TV Review: The Flash – Season 2 Episode 15 “King Shark”

EPISODE 15: "King Shark"

SYNOPSIS: When King Shark escapes from an A.R.G.U.S. holding tank, Lyla and Diggle travel to Central City to warn The Flash. King Shark shows up at the West house and attacks Joe, Iris, Wally and Barry.

REVIEW: Earlier this season, the DC Comics character of King Shark debuted on The Flash. The appearance of the character served as an introduction to Earth-2's Harrison Wells as well as a chance for Patty Spivot and Barry to get closer to one another. The producers used as much budget as possible to bring the character to life knowing they would probably not be able to use him again. Well, tonight's episode puts the half man, half Great White right at the forefront with some of the best special effects the series has employed to date along with a solid story chronicling our hero facing the repercussions of travelling between parallel worlds.

Picking up at the moment of Jay Garrick's death at the hands of Zoom, the trio of Wells, Barry, and Cisco agree that they will not share what they saw while on Earth-2 with their friends to avoid muddying the timeline. But, this ends up being easier said than done as Cisco fears Caitlyn's mourning of Jay could be what triggers her transformation into Killer Frost. At the same time, Barry is depressed after losing to Zoom in the previous episode and blames himself for the tragedies befalling his friends and family. Barry also contends with a jealous Wally West who views his "brother" as the golden child who gets all of the praise from Joe and Iris. Barry tries his best to befriend Wally but he has bigger fish to fry (pun intended).

Lyla and John Diggle make their way over to Central City when King Shark escapes from an ARGUS facility. According to the Lyla, Amanda Waller was attempting to weaponize King Shark, something she vows never to do as the new head of the organization. Barry is adamant that he has to stop King Shark as a way to atone for failing to stop Zoom. With the breaches closed between the two Earths, Barry taunts King Shark and uses the monster as a way to vent his frustration. At the same time, Wells and his daughter work together to try and figure out a way to catch King Shark as Cisco and Caitlyn visit Shay Lamden's widow who is a researcher of sharks. Her husband died of cancer after the particle accelerator explosion while the same event caused his Earth-2 doppelganger to become King Shark.

After King Shark attacks the West home, Barry reveals what he experienced with Iris and Joe's doppelgangers and is brought to tears reliving the death of that version of his adoptive father. Cisco also reveals to Caitlyn that her twin was Killer Frost. But, both Cisco and Barry are relieved to hear the voice of reason from their friends and family that those other people are not them, despite looking identical. This is good enough to help our heroes get back on track and finally buckle down to find King Shark. The teams set a trap for him at the Central City docks after the monster had challenged to be faster than Barry in a water race. After waiting for a long time, King Shark shows and the fight begins.

Running on water, Barry manages to get up enough speed to electrify the water and knock King Shark out. The special effects in this sequence are pretty damn impressive for a network television show and give me a lot of hope for what King Shark could look like if he ever makes it to the big screen. Lyla and John return to Star City and vow to try and help King Shark. Diggle also may have gone home with an upgraded helmet thanks to Cisco as well as well wishes for Felicity from Barry. As the episode comes to a close, Barry unveils a memorial to Jay as he apologizes for causing the events that have befallen the team over the season. Barry also vows to re-open a portal to Earth-2 and says he will stop Zoom once and for all. In the closing scene, we see Zoom arrive in his den with the lifeless body of Jay Garrick as the masked prisoner looks on, horrified. Zoom finally reveals himself and we see it is…Jay Garrick?

The reveal at the end is quite a puzzling one. Jay did show us his Earth-1 doppelganger earlier in the season as Hunter Zolomon, the DC Comics name for Zoom, but is this that person or a third Jay Garrick? Or, is the Jay we knew not who he said he was. Zoom says the death of Garrick complicates things, so could he be from Earth-3? The possibilities are staggering and could be any of these theories or countless others. With less than ten episodes to go, this is a mystery that could have a lot of angles and I love that we still have a long way to go. This hour was less eventful than most aside from the closing scene, but it was a well written exploration of Barry's emotional state and helps anchor his motivation for finally beating Zoom. Plus, King Shark just looked badass.

FINAL VERDICT:

NEXT ON THE FLASH: "Trajectory" airs March 1st – Having arrived in town intent on creating maximum chaos, Trajectory’s antics are misinterpreted as having been perpetrated by the Flash himself. Barry thus must quickly uncover the mystery of who is the girl under the mask — as well as what is driving her mad desire for speed and destruction.