Tuesday night"s episode ofThe Flash may have been titled "King Shark" but the meta-human played second fiddle to the night"s biggest revelation: The true identity of season arch-villain, Zoom.

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It comes as little surprise thanks to last week"s hints and earlier reveals in the season, but it still gave sầu me the shivers when Zoom took off his mask & revealed the man beneath.


There were many clues this season about Zoom"s true identity. When the man calling himself Jay Garriông chồng took Caitlin to the park and showed her that on Earth-1 his doppleganger was named Hunter Zolomon, many fans of the comics realized something was up. When "Garrick" started revealing that he"d lied about Zoom taking his tốc độ, & that he himself was searching for a speed serum, we had even more reason lớn suspect that not all was as it seemed. But it was the man in the iron mask last week that tipped the scales into certainty.

Now we can surmise quite a bit. Apparently Hunter Zolomon on both Earth-1 và Earth-2 were working together, though it"s possible the Earth-1 version was turning on his doppleganger in the end. Earth-1 Zolomon was happily shutting down the bridge between worlds, possibly because he realized he could become as fast & powerful as Zoom himself given the right time and help from Star Labs. Or perhaps he wasn"t as evil as his doppleganger. I suppose we"ll find out more in the coming weeks. Regardless, it"s a pretty great twist và better because of all the foreshadowing và clues along the way.

King Shark

Beyond this last-minute revelation, the episode was largely about two things: Dealing with grief and dealing with King Shark.


The latter made up the bulk of the action, và even got Diggle và brand-new ARGUS chief Lyla lớn stop by fromArrow.I actually found that a bit of a stretch. How did ARGUS get hold of King Shark? Oh well. It"s good khổng lồ see Lyla take over the secret organization, though it neuters its sense of Machiavellian ruthlessness. Say what you will about Amandomain authority Waller, but she was cruel enough to be a complicated force of nature, neither hero nor villain. Lyla is too likable.

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King Shark himself turns out to lớn be pretty weak-sauce. A tough facade gives way to lớn a pretty easy (if also clever và special-effects filled) takedown by Barry. I find more & more of the meta-humans-of-the-week stories outside of Grodd to be pretty disappointing khổng lồ be honest. I wishThe Flash would give sầu more room khổng lồ these encounters, giving each meta at least two or three episodes in a row. Right now, each one is too easily removed. The Turtle, for example, would have sầu made a terrific multi-part story arc. It felt wasteful to disthẻ such a great villain so quickly. More room for each meta-human to lớn breathe would allow the show lớn give each more depth as well. Killer Frost having two episodes to lớn develop gave sầu her more nuance, but I"d lượt thích khổng lồ see fewer purely evil metas và more complicated ones.

Grief và Jealousy


On the emotional front, both Barry & Caitlin are still dealing with enormous grief và regret. Barry is torn up by his witnessing (and being responsible for) the death of Joe West on Earth-2. Caitlin is mourning the death of yet another love sầu interest, though she doesn"t yet know that he wasn"t actually Jay Garriông chồng at all. (The real Jay Garrickmust be the man in the iron mask imprisoned in Zoom"s lair.)

Barry also feelsguilty over going bachồng in time và opening the portals khổng lồ Earth-2, thereby letting Zoom through to lớn their world. He feels responsible for everything that"s happened since, though I think he should view it more as an opportunity khổng lồ stop Zoom rather than a terrible mistake. That"s basically his attitude by the kết thúc of the episode, which is good. Less moping about next week & more doing stuff. Had Barry not opened the rifts, Zoom would have sầu been miễn phí lớn continue his reign of terror unopposed on Earth-2. At least now there"s a chance of stopping him.

Finally we have sầu Wally, who is dealing with his own set of issues still. Now that he"s largely resolved his daddy issues, he"s moved on to lớn Barry.He"s jealous of the affection và adoration both Iris & Joe feel towardAllen.

This was my least favorite part of the episode by far. I have sầu yet to see anything in Wally that makes me like hlặng. He"s far too angsty & full of self-pity. And while I can see where it comes from, it"s still irritating after a while. Here"s khổng lồ hoping he snaps out of it.Of course, at least some of these issues would be resolved if he learned that Barry is actually the Flash. That"ll happen sooner or later, of course.

Verdict

All told, yet another really strong episode ofThe Flash. King Shark was a letdown, & Wally"s whining is getting old, but the revelation about "Jay" and Zoom was a great finale, và the acting throughout was really top-notch. I"m excited for next week, now that things are building toward the season"s conclusion in earnest.

What did you think?


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Erik Kain writes a widely read & respected blog about đoạn phim games, entertainment and culture at quartetpress.com. He is a Shorty Award-nominated journalist và critic whose work

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Erik Kain writes a widely read and respected blog about video games, entertainment và culture at quartetpress.com. He is a Shorty Award-nominated journadanh mục and critic whose work has appearedin The Atlantic, The National review, Mother Jones, True/Slant & elsewhere. Kain co-founded the political commentary blog The League Of Ordinary Gentlemen, whose members have gone on to write at multiple major publications including The New York Times & Slate. He lives in Arizona with his family.