Hope you survive the experience.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
If you need definitive proof that The Flash Season 2 is capable of meeting and even exceeding the heights of Season 1, look no further than “Welcome to Earth-2.” This episode easily ranks as the best of the season, and quite possibly the entire show. It made the most of the Earth-2 concept and delivered that signature Flash blend of comedy and tragedy.
Frankly, this episode could have spent the entire hour focusing on the bizarre nature of Earth-2’s alternate reality and it would have been a winner. It never got old seeing all the major and minor ways life on Earth-2 is different from Earth-1. My favorite twist was that Earth-2 Joe is a lounge singer who despises Barry. But it was all great, from seeing Iris as the hotshot detective in the West family to the evil versions of Caitlin and Ronnie to Singh being a flamboyant, fedora-wearing master criminal. After spending a year and a half allowing viewers to fall in love with these characters and their city, there’s a lot of potential when it comes to subverting those relationships and just having fun with the notion of a parallel universe.
Barry anchored the episode throughout this surreal experience, as he was no less lost and befuddled than viewers were as he tried to impersonate his doppelganger. There was a lot of humor in seeing Barry’s reactions to one goofy twist after another. But the writers also mined this situation for all its dramatic worth as well. That scene where Barry got the chance to talk to his mother on the phone was every bit as gut-wrenching as his farewell to Nora in the Season 1 finale. I didn’t expect the episode to go that somber that quickly, but it really worked.
While that was the most emotionally charged moment of the episode, it wasn’t the only scene where Grant Gustin got to flex his dramatic muscles. It was great to see Barry’s relationship to Earth-2 Iris and Joe evolve over the course of the story, culminating in the tearful farewell to a dying Joe. Barry’s declaration that Iris and Joe are his family on any world was another very powerful moment. It’s enough to wonder how next week’s installment is supposed to top this one in terms of character drama.
As for Killer Frost and Deathstorm? They were certainly entertaining as the big villains of the week. It was obvious Danielle Panabaker was having a great deal of fun putting on the supervillain costume for the first time and playing a drastically different version of Caitlin. Hers and Robbie Amell’s performances were a little hammy, yes, but there’s a certain heightened reality to the Earth-2 setting (with its Art-Deco architecture and retro fashion and serene lighting) that invites a slightly more over-the-top approach.
We want to hear it.
Eventually, though, Earth-2 Cisco showed up to steal the spotlight from his minions. This episode did a great job of playing up the mystery of who, what and where Cisco’s doppelganger was, only for Reverb to make a terrific entrance. It was hilarious to watch Cisco try to process the sight of himself as a leather-clad, top knot-adorned villain in full control of his powers. Carlos Valdes was on fire throughout this showdown, playing two strikingly different versions of the same character and conveying Cisco’s inner turmoil and confusion nicely. Honestly, it’s a shame that Reverb was killed off once Zoom showed up. It seemed like a waste of a fascinating and very amusing villain.
That said, it was a treat to get a little dose of Zoom in an episode that could just as easily have kept him off the board. His late arrival and his capture of Barry provided a nice cliffhanger to coast into next week.
This episode didn’t spend its entire runtime on Earth-2, as there was also a subplot about Jay trying to temporarily fill Barry’s shoes. I’m not sure how well I would have tolerated that subplot if this conflict weren’t spread out over two episodes, but it was certainly nice to see Jay take a more active role again. We were given further insight into his personality and what really led to his downfall on Earth-2. Jay had his brief moment of triumph before crashing back down to earth when his Velocity-7 injection petered out. I guess we know why they didn’t use the “Velocity-9” name when the drug was introduced a few episodes back…
Adam Stafford made his debut as Geomancer during this subplot. Geomancer didn’t leave a strong impression, but there’s no real way he could have with as little screen time as Stafford was given. He was really just a means to an end as far as getting Jay back in the costume. Anything more would have distracted from far more pressing matters.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning at least some of the many Easter Eggs and cameos included in this episode. I’ll be doing a more comprehensive breakdown on our Flash Wiki page in a bit, but here are a few that stood out:
- Barry’s archaic telephone had a very interesting list of speed dial numbers, including names like Hal, Bruce and Diana. Hmm…
- Similar to the Season 1 finale, Barry breached the fabric of space and time and saw glimpses of other worlds. I almost wish they hadn’t confirmed the Flash/Supergirl crossover yet, just so the shot of Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl could have been that much more of a shock.
- On that same note, it was neat to see early glimpses of Jonathon Schaech’s Jonah Hex and the older, metal armed Green Arrow that will be showing up on Legends of Tomorrow.
- Mayor Snart? Please tell me he’ll be showing up in the flesh next week.
- It was a welcome surprise seeing Deadshot show up after Arrow has essentially buried the Suicide Squad. The fact that he’s a miserable sad sack with the worst aim in the CCPD was even better.
The Flash might just have delivered its strongest episode yet. “Welcome to Earth-2” took full advantage of the new setting as it explored this alternate universe and the many differences from the Central City we know and love. That was often played for laughs, but it also yielded some intense drama as Barry reconnected with his mother and Cisco got “Cloud City Vader’d.” The bar has been set extremely high for the second half of this two-parter.
