By: Dave Clark
Tonight's returning episode of The Flash dealt with questioning our fates and abilities. Cisco discovers that he has more power than he originally thought, tapping into the power that Earth 2 Cisco had, which allows him to open a breach to Earth 2. He fears, however, that tapping into this potential will lead him down the same dark path that Reverb walked before he was killed by Zoom. Wells also feels that Barry needs to drop his pursuit of Zoom and leave all the breaches closed. He's dead-set on finding his daughter and keeping her safe, opening a breach to fight Zoom would put everyone in jeopardy, especially him and his daughter. Barry, however, needs to save the people of Earth 2 from Zoom and cannot stop until he has traveled back and put an end to Zoom's destructive reign.
The side story throughout the episode deals with the Wests. Wally is looking for a place to live and Joe invites him into his home in a very nice father/son moment. Elsewhere, Iris is coming to terms with her destined relationship with Barry. Earth 2 Barry and Iris were married, and the future says they get married as well, and she can't help but feel that they are meant for each other.
As part of their plan to capture Zoom, Team Flash brings him over to Earth 2 with Flash acting as the bait. The two race around Central City, ending up in STAR Labs where Barry is able to trap him by using stand ups of his abusive father and murdered mother. We discovered early on that Zoom was really Hunter Zolomon, a serial killer who watched his father murder his mother. However, of course, Zoom escapes and takes Wally hostage in exchange for Barry's speed. They arrange the trade but when Zoom gets all of Barry's speed he also takes Caitlin with him, leaving Barry a normal man with no super speed.
Overall, it was an okay episode furthering the main arc of the season along. It did feel a little dragged out and very much like a filler as we begin to ramp up towards the finale.
What I Liked:
The moments with Joe and Wally. It's nice to see them connecting as father and son.
Wells standing firm against Team Flash opening a breach to Earth 2. It seems like a really bad idea.
Cisco's hesitation to extend his abilities. It's believable that he'd fear becoming the villain that Reverb was on Earth 2. He compared it to becoming Darth Vader which makes a ton of sense.
What I Didn't Like:
Team Flash's plan fell apart rather easily. It's almost as if they didn't really think this one through all the way.