The Flash 2.14 “Escape from Earth-2”

Team Flash’s adventure on Earth-2 continues in this episode with the Flash being held prisoner by Zoom, Harry Wells being hunted by the Dark Speedster and the Earth-2 Barry Allen sounding…well, a lot like a wuss. A really big wuss.

As Harry, Cisco and Barry-2 stay one jump ahead of Zoom, and get some help from the Earth-2 Iris Allen, Barry-1 may have found an ally, a mystery man in an iron mask, who is unable to communicate except by tapping on the wall of his cell. Barry-1 and Jesse (Violett Beane) determine that the tapping is a five by five tap code used by prisoners. They are able to communicate with the mystery man very briefly, just long enough to get one word, or rather a name, out of him, ‘Jay,’ before Zoom returns and orders the man in the iron mask to stop talking to his other prisoners. For good measure, Zoom enters Barry-1’s cell and punishes him, beating the Scarlet Speedster for even thinking about escaping. When Zoom leaves, the Flash is down, but he isn’t out as he realizes he can escape his cell the same way Zoom entered it, by vibrating his molecules fast enough to pass through it.

Meanwhile, determining that Killer Frost is the best chance to locate Zoom’s lair (he’s a bad guy, so Cisco is calling it that), Team Flash and the Earth-2 Allens set out to find her in the Woodlands surrounding Central City.  The villain agrees to lead the group to Zoom’s lair after an appeal by Cisco who reminds her of who Zoom has taken from her, Deathstorm.

Back on Earth-1, Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears) gets ready to face off against Geomancer (Adam Stafford) with the help of Velocity 8, which is being perfected by Caitlin. Jay is prepared to up against the meta-human, even though Caitlin warns him that the Velocity 7 has done even more damage to his cells. Jay speeds off to face-off with Geomancer, who brings down an entire building to call out the Crimson Comet. Instead of taking Velocity 8 though, Caitlin has modified her formula to Velocity 9. Jay speeds into action, saving everyone in the building before it comes crashing down and it would appear this formula is a success. That is the good news. The bad news is Geomancer tracks Jay back to S.T.A.R. Labs, and is put on ice by Caitlin with one of Cisco’s power-damping boots, but not before he does damage to the speed cannon Barry-1 and the others need to return home.

Back on Earth-2, Team Flash comes through and they locate Barry-1 and Jesse. After a pep talk from his Earth-2 counterpart, Barry-1 finally vibrates out of his cell and is getting ready to help the man in the iron mask when Zoom arrives. Killer Frost turns on her master and covers Barry-1 and the others long enough for them to escape and for Team Flash, now with Jesse in tow, to make it back to Earth-1. This victory is short-lived though as Jay stands before the collapsing breech and Zoom’s hand shoots through long enough to vibrate through his chest and pull him back to Earth-2 in what was easily one of the Top Three WTH!? moments of this season.

While the second half of this adventure on Earth-2 wasn’t quite as good as the first part, this was a solid hour of entertainment and much of the praise must go to Grant Gustin. The Earth-2 Barry Allen is an uber-nerd. He comes across as whiny, repressed and a bit of a schmuck. Seriously, how did this guy land Earth-2’s Iris West? But when the chips are down though, and all looks darkest, he steps up with a heck of a pep talk that helps his Earth-1 counterpart believe in himself enough to do the impossible and free himself. It would seem there is potential for the Barry of Earth-2 to be a hero after all.

Meanwhile, Gustin, as Barry-1, continues to be a sterling example of what a hero is: inspiring, willing to sacrifice himself and determined. Every episode he does adds to this portrayal of the Flash that is rapidly become one of the best of a superhero ever.

Speaking of heroes, it was great to see Jay Garrick’s Flash up and running at full speed and I really do hope that we have not seen the last of him. His apparent death at the end of this episode certainly caught me off guard and it is hard to see how he could have survived that final blow by Zoom. According to reports just released, we will be seeing more of Earth-2 in coming episodes, and it would be nice to learn Garrick is alive and well. Also, I want to know who the mystery man in the iron mask is. Anyone want to place some guesses? This could be even more fun than trying to guess who is in the grave on Arrow.

Again, this second half of this Earth-2 adventure wasn’t quite as good as the first part, but it is still solid. Overall, I give it 4 stars.

Next time, tune in as Team Flash faces off with King Shark! Will this be a story with bite that will go swimmingly or is this where The Flash jumps the shark? Sorry, old chums, just getting a head start on the puns.