The Flash “Welcome to Earth-2” Review – Attack of the Doppelgängers

We’ve known this day was coming for a long time. Ever since Jay (Teddy Sears) arrived on Earth-1 and we learned about the parallel world now referred to as Earth-2, we knew that our team would be traveling to this warped mirror world at some point. Last week, Barry (Grant Gustin) gave Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) the promise that they would do just that. And the writers didn’t leave us waiting long. The first of this two-part Earth-2 adventure was a doozy and, in true Flash fashion, was full of laughter, drama, and some very necessary momentum for the season as a whole.

Barry, Cisco (Carlos Valdes), and Wells traveling to Earth-2 was, of course, the majority of this episode’s focus. Barry closed all of the portals between Earths 1 and 2 save for one (which seemed a bit too easy in my opinion, seeing as they’ve been an issue since the top of the season, but I won’t fuss too much over it). Prior to the actual jump to the mirror planet, we saw some nice relationship interactions explored, most notably a lasagna dinner between Barry, Joe (Jesse L. Martin), and Iris (Candice Patton). It is sometimes easy to disassociate the action of The Flash with the reality of these circumstances and their effect on the characters lives, but moments like this continue to keep The Flash grounded.

That being said, The Flash also succeeds by playing to its performers’ strengths. Barry and Cisco were a blast to watch as they took in the strange differences of Earth-2, and Gustin’s performance as Earth-2 Barry was a complete riot. Martin got a send up to his broadway days by playing a lounge singer to great effect, and Patton showed off her chops by playing the hardcore chief of police on Earth-2.

Last week, I noted my qualms regarding the villain of season 2, Zoom (Tony Todd); particularly that he wasn’t a fearsome character and his motivation was lacking. “Welcome to Earth-2,” in the span of a minute, managed to address my concern to great extent. Arguably the highlight was the final climactic scene with Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker), Deathstorm (A welcome return by Robbie Amell), and Reverb (Earth-2 Cisco) facing off against Cisco, Barry, and Iris. The effects were excellent and the flow of combat was dynamic and engaging. But it was all taken to new levels when Zoom showed up, killing Deathstorm and Reverb and kidnapping Barry. This was the moment we’d desperately been needing from Zoom since the mid-season finale. It helped raise the stakes to new heights.

For as well as the Earth-2 plot went this week, it was a disappointment that the B plot regarding Jay, Caitlyn (Also Danielle Panabaker), and Joe fell flat. Revealing that Jay was ill because of his prior experiences with V6 as opposed to Zoom having stolen his speed was a nice moment of vulnerability for a new couple, but it stripped yet another item off of the list of Zoom’s evil deeds. It was definitely cool to see Jay take up the mantle of the Flash to take on Geomancer after taking some V7, but Jay’s powers lasted less than 15 seconds of screen time. In an hour-long series, writers need to be careful not to cut important elements too short. Time is precious.

Overall, “Welcome to Earth-2” was yet another solid entry into The Flash‘s second season. The second part of this two-part Earth-2 extravaganza will, without question, provide us with some action and some more questions. Stick with me and we can explore them together! Have opinions you’d like to share? Tweet at me: @LoganASchultz.

So, how about that Supergirl cameo, huh?!

Catch new episodes of The Flash, Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW