The Flash season 2, episode 15, “King Shark,” featured a mini Arrow crossover and saw the team dealing with the aftereffects of Earth-2.
In “King Shark,” Barry and Caitlin, in particular, are haunted by effects of the trip to Earth-2. Though Caitlin didn’t visit the other Earth, Jay being murdered in front of her eyes and pulled back to Earth-2 was enough trauma for her. Losing Ronnie, getting him back, losing him again, meeting and opening up to Jay, and then his subsequent death would be too much for anyone to handle. Caitlin realizes this and shuts down her emotions.
Caitlin’s behavior in this episode echoes how she acted when we first met her in the pilot; she was still grieving Ronnie so remained detached to make it through the day. Meeting Barry and forming Team Flash helped bring her out of her shell, but Ronnie’s second death caused her to leave S.T.A.R. Labs entirely. In a way, she’s like Barry, who has been running from his feelings. Caitlin is fleeing her grief by locking it away so it doesn’t overwhelm her.
Caitlin’s cold behavior, though, worries Cisco. He’s worried Jay’s death might be a catalyst for her turning into Killer Frost. However, Caitlin eventually reassures him — and viewers who don’t want to see Caitlin go down that path on Earth-1 — that not only is she not going to become a cold-blooded psychopath, but she’s also not even a metahuman. Killer Frost is not in this Caitlin’s future. And if the sheer amount of loss she’s suffered in a short span can’t turn her, it’s probably safe to assume nothing will.
There’s also a hilarious scene where Caitlin pretends to be turning into Killer Frost, using lines the Earth-2 Caitlin used, just to freak Cisco out. Moments like this shows that the team will heal. Eventually.
Like Caitlin, Barry is trying to avoid dealing with his experiences on Earth-2. He’s completely guilt-ridden for the deaths of Earth-2 Joe and Jay as well as all the pain and damage that have resulted from Zoom finding his way to Earth-1. Of course this happens when Joe and Iris are trying to get Barry and Wally to know each other better. Barry is distant and cool while Wally is jealous of Barry’s place in the West family.
Diggle, then, is the perfect person to find his way into Barry’s life at the moment, as he’s used to working alongside a superhero with a major guilt complex. Oliver Queen is a modern day Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders on Arrow. Diggle knows the look, and Barry has it. He’s there with a well-placed reminder not to take on too much. If he lets the guilt fester, it will destroy him.
Barry, after finally defeating King Shark in an epic scene where he runs on water and throws lightning and the half-shark metahuman, gathers his loved ones and apologizes for the way he’s been acting. He also promises that Jay’s death won’t be in vain — they will find their way back to Earth-2. It’s a bit cheesy, but it’s good that we’re moving past the guilt complex after one episode; The Flash is always stronger when it has a lighter air about it.
Also worth noting
- Harry and Jesse are, until Barry’s final announcement, reconciling the fact that they will never return to Earth-2. Wells tries to shut Jesse out, but she forces him to let her help with efforts to track King Shark and reopen a breach. Here’s hoping this is a sign Jesse will get to be more active as the story progresses since she’s had nothing else to do but be a prisoner.
- Lyla is shutting down Amanda Waller’s efforts to weaponize metahumans at A.R.G.U.S.
- Barry’s been trying to call Felicity in Star City, but she hasn’t been returning his calls. She’s had a rough go of things lately, after all. Maybe it’s also a little payback for him not calling her when Zoom broke his back.
- Oh, and there’s the little matter of that end credits scene. We see Zoom carry Jay’s body back into his prison. The man in the iron mask looks on in horror as Zoom removes his mask to reveal… Jay. So, is that actually Jay? (Would they make the original DC Comics’ Flash a villain?) Is it Hunter Zolomon? And what does that mean for the man in the mask’s identity?
Watch a promo for the next episode
