Bonkers, y’all. Bonkers.
1. Earth 2
The Flash made an interesting choice when it came to Earth 2 – while it might have been easier to show it looking the same as Earth 1, the show decided to take it someplace new. It is part Art Deco, part steampunk, part ultra modernist – which is to say, it is quite unique looking. Aside from the ever-present golden hue, Earth 2 resembles Opal City from “Starman” quite a bit, with its mix of antiquity and modernity.
This isn’t just an aesthetic choice – it helps us understand the characters from there a little better, too. Jay’s costume suddenly makes a lot more sartorial sense, as does Harry’s frustrations with the technology on Earth 1. It also allows for weirdness like Joe West being a coffee-house crooner without that being distracting enough to pull you out of the episode. Jitters becomes Jitterbugs, and Joe’s performing there. Why not?
2. Easter Eggs
Boy oh boy were there some fun ones – leaving aside all the dopplegangers we saw, we heard about Mayor Snart, and saw that Barry’s speed dial included a Hal, a Diana, and a Bruce. The episode probably had 100 Easter Eggs that I missed. But the big ones were found when traveling between Earths.
Much like in last season’s finale, Barry got glimpses of alternate futures/Earths/the past/what have you, and here is what he saw:
There were four images that we will probably see on this show or another CW/CBS Superhero show before 2016 is up: A different Green Arrow (maybe Connor Hawke?), Supergirl, Grodd in Gorilla City, and Jonah Hex from Legends of Tomorrow. But we also got twp more goosebump inducing teases:
First of all, we got John Wesley Shipp as the Flash from the 1990 series. That’s an amazingly fun thing to toss in there, even though we will never, ever, see it bear fruit. The other thing, this, motherfuckers:
A LEGION RING.
Do you think Geoff Johns is always wearing this, or does he take it off now and then?
3. Doppelgangers
This episode was all about our characters meeting people they know or, sometimes, themselves, on Earth 2. Sometimes, like Barry and Iris being married, there are small tweaks to the characters that change them in fun ways; other times, we see good folks turned bad (Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie).
From an acting standpoint, it must be fun for all these actors to get to stretch their chops and explore a totally different version of their character. Seeing Cisco as “Reverb” (a way better name than Vibe) and Caitlin as Killer Frost, especially, were interesting. I think many of us expected Earth 1 Caitlin to become Killer Frost, so this was a nice way to give us that payoff without hurting the character that you love.
4. Michael Buffer is getting ready to sue
Buffer is notoriously litigious when people use “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” as a phrase without paying him, so here’s hoping the CW cut a nice check to Mr. Buffer before this episode ends, lest the Geomancer better have deep pockets.
While on the topic of the Geomancer, I get that you need to have a villain take advantage of the Flash’s absence, but why not give us someone we’ve seen before? Wouldn’t that make for a much more interesting episode? Hell, have the breakdown of the breech short the power at S.T.A.R. Labs, and have the cages open up. Much, much better than Geomancer.
Plus, he’s a poor man’s Geo-Force, who has been quasi-teased on Arrow before.
5. Who is in the mask?
There was a masked man in Zoom’s captivity, along with Jesse and Barry. At first, I thought it was Earth 2 Diggle – which I guess it still could be – but it seems like the show is going to do more with him than just have him in custody (There was a press session done last night with producers that mentioned him specifically).
Would Earth 2 Diggle working for Zoom be good, or a step too far?
Answer this question, and gush over the Easter Eggs, in the comments!
