TV Review: THE FLASH: Season 2, Episode 16: Trajectory [The CW]

The CW’s The Flash Trajectory TV Show Review. The Flash: Season 2, Episode 16: Trajectory brought in another speedster while shedding light on Zoom after the big reveal during the last episode. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is definitely going through a rough patch after his trip to Earth-2. All he’s focusing on now is to become more faster so he can muster up the courage to face Zoom on the same playing field. However, he just doesn’t know how to get there yet.

At the start of the episode, Barry tries to attempt to jump across a river to go at above average speed, but it fails miserably. Barry and his friends decided to take a little R&R and go out clubbing. It’s nice to see the characters letting themselves loose since they’ve been so busy protecting the city and going after metahumans. We had some fun scenes with Cisco (Carlos Valdes) as he tried to show off some of his dance moves while Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) debate about what their doppelgangers are up to. We did catch a few moments with Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale), which felt like he didn’t belong because he was only in one scene for the whole episode. Anyway, we can’t have a party without someone crashing it, which is where Trajectory (Allison Paige) comes in.

With the appearance of Trajectory, we got to see Barry really pushing himself to be the fastest man alive rather than be a dead second. Grant Gustin really pulled off playing an irritated and overpowered hero who is grappling with the fact that he’s the only metahuman who is playing fair and square rather than taking the short cut. At least Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanaugh) was there to help remind Barry that being a hero means never taking the easy way out. It was also that same advice that Wells had ignored, causing a rift between him and his daughter Jesse (Violett Beane). After finding out what her father has done to save her, Jesse ends up leaving town to explore her new world. Hopefully this isn’t the last time we see Jesse since she has also been a vital part to The Flash mythology.

It all lead up to Barry’s realization that his new mentor Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears) turned out to be the enemy who has been after him all along. It was such a powerful moment for Barry when he dashes out of the lab to the cliff and lets out his feelings. We leave Barry at a very vulnerable place and it doesn’t look like he’s going to come out of it for a while.

Despite her brief appearance, Trajectory served her purpose well for the episode. Paige pulled off a convincing performance as this scientist with a Jekyll & Hyde complex. We see a smart woman with a dark side itching to get out and let chaos roam around her. It was a bit over-the-top seeing her chat with her alter ego, but it was entertaining to watch. We got to see the side effects of the Velocity-9, especially when used frequently. Eliza was only a victim to her addiction of the speed drug, so her sudden death was inevitable.

The climactic showdown between Flash and Trajectory displayed some great speedster action, especially with that big bridge jump attack Barry pulled off. Barry gave Trajectory a chance to do what’s right and fight her addiction, but she ultimately succumbed to it and met her end. It was almost scary to see her speed away and dissolve into blue lightning. Seeing her death opened some new details on Zoom’s real identity and ultimatum. Velocity-9 seems to be the cause of Zoom’s blue lightning, explaining that he is dying and in need of more speed force. Jay Garrick still remains a mystery to us, so hopefully we get some more answers in the next coming episodes.

We were also introduced to Iris’ new boss at the paper, Scott Evans (Tone Bell). Scott Evans appeared as this editor who is anti-Flash. He doesn’t come off as a strong opposition to the way the media has portrayed The Flash. Even his romance with Iris hasn’t help much in developing his character. Iris needs to become more hands-on this season, and this isn’t the way of getting it. This was the only subplot that was weak in an otherwise entertaining episode.

The Flash went into high gear with its latest episode. The show got to introduce a convincing new speedster villain while also adding another layer into the mystery of Zoom. There were some great dramatic performances from Grant as Barry continues to struggle with his defeat and trying to get faster. Despite a weak subplot with Iris, this week’s episode managed to be entertaining and thrilling for the whole hour.

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