Geekscape Recaps: ‘The Flash’ – King Shark

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! 

What you see above is one of the many interactions between The Flash and Hunter Zolomon, otherwise known as Zoom. Tonight, we were dealt with a very good episode in having the return of King Shark and the reveal of Zoom’s identity. However, just when you think you have it all nailed down, one tug and your entire theory becomes unraveled. But don’t worry, this is a place where we can all come together and just try and figure out what the hell is going on in this show.

King Shark

King Shark made a return this week, and with the help of Diggle and Lyla, Flash was able to bring him down for good. Lyla, who I should mention had a formal introduction as the head of A.R.G.U.S. this episode, was not as harsh as Waller would have been.

It should also be noted that under Lyla’s leadership, we’re starting to learn some of A.R.G.U.S.’ secrets. For instance, Lyla let slip that A.R.G.U.S. had been tracking meta-humans since the particle accelerator explosion. This isn’t surprising, considering Waller created the Suicide Squad we became accustomed to in Arrow. Had the Squad lived on, we could only expect that Waller would have much preferred to have Meta’s on the team. In the comics, King Shark is a vital member of the Suicide Squad.

Aside from having super-strength and being an excellent swimmer, King Shark is villainous in nature. He has been a part of a few groups, namely the Society of Super Villains and the Suicide Squad, but King Shark usually keeps to himself. Will we seem him again? Initially, I said “No.” This time, I’m going with yes.

Caitlin

Caitlin has had arguably the strongest development this season. Since the show’s beginning, Caitlin has had a roller-coaster of emotions. And now, having been bamboozled by Zoom (more on that in a bit), Caitlin is now put into a place where she can have a huge impact later this season, and in the show.

It was also brought up again that Caitlin does not have the Meta-Human gene, and thus cannot gain any Meta powers. Does this mean she’ll never become Killer Frost in Earth 1? Honestly, I wouldn’t count that out just yet.

Breaches

They’re done. They’re closed forever. This is what we were told at the start of the episode. This may remain true for the rest of the season, but the fact of the matter remains that Barry WILL go back to Earth 2, and he WILL meet Zoom again. Now, it’s just a matter of how.

Looking at the facts, we know Barry is due to have a run in with Supergirl in the crossover event, “World’s Finest.” When Barry and co travled to Earth-2, we saw that Supergirl was indeed on another Earth. We also know there are an infinite amount of Earths. It’s entirely possible here that Team Flash develops a way to travel different Earths, but it’s not a sure bet. In this case, Barry accidentally travels to Supergirl’s Earth, which would be Earth-3 or 4…

All we really need to know is that when it comes to Team Flash, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Zoom

Well, Zoom is Hunter Zolomon disguised as Earth-2 Jay Garrick. According to Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg, Zoom was able to embed himself as a member of Team Flash from the beginning.

For Barry and the others, as much as they were stung by Wells/Thawne’s betrayal, he had been their mentor and friend and they all felt that vacuum when he was gone. Jay had been watching them and knew that so he was able to masterfully step into the role each of them needed. He became a friend and mentor to Barry. A love interest to the heartbroken Caitlin. He skillfully played them all.

In my first recap, I pointed out how odd it was seeing Jay Garrick taking pictures of Barry. 

For all we know, Jay Garrick is Professor Zoom in disguise. The pictures could have been used to show Atom Smasher who The Flash was. After all, Atom Smasher did say he had been dealt a curveball when Barry appeared at his hideout, claiming, “I thought I was going to have to come looking for you.”

I have since brought up my suspicions through the last few weeks and it has all culminated to tonight’s reveal. Still, I am extremely confident that there’s more to this than meets the eye. Now, we’re going to transition into a number of theories as to how this is all possible, who the man in the mask is, and how it’s all connected. I cannot guarantee your sanity by end of this article.

