I love The Flash, because Barry always charges in feet first, regardless of the consequences. Barry wants to open a breech to Earth 2 so he can defeat Zoom. Barry’s faster now, because of the tachyon device he got courtesy of his visit to the past. He’s four times faster than he was before. In fact, when he tests himself by running from Keystone City to Central City, he runs so fast that he disappears through a dimensional portal before returning to Star Labs.
(*That was supposedly the moment he jumped to Supergirl’s Earth. But they can’t mention that or this story wouldn’t make sense. Because on ‘Supergirl’ Barry says that he can jump to alternate Earth’s by running fast. But in this episode, they need to open a breech to access the multi-verse. Running fast isn’t an option. And that’s a contradiction they don’t want to explain.)
ANYWAY, back to my point. You’d think that Barry would be better prepared before even considering facing Zoom again. Given that Zoom has beaten him to embarrassment every time they’ve clashed. But once again, Barry doesn’t listen and charges ahead, and Zoom comes out on top. And this time, he does take Barry’s speed. Oops! Never underestimate your enemy Barry.
During the course of the episode we learn Zoom’s backstory. As a child, his abusive father killed his mother right in front of him. His name is Hunter Zoloman, and after that tragic event, he was placed in an orphanage. And little Hunter was so traumatized he never really recovered; he grew up to be a serial killer. Hunter killed 24 people before he was caught. And they were giving him electro-shock therapy when Earth 2’s particle accelerator blew up, and that’s how he got his powers. And he became the hero known as The Flash to inspire hope, just so he can take it away as Zoom. Playing hero was just a sadistic game to him. There was no Jay Garrick, sorry Caitlin.
Barry thinks he’s ready to fight Zoom, now that he’s faster. But Harry Wells doesn’t think so, and tries to tell him that facing Zoom is too big a risk. But Barry is willing to take that risk, even though he could potentially be putting all their lives in danger. But all the breeches are closed, so there isn’t a way to get to Zoom. (*Remember the contradiction I explained earlier) So Barry asks Cisco to try and open a breech, because Cisco’s counterpart on Earth 2, REVERB, had the ability. At first Cisco is hesitant, because he doesn’t want that power to corrupt him. Reverb was a villain. But Barry convinces him to push past that fear and give it a go. So Cisco opens a breech, using his vibe power, and out pops Zoom.
Zoom chases Barry all around Central City, eventually leading him into a trap at Star Labs. The trap works, momentarily, until Zoom calls on ‘the darkness’ and escapes. The darkness thing isn’t explained, but his eyes go black and it apparently boosts his speed. It could be an ability that no one knew he had, or it could be his inner darkness. Hopefully they’ll elaborate in part two of this episode. Yes it is a two-part episode, so there will be no resolution this week. Zoom speeds off and kidnaps Wally West. Joe and Iris were safely locked away in a Star Labs speed-proof room. But somehow the neglected to insure Wally was out of harm’s way. He was back at the house. The same house Zoom has been to before as Jay Garrick. So now Barry has to give up his speed to save Wally.
It’s curious though. When Wally asks Zoom why he’s being held prisoner, he doesn’t give up Barry’s secret identity. Why? And why take Wally all the way back to his evil lair on Earth 2, just to bring him back to make the trade? That seems like an awful lot of unnecessary running. But Barry makes the trade and allows Wells to siphon off his speed. And when asked about the Jay Garrick that was killed, Zoom explains that he killed a version of himself that he got from the past. But wait! Wouldn’t the Zoom of the present die too if he killed his past self? I hope they explain that next week too.
Zoom injects himself with Barry’s speed, and gets one heck of a rush. Then he turns on the Barry and almost kills him. But Caitlin begs him to stop, appealing to any scrap of humanity he may have left. And Zoom listens, because Caitlin’s plea triggers a memory of his mother. He releases Barry. But then Zoom speeds off with Caitlin! STAY TUNED!!!
SIDE NOTE: There were a lot of nice moments in the story between Barry and Joe, Wally and Joe, and Caitlin and Iris. And these moments give the show its heart. And for all you Barry+Iris fans: Iris spoke to Caitlin about potentially exploring relationship possibilities with Barry. She decided to forgo her date with her hot new boss, because of those possibilities. So keep your fingers crossed…
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GOTHAM RECAP: “Pinewood”
