Aquaman, Killer Frost, Vibe, Dr. Light, Hawkgirl AND Jesse Quick? Is it Easter already?
[dropcap size=small]O[/dropcap]n this week’s The Flash, Cisco is outed, Barry goes on a literal blind date and Wells is back in town. Except it’s a different Wells (are we supposed to call him Harry, too? I’m not gonna do that). Whatever his name is, it’s good to see mysterious Tom Cavanagh back at S.T.A.R. Labs.
In the opening scene, Wells is just showing off his new metahuman detectors on Earth 2, when good guy Jay Garrick rushes in to basically say what Cisco later confirms: ‘you’re just a dick.’ Eight months later, Wells travels through the portal to find Barry Allen, who he deems the only Flash capable of stopping Zoom.
Initially, we are led to believe that Wells seeks Barry’s help because he feels guilty for ‘creating’ Zoom with science and that, but as we later learn, he has an ulterior motive. He wouldn’t be any version of Wells if we knew anything about which side he is on. Wells’s Earth 2 daughter has been kidnapped by Zoom, so I guess he needs a speedster to stop Zoom and free his daughter.
The thing is, Wells’s daughter may well be a speedster herself. Her name is Jesse Quick, and she’s a speedster from DC’s Golden Age, where Jay Garrick’s story also happens to have originated. Whether this is the same Jesse Quick from the comics, we don’t know, but the fact that she’s trapped in a cage suggests that even if it is, Zoom might have taken her speed too.
Back on Earth 1, Wells’s less-than-warm-welcome is interrupted by this week’s metahuman. Dr. Light, named by Jay back on Earth 2 (seriously, when was the last time Cisco named a meta? He doesn’t even get to name himself), is the first time we’ve seen the evil half of a character we know from Earth 1, and given that we still don’t know who Zoom is (still think it’s Eddie), I think they might be preparing us for a big reveal.
Anyway, Dr. Light is Linda Park, and upon Jay’s advice, Barry tries to reason with her (because he has literally murdered the last few metas without thought). For all his efforts, Barry ends up temporarily blind (should probably just stick to straight up killing these guys), which leads to the most awkward scene this show has ever done. And that’s saying something.
Earlier in the episode, after watching Cisco’s poor attempt to get Hawkgirl’s number (oh right, Hawkgirl works at Jitters now because of course she does), Barry finally asks Patty out, and not wanting to cancel, he wears an earpiece and lets Cisco guide him through his date. Pretty quickly, Patty works out that Barry can’t see because she’s not the worst detective ever, but we get some laugh out loud moments beforehand.
It’s very easy to make someone walking in to something completely unfunny, but Grant Gustin is at his best in Barry’s more awkward moments, and an actual blind person could tell how good he and Shantel VanSanten are together. Iris actually convinces Barry to go on the date in the first place, so is Barry/Patty potentially long term? I hope so.
Meanwhile, Jay and Caitlin figure that Earth 2 Linda is going after Earth 1 Linda, and they sit outside the CCNP waiting for something to happen. Before it does, Caitlin asks Jay about the differences between the two Earths just so Jay can tell everyone that he’s best friends with Aquaman.
Dr. Light eventually arrives and takes them out pretty easily (I don’t know how they thought it would go). Iris stops her from killing Linda because she has a gun now, but evil Linda does kill one dude, and it turns out killing people isn’t really her thing.
She goes into hiding, and Wells knows, because of his meta detector, that Cisco has the ability to find her. As expected, the team is supportive when they learn of his secret.
‘I don’t think that any of us would become evil if we all of a sudden got powers,’ are Caitlin’s words of support, which is funny because that’s what’s going to happen to her/has already happened to her, depending on whether our Caitlin is going to become Killer Frost, or Earth 2 Caitlin has already become Killer Frost.
Cisco eventually finds Dr. Light at a train station, and Barry sets off. It turns out Dr. Light’s aim is pretty solid, so Barry uses double team to increase his evasiveness. Dr. Light becomes confused, and Barry ends things with a thunder punch.
Things are looking pretty good for Cisco – or ‘Vibe’ – right now. He has a cool meta name (given to him by Barry), and he does eventually get Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl’s number. Something tells me that’s a relationship that won’t last. And that something is Legends of Tomorrow.
It’s all out attack in next week’s ‘Enter Zoom’, but Barry will have to do it without Jay. The Crimson Comet won’t stand by and watch Barry die, so he goes back to his own timeline. Where Zoom is. Makes sense.
The Flash returns to The CW next Tuesday.
