The Flash Season 2 Finale: Every DC Comics Reference
Who is Zoom? What about Jay Garrick? And what's the deal with Earth 2? Our guide to The Flash season 2 easter eggs is here!
This article consists of nothing but The Flash season 2 spoilers. Caution is advised.
The Flash season 2 is now completed, and it brought us a whole stack of new DC Comics references, easter eggs, superheroes, and supervillains!
Watch The Flash season 2 on Amazon.
Here’s our complete guide to everything you might have missed in The Flash Season 2 finale and much more…
The Flash Season 2 Episode 23: The Race of His Life
– Henry Allen’s tombstone places him as born in 1955, which is the same year that John Wesley Shipp was born.
– Harry Wells tells us there are “infinite” Earths in the Multiverse. I believe that’s the first time we’ve heard that particular combination of words around here. Do I really need to spell out the Crisis on Infinite Earths connections any more than I already have in so many previous Flash Facts installments? Probably not. BUT…
– Saying that this Earth is the access point to every other Earth in the Multiverse is kind of meta. Since it was via The Flash that we first learned of the DC Multimedia Multiverse, then this show very much is the nexus of DC and WB’s multimedia strategy. This is pretty cool, I have to confess. With that in mind, I would have been totally okay with it if it turned out Zoom was able to destroy the universe where Batman v Superman took place and that the next batch of DC movies would get the characters right.
– The giant device that is poised to destroy an entire Multiverse is straight out of Crisis on Infinite Earths, as is the way Flash (or his time-remnant) sacrifices himself to stop it. In Crisis, Barry did pretty much exactly what you see here, running until he simply disintegrates.
This would be pretty awesome, but it does kind of rob a potential future Barry sacrifice of a little bit of its drama (and remember, we’ve seen that teased literally since the first episode).
– It was a beautiful moment seeing John Wesley Shipp playing a Flash again. I’m sure I don’t have to remind anyone that he was a wonderful Barry Allen on the original Flash TV series, which really should have run for more than one season. In fact, let’s just take a moment to appreciate that costume…
…and I gotta say, I loved the fake Jay/Zoom costume, muted colors and all. But this was just a nice touch. The bulkiness of it even kind of recalls the bulkiness of Shipp’s Barry/Flash costume from 1990.
– Real Jay quips that he’s from “Earth 3.” In the comics, Earth 3 was the planet in the multiverse where everything/everyone was hopeless and evil…so basically the way that Earth 2 was portrayed this season. I wouldn’t get too hung up on that number designation, though. I do hope that there’s a Justice Society on that world…and I do have to wonder if that’s where the Rex Tyler we met at the end of the Legends of Tomorrow season finale came from!
– The ending of this episode seems to be pointing to some kind of adaptation ofFlashpoint for next season. I’ll write more about this in a longer article very soon, but basically, Barry stops Reverse-Flash from murdering his mother…and it screws everything up, and the world is much worse for it in the long run. Like the Crisis/Flash death nod just minutes earlier, it feels like this episode was just in a hurry to get to every important Flash moment it could think of.
I just hope that they have a better plan for The Flash Season 3 than they did for this season. I’m not terribly interested in an entire season set in an alternate timeline where everyone is playing weird versions of themselves. We had enough of that with the doppleganger nonsense this season, and I would hope this show is smarter than that going forward.
You can use the dropdown menu to go directly to the episodes of your choice. Click the episode titles at the top of each page to go to full reviews of each episode, too!
The Flash Season 2 Episode 1: The Man Who Saved Central City
– There was an Al Rothstein mentioned in passing in an episode of season one, as someone who disappeared after the particle accelerator exploded. Ummm…whoops! That’s not the real Flash Fact here, though…
Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher was a member of DC Comics’ Earth 2 superteam Infinity Inc. (back when he had the unfortunate name of Nuklon and an even more unfortunate mohawk) before eventually becoming a full fledged member of the JSA in the early 21st century. He was also the nephew of Al Pratt, the original (non-shrinking) Atom, and the grandson of supervillain Cyclotron.
He was traditionally played as much younger than the Adam Copeland version we get here, but that actually works in the show’s favor. The implication here is that the heroes (and villains) of Earth 2 have been operating for much longer than the ones we know on CW TV Earth 1, so that’s kinda cool.
His turn to somewhat reluctant villainy here also has some comic book precedent. Al often struggled with anger issues and his own perception of justice, and even went to work for Black Adam for awhile. He was never an out and out villain, but he definitely made some questionable choices in his career. The questionable choices he makes in this episode, then, are perfectly in keeping with what we know about him. I just wish it had been explored/explained over the course of more than one episode in order to give things some more weight.
– Is this the first time we’ve seen that there’s a Queen Street in Central City? I guess the Queen family’s money and influence is far reaching. Alright, maybe it’s just a coincidence.
– Flash Day is the first sign of the special relationship that Flash has with the citizens of Central City (as opposed to, say, Batman). It’s also a major step towards the opening of a Flash Museum, something that we saw teased in the season one finale.
