The Flash Recap: “Meta-pocalypse”

Barry’s back, he’s got super speed, and a new ‘walking-on-sunshine’ attitude. Which is disturbing because the entire city is under attack from Zoom’s Meta-human army, and things are looking pretty grim. Team Flash is concerned because Barry is woefully overconfident, and he has no real reason to be. There is no proof that The Flash can actually beat Zoom, or his hoard of evil minions. But Barry believes that the speed force is on his side, so he’s feeling invincible. And though the speed force did appear to favor good over evil, in Barry’s surreal vision, it didn’t indicate that it would intervene, or that Barry’s life would be trouble-free. In fact, the speed force spoke about tragedy coming Barry’s way that even the Flash can’t outrun. And by the end of this episode, a tragedy does occur that could change Barry forever.

But this episode had a few tragic moments. While Barry is able to take down a number of the lesser meta-humans, a new player arrives from Earth-2, and her appearance wipes that goofy smile right off his face. It’s The Black Siren, the dark version of Laurel Lance, The Black Canary. And in case you don’t watch Arrow, Laurel was recently killed, and Barry went to the funeral. So seeing this version of her definitely throws The Flash off his game. And Black Siren’s sonic scream almost takes Barry out. But Luckily he’s saved by Wally West, who slides his car into Black Siren, shutting her up. Then The Flash hops in the car and is whisked away, just in the nick of time. You see, Wally’s been feeling guilty about a few of his life choices, and wants to atone by helping in the “Meta-pocalypse” crisis. That’s the name the news media gives to Zoom’s recent attacks.

It’s not all bad news though. For any fans of the original 1990’s Flash series, they give us a treat. We get to see Tina McGee and Henry Allen meet for the first time. Back in the 90’s version of The Flash, McGee and Allen worked together and had chemistry when he was The Flash. In that series, she worked at Star Labs, and she was his Superhero support. Tina McGee was like Cisco and Caitlin combined. So flash forward to this episode, and we see Barry rescue McGee when Black Siren topples Mercury Labs. And guess what? She’s figured out he’s Barry Allen. After all, she is supposed to be a genius. So Barry takes her back to Star Labs, and that’s where she meets Henry. And just like in the 90’s show, sparks fly. And another positive thing happens, Caitlin’s back! She’s a little worse for ware, but she’s on the mend, even though she can’t shake her paranoia about Zoom coming for her. But that’s understandable after everything she’s been through. While Zoom was busy with his meta-army, Caitlin just left. He told her she could. But he warned that things wouldn’t go well for her, or team Flash, if she did leave. So maybe her paranoia is justified.

Jesse gets tested, thinking she might be a meta-human after surviving the explosion and coma, but alas, she’ not. And Wally West isn’t a super speedster either, so Barry’s got no backup. That’s when Cisco and Wells come up with a plan. Since residents of Earth-2 vibrate on a different frequency than residents of this Earth, they come up with a method to use that against them. By setting off a pulse from Star Labs, with an assist from The Flash, they can send out a vibration that will incapacitate Zoom and his Earth-2 meta-army. It’s a good plan. But while they set it up, someone’s got to stop Black Siren from knocking down occupied buildings. That’s where Caitlin and Cisco come in. They dress up as Killer Frost and Reverb and trick Black Siren into believing that they’ve come to recruit her. They claim they can take down Zoom, and that the three of them can take his place as Top Dog. But after a while Black Siren sees through the ruse and goes after Cisco and Caitlin. Then out of some kind of defensive instinct, Cisco is able to trigger a vibration pulse that almost takes Black Siren down. But he can’t control it, becoming a one shot wonder. Luckily Barry and the rest of the team are able to send out there own anti-Earth-2 vibration, as planned. And it knocks out Black Siren and the rest of the meta-army. But Zoom opens a portal and escapes, heading back to Earth-2.

The Flash rounds up the unconscious army and turns most of them over to the police. But the more dangerous Meta-humans are put back in the pipeline prison at Star Labs. Black Siren is one of the Star Labs inmates. And something tells me that we’ll probably be seeing her again. They entertain the idea of telling team Arrow that they have her, since she is Laurel’s doppelganger, but they decide against it. Then they all meet at Joe’s house to share a meal and celebrate their victory. Tina and Henry get all flirty, and Iris and Barry decide to move forward with their relationship. So for the moment, all is well again. But wait, Cisco has a vibe that Earth-2 is collapsing. Is he seeing the end of that world? I hope not. Gorilla Grodd is there and I want to see him again.

In last week’s recap I mentioned that having two doctors on Team Flash was a redundancy. So this is where they resolve that issue. Zoom zips in and grabs Henry, to everyone’s shock and horror. Then he speeds off, with Barry super speeding after him, right in front of Wally. So now Wally knows the family secret. Zoom races back to Barry’s old family home, where his Mother died. Zoom thinks he and Barry are the same. And to prove it, he kills Henry, despite Barry’s pleas. But Henry is able to affirm his love for Barry and tells him how proud he is of him, just before Zoom sticks his arm through Henry’s chest. It’s devastating! But is Zoom right? After this new tragedy, will Barry become like Zoom? STAY TUNED!!!

SIDE NOTE: This was a very powerful episode. And I’m glad Wally finally knows the truth. Everybody BUT him knew the secret… And is Henry really gone?! Does he have a doppelganger on Earth-2? And is Earth-2 Henry in an iron mask in Zoom’s Lair? And is he a speedster? Seeing the old Flash return would be cool. Just a theory.