by Matt Sernaker (Managing Editor),
Barry Allen returns as The Fastest Man Alive! After successfully stopping the Reverse-Flash, the Scarlet Speedster was tasked with stopping a massive singularity that was hovering above Central City. Was Barry able to seal the breach? Where did the singularity lead to? And who is this new mysterious man claiming to also be “The Flash?” All these questions (and more) will be in answered in the new Blu-ray release of The Flash – The Complete Season Season!
Episode Highlights:
“The Man Who Saved Central City”: Picking up several months after the thrilling final battle against Eobard Thawne (The Reverse Flash), life has changed for our hero and his friends. Central City is ready to go all out to celebrate the heroics of The Flash, but Barry must fight to overcome his inner turmoil regarding the actions required to close the singularity. Instead of picking up moments after last season’s fade to black, we time jump to six months later, where Barry is busy fighting crime and running solo. Team Flashhas disbanded (at Barry’s insistence), and we learn where most of the gang has been hanging out since the finale. Caitlin took a position at Mercury Labs, Cisco is working for the CCPD (creating new tech to fight Meta-Humans), and Eddie is…well…still dead. Iris and Joe attempt to reconnect with Barry and insist that he still needs a little help from his friends. When Atom Smasher makes his sizable debut, Barry will soon learn that he needs all the help he can get. Also, what exactly did Harrison Wells leave behind for Barry in the event of his demise?
“Flash of Two Worlds”: Meet Jay Garrick, The Flash of Earth-2! Jay has come to our Earth to warn us of the impending threat of the villain known as Zoom. Zoom is determined to steal the powers of all speedsters and has unleashed a series of meta-humans from his world upon our own. When Patty Spivot, CCPD’s latest recruit, is kidnapped by a villain named “Sand Demon”, The Flashes of two worlds must work together to save the day. While Team Flash deals with the ramifications of parallel worlds, Cisco has a heart to heart with Professor Stein, and shares information about his new found abilities.
“The Fury of Firestorm”: Victor Stein continues to experience challenges without Ronnie Raymond around to complete the Firestorm Matrix. The search begins for a suitable replacement, which leads to some unforeseeable challenges. This episode introduces Jefferson “Jax” Jackson, who would later go on to join the cast of Legends of Tomorrow. The ultimate highlight of this episode takes place in the final moments, as Barry encounters King Shark, a giant humanoid shark creature. The only way to stop this new Meta is with some assistance from…Harrison Wells?!?
“Legends of Today”: The annual Flash/Arrow crossover begins! Vandal Savage arrives in Central City and is determined to find and kill a woman named Kendra (our friendly neighborhood barista)
“Welcome To Earth-2”: Barry, Cisco, and “Harry” venture through a breach to Earth-2. Barry learns how his life could have been in the ultimate “what-if” scenario: Barry and Iris are married? Harrison Wells is the savior of Central City? Ronnie and Caitlin are super villains? Can this world get any crazier? Yup…Cisco is also a villain on this parallel world. Get ready for REVERB!
“The Runaway Dinosaur”: Kevin Smith (Clerks) directs one of the most memorable episodes of the series. Barry Allen has become lost in the Speed Force and begins to experience visions of his Mother, Nora. “Nora” explains that Barry cannot regain his powers until he releases his burdens, and can forgive himself for letting his mother die at the hands of the Reverse-Flash. Meanwhile, Cisco and Harry launch a new plan to help get Barry out of the Speed Force, and Zoom gathers his forces for a final attack on Central City.
Cast:
Season Two of The Flash featured Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/The Flash), Candice Patton (Iris West), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow), Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon), Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen), and Tom Cavanagh (Harrison “Harry” Wells/Eobard Thawne/The Reverse-Flash). This season also introduced Keiynan Lonsdale (Insurgent) as Wally West, Shantel VanSanten (The Final Destination) as Patty Spivot, Teddy Sears (Masters of Sex) as Jay Garrick, Violett Beane (The Leftovers) as Jesse Quick, and Tony Todd (Chuck) as the voice of Zoom. All of the returning players got countless chances to shine throughout the season, but my personal MVP for this batch of episodes was Shantel VanSanten as Patty Spivot. VanSanten added a fun new dynamic to the series, and her on-screen chemistry with Grant Gustin was priceless. I would also like to give a shout out to Danielle Panabaker, who embraced the darkness and took on the role of Earth-2’s Killer Frost with conviction.
Special Features
- Exciting Arrow crossover event with 2 special features
- Behind-the-Scenes VFX on select episodes
- The Many Faces of Zoom Featurette
- Chasing Flash: The Journey of Kevin Smith
- The Flash: 2015 Comic-Con Panel
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
- Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy
Overall
I personally consider the first season of The Flash to be one of the best seasons of television that we have had in years. The levity, the action, the character development, and the plot twists were constantly on point. Moving into the second season, the series definitely had some challenges with keeping things from getting repetitive, and unfortunately, the writing did fall a bit flat at times. The introduction of Earth-2 and the Meta-Humans of the world was a smart way to bring over more of the Sci-Fi elements from the comics (I.E. Gorilla City, Parallel Worlds, etc), but the character development with Jay Garrick and Zoom felt like a rehash of what we saw in the previous season. The show as a whole seemed to get darker as the season progressed, which was very different from the light-hearted approach from the prior season. Despite the few challenges, The Flash continues to be a highly entertaining series, and the setup for Season 3 looks to push all of the characters into an exciting new direction.
Rating: [4/5]
ComicsOnline gives The Flash: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray 4 out of 5 chances to yell “RUN BARRY, RUN”!!!
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