– This episode marks the return of Vito D’Ambrosio as Mayor Anthony Bellows. D’Ambrosio was a regular as Officer Tony Bellows on the original Flash TV series that starred John Wesley Shipp.
– The color scheme of Ms. Snow’s Mercury Labs workspace not only hints at her villainous future as Killer Frost, but recalls that of the relatively obscure DC speedster Max Mercury!
– Jay Garrick, as has been beaten to death in virtually everything I’ve written about this show since day one, is the original Flash. He first appeared in Flash Comics #1 in 1939 (cover dated 1940), and it was his Mercury lookin’ winged helmet that flew out of the wormhole in the season one finale.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 2: Flash of Two Worlds
– Jay Garrick is arguably the third most important DC character of the Golden Age of comics (even though at the time the company wasn’t called DC, but that’s another story.
His origin story is mostly in place from the comics, right down to the “heavy water” he was experimenting on (it was originally “hard water”) in the first Flash story. There are some flourishes, though, like the mysterious flash of light that causes his accident. I’m sure this will be explored further as the season goes on.
TV Jay explains that the helmet was his grandfather’s (presumably minus the wings), which he wore during “the war of the Americas.” Since the Jay of the comics first appeared in 1939, it was later explained that his helmet was actually his father’s World War I helmet. Obviously that won’t quite work here.
It’s also interesting that while Jay is several years older than Barry, he’s only been active as Flash for about an extra year. I’m surprised they didn’t play him as much more experienced than that.
– I absolutely love the way they made Earth-2 look. It’s like an art deco hybrid, full of Flash Gordon style hi-tech. That’s a nod to the fact that the Earth-2 of the comics was the world that all of the World War II era superheroes operated in. I was wondering how they would handle that, and this was a really cool visual flourish. I really want to spend more time there.
By the way, the model rocket visible during the Earth-2 STAR Labs tour looks an awful lot like one of Alex Raymond’s original Flash Gordon designs…something that was copied quite closely by Superman’s creators for the first ever comic book looks at Krypton and Superman’s origin. And of course, Garrick’s yellow lightning bolt on a red shirt was borrowed from Raymond’s Flash Gordon, as well. The name? What name? What are you talking about?
God, I love this show.
– They did their best to re-create the cover of The Flash #123 when Jay and Barry show up to rescue Patty, right down the simultaneous “coming” dialogue. Ummm…it’s cute, but it worked better in theory. Comic book movies and shows really need to stop trying to do panel for panel translations of stuff. It doesn’t work.
– While Sand Demon is one of those poor unfortunate souls who’s getting ported over from Earth-2 for tonight’s fight, he was never an Earth-2 kinda guy (unlike last week’s “villain” Atom Smasher). Instead he was a minor (really minor) Firestorm villain. Perfect villain of the week fodder, but just that…fodder.
He first appeared in Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #51 in 1986. He hasn’t been seen a whole helluva lot since then. With good reason.
– Zoom. Hoo-boy. For the moment, please refer to this article I wrote last year, which touches on various Reverse-Flashes through the years, including Zoom. Assuming, of course, that’s the Zoom we’re talking about. I’m going to have to perform some major surgery on that one soon, though.
– Martin Stein’s explanation of Multiverse theory is right in line with DC Comics lore. For more on the implications it had for the comics, and it’s potential implications for DC TV shows (and yes, even the movies), allow me to direct you here.
– Patty Spivot has been kicking around the DC Universe since 1977, and she was created by Flash writer extraordinaire Cary Bates with artist Irv Novick. She was more interested in the scientific side of police work in the comics, but it’s clear she has some aptitude for it here, as well.
Also, the show mentions that Patty went to Hudson University, which was mentioned in season one…it was also the college that Dick Grayson went to when he moved out of Wayne Manor.
– The abandoned grow house that Sand Demon hides Patty in is “Woodrue.” Jason Woodrue was the plant-loving Floronic Man, villain of one of the greatest Swamp Thing stories ever told. I really hope he shows up one of these days.
– Cisco utters the magic word, “Vibe” when explaining his slightly metahuman abilities to Professor Stein. Are they giving his superhero code name an entirely different connotation for this series, or will he eventually become the Vibe comic book fans know and are mostly indifferent to?
– And thanks to the ever-reliable NotBob, it should be pointed out that the Earth-1 Sand Demon’s alibi was that he was locked up at Blackgate. We’re used to Iron Heights, but Blackgate is where Gotham City criminals go if they aren’t sent off to Arkham Asylum.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 3: Family of Rogues
– Lewis Snart being a scumbag and Len’s complete devotion to Lisa is straight out of Flash history. Again, I do wish they had built this up a little more over time before Lewis was sent to the great prison in the sky, but whatever.
– And despite what I thought was simply a Suicide Squad reference was actually something much cooler, and I owe it all to the folks in the comments. Scanners star Michael Ironside got to do some head-exploding once again in this episode!
