The Geekcap: The Flash "Verses Zoom"

In a voiceover, Barry remembers the night he lost his mother to the Reverse Flash and his father to prison. However, he acknowledges that without the love and support of Joe and Iris, he doesn’t know where he would have ended. We then move to a flashback on Earth-2 many years ago where a young Hunter Zolomon watches his father hurt his mother for walking out on him during the war. His father places his helmet on his son’s head and tells him to watch as he kills his mother. From that moment, Hunter is taken to an orphanage with only his father’s helmet left in his possession.

In present day, Barry test the tachyon particle device which enhances the speed force in his system. When he moves as fast as he can go he instantly exits the universe and immediately reappears after transporting to another Earth. When he runs back to STAR Labs, he is shocked that he returned almost immediately after he left. Caitlin and Cisco then inform him that he has now traveled four times as fast as usual. With his new speed, Barry then requests Harry to help him re-open the breaches to face Zoom. Harry refuses to risk another Earth to Zoom, but Barry wants to stop the villain wreaking havoc anywhere. Besides, he has no way of knowing how to open the breaches. In the meantime, Iris informs Barry that she has a date with Scott. Barry, regardless, is glad that Iris is moving on with someone else.

Barry drops off a pizza from Keystone City to Joe’s place where the detective invites Barry to stay as he and Wally watch Formula One racing. Barry declines the visit but stays to meet up with Wally as he arrives. Wally also arrives with his laundry when he reveals to Joe that he moved out of his campus dorm due to the higher costs. Joe offers to help pay for the remaining costs, but Wally is less quick to the idea.

Harry: I have an idea, Allen. Let’s keep the breaches closed forever. 

Back at STAR Labs, Caitlin and Cisco are having trouble coming up with a way to open the breaches that doesn’t involve a nuclear explosion. Barry believes he may have another solution when he asks Harry about Reverb’s powers. Harry states the Reverb’s powers involved tapping into the multidimensional frequencies which allowed him to sense breachers. By that connection, the group believes that Cisco could use his own powers to open the breach. When he tries, however, he’s unable and more than a little unwilling to try.

Harry then arrives at Joe’s house to focus on the search for Jesse. Joe admits that he worked through his sources and handed out her picture and description across cities, but they turned up empty. Harry notes that she’ll know how to hide and also requests that Joe try to talk Barry out of trying to open the breaches. Joe claims that he could never talk Barry out of something he believes he has to do. Instead, Joe advises Harry to help Barry since he has much better odds of beating Zoom with both his increased speed and Harry’s guidance.

Barry and Cisco track a strong dimensional frequency at an old hospital where Cisco could more easily open the breach. Harry interrupts their trials to deliver a new device to help Cisco, a duplicate pair of goggles worn by Reverb. With the new technology, Cicso is able to grasp the frequency and attempt to open the breach with and eager Zoom on the other side waiting to escape. Cisco, however, falters at the last instant and believes there is no way he can do it.

The group returns to STAR Labs where they try to figure out what to do next as Harry constructs a new tachyon particle device. The group is then surprised by a visit from Joe and Iris who offer to help in anyway. Joe then confides in Barry that Wally refuses to accept Joe’s money for his dorm, so Barry reveals that what Wally really wants is for Joe to offer his place. Since Wally has never lived in a place with his father, now could be a good time to try. Iris, meanwhile, confides in Caitlin that she never went on her date with Scott because she still has some mixed feelings. Caitlin correctly points out that it’s not her feelings for Eddie but her feelings for Barry that is holding her back from dating Scott. Iris says that since finding out they were meant to be married in the future as well as Earth-2 has her questioning whether or not she should be with Barry.

Barry then confronts Cisco about what happened earlier. Cisco reveals that he’s afraid that with every new power he gains, he is one step closer to becoming a villain like Reverb. Barry reassures him that he goes through the same fears every time he gains a new ability. However, because Cisco has the support of people like Caitlin, Barry, Joe, and Iris, he will not fall like Reverb. With renewed confidence, Cisco agrees to try again.

At the West house, Joe leads Wally to his new room which, barring a few house rules, he is welcome to stay in for as long as he’d like. From the experience, Joe realizes that he had to stop treating Wally like Barry or Iris and instead treat him like himself. At this consideration, Wally finally refers to Joe as his dad.

Barry also looks to Caitlin to make sure that she has accepted taking on Jay. When discussing Jay, Caitlin mentions his doppelganger Hunter Zolomon. That name immediately shocks Harry who reveals that the name Hunter Zolomon in Earth-2 refers to a serial killer. He fills in the team on his history including watching his mother die when he was eleven, being sent through an orphanage and foster care, and racking up twenty-three counts of murder. Once Zolomon was captured, he was taken to a mental hospital to receive shock therapy when the particle accelerator exploded flooding the facility with dark matter and inflicting him with the speed force. Now that they are aware of their enemy, Barry figures a plan to stop Zoom.

Hunter Zolomon: It's so fun pretending to be a hero.

Cisco successfully opens the breach when Zoom comes into contact with the Flash. The Flash goads him into chase where he leads the villain to STAR Labs. There, he distracts Zoom with images of his parents long enough to beat and incapacitate him by chaining him to the ground. Zoom removes his mask upon discovering that they realized who he was. Barry states that it was because he told Caitlin his doppelganger’s name, but Zolomon claimed he had to in order to throw Caitlin off from finding a cure and instead to producing Velocity 9. He admits that he doesn’t care how many lives he takes since that feeling was lost a long time ago. From this comparison, Zolomon states that Barry could have easily become like him with the loss of his family. Barry rejects that idea since Zoom sees family as a weakness. Before they can take Zoom, however, he breaks from his restraints and leaves the lab.

Barry, Joe, and Iris return home to find the place in shambles. On the wall in Wally’s room, Barry finds a message from Zoom: your speed for Wally. Wally is being held captive in Zoom’s lair on Earth-2 and catches a glimpse of the man in the iron mask. He questions why he was taken since he doesn’t know the Flash, but Zoom reveals that he matters to someone close to the Flash. On Earth-1, Barry ultimately agrees to sacrifice his speed for Wally after seeing Joe desperately want the return of his son. Using the goggles and Jay’s old helmet, Cisco communicates with Zoom on Earth-2 to agree to the deal. Zoom then arrives at the lab with Wally.

At the lab, Harry fashions a device to drain the speed force from Barry as he runs on the treadmill. At this moment of defeat, Zolomon also explains the rest of his history. In order to provoke Barry into going faster, he went back in time to find a time remnant of himself to kill in front of the group, much like the previous Eobard Thawne they met earlier that year. He reveals that he is unable to cast a speed mirage but has been pretending to be the hero Jay Garrick in order to rip hope from the people on Earth-2. However, he does not reveal the identity of the man in the iron mask, claiming that they would never believe him.

Once Barry is drained of his speed force, Zoom injects himself and motions to kill Barry. Caitlin beseeches him saying if there was any truth to his feelings for her he would spare Barry. At that instant, he whisks Caitlin off to Earth-2, leaving a powerless Barry in the dust.

Flash Notes

• If you blink you might miss it! When Barry proclaims how he got back to the lab, he actually spent a good episode on Supergirl!
• Once Wally has been kidnapped by Zoom, do you believe he recognizes Barry's secret?
• Zoom reveals that he cannot make a speed mirage, revealing that he is actually slower than the Reverse Flash!
• Who do you think the man in the iron mask is?