'The Flash' season 2 recap

Season finale time is upon us y’all and it’s been one crazy ride. Let’s catch up on season two of The Flash, shall we?

At the start of season two, Team Flash is still fighting to save Central City from ultimate destruction as the singularity, caused by Eddie shooting himself in the chest and dying to erase Eobard from existence, threatens to suck the city up from it’s foundation. Ronnie and Professor Stein transform into Firestorm to destroy the singularity but, at the last moment, Ronnie disengages to save Stein’s life and, in turn, loses his.

Trying to save his friends and family from anymore hurt, Barry decides to operate on his own. The Flash is speeding around town, stopping metahumans and fixing up the destruction caused by singularity while the team tries to reason with him. After six months, the city is honoring the Flash with a ceremony but things take a turn for the worst by the appearance of a metahuman Barry’s not sure he can beat.

Realizing he needs the help of his team, the group joins forces to take down Rothstein. As he’s dying, Rothstein warns Barry that he was sent to destroy him by Zoom. As the team reconvenes once more, Barry also decides to finally open the hard drive given to him by Dr. Wells/Eobard; in his last moments, Wells confesses to the video camera that he is responsible for the death of Barry’s mother, proving his father’s innocence and allowing for his release from prison.

As the team tries to figure out the mystery of Zoom, a man shows up at S.T.A.R. Labs and warns them that their world is in danger. Introducing himself as Jay Garrick, the Flash from Earth-2, he explains that he was in a battle with another speedster, Zoom, when the singularity happened and brought him to their Earth without his powers. Using the multiverse theory, Professor Stein explains how Jay’s story could be plausible, labeling their worlds Earth-1 and Earth-2.

However, Zoom is relentless in his pursuit of Barry. He brings over another metahuman, “Sand Demon,” who only narrowly escapes Barry. Analyzing the “sand” left behind, Cisco ends up having a flash of the fight, vibing for the first time. Realizing he needs more than just his normal powers, Jay teaches Barry how to throw lightning using the energy generated when he runs. Cisco and Barry use their new found abilities to take down Sand Demon and save the kidnapped Officer Patty Spivot.

The team realizes they need to work on finding out how the metahumans keep coming through and eventually, Cisco and Stein realize that there are 52 breaches between Earth-1 and Earth-2 that they need to work on closing. However, without Ronnie, Stein’s health is deteriorating and the team realizes they need to find him a match before it gets worse.

They manage to find two matches: a scientist named Henry Hewitt and a former high school football star named Jefferson “Jax” Jackson. Jax refuses, leaving Henry excited to merge with Stein -- which then fails, leaving Hewitt angry but with powers of his own. Jax finally agrees to the merge after Hewitt goes on a rampage and all but destroys the city. The two manage to stop Hewitt but Barry is only saved from a different kind of meta by the appearance of Harrison Wells.

Turns out, this is the Dr. Wells from Earth-2 who created a particle accelerator, subsequent explosion, and his own group of metahumans on his Earth. Wells joins the team to help take down Zoom but Jay doesn’t agree with the team’s decision to let him join and leaves the team. Though they’re not quite sure whether they trust Wells-2, he’s got good motivation: Zoom’s got his daughter, Jesse, as a captive.

Team Flash is once again complete with the addition of Wells and they work tirelessly on defeating Zoom. An previously captured metahuman escapes despite agreeing to help them stop Zoom and, in the ensuing fight, chaos erupts. Zoom and Barry fight but Zoom knocks him unconscious, showing the defeated body to the local news and police station, announcing himself as the Big Bad to Beat this season. Zoom takes him back to S.T.A.R. Labs and shoves his hand through Barry’s chest, stopped from killing him only by a speed dampening serum developed by Cisco. It slows him down a little but leaves him with enough speed to escape, leaving Barry ill.

Barry manages to recover enough following the fight but the team is still trying to move on with their lives post-Ronnie’s death. Cisco is on a date with a local barista named Kendra Saunders, the date going well before Cisco has a vibe and sees Kendra as a winged figure while Vandal Savage rolls into town and reveals he is looking to kill Priestess Chay-Ara (more commonly known as Kendra). The Flash/Arrow crossover established two things: Legends of Tomorrow and the existence of Oliver’s son.

Surprise sons appear to be a theme in the CW’s DCTV Universe as Joe also finds out he’s got a son he never knew about when Wally West shows up and announces that Iris’ mother/Joe’s ex-wife is dying. He also harbors a pretty big love for drag racing/need for speed, which is a pretty nice homage to Wally’s Kid Flash comic alter ego.

Eventually, Zoom becomes a major player as he makes a deal with Wells: make Barry faster for when Zoom steals his speed or Jesse dies. Not ready to give up on his daughter, Wells agrees, going to drastic lengths. They work on closing the breaches to prevent Zoom from crossing while Wells pleads with them to lock him on the other side, revealing his secret of Jesse. Barry and Cisco decide to go with him to save Jesse; on Earth-2, they meet Caitlin’s doppleganger, Killer Frost, as well as their own. Their mission on Earth-2 is a success until Zoom appears through the final closing breach and takes Jay with him. Right?

Soon enough, the team manages to discover that Jay Garrick was not Jay Garrick but Hunter Zoloman, a notorious serial killer on Earth-2 that eventually became (you guessed it): Zoom. Once he realizes the team has figured this out, Zoom kicks his attacks into high gear, targeting the team where it hurts the most. He eventually kidnaps Wally, backing Barry into a corner with the choice to give up his powers of live knowing he let Wally die. Barry agrees to Zoom’s terms and gives up his speed, getting Wally back but losing Caitlin to Zoom.

Barry tries to adapt to a life without powers but upon realizing they need Barry to have his speed to defeat Zoom, Wells convinces them to recreate the particle accelerator explosion. Unfortunately for Team Flash, once the explosion happens, Barry seems to disintegrate while Wally and Jesse are caught in the blast.

Never fear because Barry isn’t gone but is caught in the speed force, which materializes as different people through his time there. The speed force is willing to give him another chance with his powers but Barry needs to first come to terms with what it really means to be a hero and with his mother’s death. After sharing a particularly moving moment with his mother, Barry does return to Earth with the help of Cisco and Iris, bringing on a renewed energy.

Of course, this comes crashing down shortly after. During Barry’s absence, Zoom has brought over a metahuman army of his followers from Earth-2, ready to take over Earth-1. They wreak havoc throughout Central City before Wells and Cisco manage to create a device to take down all of the Earth-2 inhabitants at once. Zoom barely manages to escape but returns, interrupting a happy moment between the Team Flash family. Zoom kidnaps Henry, Barry’s father and forces him to reveal his identity to Wally and watch as Zoom kills his father.

The season finale promises more high speed stakes as the Flash and Zoom have their final face-off: a race. Fueled by the anger brought on by watching Zoom kill his father, will Barry be able to take him down?

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.