– Not strictly a DC Comics reference, but the way they handled Barry’s bullet catch at the commercial break struck me as a callback to old movie serials. Instead of just cutting to Barry on the floor with the bullet in hand, we see him get shot again, then they show the explanation of the catch, and there’s our resolution. If you’re ever in the mood to see what these things were like, do yourself a favor and watch The Adventures of Captain Marvel, which is honestly one of the best live action superhero things of all time, and certainly the very best of its era.
– I enjoyed Jay’s crack about how there’s a Big Belly Burger in every universe, although to be honest, to the best of my knowledge, I’ve only ever seen it in “main” DC continuity.
Also…did Jay get a haircut?
– I’m just gonna straight up quote the ever-reliable NotBob with his telescopic vision, because I can’t even pretend this one is me.
“The baseball game the security guards are watching contains canon teams. The Central City Diamonds were introduced by Venditti and Jensen last year (along with the Miners, their Basketball team and the modern version of the Coast City Angels). They are playing the Keystone City Salamanders, established by Tom Peyer in 2008 (so Wally West era). Assuming real-time, that would make the Arrowverse World Series a cross-the-river affair that should be getting some headlines.”
The Flash Season 2 Episode 4: Fury of Firestorm
– Let’s just get to the elephant…erm…shark in the room. Yes, that was King Shark. You know, King Shark of “I’m a shaaaaaark!” fame. Read Secret Six by Gail Simone and a host of talented artists. It’s amazing. King Shark isn’t in much of it, but when he is, he’s a good time.
Anyway, I don’t know how I feel about making King Shark from Earth-2. Not because I’m any kind of purist about these things, but just because it feels like kind of lazy shorthand for any metahumans that don’t already fit the overall narrative of the show.
On the other hand, holy moley, did he look frakkin’ amazing, or what? Forget Grodd, this was a tremendous piece of visual effects, one of the very best the show has ever pulled off!
– Wally West, well…I’ll get into more detail on him when the time comes. As no surprise to anyone, though, Wally is almost certainly going to become very, very fast on this show.
In the comics, though, he was Iris’ nephew not her brother (or half-brother as he might be here), but the age difference and the years apart from each other might allow for her to take on that kind of more authoritative role in his life than “big sister” might ordinarily entail.
– We’ve seen the “cosmic treadmill” at work on the show plenty of times already, but this is the first time anyone has ever referred to it as such by name.
– Henry Hewitt was indeed a Firestorm villain, going by the name of Tokamak. His basic energy projection abilities remain in place, although his origin (as with most metahumans on this show) were considerably different.
– Jefferson Jackson is far more like the comic book version of Ronnie Raymond with his football background and more irreverent attitude. He’s less of an overall lunkhead, though. TV Ronnie was way more considerate and smart than his more jock-y source material.
– During that “farewell to Firestorm” sequence, it’s revealed that they’re off to Pittsburgh. In the comics, that’s where Ronnie Raymond and Professor Stein first met.
The Flash: Season 2 Episode 5 “The Darkness and the Light”
– So, I fully expected this week’s Doctor Light to be the Kimiyo Hoshi version who first appeared in Crisis On Infinite Earths #4 in 1985 (and who was also briefly a member of the bwa-ha-ha Justice League lineup). I was wrong. I gotta say, though, that costume and mask were pretty sharp!
Maybe someday we’ll get Kimiyo on here, but I doubt it. Or maybe the creepy-ass Arthur Light version. Probably not, though.
– Do I really need to point out future Legends of Tomorrow star, Ciara Renee as future Hawkgirl Kendra Saunders? No. Good. Moving on…
– One of Jay’s best friends is from Atlantis, eh? Well, it might be asking a little much for that person to be Arthur Joseph Curry, but you never know. What he says about Atlantis being above the water is true, as that was one of the distinguishing features of the classic Earth-Two stories (once that distinction had really been made).
– They aren’t kidding about Cisco’s “Vibe” codename. It…ummmm…it sounds worse when you say it out loud in the 21st Century, doesn’t it?
– I said it before and I’ll say it again…that totally looks like early depictions of Superman’s rocket ship in the Earth-Two STAR Labs!
The Flash: Season 2 Episode 6 “Enter Zoom”
– Okay, so…Zoom.
This is pretty much not the Zoom from the comics. Trying to explain things further would take far too many words in a review that already has far too many words. Lucky (or unlucky) for you, I wrote a whole article just about Zoom right here.
– Harry’s daughter is his “Jesse Quick” eh? Well, it’s a safe bet that she’s going to survive her encounter with Zoom and gain some speed powers of her own. I’ll get into this more when the time is right, but this isn’t the episode to do it.
– I rather enjoyed the “Robert Queen is the Hood” switch on the Earth-Two version of Arrow, there. It’s a little bit of a poke at the Flashpoint universe, where young Bruce Wayne was killed when his parents were killed and Thomas Wayne became Batman to avenge him.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 7 “Gorilla Warfare”
– If you just want some fun Grodd facts detailing his hairiest schemes, then this is the article for you.
