The Flash: King Shark

February 23, 2016 11:54 PM - Season 2, Episode 15

Still reeling from their visit to Earth 2, Team Flash must deal with an old foe: King Shark.
posted by brundlefly (35 comments total)

Kiiiing Shaaark!

Also, Wally subplot.
Wally is the Iris of this season.

Guest starring Diggle and Lila.
They stand around in beanies a lot.

With special guest star: Cisco doesn't mention HE was evil in Earth-2, which might have helped.

And the "Can No One Keep A Secret" dancers.
posted by Mezentian at 4:48 AM on February 24, 2016 [5 favorites]

Maybe ARGUS would hang on to its senior staff longer if they didn't get suited up and wave machine guns around?

Glad to see they are more confident when it comes to CGI now. It wasn't perfect, but it looked cool. I'm hoping for a Grodd/King Shark World's Finest team-up.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:50 AM on February 24, 2016

I wasn't expecting such a contrast between this episode's dark-but fun superhero parts (HE'S A SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK) and the rest of it, which was downright dour. Although it's nice that the characters talked out stuff rather than having it simmer into long-running non-communication subplots, and hopefully gears are turning in Wally's head after King Shark showed up at Barry's house, yelled that he was sure the Flash was there, and then Barry left and the Flash showed up.

Zoom's identity: Okay, so he's a Jay Garrick, but not the Jay Garrick we've gotten to know over this season (unless he's from the future instead of another parallel earth, which is certainly possible). Presumably he's going to be called Hunter Zolomon, so he might be the Earth-1 version, or just from another timeline where the same adoption happened. Hmmmm.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:53 AM on February 24, 2016

Although it's nice that the characters talked out stuff rather than having it simmer into long-running non-communication subplots

I was really impressed with the bit where Barry started changing Wally's project and then stopped and apologized. It's such a common thing to happen in life, but 99% of the time on TV that scene ends with him just steamrolling until Wally screams at him and runs out. Obviously they've still got their issues, but they didn't actively make them worse just because no one can talk to other people on TV.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:57 AM on February 24, 2016 [4 favorites]

"Looks like the incredibly dangerous shark man might be dead. Turn off the lasers that previously stopped him from killing everyone."
"I see nothing wrong with this plan."

King Shark looked great! I quite liked this episode. I don't remember Barry standing around wondering what to do, he just did it. I didn't even mind Wally being sour towards Barry because, let's be honest, Barry's been acting like a jerk. Hey, at least he admits it near the end.

Though Wally getting on Barry's case for hiding while a FUCKING SHARK RIPPED THE ROOF OFF THE HOUSE was pretty good. Fuck yeah, I'm hiding under the god damn bed. It's a huge talking man-shark!
posted by ODiV at 8:17 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Looks like the incredibly dangerous shark man might be dead. Turn off the lasers that previously stopped him from killing everyone."
"I see nothing wrong with this plan."

I loved Diggle's delivery on the "you have aquarium?" line. If ARGUS has something, you know it's going to be a problem, no matter how innocuous it seems. ARGUS lobby? Dangerous. ARGUS water fountain? Probably poisonous. ARGUS racquetball court? Terrifying secrets inside, no question.

I felt like Lila and Diggle were really enjoyable together in a way they often aren't on Arrow. My wife commented that Diggle reacting to Barry's speed was the most personality he's ever shown, and I think she's right.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:28 AM on February 24, 2016 [6 favorites]

I'm okay with Wally's perspective with the major yet to be said moment, "You lived the life I was meant to and you're the son I'll never be." Of course, Barry's ticket for admission into the West household did involve the brutal murder of his mother and the incarceration, unjustly, of his father for said murder.

The Wally/Barry work together dynamic was contrasted against the father/daughter duo of the Wells. Then sandwiched between those opposite ends of the spectrum we had Cisco and Caitlin. Three pairs of groups working together with varying results.

I thought King Shark looked great for the most part with only one moment where he just didn't quite pull it off. I love that I live in a television age when characters like these can be tossed into a weekly television show.

Also, I want to see what Cisco does with Diggle's new helmet. (How about something that covers the throat?!)

And the only thing I find festering in the background is the obviousness that somehow a portal will be made to go between Earth 1 and Earth 2.
posted by Atreides at 8:29 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Very weird. Which also raises the question still, WHO IS IN THAT MASK IN ZOOM'S DUNGEON?

I was really hoping it was Earth 2 - Barry's dad who was somehow Zoom, given the focus on family and specifically, fathers this season. Also, it'd be another great nod back to the tv show of the 90s.
posted by Atreides at 9:36 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm a shark! I'm a shark! I'm a motherfucking shaaaaark!

I'm terrified that Diggle will be killed off this season, because he and Lyla are adorable and happy and Joss Whedon has taught me to expect doom. I don't want to live on a planet without Diggle's squinty reactions to metahuman hijinks. "He's fast, get over it." "NEVER."

