What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 2, Episode 16 “Trajectory” (B+)

It’s always a struggle for heroes to prove that they’re really good since so many people want desperately to believe that they’re bad. The appearance of a speedster who streaked the same colors as the Flash definitely pointed to that conclusion, and even our team was perplexed. It makes sense that Caitlin would have needed to collaborate with someone outside of Star Labs to engineer Velocity 9, and that person would have tried to synthesize the product for separate use. It’s incredible how much Barry is able to control his speed and how it affects him, since Eliza fell prey to Trajectory in a way that she was totally trapped inside the destructive villain with no voice of her own, sort of like Professor Stein on “Legends of Tomorrow” when he merged into Firestorm with a Soviet scientist instead of Jax. Trajectory’s end was not a pleasant one, and it paved the way for a brutal realization that was confirmed for viewers before this show went on its month-long hiatus: the use of Velocity 9 leads to blue lightning, which means that Jay became Zoom. That news is going to send them all reeling, and getting to Earth-Two is going to be the least of their worries since grappling with this betrayal, which isn’t really one given that it’s not the Jay they know, is going to be very difficult. I couldn’t figure out where I recognized Iris’ editor from, and it makes sense that I couldn’t take him seriously since Tone Bell was on “Bad Judge” as the bailiff. Iris shouldn’t really be dating if she keeps referencing her and Barry getting married, an event that seems to be inevitable at this point in any timeline or universe.