– Your eyes did not deceive you, that was your best look yet at Hawkgirl in this universe. The thing is, we still don’t know whether Ms. Saunders is already having past life issues and sprouting wings, or if that’s simply a vibe of what’s to come. Either way, it’s pretty cool, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Ciara Renee has in store for us here and on Legends of Tomorrow.
– Henry Allen was camping in Granite Peak National Park, a place that only exists in the DC Universe.
– For real, a Grape Ape joke? That’s impressive, even for Cisco. That put the theme song right in my head, and now it can be in yours, too.
– We’re going to get a Flash ring. Holy moley, we’re going to get a Flash ring!!! Storing the Flash costume on a mannequin or whatever it is they’re doing hasn’t felt quite right. Why not embrace the full-on crazy of storying a costume in a ring that Barry can then just leap into as it decompresses on contact with the air? And speaking of full-on crazy…
– Gorilla City here we come! The whole episode, I was thinking up Gorilla City excuses. Caitlin will teach him how to make more like him! Nope. The extra drugs in his bloodstream from their double cross will allow him to make more like him! Nope.
No, instead, Gorilla City already exists, except only on Earth-Two. Now, purists might take issue with this. To them I say, don’t be foolish. We just saw Gorilla freakin’ City on our televisions. From a story standpoint, using Earth-Two’s longer association with wacky metahuman activity allows us to leapfrog all of the “how did a Gorilla City happen in the first place” nonsense.
But don’t forget: this is now a world with dimensional portals all over the place. Who’s to say that Gorilla City can’t be transported wholesale to a rainforest on Earth-One? And since it’s in a jungle, who’s to say that the super-intelligent gorilla population would even notice? Or that they weren’t involved?
Anyway, I don’t think we’ll get to Gorilla City until season three, or ever, but aren’t you just happy it exists?
The Flash Season 2 Episode 8: “Legends of Today”
– Vandal Savage is actually one of the oldest characters that either of these shows has ever showcased (Jay, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl still win, though). He first appeared inGreen Lantern #10 in 1944. Since then he’s…oh, honestly, you’re better off just reading this other article about his history. Trust me on this. It’s too much for this space.
– It appears that Vandal stows away on a ship called the SS Tithonous. In Greek mythology, Tithonus was the mortal lover of Eos, the goddess of the dawn. She loved him and wished he would live forever. Her wish was granted…but he wasn’t granted eternal youth. As you can imagine, things didn’t work out for Tithonus. You can probably see a parallel here with the immortal Vandal Savage, who has a withered, mean old soul inside him.
Then again, this could all be a coincidence…
– One of the many cool things about Hawkman and Hawkgirl is that they both appeared in (wait for it) Flash Comics #1 in 1939. That’s right, the same comic that introduced Jay Garrick, and the very concept of The Flash to the world, is the one that brought us Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
Now, let’s not get too crazy with digging into the comic book origins of those two, because it’s complicated. It appears that they’re going with the version Geoff Johns and David Goyer set down in the excellent JSA series from the late ’90s, though, which is kind of a combination of many different Hawkman stories (and there were lots…seriously, it’s a mess).
In short, Carter Hall was once Prince Khufu of Egypt, and he, along with his soulmate Chay-Ara, has lived many lives. In the original version of the story, Khufu and Chay-Ara were killed by Hath-Set, another guy who keeps popping up in new lives. It appears that Vandal Savage is stepping in for Hath-Set in this version of the story, though.
Now, this is where things get messy…
In early versions of the story, Carter Hall’s eternal lover was Shiera Sanders. But Kendra Saunders was introduced in the pages of JSA Secret Files #1 in 1999. She was a distant relative of Ms. Sanders, and when Kendra attempted suicide, Shiera’s soul stepped in, Carter Hall came into her life, and…well. Yeah. It’s better than it sounds and mildly less confusing than I’m making it out to be.
None of this takes into account the fact that for decades Hawkman and Hawkgirl were intergalactic policemen from Thanagar names Katar and Shayera Hol. That’s a whole ‘nother can of worms to feed your birds. I bet you all a tall glass of chocolate milk that we get to see some Thanagarian shenanigans when things start flashing back to Ancient Egypt on Legends of Tomorrow, though.
– Velocity 6 is a big deal, folks. The fact that they chose this episode to introduce it is an even bigger one. Vandal Savage is going to want that drug, and it was the subject of a major (and awesome) Flash storyline in the late ’80s (albeit one where Wally West was Flash), which dealt with Vandal dealing a drug called “Velocity 9.”
In short, though…”Velocity 6″ won’t be the only version of this drug. And I have to wonder now, since Zoom clearly has some pharmaceutical proficiency, could this play into his story somehow? It might.
– Diggle puking after Flash zips him out of a room kind of reminds me of Silk Spectre’s issues with Dr. Manhattan’s teleportation in Watchmen.
– Hawkman and Green Arrow have had some rather violent differences as fellow members of the Justice League in the comics, so seeing them slug it out here felt appropriate.