Everybody knows that the mystery man in the mask is totally another (third!) Jay, right? RIGHT.

I kinda love this show for the fact that it can reveal Zoom's identity/face and we still have no idea WHO HE IS. Is he Jay Garrick, Hunter Zolomon, someone else? Is he a secret twin, an alt-universe doppelgänger, a clone, a time-traveler from the future, a bodysnatcher? Was "our" Jay / Caitlyn's Jay (CJay!) evil all along, Zoom all along, working with Zoom, working with then turned against Zoom, and/or completely innocent? Are all three HunterJays (Zoom, CJay, Masked Man) the same person?

Personally I suspect the writers are doing a Cobalt Blue evil secret twin thing, with Jay/Harrison as the brothers instead of Barry/Malcolm...but I still have no idea what Jay/Harrison/Zoom is doing!

In related news, Teddy Sears was just cast in the 24 sequel/reboot, which reduces the chances that Jay/Hunter/whoever will be hanging around next season. Even more disappointingly for me, Peyton List (Lisa Snart / Golden Glider) snagged the lead in another CW series, which crushes my dreams of more GoldenVibe romance or the Snart siblings hanging out on the Legends timeship. Stop poaching my Flarrow faves for shinier things, Hollywood!!
posted by nicebookrack at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

No! I loved Cisco and Lisa Snart!
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:45 AM on February 24, 2016 [4 favorites]

I will be incredibly disappointed if our Earth-2 CJay was straight-up evil/Zoom all along, as that interview implies. Both because I really like Jay (and Caitlyn/Jay, and Caitlyn's sanity), and because it would be a very lazy and inferior retread of last season's Wellsobard.

Also it will justify Team Flash being incredibly paranoid of strangers in season 3.

New Character: "Hi, my name's (blank), I just moved to Central Ci—"
Barry: *immediately vibrates Newbie's heart out of their chest*
posted by nicebookrack at 11:52 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

The next new episode of Flash is slated to air March 22; the Supergirl/Flash crossover episode is slated to air March 28. That means Barry must be back running to other universes in the March 22 episode.

Also look at these precious dorky darling SUPER FRIENDS.
posted by nicebookrack at 12:18 PM on February 24, 2016

It's predicting some Cisco/Jesse sparks.
posted by brundlefly at 12:36 PM on February 24, 2016

As much as I love GoldenVibe, Cisco/Jesse (Cissie? Jessco?) would be worth it just for Harry's glaring.
posted by nicebookrack at 12:43 PM on February 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Wait Barry ends the episode with a speech hinting the breaches aren't closed forever, and Wells kinda didn't really react to that even though earlier he was like "no, they're closed for good, we're stuck here". So did Barry learned something off-screen that he's not going to share with the class?

They have long sticks that can reach King Shark to fish him out of the pool, but none of these trained ARGUS agents can use those sticks without touching the lasers and just poke him to see if he's actually dead?
posted by numaner at 1:51 PM on February 24, 2016

How hard can it be to track a 15 metre high sharkman? He's not trying to be stealthy. He's just walking around! Aren't people calling the cops when they see him?

Or are the denizens of Central City so jaded now that they're like "Huh, shark guy. OK. What's for lunch?".
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 2:09 PM on February 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

They have long sticks that can reach King Shark to fish him out of the pool, but none of these trained ARGUS agents can use those sticks without touching the lasers and just poke him to see if he's actually dead?

You assume that all ARGUS agents are super highly trained James Bond guys. Maybe the dudes on shark tank duty are just minimum wage TSA-level cannon fodder.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 2:10 PM on February 24, 2016

"So for this part of the interview, we're going to need you to give us your best I'm-being-eaten-by-an-unnatural-monster scream."
"..."
"Whenever you're ready."
posted by ODiV at 2:13 PM on February 24, 2016

WHAT'S IN AQUARIUM ONE AND TWO?!?!?
posted by FallowKing at 2:24 PM on February 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

You don't want to know.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:26 PM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Wait Barry ends the episode with a speech hinting the breaches aren't closed forever, and Wells kinda didn't really react to that even though earlier he was like "no, they're closed for good, we're stuck here". So did Barry learned something off-screen that he's not going to share with the class?

That was more of an inspirational, "We'll find a way to reopen them!" type of comment.
posted by Atreides at 2:45 PM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

No spoilers, because I don't know, but my impression was that Jay was Zoom later in Zoom's timeline (Zoom surely having traveled in time on many occasions), and that Zoom's murder/abduction of Jay was meant to be a murder/abduction of Wells or Barry. Effectively, Zoom murdered his own future self. The only issue here is that such an event would make Zoom a kind of supervillainous Homer Simpson.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:17 PM on February 24, 2016

Atreides: That was more of an inspirational, "We'll find a way to reopen them!" type of comment.

