Mayhem. Carnage.
Central City is being torn apart by Zoom’s meta-army. This ‘metapocalypse’—thank you, Iris, for the terrible name—is a perfect test for Barry Allen and his returned to the land of the powered. But ever since his interaction with the Speed Force, Barry’s been a bit too sure of himself. It’s a direct contrast to the just returned Caitlin, who exudes fear and hopelessness. Barry tries to transfer his hope to the group, but they only see an overconfidence about him, almost as if he feels invincible.
While the gang frets over Barry’s new outlook, there are still metas out there. Next to Zoom, it seems the most powerful of them can take down buildings with a single scream. It just so happens that Mercury Labs is her target. As the building comes crashing down, Barry rushes in, saving Dr. Tina McGee, who just so happens to know the Flash’s true identity. Since, she’s privy to the news, Barry brings her back to STAR labs, where she meets the crew—including Harry—and shares with them the building’s “black box”, that would help explain what just happened.
In the middle of it all, Wally’s playing the role of hero and, after Joe saves him from being immolated by an Earth-2 meta, the two have the standard father/son “you’ll get yourself killed/I have to do what I can to help” back and forth. Turns out, Wally feels guilty for so many things and has “a whole lot to make up for. That’s what I intend to do.”
Wally’s not the only one feeling the after-effects of the last few weeks. Jesse’s worried about turning into a meta and Caitlin’s seeing Zoom all over the place. But let’s focus on Barry for now. After he returns with the Mercury Labs black box, Henry stops his son and chat about Barry’s new attitude. “When I was in the Speed Force,” he says, “it didn’t just change my mind. It changed me…for the first time, I’m not afraid anymore.” Henry’s words of caution don’t go over too well with Barry but they never really finish the talk as Barry heads to CCPD after Zoom calls him out. The two talk it out, with Zoom again hitting on the fact that he and Barry “are really just the same person.” The only difference is Barry never had to watch a parent die in front of him. It’s that and Zoom’s assertion that Barry “always [has] to be the hero” that will be the scarlet speedster’s downfall.
So where do they go from here? During the mandatory ‘how do we stop Zoom and his henchmen’ powwow,
Barry comes up with a fantastic idea revolving around the fact that Earth-2 inhabitants vibrate at a different frequency. The gang splits into groups to work on the device while the Flash, at Joe’s behest, searches out Wally to talk with him about the whole hero thing. Wally stands his ground though and soon after proves his worth when he saves the Flash from the beat down being administered to him by Black Siren, aka Earth-2’s Laurel Lance.
As Barry’s recovering from Black Siren’s ear-splitting scream, Iris takes the time to point out his lack of invincibility, harping on his seeming disregard for fear. It’s okay to fear, she tells him, as it helps us judge the worthy risk from the foolish one. It’s a sentiment she believes Barry and Wally need to take to heart.
But back to the meat-and-potatoes of the action. Cisco, Harry and the others have the vibrational antenna ready for use; all it needs is Barry to circle the city fast enough for it to create a shockwave all Earth-2 travelers will feel and render them unconscious. Even Zoom. But when Black Siren begins to take down a highly populated high rise, the choice becomes: save the few or the many? Fortunately, Cisco has a genius, yet incredibly dangerous plan…he and Caitlin approach Laurel dressed as their Earth-2 metahuman dopplegangers, with a proposition: join them in the fight against Zoom and she could be a god. It seems to be working until she outs the pair are the Earth-1 originals and moves in for the kill. Cisco’s able to pop her with a Reverb-wave but it’s not enough. Black Siren moves in for the kill and…
With the antenna in position, Barry jaunts around the city until the shockwave spreads through the city, taking out every Earth-2 meta, except for Zoom. The slippery blue lightning bastard escapes through a breach, not afraid to fight another day.
So—everything’s peachy keen for now. Caitlin’s on her way to recovery, Barry suggests that Joe allow Wally to become the “hero that he’s gonna become”, Barry makes the decision to give this thing with Iris a shot and maybe, just maybe, Henry Allen has found his own love interest in Tina McGee.
“To family,” is the toast…and the intermittent vibes Cisco was having coalesce into a disturbing truth: the complete destruction of Earth-2.If that wasn’t enough, Zoom returns, snatching Henry Allen in front of the group; Barry gives chase and they end up at the old Allen home. Zoom wants Barry to share a tragic truth with him…watching a parent die before his eyes. Before Barry can move, Zoom pushes his arm through Henry’s chest and Barry screams as we fade to black…
Flash Facts
- Wasted potential. When I think of “Invincible” and it’s admittedly cool aspects, there were also a few things missed. The ‘metapocalypse’, while serving up some cool visuals, was pretty insignificant. This could’ve been a good plot line several episodes ago but to have Barry take the entire army down in one episode was a bit cheap and extremely disappointing.
- But then there was the Black Siren. It was great to see Katie Cassidy, aka Laurel Lance show up as her bad self. And her powers—whoa—talk about upping it by a magnitude of ten. She may have survived “Invincible” but we still have the finale next week. Here’s hoping they do the right thing and keep her amongst the living. Who knows, maybe she’ll turn in her black hat card next year and fight the good fight…
- Smaller snippets of cool includes the evolution of Cisco’s powers, Wally already comfortable in displaying the mandatory “it’s all my fault” hero’s guilt, and Jesse’s paranoia about becoming a meta. I’ve mentioned it before but it looks like Season 3 is shaping up to be a party of the newly powered. Add to the fact that Supergirl will be on the CW next year and the possibilities are endless.
- Finally, it was a pretty cool Easter Egg for us fans of the original Flash with John Wesley Shipp to watch the brewing dynamics between Henry and Tina McGee. Sadly, they won’t get to exploring that particular possibility branch as Henry Allen bit the big one…
