Once, on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon lost a bet (and his intellectual dignity) to Wolowitz over the identity of a cricket. The price he paid was his prized copy of Flash #123 from 1961, the landmark Flash of Two Worlds issue. He had it kept in safety deposit box and was understandably heartbroken for losing it. That’s how big a deal this week’s episode of The Flash is in the way it directly references one of the most iconic moments in its titular character’s comic history: the first meeting of the Golden Age Jay Garrick Flash and the Silver Age Barry Allen Flash. The show even released a promotional poster recreating the comic’s classic cover. So with expectations so high, will the show do it justice? While of course, it’s a world away from the comic’s story and it does give the event the significance and importance it deserves. This episode really feels like the beginning of something incredible for the show.
Flash of Two Worlds – Jay Garrick reveals himself as The Flash of another world here to warn them about his nemesis Zoom, but Barry refuses to trust him until the appearance of a dangerous metahuman, Sand Demon, helps him put aside his animosity. Meanwhile, Joe faces the relentless efforts of rookie cop Patty Spivot to join his (now depleted) Metahuman Task Force.
Picking straight up from last week’s J-bomb ending, the main focus of the episode is to introduce the ideas of the Multiverse within the show and to pledge Jay Garrick as a new member of Team Flash to fill the vacant mentor role left by Harrison Wells. Yet the shadow of Wells becomes a driving force for the conflict between Barry and Jay. While at first this may confuse some, it pans out extremely well in the way it reflects Barry’s character evolution. It ultimately feels completely understandable for him to distrust Jay’s good guy claims after his trust in Wells was so betrayed.
While the show’s portrayal of DCs original “Fastest Man Alive” has made some changes to work him in, there are still some loyal references to his origins. Jay recalls getting his powers as the result of a lab accident, his symbolic metal helmet is confirmed as his father’s and his whole costume looks respectful.
Teddy Sears (Masters of Sex) makes him very endearing on screen as prevails with seniority over Barry (referring to him as “kid”) yet feels open and approachable in his scenes with Catlin. There’s clearly some implied chemistry between Jay and the former Mrs. Raymond. This feels right as the pair connects over mutual loss and Catlin is 6 months on from losing Ronnie so show isn’t dishonoring their past relationship by letting her move on in this way. The mentoring scenes between Jay and Barry work well, as “pulling a Zeus” gets added to his speed force utility belt.
As for the multiverse itself, the episode does set this up adeptly. While the first 10 minutes are explanation-heavy, things stay entertaining through the different characters' reactions to the revelations of not being alone (Joe’s remarks about still getting there with time travel help keep the realism in the room). It looks like for now, the show is smartly keeping the parallel worlds training wheels on. While Martin Stein mentions the idea of infinite worlds, it implies travel is only possible between the (now christened) Earth 1 world of Barry Allen and the Earth 2 world of Jay Garrick via connecting portals. This will allow for plenty of character transitions without getting too crazy too quick. We might well see all the dimensional doors flying open by the end of the season but for now, we are in a firm two world duality.
It looks like Zoom is being setup as the Reverse Flash equivalent of Jay’s world as he mentions Zoom appearing around the same time as his creation. We get our first proper look at the demon speedster which, as expected, is mostly a CG blur but the blue and black presentation looks cool enough. Like last time, he portals in our villain of the week, Sand Demon (DC equivalent of Marvel’s Sandman), under the same promise of killing The Flash for the ride home. Sand Demon actually plays a smaller role in the episode due to the emphasis on the new regular characters but does the job well enough of giving us some brief battling action when required. It’s interesting that, like Atom Smasher, Sand Demon quickly judges Barry as inferior. This could be in reference to his encounters with Jay Garrick (implying Jay’s a full on badass) but more likely referring to Zoom. This ties in well with Jay’s claims that Zoom wants be the only speedster, to be the best. He clearly wants anyone he encounters to get that impression.
Despite the arrival of the Crimson Comet (“what is with these names and alliteration” wonderfully meta), this episode has a firm scene stealer and her name is Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten – One Tree Hill). Although a previous speedster in the comics, here she’s unpowered and becoming Joe’s new partner within the CCPD. Right from the start she lights up the screen with her quirky charms in the perfect contrast to Joe’s sterner persona. The events of the episode show her as being a strong and resourceful figure. She even keeps her composure under capture and delivers a firm moral uppercut to her metahuman foe, “Getting those powers didn’t change who you are they only highlighted the worst parts of who you already were”. Her family trauma motivation could have seemed very clichéd but the writers keep the focus positive. She’s not out to avenge her loss but to help stop others going through the same. It’s still highly likely we’ll see her encountering Mark Martin (aka Weather Wizard) eventually in the same way Arrow’s Diggle crossed paths with Deadshot.
Finally, there’s early hints of a romantic arc between her and Barry, which immediately feels like something we want to happen. The pair has some excellent geeky chemistry and when they both start Monty Python ripping you just want to lock them away in a room until they make it official. Yes, that will probably mean the ever treacherous love triangle territory again (Iris isn’t going anywhere) but with Patty making a strong bid to be this show’s Felicity Smoak it will be worth it.
Flash of Two Worlds literally had an entire world of ground to cover but positively streaks across it for an episode that's as symbolic to the show as the 1961 issue was to the comics, and they even worked the cover into the episode! Its final minutes are air raid of bombshells as the groundwork for multiple new cast editions and re-introductions that look set to propel the show even further. Then to top it all off, next week’s episode has Michael Ironside..... Michael freakin’ Ironside! Even Cisco would be loving those vibes.