– Oh, hello there surprise appearance of Oliver Queen’s son. Do you think it’s at all a coinicidence that Connor shows up as we’re setting up another show about time travel? I don’t think so.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 9 “Running to Stand Still”
– Wally West first appeared in The Flash #110 back in 1959. Back then, he was Iris West’s nephew, not her half-brother, though.
They wasted no time in making him into Flash’s sidekick, known (appropriately) as Kid Flash. He initially wore a smaller version of Flash’s costume, which looked faintly ridiculous, before they gave him his own, much cooler duds. He was pretty awesome on the Young Justice animated series, too.
He took over as the Flash at the age of 21 after Barry Allen croaked during Crisis on Infinite Earths, and stuck around as headliner for the next 25 years (of comic book time) before Barry Allen returned, the DC Universe rebooted, and he was written out of existence, only to reappear in The Flash #30 in 2013. He’ll eventually become a speedster, but we’re not there yet.
We also have an interview with Wally West actor, Keiynan Lonsdale right here.
– Okamura Toys!!! Hiro Okamura was another version of the Toyman (we’ll be seeing the original, Winslow Schott version over on Supergirl soon enough). Hiro was a bit less villainous than others, and even built a giant, ridiculous, composite Superman/Batman robot to help those two out back when they weren’t snarling at each other in that ridiculous Batman v Superman movie.
– Zoom wanting to make Barry better and faster kind of falls in line with the MO of the original comic book Zoom, although the reasoning (TV Zoom wants to siphon off Barry’s speed force energy) was profoundly different.
– Every earth has The Godfather. Good to know. I wonder if Godfather III is any better on Earth-Two?
The Flash Season 2 Episode 10: Potential Energy
Yep. They sure did give us the Turtle (or the Turtle Man) on this show. It happened. There are two characters who sort of fit the bill, but neither quite fits, and neither has the name Russell Glosson that we got on the show tonight.
– So, the Turtle Man is actually the very first villain that Flash ever fought. He appeared in Barry’s first appearance in Showcase #4 in 1955. He had no powers he was…just…really…slow and that confounded Flash’s speed a little. Look, the ’50s were a simpler time, okay?
There was also an earlier Turtle, who fought Jay Garrick. That Turtle…originally didn’t have these kinds of powers, but gained them in a modern appearance.
He first appeared in All-Flash #21 in 1945, and he was created by Flash writer extraordinaire Gardner Fox and Martin Naydel. Speaking of which…
– The Naydel Library was clearly a nod to the original Turtle’s co-creator.
– I do this a lot because my mind is going. Is this the first time we’ve had mention of Midway City on one of these shows? Midway City was Hawkman’s home base for awhile, but since the TV universe is going with St. Roch, then we’ll just have to assume that the Doom Patrol we haven’t met yet are living there.
– Speaking of geography, the painting was from Markovia, but there have been so many Markovia references between here and Arrow that it’s hardly worth mentioning, right?
The Flash Season 2 Episode 11: The Reverse-Flash Returns
– If I try to explain the history and weirdness of Eobard Thawne it would take an entire article. Luckily, I already wrote an entire article about exactly that.
For real, though, I can’t stress enough how much this is the Reverse-Flash from the classic Flash comics. His whole dopey MO, the obsession angle, the way he’ll now just drop in from the future like an annoying relative at unexpected times to screw Barry’s life up, it’s perfect. It’s even more perfect now because of the curveballs they threw us in season one.
– Jay’s nebulous cellular degeneration thing is faintly reminiscent of something that happened to Wally West for a period in the comics. He didn’t lose his speed, but his speed was killing him, which forced his retirement as Kid Flash. When he returned (cured) to take up the mantle of the Flash, his speed had been greatly reduced.
– I’m not really into the whole “Jay’s doppleganger is Hunter Zolomon” for a couple of reasons. For one thing, in the comics Hunter Zolomon is Zoom (more on this in a second, stick with me). So unless they’ve just revealed the identity of Zoom (either yet another alternate world Garrick or Zolomon himself) this felt like a piece of unnecessary misdirection. For another thing, they’ve already played the “series regular comes back as his own doppleganger” card after he’s dead. You don’t get to do that twice, show…and you had better not kill of Jay freakin’ Garrick this season, either!
– Cisco’s new “Vibe” goggles sure do look like a piece of his comic book costume. I can’t wait to see how far they take this.
– I got a little bit of a nerd charge out of watching Amanda Pays as Tina McGee interacting with a genuine Reverse-Flash. She never got the chance on the original Flash series.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 12: “Fast Lane”
– Tar Pit first appeared in The Flash #174 in 2001. He was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. One of the perks of being an executive producer on a show like this (that would be Mr. Johns) is that you get to see your creations get realized in live action. Even when they don’t deserve to be.
They did manage to make the special effects look pretty good, though, especially for Tar Pit’s “full” appearance at the end of the episode.
