Guess that was a flash-forward, no pun intended, because we next see the Flash talking to Doctor Light in the Pipeline. She says killing the Earth 1 Linda Park was the best bad idea she could come up with to escape the shadow of Zoom. Light says she was supposed to get proof she defeated the Flash and throw it back through the portal, at which point Zoom would come get her. Though she says defeating Zoom is impossible, Flash says he can and will do it, but he needs her help.
Barry wants to give Light his emblem and then set a trap for Zoom. Caitlin is skeptical, due in part to Jay Garrick’s advice not to try this. Harry Wells says he has developed a serum that can dampen Zoom’s speed, but he needs Cisco Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it. Caitlin sarcastically wonders if a bad guy can get his hands on it and become Sergeant Slow. Joe West likes this plan as long as Harry can deliver, but after leaving the room, he confides in Cisco and Caitlin that he doesn’t trust Wells. Can Vibe … you know, Vibe off of him? He can try.
A flashback takes us to Earth 2 and a discussion between Wells and his daughter Jesse. She wants to know if the Flash was right to accuse her dad of creating the metahumans, and his answer suggests that he is but doesn’t care. Though his daughter leaves in a huff, Harry says that Jesse Quick is his joy.
Back on Earth 1, Patty Spivot has been up all night working on the Doctor Light case, even theorizing that she might be able to use her powers to turn invisible. Joe declares that case closed, shooting her down in a way that causes obvious disappointment. Barry happens by in time for Patty to wonder if it was their kiss that made Joe clam up, but Barry doesn’t think Joe even knows about it. Also, Patty tells Barry she might need a reminder kiss soon. Flash, you dog you!
At the newspaper office, Linda asks Iris about the metahuman who looks like her. She really wants to help, still haunted by the death of her editor at Doctor Light’s hands. Cisco goes to check on Light and finds her cell in the Pipeline empty. He opens the door to check, and what do you know — she’s gone invisible (also naked, since her super suit is still in there). The S.T.A.R. Labs team tries in vain to stop her from escaping, but she’s already scrambled their defenses, and the Flash arrives too late.
An argument ensues, with Harry especially quick to point the finger at Cisco. Instead of assigning blame, Joe thinks they need a new plan. Barry asks his friends to keep working on their initial trap for Zoom. A concerned Joe asks Barry if maybe going after Zoom this soon is premature. Joe wants to find Jay, but Barry would rather go on offense.
Back we go to Cisco, who tries to get a vibe from Harry, who realizes what he’s doing and tells Cisco not to touch him. Caitlin wants Cisco to try again later, wondering if something happened between Wells and Zoom to make things personal. You know, maybe Caitlin’s intuition should count as a super power.
Another flashback to Earth 2 has Wells watching a news report that reveals that Earth’s Arrow is Robert Queen, who assumed the identity after a boat accident that left his son, Oliver, dead. I see what they did there. The news is interrupted by news of an attack on Central City’s college, and Harry finds to his horror that Jesse has been taken hostage. Of course we already knew that. Summoning up all her courage, Patty decides to tell Joe about her kiss with Barry. He doesn’t have a problem with that, so she asks if he has anything to tell her in the interest of transparency between partners. Nope.
Linda is hanging at the West house, coping with her stress by doing intense cooking. While talking to Barry, Iris mentions that if Linda had Doctor Light’s powers right now … Despite how incredibly foolish it sounds, both Barry and Iris think that it’s a perfectly fine idea to have Linda impersonate the villain in order to trap Zoom.
They bring Linda to S.T.A.R. Labs, and once she gets over her shock that the Flash needs her help, they outfit her with gloves that can actually fire light blasts. With that and the suit, she’ll look just like Saint Nick! Oh, sorry, I mean Doctor Light.
A humorous training sequence ensues, where we learn that Linda is not so good at being a super villain while firing at pop-up targets of Cisco, Caitlin and the Flash. Despite her ineptitude, Barry thinks she’s ready. Joe has a chat with him, wondering if Barry’s eagerness has to do with the fact that he didn’t stop Reverse-Flash, Eddie Thawne did. If Barry is going to risk Linda’s life, he needs to be sure why he’s doing it.
