We all knew that, with the discovery of Earth-2, it was only a matter of time before that world’s Harrison Wells entered into the life of Barry and the gang. We’ve seen him along the peripheries for two episodes now but this week’s Flash puts this newest version of Harrison Wells the center of attention for Barry had his team…as well as a less than enthused Jay Garrick. But first…

Earth-2. Eight months ago, Wells addresses the public with his newest invention, the Metahuman Awareness App. Small and portable, this watch-like device can instantly detect the presence of a metahuman. The first example of this item’s success is when Earth-2’s Flash confronts Wells. There is some serious bad blood between the two, with Garrick accusing Wells of causing the metahuman outbreak. Wells fires back at Garrick’s inability to stop Zoom. Nothing is resolved and Flash speeds away, with Wells’ daughter checking up on her father…

And now, Barry introduces Wells to the group and is, surprisingly the voice of reason. Cisco and Caitlin are overly suspicious of Wells, despite his attempts to take responsibility for the creation of Zoom. When Caitlin expresses her loss at the hands of the original Wells (who, let’s be fair, wasn’t actually the original Wells), his reminds her that “everyone loses someone they care about, Snow. The real test of character is what you do once their gone.”

His wise words are interrupted with a gung-ho Joe comes in, shooting without bothering to ask questions. Barry pulls him aside and explains things to Joe who, in turn, fills Iris in on the newest Earth-2 visitor. He even gives Iris a gun, not wanting to take a chance with this newest variable.

Barry and Patty are quite possibly the perfect match

Speaking of new variables, Barry and Cisco run into Patty at Jitters and, once again, the Central City speedster is tongue-tied before his perfect match. Cisco suggests Barry stop being so hesitant. “You gotta be bold,” he tells Barry and lives by his word, asking out the cute new barista, only to get shot down. When he steps away…

–People are afraid, stuffing money in a bag. A woman in a strange custom. It’s a bank and…

Cisco snaps out of the vision and tells Barry about the robbery. Barry gets there and catches sight of the perpetrator but she gets away, avoiding confrontation.  Back at the lab, Wells identifies this newest meta as Dr. Light. She derives her powers from starlight, making her a potentially dangerous threat despite never being more than a small time thief on Earth-2. Wells believes this is their perfect chance to lure Zoom into a trap but Garrick disagrees, warning Barry that Zoom is too powerful and Wells is hiding something. Cisco does believe he can cook something up to track her but, in the meantime, everyone continues with their day jobs.

While Barry is overcoming the false starts and finally asks Patty on a date, Cisco and Wells have some one-on-one time where the latter makes Cisco understand that they don’t need to like each other but better learn to work together. Cisco also explains what the faux-Wells did to him and drops a bit of information regarding Barry’s time traveling breaks from last year. Soon after, Cisco directs Barry to Dr. Light’s newest location and, taking Jay’s advice, he tries talking to her. The tact seems as if it’s working until she removes her mask and—is none other than Linda Park. Barry slip of the tongue causes Dr. Light to panic and unleash her powers. The blaze of light blinds Barry and, even with his regenerative capabilities, will take a few hours to heal. This is bad on two fronts: one, someone needs to watch over the current Linda Park (a task Caitlin and Jay volunteer for) and two, Barry has a date.  Barry chats about the dilemma with Iris who points to Barry to Cisco for a tech solution.

The solution involves dark glasses with a remote camera and ear piece attached for Cisco to direct Barry through the meal. It’s quite the awkward and endearing interaction between possibly the quirkiest two people on the show. The date is fun and lighthearted but not without its serious moments, the biggest one of which is Patty telling Barry about drowning at 9. The trauma taught her how not to be afraid. “I think fear is what holds people back from being who they should be.” Even when she points out his blindness, the date goes swimmingly, even ending in a good night kiss. And then the bubble of content is broken when they get the calls—

Jay and Caitlin are parked outside the newspaper office and are bonding themselves. Jay shares the differences of his

Linda Park…meet Linda Park

Earth with her when the mood finds them coming together for a kiss…only to have Dr. Light flip their truck and enter the paper to take care of her doppleganger. She orders the entire staff out, focused on Linda but the new editor (Larkin) and Iris refuse to leave. Iris puts her father’s gun to use, shooting off Light’s mask but, in the chaos, the meta accidentally kills Larkin. The shock of what she does, drives her away. It’s not long before Joe, Barry, Patty and a host of others are at the scene. They give Linda a security detail while Barry vows not to allow Dr. Light to kill again.

Back at the lab, the gang is going over their failure with Wells reminding the group they “cannot reason with someone under Zoom’s influence.” The bickering between Wells and Garrick picks up even more but the former delivers the gut shot when he tells Earth-2’s former Flash that “Barry runs towards danger, not from it, because Barry’s not a coward.” The remark hits Jay hard and his calm boils over and the two fight for a few before Barry breaks it up. He puts everyone back on track though, reminding them they have to stop Light. When he mentions the mask, Wells lets the cat out of the bag regarding Cisco’s status as a meta. Cisco tries using his powers to find Dr. Light but isn’t able to tap into it until Wells pushes him. He catches sight of her location; she’s trying to get out of town. Barry confronts her and—using the advice and encouragement from both Wells and Jay, is able to stop Light.

With Light in their custody, Barry believes that Wells has the right idea to use Dr. Light to lure Zoom into a trap. Jay is dead set against it, once again accusing Wells of having his own agenda before walking away from the group, refusing to help.

Behold, Zoom!

Getting a break from the chaos of the day, Cisco, Barry and Caitlin partake in their routine Jitters stop where Cisco not only gets a date with Kendra Saunders, the new barista, but he also gets his metahuman name…Vibe.

And on Earth-2, Zoom approaches his prisoner. “Your father has abandoned you,” he says and it’s none other than the daughter of Harrison Wells.

Flash Facts

This episode establishes so many aspects for the show and character’s story arcs. The most important of which are:

  • The secret’s out. Thanks to a very different Harrison Wells than we’re used to, Cisco’s no longer hiding his hidden abilities. The doubts he secretly harbored about becoming an agent of evil can be put to rest as Barry and the others are firmly in his corner. Hell, he even has his own codename now—Vibe.
  • Speaking of code names, we finally got to meet Kendra Saunders. If she seems familiar, we caught a glimpse of her in last year’s finale as the singularity threatened the city. How much of her Hawkgirl alter ego will we see in the next few episodes may be up in the air but will she be to Cisco what Patty is to Barry? Well, only time will tell.
  • I was not sure how this new Harrison Wells would fit into things but I must say, I love this new personality. He’s just as smart but even more demanding and, better, how about the snark! His response to Joe on his state of alive-ness (“I don’t know, because you missed”) was brazen and utterly classic. As is his musical tastes (who doesn’t love a bit of Linda Ronstadt). More importantly, he offers a very divisive but necessary dynamic to the team, pushing those around him to be better, to do more. Sure, he has his own agenda but it doesn’t negate the necessity of his force of character.
  • And on a quick aside, what the hell is wrong with Joe? He just pops in and starts firing willy nilly like that?! Then he tells Iris “You can’t murder someone that everyone thinks is dead”?? Que dices?! Granted, the original ‘Wells’ was a monster but, as a cop, couldn’t he have examined the demeanor of everyone in the room and realized they weren’t in a heightened state of distress? Bad move, Joe, bad move.