– This may be a coincidence, but Diamond Detailing sure does seem to have the same logo as Diamond Comics, the monopoly that your local comics shop gets all their books from.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 13 “Welcome to Earth-2”
– My issue with everyone having an evil/disgruntled doppleganger is partially (but onlypartially) rooted in a little comic book purism. See, the world that’s supposed to be the darker reflection of ours isn’t Earth-2, but Earth-3, where the Crime Syndicate is from, damn it!
However, I’ll give them a pass since there’s a great Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely story called JLA: Earth-2, which took the Earth-3 concept and ported it over to Earth-2 and, oh…don’t worry about it. It’s a good comic, though. You should totally read it.
But let’s talk about those Multiverse visions we saw! And just for a note about DC acknowledging their multimedia Multiverse, I direct you to this article that I breathlessly wrote in 2014, and now all of my nerdy little dreams are coming true.
– That appeared to be the Smallville version of Green Arrow. I doubt that was actually Justin Hartley, but it sorta looked like that costume, didn’t it? Or it might be the Connor Hawke Green Arrow that we’re going to meet on Legends of Tomorrow later this year. Regardless, that was a Green Arrow that most certainly was not the one we see every week on Arrow!
– That was absolutely 100% John Wesley Shipp’s Barry Allen from the original FlashTV series from 1990, though! I may or may not have shed a tear of happiness. Be quiet.
Does this or does this not possibly add a little fuel to the fire that maybe, just maybe, the Tina McGee we’ve met on this show is actually the SAME Tina McGee from that show, just one who has managed to travel between dimensions? Yes? No? Anyone?
– And yes, we now can say with complete certainty that Supergirl on CBS exists in a different corner of the Multiverse from The Flash. Barry won’t be running to National City for their crossover, he’ll be getting there via interdimensional shenanigans.
– That was another look at Grodd, which makes me all the more certain that Gorilla City will return…but probably not until The Flash season 3.
– That was absolutely our first look at Johnathon Schaech as Jonah Hex. He’ll be showing that scarred face of his on an upcoming episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
– Was that a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring? Yes. Yes it was.
– So we finally got to spend some time with Killer Frost. There have been three different versions of this character throughout DC Comics history, and Caitlin is only the most recent. They’re all roughly the same, though, but thanks to this show (and ONLY this show), Caitlin is by far the most interesting one.
– Deathstorm has shown up in two different DC Comics events. One was Blackest Night, the not-as-cool-as-it-sounds DC Universe vs. zombies story, where he was a zombified Ronnie Raymond. The other was during Forever Evil, which dealt with the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 (see above!) invading “our” world, where he was the evil and evil-looking Firestorm of the Crime Syndicate. Trust me, you aren’t missing much.
– The Barry of Earth-2 wears a bow tie. The bow tie was traditionally the fashion accessory (or fashion faux pas) of Barry in the comics.
– The CCPD mural isn’t of a thinly disguised Justice League. Instead, this celebrates a “Free and Just Society.” The comic book forerunners to the Justice League of America were the Justice Society of America, the original super team, who counted Jay Garrick among their members.
– Barry and Iris are pretty much destined to get married anyway. Sorta. It’s gonna happen for the Earth-1 versions, too. Maybe. Unless something else from the comics happens.
– Barry and Iris have “Bruce, Hal, and Diana” on their speed dial. Certainly that’s a coincidence, right? No? Anyway, this is one of those things that’s strictly fun for us to spot, unless these two are involved in higher profile cases than we thought! Eddie Thawne is still alive here, too.
– In the comics, Reverb isn’t Cisco’s doppleganger, but rather his brother Armando.
– Geomancer was as disposable in the comics as he is on this show. Another Geoff Johns co-creation destined for background villain status, he was a villain during Johns’ excellent tenure as writer on JSA in the late 20th/early 21st Century (don’t you love that we can make distinctions like that now?). Geomancer is lame, but those JSA comics are awesome.
– Geomancer is making a scene at “Pasko and 4th.” Martin Pasko was a DC Comics writer and editor in the ’70s and ’80s, and I’m a fan of some of his Superman work in particular.
– Remember when Jay said he knows all about Atlantis because he has a good pal from there? Yeah, Atlantis is a tourist destination here. That’s kinda cool.
Finally, a quick Zoom note: remember when I said we’ve now seen Earth-2 versions of pretty much everybody important on this show? There’s one exception: Henry Allen. They went out of their way to mention Henry at the beginning of the episode, too.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 14: “Escape From Earth-2”
– Cisco says “this is heavy,” which seems like a Back to the Future reference. With the mid-century aesthetics of Earth-2, it seems appropriate.
– There were a few villain posters on the wall in Earth-2 Barry’s lab, but it was mostly the usual suspects (Doctor Light, Killer Frost, etc). One of them appeared to depict Len Snart’s father as Captain Cold. Can anyone confirm that?
– As I’ve covered before, Velocity 9 is a speed steroid from the comics. We’ve watched it evolve from “Velocity 6” on here. The thing is, Velocity 9 has some rather unpleasant side effects, and is known for turning people into roided out bad guys. Huh…
– Jay really gave us some Star Trek quality technobabble this week, didn’t he?