As the Flash, Barry visits Linda, who apologizes for not being good enough to carry out the plan. He says he knows Linda is strong enough, because he knows her … and he unmasks. Linda is stunned by the realization that she’s made out with the Flash.
Never one to give up, Cisco makes a second, even more bumbling attempt to get a vibe from Harry. Except this time it works. Cisco sees Jesse still held captive by Zoom in his spooky basement.
Patty is making a second attempt of her own, trying to get Joe to tell her what’s going on with him. The detective asks her to trust him, saying he needs a few days. Barry happens by and Patty tries asking him to dinner, but he replies that he has a thing with Joe. Tomorrow? Sure. And good luck with your thing.
At the portal by some deserted docks, Linda does a horrible test run as Doctor Light. We see the opening scene again, except with more comedy as Linda flubs some of her shots and her lines. Linda takes the Flash emblem and hurls it through the portal, and we see that Joe and Harry are set up as snipers …
But after an hour, Zoom still hasn’t shown. Harry is pissed about it, and Barry is disappointed. He tells Joe that he was right about his suspicion that Barry has an ulterior motive. It’s not all about Thawne per se, but what the Reverse-Flash said to him about never being happy. Joe says he should ignore that Wells, and that if there’s something that makes him happy, he should go get it.
So he does just that, surprising Patty at the precinct and giving her an even longer kiss. Barry says getting to know her better makes him happy, and she thinks they should do more of that.
At Central City Picture News, Iris and Linda have a beer and joe about doing CrossFit and whether Linda should have kept the gloves. Linda goes to leave, and … oh, hi Zoom!
Harry is reviewing footage at S.T.A.R. Labs, trying to see if he missed something. His metahuman watch goes off, and they realize in horror that Zoom is on the roof. Flash zips up there for his first real showdown with the villain, who promptly tosses Linda off the roof. Flash saves her with some super-speed-generated updrafts, and the real fight is on.
Flash tries the lightning-tossing trick that Jay taught him, but Zoom simply leaps, catches the bolt and hurls it back at Barry. Undeterred, the Flash pulls out some syringes with the speed-dampening formula and says he’s going to see if it works. He tries to fight Zoom in freefall, but even with that equalizing their speed, he gets his ass handed to him. Badly. Zoom jabs Barry with the serum, tells an incredulous Harry that he’s next, and hauls Flash’s limp body to the newspaper and the police station, taunting everyone about the fate of their hero. The cops all open fire on Zoom, but he catches all of their bullets with one hand. Zoom’s victory lap ends at S.T.A.R. Labs, where Harry admits to making a mistake, a costly one, Zoom adds. The villain readies to kill Flash, but he’s shot by Cisco, shrieking before speeding off. Guess he didn’t want to stick around without his full power.
Barry is in rough shape, and Joe tells Harry that if Barry dies, he dies. Cisco wants to know who Jesse is, and Wells comes clean, relieved that she’s still alive. Harry says he tried to capture Zoom on his own world but failed, and while he thought maybe he could do it on Earth 1 with Barry’s help, he was wrong. That’s pretty obvious.
The final scene shows Barry waking up. But while he’s on the road to recovery, he tells Caitlin and Cisco that he can’t feel his legs. Uh-oh.
OMG Moment of the Week: Yeah, that Zoom stunt with the lightning was pretty boss. Also, while a bit on the nose, Harry calling his daughter Jesse Quick was pretty cool.
#SnowJay Alert Level: Condition Green. No Jay this week, as he made good on his promise not to be involved with the plan to trap Zoom. Maybe they can send Caitlin to get him back. I bet she’d be willing to ask him.
Final Thought: Jay was right! You knew Zoom wouldn’t be defeated this early in the season, but this was a total defeat for Team Flash. Have to learn some things the hard way, I guess. Barry’s injury is an interesting twist, though it shouldn’t last long. It will be interesting to see if we get a slightly less jerky Wells, which would be a welcome development for all of our heroes.