Season Two, Episode Fourteen — “Escape From Earth-2”
© 2016 The CW Network. All rights reserved.
By Jarrod Jones. Who is the man in the iron mask? You know, the one Zoom’s had stashed away in his creepy mountain lair for who knows how long? If you’ve been following The Flash as closely as we have at DoomRocket HQ, you know that there are more than a few possibilities: some think it’s Earth-2 Wally West. Others think that’s patently ridiculous — it’s obviously Jay Garrick. I don’t know how that could be, as Jay’s been seen zipping around Earth-1 for the last two weeks, but I’m telling you. It’s Jay. Think about it: What if The Iron Silent wasn’t trying to tell Barry and Jessie about Jay… he was trying to warn them. About him.
That’s just one example of how nuts this show can be. And now that we can look upon The Flash‘s endurance run between parallel Earths in our collective rear-view, we can say with certainty that it was an exhilarating, mind-bending success. Hours upon hours of ardent audience diligence paid off this week, but not only that, this week gave us one more tantalizing clue as to who Zoom actually is. Zoom? Zolomon? Garrick? This show makes me dizzy.
WHAT WORKED: The one-two punch of “Welcome to Earth-2” and “Escape From Earth-2” have been an exercise in how ding-dang terrific The Flash actually is. The mystery of Zoom has never been more intriguing, but what’s more, Barry Allen finally has stakes in this fight against the man in black. “Escape From Earth-2” literally put The Flash in time-out, where he had time to consider the evil this villain has wrought, and the lives he’s actually hurt, or — in the case of The Iron Silent — actually destroyed.
I love how Danielle Panabaker and Candice Patton absolutely nailed their double duty this week. Playing two separate characters on two separate planets is a tough thing for any show to pull off — even for The Flash (Det. Joe, I’m looking at you) — but these two actors absolutely killed it. There’s one moment in particular where the synergy between Earth-1 and Earth-2 worked gorgeously: we watch Caitlin and Iris take Geomancer down in one sequence (which is awesome for its own particular reasons), only to then find their Earth-2 counterparts seething at each other the next. If there’s was a single example of how brilliant this show actually is, let it be that.
WHAT DIDN’T: For an episode as loaded as “Escape From Earth-2” decidedly was, there was little room for putzing around. If I had to put my finger on one thing that’s chapping me a bit, it’s that “Escape From Earth-2” — with that cliffhanger ending — is about to be followed up by the John Diggle/Barry Allen team-up against King Shark next week. (See below.) I know The Flash will likely provide the S.T.A.R. Kids ample time to mope about over the loss of Jay Garrick (a twenty-two episode season only demands the requisite navel-gazing), but Zoom’s latest atrocity has me screaming for blood. *sighs* Only eight more weeks to go until catharsis.
Oh, and Geomancer still sucks.
BEST LINE(s):
“There’s nowhere you can hide, not from the Fastest Man Alive.” – Zoom.
Wells-2: “How is it that you’re still alive?” Cisco: “Turns out Zoom cares even less about me than you do, Harry.”
“Oh, this is heavy.” – Cisco, channelling his McFly.
Cisco: “Aarrgh this did not go as planned!” Barry-2: “Her name starts with ‘Killer’ — this comes as a shock to you?!”
“I’m just Barry Allen. But you’re The Flash.” – Barry-2.
BEST MOMENT: Hospital rescue. In fourteen episodes of The Flash, we’ve only got to see Jay Garrick run around in his wing-tipped helmet a couple of times. With “Escape From Earth-2” Jay not only got to don his signature Golden Age look, he got to participate in some serious derring-do. It was brief, but no less wild: that last minute rescue sequence, where Jay empties a collapsing hospital of every single one of its patients, gave me the spine-tingles. And that hat tip at the very end? Come on.
EPISODE’S MVP: Zoom. Yeah, that’s right. Zoom. For the duration of this season, Zoom’s been more than just a mystery man, he’s been a damn sphinx. Chasing after Barry Allen’s speed for dubious reasons for the last fourteen episodes has admittedly given us some sterling television, but as a villain? Zoom’s been a tough nut to crack. The stakes always belonged more to Wells-2 than Barry, but this week saw The Flash and Zoom’s world collide in a very big way. We’ve become accustomed to the big season heavy hiding in the shadows, but this week proved that Zoom is radically different from the Reverse-Flash. This guy likes to talk, and Tony Todd’s warbly, spooky elocution gave me the willies like you wouldn’t believe.
© 2016 The CW Network. All rights reserved.
FLASH FACTS:
– Ooh, Tony Todd’s monologuing.
– Cisco’s recap for Wells-2 summed up last week’s crazy pretty well, but when he puts it the way he did, this show sounds absolutely bonkers. Which, of course, it is.
– I will never get over watching Jay run around. The man needs his own show. (That hat tip at the end of the hospital sequence? Priceless.)
– We’re calling the man in the iron mask The Iron Silent from now on. Let it be known.
– Oh, I see. Geomancer gets to go to Iron Heights. Everyone else gets tossed in the basement to die.
– Barry’s gotten his ass kicked by Zoom so often that he can take a speed-beating like a champ.
– Um, actually, Jessie, you can leave your life behind. YOU WERE JUST KIDNAPPED AND NEARLY KILLED BY ZOOM.
– Anyone else scream at their TV, “get the hell away from the closing Singularity, Garrick, ya dummy!” I’ve seen enough movies and television to know when somebody’s about to bite it. It’s all in the quick, darting edits.
Next: “King Shark”, soon.
Before: “Welcome to Earth-2, here.
