TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 02 Episode 13: Welcome To Earth-2

I’m probably going to be hated for this, but I honestly didn’t like this episode as much as I should. And that hurts me, because this was something I’ve been looking forward to since they announced Earth-2 being in the CWVerse. The potential, the name drops, and more! It was all for the picking, and on one hand, they had all the stuff I expected, and knew about. But, in its attempt to show as much about Earth-2 as they could, they got lost in their own new world, and the episode suffered for it.

“Welcome To Earth 2” had a great setup, as Barry closed 50 of the remaining 51 breaches to ensure the one under Star Labs was all that was left. And even the whole “they’re trapped unless we fix the speed cannon” bit worked, as it showed what the others on Earth-1 would be doing while Harry, Barry, and Cisco went to go get Jesse.

The moment you hit Earth-2, and the Easter Eggs started falling, it was fun. Even before then, as they shot through THE MULTIVERSE…which showed not only Supergirl (which was recently confirmed to be getting a crossover with Flash soon), but also the 90’s version of Flash, a preview of Legends of Tomorrow with Jonah Hex, and apparently either Diggle as Arrow or Connor Hawke, one of the two. Still, EPIC.

Then, you get Mayor Snart, Deadshot and Iris’ partner at the CCPD, Joe is a singer, and on and on, and you know you’re not in Kansas anymore…but that doesn’t mean we need to stay focused on the person who’s life is a mirror of the main character. From the moment our Barry took the place of E2 Barry, you almost knew that something was going to go wrong. And it did, just not in the way I expected. From the moment Iris E2 kissed Barry E1, it was evident what Barry would do. Sure enough, he began to live the life of Barry E2, and feel and react to everyone and everything that was going on.

Is this bad? Not really, as you expected it to happen to an extent. But, when it was evident that the recurring line would be “So…*insert E2 character here*…you’re *insert non-E1 role here*” it got tiring very fast. I almost felt that the writers missed one of the key lines in the episode, where Wells E2 tells Barry point blank he CAN’T care for these people, no matter who they remind him of, or think they are. They aren’t them. Yet Barry didn’t care, and neither did Cisco. Neither of them seemed to care about finding Jesse once things went downhill, it was more about the E2 counterparts, and what to do to “save” them.

Again, this isn’t “bad” per se, but this wasn’t the point of the episode. It was to save Jesse and find Zoom, instead, it became about finding Killer Frost and Deathstorm because they killed Earth-2 Joe…which would never have happened if Barry wasn’t playing Barry E2.

On the plus side, Killer Frost and Deathstorm were cool (no pun intended) to see. Even if the later wasn’t exactly like his comics inspired counterpart. But seeing them in a Bonnie and Clyde style dynamic, while still being in love was great to see. I wish more focus was put on them, but sadly, it wasn’t.

Before I get to the ending, let’s talk about what happened on Earth 1. As if the Speed Cannon breaking wasn’t enough, they decide to throw in Geomancer to the mix. Again…nice in theory…but terrible in execution. Why? Because we know nothing about how, not even why he has these powers. Instead, they used this to try and get Jay back his speed via Velocity 7. Which was also good…until we found out the real reason Jay feared that. Turns out, he’s a bit of a speed addict, and it was because he kept using the Velocity drug that he lost his speed, not because of Zoom. This KILLS ME! What are they doing to Jay Garrick???

The saving grace of the episode was the Zoom ending. Not only did he show just how evil he was by killing both Deathstorm and Reverb, but he’s not got Barry trapped in the prison where Jesse (and someone else…) is being held hostage. What happens next? Who will save him? Well, thank goodness this is a two-part arc!

In the end, “Welcome To Earth 2” had a LOT of potential, and seeing all the Easter Eggs made this a memorable experience, however, the waste of several characters, and the forcing of story for others made this a true headscratcher. When my father, who I watch this with, goes, “Todd, this isn’t one of their best episodes”, I take notice. Here’s hoping it ends better than it began.