– I have to love how people on Earth-2 refer to Atlantis as casually as if it’s Florida or something. Don’t forget, they’ve already given us Aquaman references, too.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 15: “King Shark”
“We’re gonna need a bigger Flash” was…oh, c’mon. Do I really need to explain Jaws references? Of course I don’t. You’re all better than that, and for me to try and do this would be insulting.
But I’ll tell you what’s way cooler (and I have to thank regular commentor, All-Patriot, is that the ARGUS guys refer to King Shark as “Bruce,” which was the nickname given to the mechanical shark during the filming of Jaws! That’s much cooler, isn’t it?
– The Shay Lamden stuff is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time they’ve explicitly referenced the events of The Flash: Season Zero comic that DC puts out as a tie-in to the show. Let’s hear it for synergy!
– So Diggle will be getting a new helmet? Please let him be the Guardian this time!!!
– I don’t think I ever noticed the jazz posters on Joe West’s walls before. I spotted Cab Calloway, but lousy TV meant I couldn’t see more.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 16: “Trajectory”
No review for this one, sorry! My schedule got in the way. I do have a few cool notes on it, though…
Eliza Harmon first appeared in the (excellent) 52 series, and a few issues later she became Trajectory. The costume is a little different, but overall, they were on point with this. The comic book Eliza got her powers from Lex Luthor, though, but we don’t need to worry about that here.
The continuing parallels about how Velocity 9 makes you a terrible person are worth exploring, though. There really was a great comic storyline from the Wally West era that I should probably just write an entire article about one of these days!
The way that Trajectory meets her end in this is kind of reminiscent of what happens to Barry Allen in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
I loved that Barry is confused about what he’s supposed to be in relation to Wally. In the comics, he’s basically his uncle. Nothing is that simple here!
– At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Jesse is headed to Opal City. Holy moley, we need to visit Opal City on this show. Opal City is the home of the Jack Knight version of Starman, a character who absolutely needs his own CW show.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 17: Flash Back
– So, when the Time Wraith first showed up, I totally thought it was a vision of Barry’s future in Crisis on Infinite Earths. There is totally a resemblance to what happens there. As far as I can tell, they have no parallel in the DC Universe, but holy moley do they feel right out of Russell T. Davies or Steven Moffat’s playbook!
– I absolutely love the idea of a reformed Pied Piper hanging around to help the team out. In the comics, Hartley did indeed reform, helped Barry out a few times, but really became quite close with Wally West. I would be 100% on board with Andy Mientus becoming a recurring member of the cast next year.
– Cisco has two little moments I love, one is the subtle expanding of his fingers into the Vulcan salute when talking about The Wrath of Khan with the Barrys, but that isn’t even my favorite.
He refers to the Time Wraith as “Inky.” As in Pac-Man’s ghost foes, Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde (or Inky, Blinky, Clyde, and Sue depending on which version of the Pac-mythology you choose to subscribe to…and I’ve already given this way too much thought).
– Within the speed equation that Barry retrieves from Thawne, you can clearly spot the classic Golden Age formula that gave Johnny and Jesse Quick their speed! 3×2(9yz)4A!
The Flash Season 2 Episode 18: Versus Zoom
– Now we know where the Supergirl episode fits in! What a pointless place to put this reveal.
– Cisco should know better than to mention midichlorians during his Star Wars speech. Cisco has legit geek bona fides all day, every day, week in and week out. He should know damn well that real Star Wars fans don’t recognize midichlorians.
– All the Jay stuff aside, the Hunter Zolomon origin story couldn’t possibly have been more different than the one from the comics.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 19: Back to Normal
– Griffin Grey was the name of a Bart Allen Flash villain known as “Griffin.” He had virtually nothing at all to do with the super strong character we meet here, although the “aging really fast” thing was a problem. That Griffin Grey is every bit as lame and forgettable as the version we got in this episode.
– The slow and mellow tune that opens the episode is “The Israelites” by Desmond Dekker and The Aces. I can’t recommend this song and the work of Desmond Dekker enough, and it was so wonderfully out of place on a CW show, where music is usually provided by whatever bland, soulless non-rock band of choice whichever Warner Bros. records affiliate feels like pushing that week to soundtrack some overly sentimental moment.
Anyway, listen to it here, because it rules.
– When Harry tracked down Jesse, was she in Opal City? While Opal City has been mentioned several times on this show (and on Supergirl), is this the first time we’ve had a scene set in Opal City? This would make me happy.
– Ace Chemical is the company that owned the chemical plant where the Joker eventually became, well…the Joker. Why they had action take place there and then have Griffin hide out in a rather Joker-esque abandoned carnival is completely beyond me, but then again, this episode sucked.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 20: Rupture
– Rupture first appeared in Justice League of of America #233. Believe it or not, he was a Vibe villain! The version we meet this week is much more in keeping with the character’s New 52 appearances from the underrated (and short-lived) Vibe series by Geoff Johns, Andrew Kreisberg (yes, that Andrew Kreisberg), and Pete Woods.
