“Flash of Two Worlds”

The Flash properly begins season 2 with the first full appearance of Jay Garrick and the development of the multiverse story that will no doubt fill the season.

Jay Garrick is so far a really interesting character who has a lot to offer this show. His presence represents the concept of the multiverse in a really tangible way. Teddy Sears projects an air of authority and experience that easily slots him into the mentor void left by the departure of Harrison Wells. He has charisma to burn and already feels like part of this eclectic band of characters. I was a little surprised to learn that he has only been the Flash in his reality for around 2 years which puts him pretty much on a par with Barry in terms of time served.

Initially I was sceptical about his capacity to provide guidance to Barry since they’ve spent around equal time in the role of the Flash but the episode gave ample justification for this. It isn’t explicitly stated but it is heavily implied that Jay is a solo act in his universe. Much of what he has learned has been on the fly and I imagine he has had to innovate in order to survive. Without the support structure that Barry has I could see that he would manage to have a lot more experience in using his powers. There’s also the added issue that Wells/Thawne was using Barry for his own ends so was probably holding back on letting him develop to some degree.

Barry’s reaction to the appearance of Jay Garrick is understandably distrustful. The last man who claimed to want to train him to be better turned out to be his enemy so a strange man with an outlandish back story that isn’t easy to prove isn’t something that Barry will rush to believe. Maybe at the beginning of season 1 he would but his experience with Wells/Thawne has made him a little more cynical about the intentions of others. It’s a believable stance for Barry to take and I’m thankful that it doesn’t come across as too angsty as that would be pretty unbearable.

His approach is far more scientific and he’s willing to give Jay the benefit of the doubt to a certain degree. Jay is submitted to a large battery of tests to find anything that supports his story. I like that Barry is taking more of a leadership role within the team. He tells people to do things and they happily do it. I hope to see some conflict when he gives an order that others don’t agree with. Barry isn’t the voice of knowledge or experience in all cases so there will be instances where Cisco or Caitlin disagree with something that he asks them to do.

Barry’s point about the team being made up of scientists and a journalist is well made. Everyone seems to be willing to accept Jay’s story at face value probably due to the fact that he’s charismatic and seems sincere when he talks. Barry encourages his team to not jump to conclusions and use their scientific skills to prove his story.

The only way I could see Jay being a part of Team Flash without dialling up the power levels to a ridiculous level is for him to be without his powers. It seems like a bit of a cop out to have him depowered so that he can be around dispensing advice without directly being part of the action but it makes sense from the perspective of not making every villain far too easy to deal with. It could be argued that the greatest test of how heroic a superhero is comes when they find themselves without their powers. I imagine this will be a recurring theme for Jay throughout the season.

It was really cool to see Jay in action albeit in a brief flashback but it was a nice touch all the same. The first hints at Zoom also seem interesting so far. The mystery surrounding his identity hasn’t quite been developed enough to become compelling quite yet but there’s time enough for that. For now he looks really cool and radiates menace. Using Tony Todd to voice him brings a further layer of menace to him.

His plan for now seems to be quite simple. According to Jay Zoom wants to do away with every other speedster and be the only one. The reasons why aren’t clear as yet but it’s a simple objective that has very immediate stakes. If he’s planning to destroy every speedster across the entire multiverse then he is going to be at it for quite a while.

Connected to Zoom’s plan is the villain of the week Sand Demon (Kett Turton). Like Atom Smasher he has been pulled through from Jay’s reality to kill the Flash. As a result there isn’t much to him as a character but in this case I was ok with it. His relationship as a villain was with Jay and he had only been displaced for this particular episode. The notion of bringing villains in from other universes creates some interesting real world problems for Joe who has to contend with the fact that there are two versions of the same person running around. In this case he ends up bringing the wrong man in for questioning. It makes me wonder if Jay has a counterpart in “our” universe and if Barry has one in Jay’s.

I’m impressed with how the multiverse is being handled for the moment as they are keeping the concept relatively simple. So far they have established that the singularity created 52 separate breaches between universes and Zoom is using those to bring people through to “our” reality. I can’t wait to see what insanity comes from the alternate realities on display.

I enjoyed the fight between Barry, Garrick and Sand Demon but it was a little too brief. Barry’s new lightning throwing skill is visually really cool and there’s a certain entertainment value to recreating the iconic cover of Flash #123 that shares the story title with this episode but there was something that felt a little cheesy about the whole thing. It will be apparent if you watch the scene but it is very hard to describe.

There also feels like a massive disconnect between Jay Garrick’s well developed and well acted character and how silly he looks in his costume. When he first put his helmet on I found that I couldn’t stop myself from laughing it just looked that silly. I will always argue that comic book accuracy makes for the best adaptations but this might be one of those rare instances where reproducing the visual aesthetic isn’t quite the best idea. Maybe it’ll grow on me but for now it seems silly. It’s not a deal breaker at all but it does stand out. I hope that someone asks Jay whether everyone in his universe are monumentally stupid as his costume doesn’t work as a disguise at all.

This episode sees the introduction of Joe’s new partner Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten). She is young, highly skilled, eager to please and very much a fan of Barry Allen’s work. It should come as not surprise that a lot of her scenes were spent setting her up as Barry’s new love interest. They do seem to be a good match and their nerdy conversations throughout the episode were amusing enough. There’s certainly some solid chemistry between them and hopefully she will prove to be a better match for Barry than Iris currently is.

Joe’s reluctance to take on a new partner makes sense given what happened to Eddie. It’s still an open wound for him and he doesn’t want anyone to be faced with that kind of danger here. I think the episode hammered home how much of an asset she would be a little too much but she seems like the right person for the job. She’ll be able to bring a scientific swing to the partnership as well as some keen problem solving skills. Her motivation to take down metahumans stemming from the murder of her father by the Mardon brothers seems sincere enough and with more development might create a solid arc for her.

I like how Joe was handled this episode. His instinct was to remove himself from the whole multiverse situation as it’s a little too outlandish for him. He’s had a hard enough time accepting the concept of Metahumans and later time travel so the idea of alternate universe is a bit too out there for him. The only way he can get through it is by throwing himself into his police work which makes sense for him. The return of his wife (Vanessa Williams) will most likely give him lots to work with this season. I was under the impression that she had died based on his conversations with Harrison Wells last season about unique losses and the like. Obviously I’m mistaken but that’s the impression I got.

There is some development of Cisco’s inevitable transformation into Vibe with his ability to perceive things multiverse related coming in handy to find Sand Demon which naturally gets the attention of Stein. They are keeping it to themselves for now and Cisco is understandably alarmed at the transformation as he fears he might turn out like Wells. It’s good to see Carlos Valdes given more dramatic stories to deal with as he is very good at them. There’s still plenty of comic relief so it’s a good balance.

I was a bit baffled by Caitlin’s attraction to Jay Garrick as it seems that she’s moving on from Ronnie a bit too soon. Maybe it is just a physical attraction and will take a while to go anywhere but it seemed odd. I did like her and Iris sharing a girly moment over their admiration for Jay Garrick. It all adds some real depth to these relationships.

The end of episode sting is nothing unexpected and using an alternate version of Harrison Wells is a good way to bring the character back. He gives a shifty look when coming out of the elevator so that suggests that there’s more to this version than appearances suggest. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be Zoom as that would be annoyingly predictable.