‘The Flash’ 2.06 Recap: “Zoom Always Wins”

This week’s episode of ‘The Flash’ gives us our first good look at supervillain Zoom. Well, it gives us a good look at his mask, at least. Is his identity really still supposed to be a secret? We’ve established now that he’s not Dr. Wells, and we know that he’s voiced by actor Tony Todd, who doesn’t otherwise have a role on the show. So what’s the big mystery?

Episode ‘Enter Zoom’ opens, confusingly, with Barry fighting Dr. Light. Didn’t he already imprison her at the end of the last episode? Light hits The Flash with her beam weapon and, apparently, kills him. Wait, what?

We flash back 72 hours. Light is indeed locked up in the Pipeline. Barry talks to her about Zoom. She explains that she wanted to kill Linda Park in order to trick Zoom into believing that she’d died, so he would leave her alone. Ah, that finally makes a little bit of sense, though the plan would require Zoom to be a total moron to fall for such an obvious trick. In general, one doesn’t get to be a supervillian by being that dumb. When Barry asks what instructions Zoom had sent her to our world with, she says that she was supposed to kill The Flash, then take the emblem off his uniform and toss it through a portal as proof. Then Zoom would come get her to return her home.

This gives Barry an idea. If he can stage a battle with Dr. Light and fake his own death, Light could lure Zoom through the portal into an ambush. As soon as he stepped through, Dr. Wells would be waiting for him with a new weapon he’s rigged up that should take Zoom’s speed powers away. Joe, Cisco and Caitlin are wary of this plan since they all greatly distrust Wells. Also, Barry has enough trouble defeating non-super-powered villains like Capt. Cold or Dr. Light when he should be able to just run up and take their weapons away. Is he really ready to face a stronger and faster foe like Zoom?

Barry’s plan encounters a setback when Dr. Light uses her power to manipulate light to make herself invisible in her cell. Cisco goes to check on her and sees only a pile of clothes inside. (Does this mean she’s naked? Kinky.) Cisco stupidly opens the cell door rather than, oh I don’t know, running some sort of scan to see if there’s a heat signature in the cell. Dr. Light slips by him and escapes.

In addition to that screw-up, Cisco manages to really piss off Dr. Wells when he tries to touch him and use his “vibe” powers to find out what Wells’ deal is. Wells sees through that little charade and tells him to back off.

In flashbacks to Earth Two, we learn that Zoom kidnapped Wells’ daughter Jesse from her college campus. (We also get dropped a little tidbit that on Earth Two, billionaire Robert Queen survived his shipwreck and became the hero known as Arrow, while his son Oliver died on the boat.)

Back to Earth One. The original Linda Park is staying at Barry and Joe’s house in case Light tries to kill her again. Iris gives Barry an idea that Linda could get dressed up and pretend to be Dr. Light so Barry can follow through with his trap. This does not seem like a good idea, but Linda is game to help any way she can. Her initial training with Dr. Light’s weapons is clumsy and dangerous (she nearly kills Joe when high-fiving Barry), but Barry rushes her through the process anyway. He also reveals his true identity to her so that she knows she can trust him. Linda’s reaction to this is priceless when she exclaims, “Holy crap, I’ve made out with The Flash!”

Cisco eventually forces himself onto Dr. Wells and has a vision of his daughter being held captive by Zoom. Why wouldn’t Wells just tell everybody about this? Why keep it a secret?

Patty tells Joe that she’s very concerned about Dr. Light. Joe shuts her down and tells her it’s been handled and she shouldn’t worry about it. This leaves me concerned that Patty will come across Barry’s play-acting trap for Zoom and mistakenly kill the original Linda. Why is Joe so afraid to bring Patty fully into the team? Did he learn nothing from his miserable failure when he tried to shelter Iris? Patty is far more capable of taking care of herself and being a useful member of the team than Iris ever was or will be.

Barry and Linda set their trap in front of a portal at the city docks. They are both very bad actors and not convincing at all. Nobody would fall for this routine. Nevertheless, Barry plays dead and Linda tosses his emblem through the portal, then they wait a long time. Joe and Wells stand by with sniper rifles aimed at the portal, but Zoom looks like a no-show.

Just as everyone gives up, Zoom exits the portal and grabs Linda. He races her to the top of the S.T.A.R. Labs building and tosses her off. Barry follows and is able to catch her. He then zips around the building a bunch of times to build up a static charge and tosses a lightning bolt at Zoom like Jay Garrick taught him. Zoom catches the bolt in mid-air and throws it back at him. (What kind of magic is this???)

Barry then improvises a new trick of his own devising. He gets Zoom to chase him up to the building roof again, and then they both leap off. In freefall, their terminal velocity is limited by gravity and their speed powers are effectively useless until they land. That doesn’t really accomplish much either, unfortunately. They hit the ground soon enough and Zoom overpowers Barry.

Wells takes a shot with his high-tech sniper rifle, but Zoom catches the projectile and stabs Barry with it. He then drags Barry to the Picture News office and parades his helpless body in front of Iris and the other reporters, declaring, “This man is no god.”

Next, he takes Barry to the police station and does much the same. Joe, Patty and a bunch of cops open fire, but Zoom easily catches their bullets.

Back to the lab. Cisco manages to surprise Zoom and actually hits him with Wells’ weapon. Zoom drops Barry and runs off. If this weapon was supposed to take away his speed, it hasn’t kicked in yet.

Barry is in really bad shape, but Cisco and Caitlin get him stabilized. Joe blames Wells for putting Barry in danger when he wasn’t ready for this challenge. Wells then finally tells everyone about his daughter. This gains him a little sympathy. Barry wakes up, but… uh oh… he can’t feel his legs.

Episode Verdict

I don’t imagine that Barry’s paralysis will be permanent. The show will probably milk that for one episode before giving him his speed back. I do like the irony that now he’ll be in a wheelchair while Wells walks around, though.

Likewise, I doubt that Zoom will be incapacitated, at least not for long.

Barry has been a superhero for over a year now, and it’s frustrating that he keeps making rookie mistakes, like rushing into a battle he’s in no way prepared for. At least Zoom is a worthy foe, unlike Captain Cold or some of the weaker meta-humans Barry has fought and should have defeated much more easily than he actually did. That aside, this is a good episode and I like how the season is developing.

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