The Flash Season 2: Episode 16 Recap

The Flash Season 2, Episode 16 just aired and introduced the first female speedster, Eliza Harmon 'Trajectory' played by Allison Paige to Central City. Barry Allen/The Flash was taken off guard by the new speedster in Central City. Eliza Harmon robbed Barry Allen and friends blind, proving she's faster than The Flash by outrunning him before he could catch up to her. 'Trajectory' as Eliza Harmon so cleverly named herself was in need of Velocity-9 throughout Episode 16, and her selfish venture brought with it some answers. Trajectory(Eliza Harmon) forced Harrison Wells and Caitlyn Snow to manufacture more Velocity-9 for her and then took it to go on a chaotic rampage on a bridge. Barry Allen/The Flash managed to save the people on the bridge and successfully stop Trajectory from causing any more havoc but the events following her stoppage need to be discussed.

The television program of The Flash has come to follow a formulaic plot when it comes to villains appearing on The Flash. Usually a villain only appears in a single episode and the occasional recurring appearance but they don't return as regulars. This week's episode was no different. After the episode concluded the villain of the week segment, the episode rounded itself out with some startling revelations about Zoom and Jay Garrick. To recap, Barry Allen chased down Eliza Harmon 'Trajectory' and caught her before she could dose herself again with Velocity 9. Barry attempted to talk Eliza out of injecting herself once again but she did anyway, not being able to control herself. After injecting herself, Eliza ran in a flurry to where her speed lightning went from yellow lightning to blue lightning. The blue lightning didn't just increase Trajectory's speed, it moved her so fast that the lightning burned Eliza out of her suit; the only thing left of her when Barry caught up to her was the suit, Eliza 'Trajectory' is gone. Once Barry realized the blue lightning was similar to that of Zoom's, he conferred with Team Flash to come to the conclusion that the blue lightning is a symptom of the Velocity serum. The same serum Jay Garrick used to try to make himself faster. That conclusion provided the evidence for Team Flash to deduce that Zoom's blue lightning is a symptom of using the Velocity serum, and if Zoom used the Velocity serum just as Jay Garrick did, then Zoom's mission to take The Flash's speed is to counteract the side effects of using the Velocity serum. Zoom suffering from the side effects of the Velocity serum also means that his body is dying just as Jay Garrick's body was. But no one else had access to the Velocity serum other than Jay Garrick and Harrison Wells. We know that Harrison Wells didn't give the Velocity serum to anyone else, thus confirming Zoom and Jay Garrick being the same person. Both have been afflicted with the same degenerative condition which has been proven to be caused by the Velocity-9 serum, and the Velocity-9 has just been tested by Eliza Harmon to prove that its effects lead to speed powers identical to that of Zoom's. But the question remains as to why Zoom is capable of sustaining the manufactured speed force and blue lightning when Eliza Harmon's Trajectory burned alive when she began to manifest the blue lightning. Team Flash didn't simply deduce that Jay Garrick is Zoom based on the lightning color similarity to that of Trajectory's, they also had Cisco Ramon's Vibe confirm that Jay is Zoom by holding Jay's helmet while using his abilities. Cisco saw Zoom remove his mask to reveal Jay's face under the mask. The fact had already been revealed to the audience but now the main stars of the program are also aware of the identity of Zoom. Even though everyone knows that Jay and Zoom are the same person, there still has been no explanation as to how or why they are the same person. Another aspect of this episode which draws up an interesting prospective for the program, is Barry Allen possibly using the Velocity-9 serum himself to get faster.

The entire season has seen Barry Allen go up against adversaries that have been either stronger or faster than him, and the frustration is getting to Barry. Barry almost resorted to using the Velocity-9 serum during Episode 16 in lieu of not being able to catch the new speedster in Central City. Harrison Wells talked Barry out of using the serum by convincing him that he'd be cheating himself by using that serum to level the playing field with other speedsters. Although there's no real cheating when it comes to life and death circumstances for Barry Allen. Barry Allen/The Flash has faced several circumstances this season where lives were on the line and the Velocity serum could have made the difference. Barry has been lucky that his friends have pulled him out of trouble but his luck may run out before he forces himself to use the Velocity serum. Although the ramifications of using the Velocity serum may be the reason Dr. Harrison Wells doesn't want Barry to use it, Dr. Wells may know the repercussions of using the serum, proven by Eliza Harmon's use of the serum. There's likeliness to the possibility of Harrison Wells knowing more than he's lead on to Team Flash. Harrison may have knowledge of the Velocity serum being the cause of Zoom's creation and Barry's potential use of the Velocity serum would likely lead to the same outcome. But could Barry's inherent Speed-Force allow him to channel the Velocity serum without becoming a clone of Zoom. We will have to wait another week to find out any more information on Jay Garrick/Zoom/Hunter Zolomon, or whoever the three of them really are.

The Flash airs on the CW, Tuesdays at 8PM.