Catching Up: The Flash Episode 202, "Flash of Two Worlds"

The world of THE FLASH just got infinitely more diverse with the arrival of Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears, 666 PARK AVENUE), who comes from another Earth where he was called The Flash. But after his arrival on our Earth, shortly after his battle on his world with Zoom, he was brought to our world through the singularity that Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) fought at the end of Season One.

He comes with a warning, but the team doesn't know what to make of him -- and Barry certainly doesn't trust him. In fact, he's a real jerk towards Jay. So their response is to run tests on Jay -- and keep him locked up in the STAR Labs facility.

Meanwhile, another Earth 2 villain has made his way to Central City -- Eddie Slick, the Sand Demon (Kett Turton), who's basically just like Spider-Man's Sandman villain. He's got the same deal as Atom Smasher from Zoom -- kill The Flash and he gets to go back home. Zoom apparently has access between worlds through multiple breaches, and Martin Stein and Cisco Ramon set about to trying to find them. However, during their search, Cisco starts to get visions of things that have already happened. "I get a vibe," he explains it to Martin, setting up his future metahuman name.

Cisco's new power helps out a lot, as he plays off his visions as "hunches" to the rest of the team. Because Sand Demon has kidnapped a rookie officer -- Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten, THE MESSENGERS), who has been aggressively pursuing a chance to be on Detective Joe West's anti-metahuman task force. She also turns out to be a real fan of Barry's, having read all of his forensic reports, and the two of them geek-bond during the episode.

Barry ultimately learns to trust Jay, and Jay takes over the role of mentoring Barry in new and creative uses of his powers, including slinging the lightning that surrounds him when he runs. Jay suits up -- and is reunited with his kettle helmet -- and joins Barry in pursuing the Sand Demon at an abandoned greenhouse bearing the name Woodrue. Is this a hint that the Floronic Man is planned for the future? Sand Demon doesn't know that Jay has lost his powers, so Jay's appearance is just there to distract -- however, it also sets things up for the most beautiful homage shot at the end of the battle that fans cannot miss.

The big takeaways from this episode are:
- Zoom will continue sending new villains against The Flash
- Cisco's powers are becoming stronger
- There are 52 breaches around Central City
- Dr. Harrison Wells is... important

This episode also introduces Vanessa Williams in the role of Joe West's ex-wife.

Things just keep getting better for this show. I can't wait for Jay Garrick's powers to ultimately come back -- which I would expect to be part of the second season climax.