THE FLASH Review: Zoom Leaves a Lasting Impression on Barry

By Justin Carter

The members of Team Flash are some intelligent people. Barry’s a forensic scientist, Cisco is a mechanical engineer, Caitlin a bioengineer, Iris is a journalist, and Joe is a detective. A team like that is able to take whatever the world throws at them using brains, creativity, and research.

Having said that … this week’s plan to capture Zoom is probably the stupidest plan they’ve ever come up with, and one that yields some shocking results.

Continuing from last week’s episode, the Earth-2 Linda Park (Doctor Light) is held prisoner by the team while they work on their plan to capture Zoom. Cisco and Harry have managed to create speed dampeners to use on the big bad. The problem is that Earth-2 Linda uses her invisibility to bolt from STAR Labs, and the team has no other way of getting in contact with Zoom with the exception of  the Earth-1 version of Linda Park, who is eager to help in some way (and irritating Iris with her constant cooking).

Barry and Iris reason that Linda can fake being her Earth-2 self to “kill” Barry and draw Zoom out.

Yeah, it’s an awful plan, but it’s the best one they’ve got, given the circumstances. And all the mucking about with teaching Linda how to use Cisco’s Light Gloves is fun, particularly when Cisco’s selfie poses start showing up as targets for her to shoot. Malese Jow does good work as Linda pretending to be Light pretending to be evil, and the show wisely uses her comic relief at perfect moments, like when she learns Barry’s secret identity and when they finally “fight” to lure Zoom. Their banter back and forth and fake fight is laugh worthy, and the cheesiness of neither of them being on the same page regarding their script is perfect.

The plan ends up not working, but it doesn’t mean we’re deprived of Zoom. Sure enough, he shows up and uses Linda as bait to draw out Flash, and that’s where the last 10 minutes get interesting. Zoom really is the opposite of our Scarlet Speedster here; aside from his deep Tony Todd voice, he’s got blue lightning to go with his black suit, and his mask looks more like a face with a sealed mouth. It helps sell the guy as completely terrifying, and that’s before he redirects Barry’s lightning. Even his speedy display of Flash’s broken body to the police and news show that this is a different villain from last year. His motives are still very much unclear, but after showing up and leaving Barry crippled, Zoom has made one hell of an impression.

Additional Notes

• Zoom is holding Wells’ daughter Jesse Quick (yes, that Jesse Quick) hostage in Earth-2, though for what purpose is unknown.
• Cisco: “Next time we do this, I’m writing better dialogue.” Caitlin/Iris: “Next time?”
• “Ah, that’s my Jesse. Always so….quick.” Booooooooooooo
• In Earth-2, the Arrow is Robert Queen, and Oliver died on the Queen’s Gambit. He has failed this Earth.
• Who do you think is under Zoom’s mask? Speculation has run from Earth-2 Barry (my primary choice) to a guy named Hunter Zolomon to a resurrected Eddie Thawne.