The Flash Review Season 2 Episode 13: Welcome To Earth-2

With all due respect to the late, great Jim Morrison, it’s time for The Flash to break on through to the other side. The other side of the breaches between worlds that dot Central City, that is. “Welcome to Earth-2,” indeed.

Barry Allen and his friends have decided they can’t let Harry Wells take on Zoom alone, not after he came clean about being blackmailed to help steal the Flash’s speed last week. The question now is whether they’ll get more than they bargained for when they start running into their Earth-2 counterparts, especially that world’s versions of Caitlin Snow and Ronnie Raymond. There’s a reason the hashtag #DeathFrost has been circulating on Twitter …

Will our heroes regret becoming the first people from Earth-1 to visit the world of Zoom and Jay Garrick? Let’s find out.

Not-So-Fast Recap: Harry Wells records his last journal entry on Earth-1. While he tells his daughter that he got distracted by that world and its problems, he also says he’s coming to get Jesse — and he’s not coming alone.

The Flash and his friends are busy closing all the breaches between worlds, successfully sealing them all except the one in S.T.A.R. Labs. That means they can make the trip, though Barry says there’s something he needs to do first.

That’s dinner with the West family, where Barry reveals that he didn’t tell his dad what he was doing for fear that Henry would talk him out of it. Iris asks for a minute alone and says she hopes Barry isn’t doing this because he thinks there’s nothing left for him on Earth-1. He assures her that isn’t the case, but is there just a hint of the feelings they have for each other there?

Jay Garrick tries to get Barry ready by telling him not to be fooled by anything he sees. And whatever he does, he shouldn’t get sucked in emotionally. Barry says if they aren’t back in 48 hours, they hould seal the breach. Cisco gives Caitlin a letter to give to his parents if he fails to return, and Wells assures Joe he’ll make sure Barry comes home. Cisco is feeling a little panic (okay, a lot), but Jay activates the Speed Cannon, and into the breach they go.

Weird images hit them while they are between worlds, including one I’ll get to later.

Upon arrival in the Earth-2 S.T.A.R. Labs, the first person they run into is Henry Hewitt. He’s the villain Tokamak on Earth-1, but simply an employee at S.T.A.R. on that world. As reports come in that there’s a city-wide curfew because of Zoom’s attacks, Wells notes that things are worse than when he left. Cisco tries to vibe to find Zoom, but his powers aren’t working, and both he and Harry realize it’s because Earth-2 is vibrating at a different frequency.

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The glasses-wearing Earth-2 appears on TV, promising citizens that Detective West is on the case and that Zoom will be stopped. Barry is amazed he’s a CSI on this world too, and he gets an idea, rushing off to bring his doppelganger to them. The Earth-2 Barry is starstruck by meeting Wells, but they taser him and knock him out. Barry says he’ll take the other Barry’s place while the others work on fixing Cisco’s Vibe goggles.

Despite his confidence that he can handle the acting job, Barry is astonished to see that Floyd Lawton is a cop (and doesn’t like being called Deadshot, due to his lack of accuracy firing guns) while his Earth-1 boss is a criminal. He’s even more shocked to discover that Detective West is Iris, and as she pulls him into a hallway for some PDA, he learns they’re married. And it’s time for them to go home.

A robber getting roughed up by someone unseen ends up getting a fatal icicle through the chest from Caitlin Snow. See, on this world she’s Killer Frost, which she demonstrates by killing another thug with an icy kiss. She’s saved from a third man by that world’s Ronnie Raymond. He lets Caitlin know there’s been a report of breachers, and she says she loves killing people from other worlds.

At the house his counterpart shares with Iris, Barry calls his mom — who’s still alive there. It’s short but emotional, with Mrs. Allen thanking her son for the anniversary present of tickets to Atlantis. She also suggests giving them to Barry so he can have a romantic getaway with Iris and work on grandkids.

Cisco and Harry still aren’t having much luck with the goggles. Meanwhile, Barry gets another surprise when he and Iris go to Jitterbugs (you can probably guess what that is) and finds Joe prefers to be called Joseph, and he’s a singer. He also hates Barry, blaming his schooling for making Iris quit her journalist job to make more money as a cop.

