SPOILER ALERT.
Ok Flash fans, pick up your jaws because the DC Universe just got immensely bigger.
In last nights episode of The Flash, almost no time was wasted from episode 1 to 2 as the concept of the Multiverse came into fruition. Newly-introduced Jay Garrick has seemingly served as the overseeing voice, taking over for Harrison Wells as the one who knows so much.
A product of the newly-named “breach,” Garrick was quickly put under the microscope by Barry, clearly still hesitant in the trust section after his experience with Wells. An issue that was noticed early on and explained later on in the episode. While still widely misunderstood, Jay was put to the tests nonetheless, through physical testing and a hidden lie detector, which he passed, everyone but Barry was still convinced that his intentions were good and not with a hidden agenda.
Right off the bat, Jay made his presence a worthy addition, quickly jumping into his knowledge of the Multiverse, a concept that has been in the background for the past six months leading up to the past episode. Despite his lack of his speed, it was his wit and knowledge which served his purpose more than his most well-known ability.
Piggybacking off his knowledge, the Ronnie Raymond-less Dr. Martin Stein went to the drawing board, literally, to lay out what he knows now.
Introducing, Earth Two.
With the “Infinite Earths” laid out on the board, you begin to see where this storyline is headed. Explaining his experience with the seasons main antagonist, Zoom, Jay describes his story of his battle with Zoom in Earth Two’s Central City when, out of the sky, the parallel opening of the black hole that bridged both planets and brought Jay to Earth One. Explaining that one person on one planet might be a completely different person on another, which proves to be a bit of a plot twist later on.
With 52 (clever) breaches all over Central City, Zoom brings his second captive to the Earth One Central City, Eddie Slick A.K.A. Sand Demon. It’s interesting to point out that Zoom does not seem phased by the breaches, and seems to have the ability to bypass through the multiverse, bringing E-2 meta-humans to E-1 to kill The Flash.
Investigating what was first thought of as a fire, Barry was met by a new enemy. Their first encounter was a typical introduction, with the meta-human just a bit more cunning than our hero, unleashing a sand/human cell attack and quickly dissipating from the fight. Facing his defeat, Barry returns to the scene of the fire along with Joe, both as an observation of the fire and as a second glance to pull a clue to his new adversary. Facing a new enemy is nothing new to Flash and the rest of the S.T.A.R. Labs team, but this time, Barry has help that he does not necessarily want to trust in. Garrick is locked away in the meta-human suppression bay.
Acting as an undertone in the plot, Caitlin Snow (Raymond) was clearly awe-struck by the alternate Flash, putting some twist on her complex love life, whether or not is just shock and awe of the man who was shirtless for a good portion of the episode, or until the absence of Ronnie from the show is explained, what will happen between Caitlin and Jay? We may not know for some time.
Following the dismantled Anti-meta-human police force, Joe West meets a new character, Patty Spivot. In the comics, Spivot was a lab assistant to Barry, and she suffers the same fate as Barry: a bath of chemicals that grants her super speed but with disastrous results. While it remains to be seen what kind of character Ms. Spivot will become, one thing is for sure, she desperately wants to defeat meta-humans. Stiff-armed on numerous occasions by Joe, Spivot finally gets into his “no code” a little bit when she apprehends Slick on the street while he is pursued by Joe. She later reveals to Joe her true intentions, her tragic backstory with Mark Mardon murdering her father and why she is determined to hunt the metas. Seemingly fit story for a superhero.
Back into the main story, we get a bit more of a taste of Cisco’s abilities, as his “vibe and visions” are appearing more and more frequently. While it’s no secret that Cisco has meta-human capabilities, and even becomes a hero named Vibe, we are certainly a ways off from seeing any sort of suit in real time. I’m not excluding any sort of future scenes that might lay over a present day episode. When his observations of the sand/cells turns into one of his vibes, he sees where Slick is when West and Spivot take him down.
Once in the interrogation room, West goes at Slick, who checks out to be in Blackgate Penitentiary at the time that the S.T.A.R. Labs event happened, therefore, he would have been unaffected by any sort of meta-human event. However, we are dealing with numerous Earths, each with their own parallel person. That’s right, two worlds, two Eddie Slicks. It’s the Sand Demon who ends up taking Spivot hostage in a small fight outside Central City Police Department. After trial and error, it was time for Barry to come to terms with the truth and put his faith in a man he doesn’t know much., leading to the culmination that are the Flashes of two worlds, and we see the Speed Force grow by one.
In Cisco’s research, his vibe occurs once more and sees where Spivot is located and what Sand Demon has in mind for Barry, a concussive bomb which affects Barry and jay, but can absorb into his own body. This catches the attention of Doctor Stein, who begins to see a change in Cisco and ends up confronting him on the change. Cisco would reveal his ability to Stein, setting up a long process which we will see over the next few episodes.
In her first ever appearance, we meet Iris’ mother and Joe’s wife, who we do not hear her name. Their conversation is brief, as she is wanting to see her daughter and Joe for the first time in a long time. Also appearing for the first time this season was Harrison Wells in a flashback. A group of kids, one would believe included Barry, are led on a tour of S.T.A.R. Labs, which Wells appears out of an elevator and greets the kids and the camera cuts to black and credits roll.
On the analysis side of things, lets look at this Multiverse from the outside.
There are numerous personalities spread across an unknown amount of Earths, something that we don’t quite fully understand in its entirety. Thinking back to the scenes that we see in the end of season one, we saw Caitlin Snow as Killer Frost, but we don’t know if that was E-1 Caitlin, E-2 Caitlin or E-43 Caitlin. Just be aware, we will see a lot of different characters in the coming months, potentially years. It does seem that the E-1 Cisco is the one that becomes Vibe somewhere down the road, although where he hones his skill and focuses into becoming a hero, that remains light years away.
With Mrs. West coming into the picture, what does this mean for the appearance of Wally West? With the casting completed, it’s only a matter of time before we see how he comes to Central City. My thoughts, is it possible that when Mrs. West left, she was already pregnant with Wally and her resurfacing is with the news that Joe has another child? Likely? Likely not? You be the judge.
Also, on the topic of Zoom’s ability to slip through the breaches unscathed, is it possible that Ronnie is actually in another Earth? If the singularity that opened up at the end of season 1 brought Jay, Zoom and numerous amounts of parallel meta-humans, is it possible that Ronnie was transported elsewhere? Short answer, yes. Again, with Legends coming out and Ronnie not a part of the cast, it leads to some thought, where is he?
What are your thoughts on the season so far and last nights episode? Comment below!
