‘I get these vibes…’ Subtle, guys.
[dropcap size=small]E[/dropcap]pisode two of The Flash picks up right where episode one left off, with the very first Flash, Jay Garrick, explaining why he has broken into S.T.A.R. Labs. Now, when he declares himself a speedster from a parallel universe, Barry is put off because of the whole other speedster from a parallel universe thing that happened.
Barry locks Jay (who lost his powers when he was sucked through the wormhole because science) in a holding cell to have a good think, but the rest of the team is entirely happy that Jay is not Harrison Wells. Caitlin is maybe a little too happy, conducting a wholly unnecessary full-body scan on Jay because he has abs and she’s over Ronnie now.
She concludes that Jay has the genetics of a speedster, though there are no signs that he ever had the speed force, which is completely unhelpful, and so Barry leaves to put a fire out on his own.
Barry uses his wind turbine arms to put out the fire, but he doesn’t know what to do about the metahuman in the room. Sand Demon (named by Jay and approved by Cisco) is the second villain in two weeks to cross timelines and try to kill Barry for Zoom, and he’s pretty much what you’d imagine. There’s sand.
Barry returns to S.T.A.R. where Jay tells Barry that he has fought Sand Demon before, and knows how to defeat him. Barry still isn’t sure, but following a pep talk from ‘best friend’ Iris and some SCIENCE from Stein, he accepts, and it’s a good job he does, because now there are lives on the line.
Enter Patty Spivot, a lab assistant and love interest to Barry in the comics. She even became a Flash herself in one storyline. This is a different Patty Spivot though. Rather than joining Barry in his lab work (although they do talk and joke about forensic work and it’s sickeningly cute), Patty wants to join Joe’s metahuman task force, but he’s having none of it because his partners die all the time.
She proves herself by catching the Sand Demon, or at least, Eddie Slick, who is just Eddie Slick on this Earth. Slick is freed, but then Earth 2 Slick turns up and knocks Joe out with some sand. He captures Patty, knowing that the Flash will come to her rescue.
Cisco uses his ‘vibes’ to determine their location, and Cisco, of all people, doesn’t want anyone to know he’s a metahuman. Stein figures it out (science), but he swears to keep Cisco’s abilities a secret until he knows more about what he can do.
Meanwhile, Flash helps Flash become Thor. Jay teaches Barry how to shoot lightning at super speed, because lightning + sand = Glass Demon, and it’s a welcome new move for Barry. There’s only so many times he can use the turbine arms.
Cisco tells them all about where Sand Demon is keeping Spivot, and neither of them question how he knows so much, and Barry’s idea to send Jay in as a distraction leads to the return of Jay’s helmet. The epic music blares as Jay suits up, and we’re all left to wonder: how the sh*t does that hat stay on at super speed?
Anyway, Slick works out that Jay has lost his speed and pummels him for a bit, when Barry swoops in and saves Patty. Jay and Patty are injured, and Barry’s only option is the lightning strike. It shatters Sand Demon immediately (because Barry legit kills people now) and that’s the end of another of Zoom’s villains (seriously, why doesn’t he just face Barry himself if he’s so powerful?)
Patty still wants to work with Joe. She tells him how her father was killed by Weather Wizard (before he was Weather Wizard), and that she wants to make a difference. Joe agrees, and just as he’s dealt with one problem, another one comes along in the shape of Iris’s mother.
Stein is just in the middle of explaining that there are 52 portals between this world and Zoom’s, and then he collapses on the floor of S.T.A.R. Labs because there’s only so much science you can do in a week.
And even after he died, Harrison Wells is still stealing the post-credit scenes. Earth 2 Wells is wheelchair-less and still running S.T.A.R. Labs. Especially with Stein out of the picture, the real Harrison Wells is Barry’s best shot at figuring out how to stop Zoom and his pals cross dimensions. How he will be introduced back into the fold will be fascinating.
Now, on to some theories.
Who is Zoom? Well, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be an evil, Earth 2 version of someone we already know. I’ve always thought it was Eddie, and I stand by that, but let’s look at the contenders. Tom Cavanagh plays a great villain, but would they really go that route with Wells again? Could it be Barry? Evil, Earth 2 Barry vs. gentle, Earth 1 Barry is a fight I would watch.
I think Cisco is a strong candidate after this episode. Cisco has a bad feeling about his ‘vibes’, especially since Wells/Thawne took credit for them in last season’s finale. His ability to see into other dimensions mirrors Zoom’s knowledge of Barry’s existence. He doesn’t strike me as a villain, but this show loves to take a risk.
So, Stein is one half of Firestorm in Legends of Tomorrow, right? So he’s fine. My guess is that he collapsed because his body is struggling to cope without the Firestorm fuse, which will lead Stein into recreating the Firestorm gene and installing it into someone else in time for Legends. Boom. New Firestorm.
Last, Barry and Patty. The two of them had more chemistry in this one episode than Barry and Iris have had since the show began. It’s way too early to know anything for sure, but should we be looking at Patty as a genuine threat to Barry and Iris?
Look at Arrow; Ollie/Green Arrow and Laurel/Black Canary have always been a thing in the comics, but that will never happen in the show because the writers rely too heavily on the Olicity ‘shippers’. I’m just saying, don’t just take it as fact that Barry and Iris will end up together. #batty
The Flash returns to The CW next Tuesday.