Back on Earth-1, there’s a bigger problem than the Speed Cannon crapping out. There’s a metahuman on the scene named Adam Fells, a.k.a. Geomancer. He’s an Earth-1 original too, since Jay says the Earth-2 Fells is dead. Joe suggests that Jay take the Velocity 6, because they need a Flash. After he leaves, Jay reveals his dark secret: On his world, he tried to become faster, inventing Velocity 6 to do so. It had some side effects though, and Caitlin knows that’s why he’s dying. Still, she says he has her now, and she’ll figure out how to make it work.

Barry’s in even hotter water as Killer Frost and Deathstorm hit Jitterbugs looking for the breacher. Iris decides to make her move on them, and Barry’s attempt to appeal to Caitlin backfires since she hates that name. Joseph ends up eating a fireball, causing Barry to rush the villains out to fight them in the open. He uses the helmet from a Jay Garrick statue to deflect a Deathstorm fireball at Killer Frost, and it’s a stalemate for now.

Harry isn’t too pleased about that, reminding Barry that this was supposed to be a surgical strike against Zoom. Though he implores Barry to realize that these aren’t his friends and family, Barry says the Wests are his family in any universe, and they need him now.

Wally West stops by the police station on Earth-1 at the worst possible time, as Geomancer is gettinc closer and shaking things up. Sorry, couldn’t resist. And on Earth-2, Iris and Barry are by Joseph as he tells his daughter he loves her and takes his final breath.

Barry makes an awkward introduction between Iris and Cisco, calling the latter his “good friend” and raising some suspicion. Though Iris won’t take her husband into the field, Barry convinces her to bring Cisco, as he’s got a gizmo to help stop the villains.

Geomancer is waiting for the Flash on Earth-1, but he also feels maybe the Fastest Man Alive is gone since he’s been causing tremors for days. He gets a different Flash in the form of Jay, now using Velocity 7. He pulls off one cool power stunt with his helmet before the drug wears off, forcing Joe to bail him out and drive the villain off. Jay says only his pride is hurt. And his body.

Iris, Lawton and Cisco track down the villains, but Killer Frost and Deathstorm get the drop on them. And there’s another bombshell, as the couple says they don’t work for Zoom, but a mysterious figure in the shadows. It’s the Earth-2 Cisco. Oh crap.

This one calls himself Reverb, and he can see Vibe the same way Cisco can see bits of other worlds. Reverb says if Cisco put his mind to it, he could be a god, since he’s much more powerful than he knows. Flash shows up in the nick of time, and we’ve got Round 2 on our hands. Lawton unloads on Reverb but misses, and Cisco is dazed when his doppelganger effortlessly flings Lawton away with his powers.

Eventually, the villains come out on top, and Deathstorm and Reverb are thrashing Flash with their combined powers when Zoom arrives. He quickly kills Deathstorm and confronts Reverb about his instructions to leave Flash unharmed before choking Killer Frost and running off with Barry. Iris surveys the carnage and Killer Frost, still alive only by Zoom’s whim, runs off.

On Earth-1, Caitlin patches up Zoom and says she will move on to Velocity 8. Both of them note that they only have 24 hours to stabilize the breach, or Barry and Cisco will be trapped forever.

And for our final scene, Barry wakes up in Zoom’s dungeon of horrors. He’s not alone, and he tells Jesse he’s there to rescue her, along with her dad. Zoom taunts him by saying he shouldn’t make promises he can’t keep, and that this will be the last place he ever sees.

OMG Moment of the Week: One of the things the guys saw while traveling between Earths was … Supergirl! Consider the crossover set up, I’d say.

Comic Book Reference of the Week: In the original DC Comics continuity, the existence of parallel Earths was explained by the worlds occupying the same space but vibrating at a different frequency. Once they discovered that, the Flashes figured out how to travel back and forth just by matching the frequency, though sometimes they needed the Cosmic Treadmill to help depending on the writer. Quite possibly the coolest comic book reference in Season 2.

#SnowJay Alert Level: Condition Orange. No PDAs except for holding hands, but a lot of working closely together for Caitlin and Jay. And more to follow, by the looks of it.

Next: The Flash Recap -- Season 2, Episode 12: Fast Lane

Final Thought: Best episode so far this year? I’d call it a strong contender. High drama, several emotional moments, good action and some clever bits with the Earth-2 counterparts. The Earth-2 “Deadshot” was an especially nice touch. Topping it all off, the episode left Flash in one of his toughest predicaments to date, making next week an absolute can’t miss. Can’t be mad about that.

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The Flash Recap And Review: Welcome To Earth-2

By Nick Tylwalk | Feb 9, 2016