the future.
Speaking of revelations, Barry and Iris-2 hit Jitters to find Joe-2 (or Joseph) doing his thing on the mic. Turns out he’s a great singer…and not a fan of Barry, blaming his son-in-law for Iris-2 being in Zoom’s line of fire. His words are nearly prophetic when Kaitlin-2, AKA Killer Frost and her beau Deathstorm (Ronnie Raymond-2) barge in, searching for the breacher. Barry gets them out of Jitters but not before Deathstorm hits Joe-2 with a serious ball of heat and hate. After they get Joe-2 to the hospital, Barry fills Cisco and Harry in on the situation. Harry tries reminding Barry just how important their mission is but he reminds the Earth-2 Wells that he’s going to be there for Joe and Iris because “no matter what universe I am in, they are my family.”
That family is down one member as Joe-2, with Iris-2 holding his hands, dies quite anticlimactically. His death drives Iris-2 to track down Frost and Deathstorm. She brings Lawton-2 for backup while Barry drafts Cisco and a device to neutralize the meta-pair’s abilities. So the five face off and when Cisco moves to the forefront, the biggest surprise steps from the shadows: Reverb, the meta who Frost and ‘Storm report to.
You know him as Cisco. Cisco Ramon-2, that is. When he steps up to his Earth-1 counterpart, Cisco-2 says “you don’t even know how powerful you are,” and his words are backed up when a single threat from him cowers Killer Frost’s bluster. He continues on, offering Cisco the chance to rule with him. “Are you Cloud City Vadering me right now?” the original Cisco asks before calling in Barry.
Though Iris-2 does neutralize Killer Frost, Barry takes on Deathstorm and Reverb with spectacularly bad results for our hero. He’s only saved when Zoom arrives, killing both Deathstorm and Reverb for disobeying his orders to leave any speedster unharmed. He then takes Barry, placing him in a room where both a masked stranger and Jesse are also held. Barry tries comforting Jesse but Zoom promises him “this is the last place you’ll ever see.”
Flash Facts
- Once again, Flash brings the thunder to the party. Strong episode all-around as we got to see more than just a glimpse of Earth-2. Though differences in some of our Flash characters was also a sight to behold, as a viewer as well as for Barry. The trio of Frost, Deathstorm, and Reaver were the best of the bunch, though the episode conclusion did a bit of a disservice to two of the three. Still, there is so much more to explore and discover in this new world.
- Speaking of new worlds, how about the Easter Eggs glimpsed in the journey through the speed cannon!? We see the Arrow (is that Richard Queen’s version?), the current Supergirl (hinting at the recently confirmed crossover) and John Wesley Shipp’s Flash. We know for a fact one of the three will be seen on television but is the quick peek at the 90’s Flash just a tidbit or is it much, much more than that?
- The episode was not perfect, however. Though we also got an interesting reveal in regards to Jay Garrick’s condition and Kaitlin working on Velocity-7, the earlier mentioned disservice at killing off Cisco-2 and Deathstorm wasted some serious potential. Sure, Robbie Amell may not have been able to guest star again, but how much could they have done with Cisco-2? In addition, if he ‘vibed’ everything Earth-1’s Cisco did before coming through the portal, don’t we think he’d be one to ‘vibe’ Zoom’s involvement in the final stand-off or his possible fate? Yeah, one as powerful as he would not go down so quickly, even to a monster like Zoom. Still, it was fun while it lasted…