– So, there’s a long tradition of “recreating the accident” in Flash lore, and this episode touched on two of them…
One is Flashpoint, a story that was much cooler in theory than it was in practice. In that story, which I know this show references kinda sideways a lot and everyone says is some kind of definitive Flash tale (but it isn’t), Barry ends up in another timeline with no powers and the Batman of that world (don’t ask) straps him into an electric chair and summons the lightning.
The other key here is Wally West’s Kid Flash origin story. See, in the comics, for some completely baffling reason, Barry Allen decides to arrange the exact chemicals the exact same way as the night of the accident and a lightning bolt comes in and…oh, you get the idea. Anyway, for all my grousing, things made much more sense here.
But I gotta say, there was one thing that really got me, and it’s pretty awesome. Barry kinda discorporates and it seems to be his energy that passes through Wally and Jesse. Remember the weird energy that passed through Barry the night of the accident? Well, there was a particular comic story where Barry did kind of, in a weird way, become the lightning bolt that gave him powers. There’s definitely something up here, and I’m all about it.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 21: The Runaway Dinosaur
– I feel like the fish tank in Barry’s childhood bedroom is a nod to Atlantis.
– There’s also that “All-Star” pillow on his wall, which is one of those magic DC Comics phrases.
– Anyone think that the prominent “no smoking” sign in front of the Big Belly Burger was a nod to Jason Mewes favorite loitering/smoking spots in front of buildings in Smith’s films?
– Cisco makes an “abby normal” joke, which is, of course, a reference to Mel Brooks’ spectacular Young Frankenstein.
– When Barry tells Iris that her voice will always call him home, that’s kind of a thing. In the comics, it was really a Wally West/Linda Park thing, where Wally could focus on Linda if he felt himself getting pulled too far into the Speed Force. But it is indeed a thing!
– How wonderful was John Wesley Shipp this week? Seriously. I really hope they remain true to their word and find a reason for him to stick around for awhile, because he’s just such a tremendous presence.
The Flash Season 2 Episode 22: Invincible
– Black Siren first appeared in the first season of the Justice League animated series in 2002, with that world’s equivalent of the Earth-2 Justice Society, the Justice Guild.
On the one hand, it’s kind of cool to see a character dreamed up for the DC Animated Universe make the jump to live action, as it continues to illustrate the commitment this show has to the wider DCU. On the other hand, Black Siren is kind of a dopey excuse to bring Katie Cassidy back so soon after her death. I’m not sure what the impact here was supposed to be. Fans of these shows have barely had time to process the fact that she’s gone.
– Are we supposed to be excited about Wally’s nascent vigilantism? Didn’t we see almost exactly the same thing during Roy Harper’s pre-costumed days on Arrow? I’ve been a fan of how they haven’t tried to rush Wally for most of the season, but this doesn’t seem like the right place or the right time for any of it.
On the other hand, it’s nice to see Wally earning his heroic wings before he even knows he has powers.
– During the (ahem) “metapocalypse” there’s a metahuman wielding green fire energy. I kinda feel like this is a nod to Earth 2 Green Lantern, Alan Scott, whose mystical green energy often had a smokier, flamier (is that a word?) look than the usual cosmic Green Lantern stuff. Maybe it was just straight up “Harold Jordan” the Power Ring/eeeeeevil Green Lantern.
– Someone in a metal mask kinda looked like minor DC Comics vigilante, Wild Dog.
– Was that…Wesley Dodds/Sandman in the fedora hanging with Zoom at the Central City police station? God, I hope not. That character deserves much better than this.
– There are also some winged folks, and I wonder if they’re Thanagarians rather than just eeeeeeevil versions of Carter and Kendra.
– Anyone have any ideas who the metahuman purse snatcher is supposed to be?
– The “dimensional tuning fork” was something that appeared in Crisis On Infinite Earths, although they had a much different function there…
– The Henry/Tina meeting was fun, as John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays were best pals/romantic tension havers on the original Flash TV series!
– Barry tells the cops, “We’re all part of the same team,” which is what Superman tells the warden after he drops off Lex and Otis at the end of Superman: The Movie, which I am long overdue for another viewing of, despite the fact that I can recite that movie backwards on command.
– Iris refers to “the blackest of nights” to describe the (snort) “metapocalypse.” The phrase “in blackest night” is part of the Green Lantern oath, and “Blackest Night” was the name of a DC Universe crossover where everyone who ever died rose from the dead and ummmm…yeah. Comics, everybody!
– Okay, so this episode sucked, but Cisco’s “last supper” t-shirt with the dinosaurs and a meteor in the background while he’s having end of the world visions was on point.
If there’s anything I missed, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter, and if it checks out, I’ll update the article.
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Mike Cecchini is a man with a deep and abiding love of comics published before he was born, low-budget sci-fi, lo-fi garage rock, giant monster movies,…