He actually says "I don't know how." or something equivalent, doesn't he?
posted by brundlefly at 5:35 PM on February 24, 2016

No spoilers, because I don't know, but my impression was that Jay was Zoom later in Zoom's timeline (Zoom surely having traveled in time on many occasions), and that Zoom's murder/abduction of Jay was meant to be a murder/abduction of Wells or Barry. Effectively, Zoom murdered his own future self. The only issue here is that such an event would make Zoom a kind of supervillainous Homer Simpson.

Wait, so evil present-day Zoom (we'll call him PZoom) later reforms his ways (and becomes Future Zoom, or Fzoom). FZoom travels back in time to stop PZoom. But FZoom and PZoom have the same capabilities, so FZoom creates Velocity 6 to increase his speed to counter PZoom somehow. But PZoom wins, and takes FZoom's increased speed (which would eventually increase FZoom's capabilities, no? But this show doesn't care about paradoxes), and then kills FZoom (and hence, himself) by accident?

This is insane, and I like it. I hope you're right.

Then who is the guy in the mask?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:28 PM on February 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm telling you, the guy in the mask is definitely a Jay/Hunter!

Your theory may be right, kittens for breakfast. The episode with Eobard Thawne's return may have been foreshadowing that a speedster like Zoom can survive the erasure of their own life/timeline if they're traveling in the speedforce or between worlds at the time they're being obliterated.

And I agree, Zoom erasing his own timeline by accident would be HILARIOUS.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:36 PM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Then who is the guy in the mask?

Another Jay. When he was taping his code he was tapping his name first.
Earth 3?
Non-logical time travel paradox?
Clone? Does DC comics have clones?
Hunter Zolomon?


Did Jay actually die? All we saw was was him unconscious.
posted by FallowKing at 6:37 PM on February 24, 2016

Reddit evidence of the Masked Man Jay theory.

Maybe we've got an All You Zombies situation in which everyone on Earth-2 is actually Jay.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:46 PM on February 24, 2016

Did Jay actually die? All we saw was was him unconscious.

He had a hand through his chest. Everyone else that Zoom has done that to has died.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:49 PM on February 24, 2016

He had a hand through his chest. Everyone else that Zoom has done that to has died.

But he PULLED Jay through, so he didn't rip anything out or punch a hole.
He could have phased his wrist and un-phased his hand and pulled him through that way.
Also, at the end I don't see a hole in Jay.
posted by FallowKing at 6:59 PM on February 24, 2016

Another Jay. When he was taping his code he was tapping his name first.

Except that after that Barry said something about Jay being safely on Earth 1 and the masked man responded with mute agitation instead of gesturing at himself. If the masked man is another Jay he sucks at communication.
posted by brundlefly at 7:07 PM on February 24, 2016

The prisoner tap code is meant for communication when people can hear but not see each other, so it was pretty silly for the Masked Man to tap so labourously instead of spelling out letters in the air with his hands.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:15 PM on February 24, 2016 [6 favorites]

I was a bit disappointed with this episode after the previous week's.

I love Wells daughter's reaction to just being saved after being locked in a cell and tortured for like 3 months is "I'm stuck here?!" Teenagers, man.

The Cisco/Frost stuff was nice I thought. Also, I just love Wells, I love him so much.

I really wanted Zoom to be Joe or Barry's Dad, but what I really wanted was there to not really be much more behind the mask. Someone, so hungry for speed, they had been reduced to this demonic gollum-like creature. Not visually, but I liked the idea of consuming obsession, not world conquering, not sophisticated, etc. Just an addiction that warped (Barry's Dad/Joe) to becoming this almost spirit-like thing. That Zoom was unstoppable, like Death, and they had to think of a new way to conquer him - maybe to accept him or something.

But now, Zoom feels more like a reverse-flash retread.

Last thought: I miss cop-Iris already.
posted by smoke at 3:09 AM on February 26, 2016

There was a close-up of Iron Mask's eye, and it really looked like Jay to me.

Nice that people are starting to learn that keeping secrets is not the best idea.

King Shark was great. He looked so much better than Grodd.

The poor fool who ordered the security lasers to be shut down got what he deserved. Too bad about his men, though.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:53 AM on February 26, 2016

Soooooo...King Shark straight up breaks into the Wells house screaming that he can smell the Flash, WHILE WALLY IS THERE TO SEE IT, and yet (a) Wally never figures it out, and (b) nobody tells him? Fucking a, Joe, LET SOME PEOPLE TELL SOME TRUTHS HERE, DON'T ACT LIKE WALLY ISN'T GONNA FIND OUT SOMETIME.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:12 PM on March 28, 2016

In due time! I...don't know when that will be, but it will be done duly!
posted by Atreides at 6:54 AM on March 29, 2016