Still, actor Teddy Sears is great fun to watch as Jay. He has an old time-y quality that almost feels like a nod to the character’s 1940s origins. And Jay gives off a sense of being much wiser and more experienced than the rest of the STAR Labs crew (despite the fact that he actually hasn’t been at the superhero gig for that much longer than they have). Although Jay charms the rest of Team Flash, Barry finds himself skeptical of his desire to help after previously being burned by Wells. Thankfully, he’s soon brought to his senses by Iris, who’s refreshingly allowed to take charge after being sidelined for much of the last season.
Their heart-to-heart inspires Barry to let himself learn to trust others again and he even manages to learn a new move from the older speedster. While their ultimate team-up seems to be a ways off with Jay’s superpowers currently missing in action, by the episode’s end you can see the beginnings of the close friendship comic readers know well.
This episode also introduced us to Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten), a young go-getter cop eager to join the CCPD’s new meta-human task force. Patty’s perkiness and determination are endearing and make her a good match for the world-weary and stubborn Joe. Their dynamic as partners is already a lot more interesting than Eddie and Joe’s ever managed to be.
This episode also introduced us to Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten), a young go-getter cop eager to join the CCPD’s new meta-human task force. Patty’s perkiness and determination are endearing and make her a good match for the world-weary and stubborn Joe. Their dynamic as partners is already a lot more interesting than Eddie and Joe’s ever managed to be.
While it’s a little disheartening that a new female supporting character ended up playing a damsel in distress for the last half of her introductory episode, almost every character in a super hero series ends up in a hostage type situation at some point (and Joe himself has been the show’s repeat offender on that score). Hopefully now that Patty’s officially been let into Joe’s task force she’ll have a chance to really show her stuff.
Although “Flash of Two Worlds” is mostly about bringing in new concepts and characters, it also deals with more fallout from last season. Cisco’s powers got a brief reference during the premiere, but it wasn’t until this episode that we see how Cisco really feels about the revelation that he too has meta-human abilities. Carlos Valdes is once again in fine form as he shows Cisco’s quiet terror over what he’s being shown in his visions; it’s a stark and heartbreaking contrast to his overly enthusiastic reactions when he sees other people with superpowers.
Yet with all of these insights and introductions, it’s the finishing moments that get the biggest twists. First, we meet Francine West, Iris’s absent mother, who has come into town for mysterious reasons that seem to be centered around her family. Then Professor Stein suddenly falls ill and collapses in the middle of STAR Labs. This is likely due to Firestorm’s need to merge, which was previously hinted at last season.
Although “Flash of Two Worlds” is mostly about bringing in new concepts and characters, it also deals with more fallout from last season. Cisco’s powers got a brief reference during the premiere, but it wasn’t until this episode that we see how Cisco really feels about the revelation that he too has meta-human abilities. Carlos Valdes is once again in fine form as he shows Cisco’s quiet terror over what he’s being shown in his visions; it’s a stark and heartbreaking contrast to his overly enthusiastic reactions when he sees other people with superpowers.
Yet with all of these insights and introductions, it’s the finishing moments that get the biggest twists. First, we meet Francine West, Iris’s absent mother, who has come into town for mysterious reasons that seem to be centered around her family. Then Professor Stein suddenly falls ill and collapses in the middle of STAR Labs. This is likely due to Firestorm’s need to merge, which was previously hinted at last season.
Jason Rusch, who has traditionally been one of the Firestorm hosts, appeared on the show last season, but fans who have seen the trailer for the LEGENDS OF TOMORROW spinoff will remember that Jay Jackson, a completely original character for the show, was seen in part of the Firestorm equipment. It’s possible the show might do some sort of search for a new host storyline where they go through several characters, or this might be an intentional misdirect, but either way it’ll be fun to see how it plays out.
And finally, in the last few seconds, we get a peek into Earth-2, where Jay hails from, and who else should we see but Harrison Wells himself. The fact that Tom Cavanagh’s name hadn’t disappeared from the opening credits suggested he still had a part to play this season and it appears bringing in a parallel version of Wells (or possibly Thawne, it’s too early to say at this point) is how they intend to keep him around. Considering Wells’ character was one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of last season it seems like a pretty smart move on the writers’ part. After all it wouldn’t feel like a real episode of THE FLASH if we didn’t get an ending teaser of Wells smirking all evil-like at the camera.
And finally, in the last few seconds, we get a peek into Earth-2, where Jay hails from, and who else should we see but Harrison Wells himself. The fact that Tom Cavanagh’s name hadn’t disappeared from the opening credits suggested he still had a part to play this season and it appears bringing in a parallel version of Wells (or possibly Thawne, it’s too early to say at this point) is how they intend to keep him around. Considering Wells’ character was one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of last season it seems like a pretty smart move on the writers’ part. After all it wouldn’t feel like a real episode of THE FLASH if we didn’t get an ending teaser of Wells smirking all evil-like at the camera.
Although the pacing faltered at times, “Flash of Two Worlds” introduced plenty of exciting new revelations that will have major implications for the rest of the season.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer