Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 14 - Escape From Earth-2



With The Flash in Zoom's clutches, Harry and Cisco will have to forge an unlikely alliance with Killer Frost and Detective Iris West in order to rescue him. Meanwhile, back on Earth 2, Caitlin tries to craft a new drug that will cure Jay Garrick's condition and allow him to bring Geomancer to justice once and for all.


The Flash #123 - "Flash Of Two Worlds" (the idea of Earth 2 and Barry traveling to it), The Man In The Iron Mask (Zoom's other prisoner, who is not only clad in such a mask but has similar commandments against talking) Heat (Cisco refers to the movie teaching him how to lose someone who is following him), The JSA comics of Geoff Johns (Geomancer) and The Flash comics of Mike Baron (the Velocity 9 drug).


Geomancer just waltzes right into STAR Labs on Earth 1, despite the labs' vaunted security system.


Once again, this is Danielle Panabaker's episode to shine - both as Killer Frost and as Caitlin Snow, who is all kinds of bad-ass both in the lab and outside of it this week.

Grant Gustin has a wonderful comedic role here, playing the nebbish Earth 2 Barry.

Bart Sears has a magnificent turn as Jay Garrick here. Hopefully it won't be his last...

Flash Facts

As noted previously, Velocity 9, in the comics, was a drug that granted super-speed but also caused premature aging, exhaustion and eventually death. It was developed by the post-Crisis Vandal Savage as a means of making money to fund his criminal empire. It was eventually developed into a non-lethal formula.

The DCTVU version of Velocity 9 appears to function in the same way as the non-lethal formula from the comics.

The "tap code" used by Zoom's Prisoner to communicate is based on a real word code. As Barry says, it was used by Prisoners of War during the Korean and Vietnam Wars but the use of the code goes back further than that.

Cisco refers to Killer Frost as "Elsa" - a reference to the Ice Queen from the Disney movie Frozen.

Cisco also refers to the impossible-to-climb Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride.


When Jay asks about Caitlin's formula for Velocity 8, she says she still has to finalize the compound and make sure the extracellular matrix stays intact, so Jay doesn't lose his speed as quickly.

Caitlin notes that the Velocity 7 reacted with the damaged cells in Jay's body, causing more cellular degeneration.

Barry-2 developed an algorithm that allows him to track most metahumans based on DNA trace movements, facial recognition and other meta-data specifically relating to that metahuman's powers, such as temperature fluctuations specific to Killer Frost using her powers.

Velocity 9 was formed after Caitlin reformulated the extracellular matrix, after realizing the matrix for Velocity 8 was flawed.

Barry is unable to phase through materials on Earth 2 because his body resonances at a different frequency than the matter on Earth 2. He can make up the difference by going faster.

Caitlin determines that the Velocity 9 formula not only restored Jay's speed but also his latent regenerative abilities. In short, so long as Velocity 9 is in his system, Jay's broken cells can start healing.

Geomancer's attack on STAR Labs disrupts the quark matter in the speed canon and the electromagnetic insulators began to fail as a result.

Barry's cell is made out of some form of carbyne - a compound whose molecular structure includes an electrically neutral carbon atom with three non-bonded electrons, connected to another atom by a single bond. Carbyne is also the hardest substance known to man, being three-times harder than diamond. It is so strong it can resist Killer Frost's ability to shatter objects by touching them.

In order to fix the speed cannon and stabilize the breach, Jay has to reboot the electromagnetic insulators and hope the quark matter redistributes equally. Caitlin notes he can't go near the stabilizer rings once they power on or he'll be sucked into the breach. Jay says he can create a vortex to counteract the pull of the breach. Each stabilizer ring has a override switch, which Joe West flips as Jay creates his vortex.

Dialogue Triumphs

(As Cisco relates how Barry was captured by Zoom)
How are you still alive?
Cisco: Looks like Zoom cares about me even less than you do, Harry.

Barry: We're going to get out of here. Your dad is going to find us. I promise.
Jesse: You sure have a lot of faith in a man who only cares about himself.
Barry: (sighs) You know I actually felt that at first, too? It's not true. Every decision that he's made, every action that he's taken since we met - it's been to save you. Your dad hasn't given up on you, Jesse.  Don't give up on him.
(Zoom suddenly appears.)
Zoom: (To Jesse) Believe what you want, but the only reason that you're still alive is so  I can kill you in front of your father. And the only reason that your father's still alive... (turns to Barry) is to give me your speed. Once he does that, he will die too.

Cisco: We need to find his lair.
Wells: Lair?
Cisco: He's a bad guy; I'm calling it a lair.

(Jay Garrick runs into STAR Labs and all but collapses on the floor)
Caitlin: Jay?!
Jay: I'm okay!  That just took a lot out of me. (panting and smiling) But it sure felt good.

(As Killer Frost starts trying to kill them after Cisco tries convince her to help them.)
Cisco: That did not go as planned!
Barry-2: Her name starts with Killer. This comes as a shock to you?!

Barry-2: Do you know what we did to get here, Barry? We convinced her - Killer Frost - to show us the way! Then we climbed some insanely steep cliffs outside, on footholds made of ice. Ice! And all of us risked our lives, knowing Zoom was after us, to rescue Jesse. And you. Now, I don't know you. And you don't know me. But... I can tell you that today I - I did things that I never thought possible. Because I needed to prove to my wife and... to myself that I could. Now, if I can do the impossible today, so can you. I'm just Barry Allen, but you're The Flash. If you tell yourself you can phase out of there, you'll do it.

(Killer Frost blasts Zoom and begins piling ice on top of him.)
Killer Frost: Get out of here.
Cisco: Caitlin?!
Killer Frost: You were right. He killed Ronnie.
Cisco: Thank you.


Harry Wells has been presumed missing on Earth 2 for four months.

The major news channel on Earth 2 is also Channel 52.

Harry Wells' STAR Labs building on Earth 2 also has a time vault with a fake wall.

The Earth 2 Patty Spivot is a CSI Technician with the CCPD. Barry says she was the CSI tech on most of the Killer Frost cases and is good at her job.

Computer monitors and television screens on Earth 2 run vertically rather than horizontally.

Zoom's Prisoner spells out the name JAY.  This seems to be a reference to Jay Garrick, but Zoom interrupts them before they can learn why The Prisoner's was spelling that name.

Zoom's hideout is built into a cave complex inside a place known as Ascension Cliffs.

Killer Frost can make objects out ice, including staircases.

Barry-2 and Iris-2 have family in Atlantis.

The episode ends with Jay Garrick impaled through the chest by Zoom and being dragged back into the portal to Earth 2.


Central City on Earth 2.

The Fridge Factor

Averted hardcore, as Caitlin deals with Geomancer and brings him down when the cops and Jay couldn't.

The Bottom Line

A weak follow-up to last week's episode, made tolerable only by some excellent performances and one hell of a cliff-hanger ending!

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