Escape from Earth-2

With Barry having been captured, Cisco and Harry are forced to team up with Barry-2 and Iris to save him and Jesse from Zoom. They decide to track down Killer Frost to try to convince her to help them find Zoom’s lair. Meanwhile, Barry and Jesse work together to find a way out of the Zoom’s prison, communicating with a third masked and muted prisoner via WWII POW code. The only information they can get out of him is the name Jay, which Barry takes to mean Jay Garrick. When the stranger learns that Jay is alive but not with them he becomes agitated, but with Zoom’s untimely arrival there is no time to communicate further.

Zoom is able to phase in and out of Barry’s glass cell, revealing to Barry how to escape. Unfortunately his attempts are foiled by the different frequencies between Earths. Meanwhile, the Earth-2 team finds Killer Frost. Cisco appeals to the Caitlin inside her and her anger at Deathstorm’s death by Zoom. She agrees to show them Zoom’s lair, helps them get inside, and even helps them free Jesse. Barry-2 gives Barry-1 a pep talk about believing in himself and he finds the power to phase through his prison.

Before they can all escape, of course, Zoom arrives and thanks Killer Frost for bringing them to him. Just as he is about to kill Jesse, Killer Frost has a crisis of conscience and holds back Zoom long enough for them to escape. Barry promises the stranger that he’ll come back for him when this is all over. They all make it back just in time – Harry, Jesse, Barry, and Cisco – narrowly pursued by Zoom. As the breach is closing, however, Jay stands too close to the opening and is impaled and snatched away by Zoom through the breach.

Earth-1

While the Flash is away Central City continues to be terrorized by the Geomancer, who demands a confrontation with the new, silver helmeted Flash. Caitlin discovers, however, that the Velocity Seven is still damaging Jay’s cells and that further development is needed. In the meantime, Jay is able to get the breach stabilized in anticipation for Barry and Co.’s return. Caitlin skips Velocity Eight all together and makes a breakthrough with Velocity Nine – just in time for Jay to test it out as Geomancer collapses a building and people need rescuing.

A tired Jay takes a nap, leaving Caitlin and Iris unattended when Geomancer strolls into STAR Labs (what happened to all that security they’re supposed to have installed?) and threatens death and destruction. After a struggle, Caitlin is able to shoot him with a meta-restraining gun, allowing them to capture him. Although Geomancer is finally out of the way, the damage he caused at STAR Labs has once again destabilized the Speed Canon.

Jay creates a vortex while Joe reboots the rings, restabilizing the Speed Canon just in time for Velocity Nine to wear off. Ironically, Caitlin discovers that Velocity Nine has the ability to reactivate Jay’s regenerative abilities for a short time, allowing his damaged cells to heal – just in time for him to be captured and possibly killed by Zoom.

The Stranger

I have a feeling that this mysterious stranger that Barry encounters in Zoom’s lair will be someone we’ll recognize. Once unmasked, who could this stranger be? And if he’s not someone to recognize, why bother masking him for the ultimate unmasking? He and Barry certainly seemed to share some kind of unspoken bond. Plus, the mention of Jay Garrick was weirdly agitating to him. For some reason I feel like its going to be another Jay underneath that mask. There’s something about his stature and movements that suggest the actor Teddy Sears to me. Or perhaps – a character we haven’t seen in a very long time – Eddie Thawne?

Barry-2

As we’ve seen before, Barry-2 is kind of a big geek. He’s adorable, but he’s goofy and bookish – not exactly built for high action and danger. However, when Iris decides to accompany Cisco and Harry to find Killer Frost, Barry-2 insists on standing by his wife’s side, despite firm doubts by everyone involved. He flail, but he makes it in the end, standing by his vow to stay with Iris, and talking Barry-1 into having faith in his abilities. Barry-2 and Iris-2 are a strange couple indeed, but interesting and cute. As the action closes, Iris and Barry prepare to stay with relatives in Atlantis to hide out from Zoom.