Recap / The Flash 2014 S 2 E 6 Enter Zoom

This isn't going well.

Season 2, Episode 6:

Enter Zoom

Barry tries to convince Dr. Light to assist him in capturing Zoom, but she escapes, so the team enlists Linda to impersonate her to fool Zoom into coming to Earth-1, leading to the first confrontation between the two.

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Tropes:

• Antagonist Title: Referring to the main villain of Season 2 of course.
• Artistic License – Physics: This show has never cared that much about real-world physics, but Zoom catching a lightning bolt and throwing it at Barry as if it was solid matter is a particularly blatant example.
• Atrocious Alias: This is the reason that Cisco brushes off Caitlin's concern about the anti-Zoom gun ending up in the hands of another criminal and creating "Sergeant Slow":
  Cisco: I would never let that happen. "Sergeant Slow" is a terrible name.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Both Barry and Linda are terrible with the hero/villain banter during their "showdown"
• Big "NO!": Wells did not take it well when Zoom escaped despite being hit by the anti-speed dart.
• Broken Pedestal: Jesse realizes her father is an asshole and proceeds to call him out for his behaviour.
• Bullet Catch: Zoom does this with dozens of bullets fired by several cops. He can go beyond bullets and catch LIGHTNING!
• Cassandra Truth: Patty speculates that Dr. Light can turn invisible because of her control over light, but Joe shuts her down because Barry already captured her. Then she escapes using that very ability.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Linda has just been shown one of the greatest secrets of modern times. Her first reaction?
    Linda: Holy crap. I've made out with the Flash.
  • Also, Cisco during the planning of the trap. While everybody is speaking about possible dangers, he is mostly worried about bad codenames and Barry's emblem getting lost.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When Barry reveals his secret identity to Linda, she mentions the time she made out with Barry when they were still dating.
  • Joe questioned Barry if Eddie taking out the Reverse Flash is the reason why he's persistent in capturing Zoom as consolation from being denied of exacting revenge on Reverse Flash.
• Darkest Hour: Zoom personally parades the Flash all over Central City to show the denizens what he's done with their hero.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Cisco vibes Harry, he sees Zoom taunting a chained Jesse and then approaches her afterwards while the camera pans to Cisco's face while the audience can hear her screaming.
• Downer Ending: Zoom defeats Barry. Good news? Barry didn't die. Bad news? Zoom paralyzed him.
• Evil Gloating: What Zoom does all over Central City, carrying the Flash around to display.
• Fake Action Prologue: The episode opens with Doctor Light apparently killing the Flash in a fight. The Flash isn't dead, it wasn't a real fight, and it wasn't even Doctor Light.
• Foregone Conclusion: We know Barry will eventually recover from his paralysis thanks to his cameo in the Flash Forward scene of the season premiere of Arrow.
• Foreshadowing: After Barry has his talk with the real Dr. Light and mentions what she told him, Caitlin disapproves of him trying to trap Zoom. She mentions that they know that Zoom is far more powerful than Barry and if Barry can catch bullets then "What's to say Zoom can't catch whatever you shoot at him." Later Zoom not only stops a dart shot at him, but also catches and returns a thunderbolt from Barry.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Dr. Light fools Cisco into opening her cell using the old "make them think the cell is empty" trick. In his defense, he thought she couldn't use her powers, and didn't know she could turn invisible even if she could.
• Here We Go Again!: Caitlin warns that Wells' anti-speedster serum could be used against Barry by a villain, just like the Cold Gun.
• Heroic BSoD: It's much more obvious in this episode that Wells has been in a low-level BSOD ever since Zoom took Jesse. On top of that, he outright looses it multiple times, but none more so than when it appears his speed dampening formula didn't work.
• Hero Killer: A non-fatal variant; by the end of the episode, Zoom has pulled a Bane on Barry, brutally defeating him, breaking his spine, and showing him off to the horrified citizens of Central City.
  Zoom: The days of the Flash protecting this city are over.
  • Subverted with Dr. Light; as part of a plan to lure out Zoom, Earth-1 Linda Park has to impersonate her evil, super-powered Earth-2 doppelganger and "kill" The Flash.
• Hope Crusher: Zoom exposed a hurt Flash to demoralize the people at Central City.
• How We Got Here: The episode opens with Dr. Light seemingly killing the Flash. Cue 72 hours earlier.
• I Can't Feel My Legs!: Stated by Barry as he awakens from his injuries in the last scene.
• Impersonating the Evil Twin: Team Flash has Linda impersonate Dr. Light to attract Zoom.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Barry reveals his identity to Linda to help her gain the confidence she needs to pull off playing Dr. Light.
  • Cisco finally does manage to get a vibe off Wells and sees that Zoom has imprisoned someone important to him, which he later tells the others is his daughter Jesse.
• Invisible Streaker: Dr. Light removes her clothes so she can turn invisible and trick Cisco into opening her cell.
