Seeing as next week’s episode is titled, “Enter Zoom,” I shouldn’t be surprised that “The Darkness and the Light” is playing a lot of setup for our first big myth arc. The most obvious element that this episode needs to sell us on is the return of Harrison Wells, and they definitely succeed at that. Tom Cavanagh has always been a delight on this show, but now he gets to play a very different kind of character: a dick.
And he’s great at it! Earth-2 Wells (who gets the doomed to be affectionate nickname Harry) is combative, dismissive, and aggressive in ways that we never saw from the more cunning and slyly paternal Earth-1 Wells. But in the end, he still believes in Barry and his abilities, but in a much different way. I’m very excited to see how Wells integrates himself into the group, especially with his more abrasive personality.
The rest of this episode does unfortunately fall victim to its setup-y nature. Dr. Light is an interesting idea (a villain that’s mostly a villain due to being afraid of Zoom), but she’s mostly there for more Zoom teasing. Her costume certainly doesn’t help things. I love that The Flash unabashedly embraces its comic book origins when it comes to visuals, but yeesh. Dr. Light looks like a distant cousin of Infra-Man.
We do get Cisco’s powers revealed to the team, and in perfect Flash fashion, everyone is supportive and cool about it (except Harry, but give him time and he’ll warm up to the gang). And another little tease is Cisco’s coffee-house crush. A quick Google search will tell you that she’s the always awesome Hawkgirl, but I expect she’s not going to be on The Flash for long before she jumps ship to Legends of Tomorrow.
The big centerpiece of this week is really Barry and Patty’s literal blind date. It’s equal parts cute and unbearable, but that’s what a lot of great couples are. I know these two aren’t going to stay together, but I’ll ride this dorky relationship for as long as the show keeps it going. These two are a lot of fun, and Grant Gustin and Shantel VanSanten have wonderful chemistry.
If anything, “The Darkness and the Light” has me chomping at the bit for next week’s episode. We’ve gotten our first good look at Zoom and now his evil schemes seem to be coming into focus a teeny bit. Also, the combination of Zoom’s costume and Tony Todd’s voice has me digging the more horror-tinged take on the character. He has full-on black eyes! It needs to be next week already.
Favorite moment: When Jay and Harry come to blows, the face Danielle Panabaker makes is a gift to the world.
Unfavorite moment: The fact that King Shark was barely even mentioned, let alone given a proper wrap-up from last week. Seriously guys, you give us King Shark and don’t even placate us with a simple shot of him in lockup? The King better get his own Grodd type episode or I will be rooting for Zoom before long.
Next Episode: Enter Zoom