The Flash: Versus Zoom Review

By: Ashley Binion (@ashleybinion)

After a couple weeks off, The Flash returned with “Versus Zoom.” Up until this episode, the series has done little to develop Zoom as a character. However, “Versus Zoom” attempted to fix that.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

“Versus Zoom” was the series’ chance to get audience members invested in the Zoom storyline. Until now, the show has had a hard time developing the Zoom character. There’s not one aspect of the storyline that hasn’t been a consistent problem. The main problem is that the writers just haven’t spent the time to develop him. Even in an episode titled “Versus Zoom,” he was only in two minutes throughout the first half of the episode. And those two minutes were a flashback to Hunter Zolomon as a child. I don’t understand what the writers are afraid of. Sure, probably no villain they’ll ever write will be as good as the Reverse-Flash, but come on, develop Zoom! He’s the big bad of the season and only now is the show giving him some type of backstory.

I feel like Zoom parallels Arrow’s Ra’s al Ghul problem. On Arrow, Ra’s was constantly spoken of, yet he was never fully around nor developed. Zoom has been a lot like that, but not fully to the extent of the absurdity of Ra’s. Zoom even had minions doing his bidding, exactly like Ra’s.

Zoom’s tactics are becoming really annoying. All he does is kidnap people. Let’s list the people he’s kidnapped: Jessie, Barry, Wally, the man in the iron mask (who now I’m starting to think is the real Jay), and now Caitlin. Can he please think of some other villainous thing to do? And why is this the second time this season Caitlin has gotten kidnapped?

I liked how the series made Hunter Zolomon’s backstory almost the same as Barry’s. It’s as if Zolomon is the alternate, evil version of Barry. If he didn’t have Joe and Iris, that’s the same dark path the scientist could have gone down. But because of the love and the home those two have given him, he is a hero. It’s a wonderful sentiment.

Cisco got a chunk of screen time in the episode. His subplot was quite nice. I wish it came in a different episode where it could have focused more on Cisco, but still it was a good change of pace for the character. He’s usually good for a laugh, but to see that he hasn’t gotten over being afraid of his powers reminds the audience that he is more than just comic relief and has some depth.

The Joe and Wally scenes were fantastic, especially when Wally called him dad. It was so adorable. Joe is always good for a tug-at-the-heartstrings moment.

And let’s not forget about Joe and Wells. I’m enjoying the improbable friendship blooming between the two. Anytime they put those Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanagh in a scene together it automatically brings the show to another level.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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