• Kick the Dog: After brutally assaulting Barry, Zoom drags him across Central City to the news and the police to demonstrate how much stronger he is before trying to kill him in front of his friends.
• Knight of Cerebus: Let's put it this way: Reverse-Flash looks like a cuddly bunny compared to Zoom and the latter poses an even bigger threat. When he finally confronts Barry, the episode drops all comedy. It's safe to say that Nothing Is the Same Anymore, now that Zoom is in picture.
• Lampshade Hanging: Wells has to remind the STAR Labs team that he is not the same person as Eobard Thawne, who stole Earth-1 Wells' identity. Even after pointing out that Thawne stole Wells' face last week, Cisco and Caitlin still call him Wells. And after Earth-2 Wells points out the logical error, Joe still refers to Eobard as Wells, for some reason.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The people at the newspaper and the police station when this scary as hell speedster shows off an utterly defeated Flash.
  • Also, the reactions of the cops when they unload their guns at Zoom and he effortlessly catches a hundred bullets, all with one hand before dropping them to the floor.
• Monster of the Week: Played for Laughs by Team Flash and Linda Park, as they train Linda to impersonate the Monster as part of a trap for Zoom. However, they have to pull off a convincing Final Battle, and since Barry is obviously way too overpowered for her, Hilarity Ensues.
• Mood Whiplash: The first three-quarters of the episode consists of a silly Training Montage and some Character Development for Barry and Earth-2!Wells. Then Zoom enters the scene and, as several commenters have put it, the episode "goes full-on Knightfall."
• Mundane Utility: Linda comments how she would like to use Dr. Light's gloves to make parties.
• Mythology Gag:
  • That bit with the Noodle Incident would remind fans of Flash knowing the John Stewart GL's Embarrassing Nickname in Justice League.
  • Earth-2 Harrison Wells' daughter is named Jesse, and he nicknames her Jesse Quick.
  • Earth-2's version of the Hood/The Arrow isn't Oliver Queen, but Robert Queen instead, who takes up the mantle of the costumed vigilante after Oliver dies on the Queen's Gambit. Not unlike what happens to Thomas Wayne in Flashpoint. Also doubles as a Fandom Nod given this was a popular AU idea among fans during the first season.
  • Extra trivia concerning the Earth-2 Hood: the Thomas Wayne Batman became a Canon Immigrant in...Earth 2
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Zoom annihilates Barry worse than the Reverse-Flash ever did.
• Noodle Incident: Barry once tried out for the football team. He told Joe that Let Us Never Speak of This Again.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: No one in Central City knew that there was a villainous speedster in their midst in Season 1. This changes when Zoom takes the Flash's body and parades it at Central City Picture News. Everyone would now know that there is a villainous speedster in the city and that he beat the Flash.
• No-Sell: Zoom apparently shrugs off the effects of the anti-speedster serum, at least long enough to get away.
  • He also has no trouble whatsoever dealing with the lightning bolt Barry throws at him. He just catches it and throws it back. This becomes very justified when we learn that Zoom was the one that taught Barry how to throw lightning bolts in the first place.
• Obviously Evil: Merely looking at Zoom is enough for people to conclude he's evil: his black costume looking like some kind of organic growth covering his body (including his mouth), clawed fingers, the voice...
• The Other Darrin: In-Universe. After Dr. Light escapes, it is decided to have Linda pretend to be Dr. Light as part of a trap for Zoom.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Seeing Barry all beat up after his encounter with Zoom, Joe is ready to punch Wells' lights out, thinking him responsible.
  • Wells admits that Zoom is holding his daughter Jesse captive, and it's why he's so hellbent on catching the evil speedster.
• Parting-Words Regret: She's still alive, for now, but the last time Wells saw his daughter, they had a heated argument.
• Power Palms: Courtesy of Cisco's gadgets in order for Linda to disguise herself as Dr. Light.
• Put on a Bus: Iris mentioned that Linda is currently staying with friends in Coast City to avoid Zoom.
• Secret-Keeper: For some reason, Zoom only rips off Barry's mask in front of people who already know who he is and not if they're with other people who don't.
• Training Montage: Linda practices her role as Dr. Light by shooting Flash dummy targets using Cisco's power gloves.
• Wham Episode: Aside from Linda learning Barry is the Flash, Flash and Zoom meet for the first time...and Zoom manages to break his spine.
• Wham Line: Complements of The Stinger.
  Barry: I Can't Feel My Legs!...
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After Dr. Light escapes, Team Flash only makes a token effort at finding her before they start focusing on using a fake Dr. Light to draw Zoom out. She isn't seen again in any subsequent episodes either, so her final fate remains unknown to this day.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The last few minutes of the episode are basically the best recreation in live-action of the moments during and after Bane broke Batman's back, with the villain showing their fallen hero to the city, in Knightfall, except with Zoom and Flash instead of the former two.