The Flash Post-Mortem: A New Friend (Or Foe), A New Earth (Or 17)
Jim Halterman at .Is Jay Garrick friend or foe?
On The Flash Season 2 Episode 2, Garrick showed up and explained to our group that he's also The Flash…in another dimension.
Apparently, when Barry Allen saved the world in The Flash Season 1 finale, he inadvertently opened a portal and now a villain named Zoom is sending baddies through it to kill Barry. That sounds like a problem.
Everything Jay told us seems on the up and up; we even saw that he and Barry could actually work well together. But is Zoom’s threat the only thing tied to Jay? Or is there more to come? What’s up with Cisco? And what the heck was that little romantic spark we saw between Caitlin and Jay?
Oh, and Harrison Wells is back?!?
After a press screening last week, episode writers/brothers Todd and Aaron Helbing (as well as actor Teddy Sears) gave us the scoop on what we saw as well as what’s coming.
Fan Expectations: By introducing a key character from the comic books, Todd Helbing explained how they consider what the fans might think: “It’s always a balancing act. I guess the way we approach it with every episode is we want people who have read all the comic books to get all the joy they got out of reading those. But we want the people who aren’t comic book savvy to get that same experience.”
Jaitlin? Cay? There’s definitely a spark between Caitlin (still bruised over Ronnie’s death) and Jay (who proved charming with or without his shirt). Sears explained: “There’s a connection these two have, almost an instant comfort level. That wonderful thing you don’t get with too many people in life, these two experience. They’re going to explore that a little bit.”
Earths Aplenty: With 52 Earths out there, just how many worlds will be explored? "I think it might be a bit too confusing to have Earth 17 so I think right now we’re just going to keep it at Earth 2," Todd said.
However, Sears’ eyes were alive with the thought of the story options: “I love that a possibility of an Earth 17 exists, though. Or an Earth 49. What does that look like? We’re in season 2 but the possibilities really are kind of limitless.”
The Zoom of it All: Jay’s singular goal when we meet him is to take down Zoom. “He needs Barry’s help to defeat this guy,” revealed Sears. “I think when we see him he arrives without his speed and he knows what Zoom is capable of so he very much needs to enlist Barry and he needs to have Barry harness these powers and these sort of depths that he didn’t know he could reach."
Jay’s Secret: As honest as he might seem, we’ll find that maybe taking down Zoom isn’t Jay’s only intention. However, whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to be seen. “There’s something that he is struggling with that you’ll start to learn in the next couple of episodes,” Todd said. “And that’s partly where Caitlin comes into play, to help him with something.”
Spivot. Patty Spivot: The episode introduced another character from the DC world in the new cop who is dying to work with Joe to bring down Metahumans (one of which, Mark Mardon, killed her father).
“Originally, we talked about she's kind of like Felicity,” said Todd. "But the second we started writing her, we felt like we had to make her quite a bit different. We wanted to have her feeling part of the show and part of the universe we set up…and somebody that could feel like she was part of the Metahuman task force and hold her own.”
And that was a spark between Patty and Barry, so watch for them to get closer especially since Iris’s heart is still bruised over losing Eddie.
Cisco Powers: Our favorite villain-naming friend is definitely shaken by his new visual abilities... and for good reason. “Wells gave this power to him,” said Todd, “and Wells was very evil so he’s just a little freaked out so I think as the season goes on you’ll start to see him deal with that problem of ‘how do I tell these guys? When do I tell them?’ And then sort of figure out this power that he has and how to control it more.”
More Villains: Zoom is the biggest threat at the moment, but don’t be surprised if we see some villains from Season 1 pop back up, as well. “
There’ll be some villains that you saw last year,” Todd revealed. “There’s a lot of new villains. There are still meta-humans running around Earth, or Central City, that we didn’t get to last year so there will be some new people that you’ll be introduced to soon.”
The writers wouldn’t reveal much about Killer Frost coming to the show despite the press asking but Todd did say, “your question will be answered down the line a little bit.”
The Iconic Helmet: Sears beamed when talking about the importance of Jay’s helmet, especially the first time we see him put it on. “I remember shooting it,” he said, “[and] there was a real awe and reverence for seeing this thing. That was absolutely not acted at all. There was such substance in that moment. I keep coming back to this moment of ‘Wow, this feels really important.’”
Hello, Francine West: We meet Iris’s mom at the end of the episode, but why is she back and why now? “She came back to see her daughter and reestablish this family that she once had,” said Todd.
As far as Iris is concerned, she “obviously has this conception about her mother and her being away from her her whole life, and I’m sure you can imagine learning that is not the case can sort of turn your world upside down, so that’s the jumping off point that she’s going to be starting with.”
Wells Is Back! While we knew he’d pop up somewhere, were you surprised Harrison Wells turned up on Earth 2? The producers were mum about when we might see him again, but it WILL happen.
Todd added there’s a unique appeal of the character: “I think it’s such a unique opportunity to have a character that everybody fell in love with and everybody hated at the same time and try to reinvent him in a different way. I think that was always the plan, it was just a challenge to figure out how to do that and have it be satisfactory.”
The Flash Season 2 airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
Jim Halterman is the West Coast Editor of TV Fanatic and the owner of JimHalterman.com. Follow him on Twitter.