First, let’s look at the facts. Hunter Zolomon is indeed Zoom. The Jay Garrick that was a part of Team Flash on Earth-1 needed the speedforce to stay alive. Zoom was after Barry’s speed as well. According to Fake-Garrick, his grandfather fought in the War of the Americas on Earth-2. The Masked Man used a POW tap code to communicate. Now, onto the theories…

 Twin Theory – This theory is straight out of a telenovela. It goes a little something like this: On Earth-1, there are a set of Jay Garrick twins. One, of course, is Jay Garrick, and the other is Hunter Zolomon. These set of twins also exist on Earth-2. Bear with me, but this theory suggests that Earth-2 Hunter Zolomon is Zoom. Earth-2 Jay Garrick is currently the man in the mask. Earth-1 Jay Garrick is the one seen on the bench seen a couple of weeks back and Earth-1 Zolomon is MIA.

All of this coincides with the fact that Earth-2 Zolomon has been parading around as Earth-2 Jay Garrick to trick Team Flash on Earth-1.

Shape-Shifting Tech – Last season, we witnessed Eobard Thawne use a piece of technology on Earth-1 Harrison Wells that allowed him to steal his appearance in order to speed up the creation of the particle accelerator. Is it possible that Zolomon used this piece of tech on Earth-2 Jay Garrick in order to trick Team Flash into trusting him? In this theory, the real Jay Garrick is still the one in the mask.

Clones – A common motif in cloning stories is that the clone itself suffers from some sort of degenerative ailment. The Jay Garrick we thought we knew was dying. He needed speed to stay alive. Is it possible Zolomon cloned Jay Garrick, making the clone version of Garrick incompetent in the process? Cloning is not out of the realm of DC and in Arrow, we did see a clue to Cadmus’ existence. As a mentor, Garrick didn’t do much for Barry. He also conveniently lost his speed. Zoom rushed to phase his arm through the breach, hoping to kill either Wells or Barry, but instead killed Garrick. This was obviously not Zoom’s plan.

Rival – Still with me? Great. Rival’s alias is Edward Clariss. In the comics, Clariss was obsessed with Garrick and his speed. When he believed he recreated the formula that gave Garrick his speed, he was rejected by everyone around him. Clariss fell to a dark place and became a criminal with the help of his formula.

This formula granted Clariss speedster-like powers, but only for a time. Sound familiar?

Infinite Earths – For the simple minded, the events can be explained as so: Hunter Zolomon is on Earth-1 and has no powers. Jay Garrick is The Flash of Earth-2. Hunter Zolomon is Zoom, and Garrick of Earth-3. The Masked Man is Jay Garrick of Earth-4. Yes, it’s a bit of stretch, but so have most of the theories that have been published here.

The Masked Man

We have to wait a full three weeks before The Flash returns. I briefly mentioned this above, but I wanted to expand on it a bit more before leaving you all. If Zolomon has been parading around as Garrick in Earth-1, then he would have to earn the trust of Team Flash. One such way, aside from filling in the mentor role for Barry and love-interest for Caitlin, is to fill in backstory with details. These details can range from the important ones, such as the story he told Team Flash of when he fought Zoom just before arriving on Earth-1, to minute details like the origins of his helmet.

If you remember way back, what we presume to be Fake-Garrick mentioned that his helmet belonged to his grandfather who fought in The War of the Americas. I am convinced that The War of the Americas was a real event on Earth-2, however, I don’t think Garrick’s grandfather fought in it. In the comics, Garrick is often portrayed as an older, more experienced Flash. I believe we haven’t seen the real Jay Garrick’s face yet because it’s behind the mask. If Garrick fought in the war, then it makes total sense that the Masked Man used a POW tap code in an effort to communicate with Barry and Jesse. It also makes sense that the code was used to spell out “Jay Garrick.” When Barry reacted by telling him that he had been working with Jay Garrick all along, the Masked Man looked extremely distraught and angered. I think this is because the Masked Man was trying to tell Barry his name, and not the name of Zoom.

https://youtu.be/ZXamlee0H1I

Overall, I strongly believe we’re due to see the real Jay Garrick soon. It’s going to be fun seeing just how they explain this in the coming episodes.

Did I miss anything? Have something to add? Don’t be afraid to comment! See you in three weeks!

Catch our recaps of last week’s episodes of The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow!