The Flash 2.13 “Welcome to Earth-2”

What I love most about all the Arrowverse/ DC shows are those WTH!? moments that the producers slip in now and then. WTH, for me, is What the Heck, and it applies to Easter eggs and character bits that just make me squee like the fanboy I am. It might be “What the Heck!? Dr. Wells is the Reverse-Flash!” or “What the Heck!? They just did a shot that recreates the cover of The Flash #123!”  That being the case, I was having multiple nerdgasms while watching “Welcome to Earth-2,” an episode that is literally overflowing with awesome and outstanding WTH!? moments.

The story begins as Barry, Cisco and Harry travel to Earth-2 in the hopes of saving Harry’s daughter, Jesse (Violet Beane). The Flash has closed all the breaches to Earth -1 and now only one remains, the breach under S.T.A.R. Labs.  While on Earth-2, the trio learn Zoom has increased his attacks and things are worse than before Harry left for Earth-1. To get some intel, Barry trades places with his Earth-2 counterpart and experiences some major culture shock as he encounters a world where Iris is a police detective, the two of them are married and Joe West is a lounge singer who can’t stand his son-in-law.

More than that though, Barry encounters Zoom’s henchmen on Earth-2, the evil counterparts of his most trusted friends. On this world, Caitlin is Killer Frost, Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) is Deathstorm and Cisco is Reverb. Reverb is not only the most powerful of these three criminals, he is Zoom’s right hand man. That doesn’t save him from being killed off by the Dark Speedster when he and Deathstorm try and kill the Flash. By the end of the episode, Barry finally ends up in Zoom’s private prison, locked up with Jesse.

While Barry and the others are on Earth-2, Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears) is left to go against a new meta-human, Geomancer (Adam Stafford), who is determined to destroy Central City unless the Scarlet Speedster comes out and faces him. The only way Jay can fill in for Barry is by taking an updated version of Velocity 6, Velocity 7, but the effects don’t last long. After the fact, Caitlin begins to realize that part of the damage done to Jay’s body was self-inflected as he injected himself with a similar formula to increase his speed.

The action in this one comes fast and quick and you gotta keep your eyes open for all the groovy WTH!? moments I mentioned. What were some of my person favorites? They were:

Through the Looking Glass

Barry got to glimpse other worlds and times during the trip to Earth-2. He got to see Melissa Beonoist’s Supergirl and John Wesley Shipp’s Flash, establishing them both in parallel universes, along with a future Green Arrow (Connor Hawke maybe), Gorilla Grodd (who is rumored to be the big bad for Season Three of The Flash), Jonah Hex and a Legion flight ring.

Not so good vibrations

As soon as Cisco arrives at the Earth-2 S.T.A.R. Labs, he tries to vibe on Zoom, but is unable to do so. Harry theorizes that his vibe goggles need to be recalibrated since Earth-2 vibrates at a different frequency from Earth-1. This explanation of each Earth vibrating at a different frequency was given back when Earth-2 was first introduced in the comics and it is how multiple Earths can exist in the same space at the same time, but be in different universes.

Bad is Good…

On Earth-2, the doppelgangers for Earth-1 villains are on the side of law and order. Henry Hewitt (Demore Barnes), the man who almost became the other half of Firestom (and who was a major jerk) is a trusted associate of Harry Wells at S.T.A.R. Labs; Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot (Michael Rowe), is Iris’ partner (and the worst shot on the police force) and in a news report, we learn that Len Snart, aka Captain Cold, is the mayor of Central City. Talk about things being wicky-in-the- wacky-woo.

…And Good is Bad

Well, actually, this time Bad is pretty darn entertaining. Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes and Robbie Amell all seem to be having a ball playing their evil counterparts. Panabaker and Amell are a great couple as Killer Frost and Deathstorm, even though they are a pair of homicidal maniacs. Also, watching Valdes interact with his doppelganger is especially fun, especially when Reverb tries to get Cisco to come over to the Dark Side.

Jesse L. Martin gets to sing!

Watching the dynamic of the Joe and Barry relationship turned upside down is a blast. The Earth-2 version of Joe West cannot stand Barry Allen and he doesn’t hide his disdain at all. And he also doesn’t hide his pipes either. Anytime this man sings, it is a treat, even if he is just giving us snippets of tunes like “Where or When” and “My Funny Valentine.”

Barry talks to his mother

In a simple, quick scene, Barry returns a call to his counterpart’s mother, who is alive and well on Earth-2. The dialogue between the two of them is simple and common to Nora Allen, but to Barry, this is an unexpected gift. Grant Gustin brings the feels here and he is just wonderful and touching in this scene.

Speed Dial

One of the coolest Easter eggs in this episode has to be the numbers on the phone of the Earth-2 Barry Allen. Besides his parents, there is Eddie (no doubt Eddie Thawne), as well as Bruce, Hal and Diana. You’ve really gotta be someone important to have the Justice League of America on speed dial, let me tell you.

Not so good vibrations (Take Two)

As I mentioned, Zoom kills Reverb for trying to take out the Flash. What is worth noting is how he does it. Zoom vibrates his hand through Reverb’s chest, killing him the same way the Reverse-Flash killed Cisco in an alternate timeline. You can even see Cisco flinch as he watches his doppelganger die. This is a very nice touch.

Retro is in

Finally, I love the retro look of Earth-2. Many of the fashions and the cars look like they belong in the 40’s, during the decade that the Golden Age Flash had his adventures. Also, the blending of retro with modern styles reminds me of the 90’s Flash series which did something similar. It really honors both of these earlier versions of the Scarlet Speedster and it looks cool.

Again, this episode moves fast and you have to pay attention to keep up. So much goes down, they had to make it a two-parter. No doubt that installment will contain a number of WTH!? moments as well. And if it is as good as this episode, it may very well earn a 5 Star Rating too.