This week on The Flash, Barry and the team return from taking a few weeks off and have to do battle with a new speedster. Let’s take a look at “Trajectory.”
SPOILERS AHEAD
We start off with Wells, Cisco and Barry at a canyon that Barry is going to attempt to jump as he trains to be faster. Of course, he falls just short and is frustrated with himself, but I’m sure there’s no foreshadowing going on here. Back at STAR Labs, the frustration is becoming a problem as the whole team is working themselves into exhaustion. They decide to take a night out and relax a little. Jessie convinces Wells to let her go out with them but only after he affixes her with a meta detecting watch. Iris and Wally meet up with them and as Jessie looks quite smitten with Wally, the watch continues to go off which is very distracting. Whether the watch was going off because of Barry or Wally wasn’t quite clear, but I’m sure there’s no foreshadowing going on there, either. Jessie switches the watch off, but in doing so, starts up the damning message Well’s had left for his daughter. Then, the club is hit by a meta human who takes everyone’s valuables and the cash registers before absconding in a split second. Barry gives chase, but he is easily outrun. Another speedster is in Central City!
Iris gets her hands on a picture that looks suspiciously like the picture she took of the Flash last year. Her boss wants to nail The Flash and demands that she write a story exposing Flash to really be a villain. Jessie confronts Wells and has an understandable breakdown as she finds out her dad’s a murderer. Meanwhile, the team wonders about this new speedster, Caitlyn is forced to tell them about V9. She had a friend, Eliza Harmon, help with the research, so she and Joe agree to go talk to Eliza and see if something happened at Mercury Labs. Of course, nothing can happen before Cisco vibes about Zoom and is visibly shaken by it. They get warning that the new speedster is out again and Barry takes off to catch him. Once again, the new speedster easily outdoes him, knocking him down with a super speed blow. The speedster then reveals themselves to not be a he, but a she!
Caitlyn and Joe go see Eliza who assures them that nothing was stolen on her end. Iris’ boss pressures her about the Flash story so she asks him to meet her for a drink so they can discuss it. So then Eliza turns out to be hallucinating and is hooked on V9. Her alter ego and alternate personality, Trajectory, convinces her to do more and then go acquire some at the only place they know that can make it – STAR Labs. Barry is pissed about V9. He snags the last vial Caitlyn has but Well’s confronts him before he can use it. Despite the risks and the dangers, Barry still wants to use it as he’s tired of losing. Wells gives him an impassioned speech about being a better person, convincing Barry to not take the V9.
Trajectory shows up to STAR Labs, throwing Barry in a cell and taking Jessie hostage at gunpoint. During all of this, Cisco vibes Zoom again and Wells and Caitlyn agree to make more V9. Iris sits down with her boss and they discuss the Flash’s role in the city and his stance against him and her adamant defence for Flash. It’s then that he realizes this isn’t and gets hilariously awkward and has to leave – awkwardly, of course. Back in STAR Labs, they bring Trajectory the V9 which she injects Jessie with to test it out before taking it herself and racing away. Jessie goes into shock and almost dies but they manage to stabilize her. Wells has a big talk with Jessie where she holds Wells accountable for all the things he does in her name and the rift between father and daughter grows wider.
Trajectory uses her speed to destabilize a bridge, threatening to bring it down with everyone on it. Barry races to the rescue but with her all jacked up on V9, she’s still better than Barry is. Barry manages to get everyone off the bridge, but Trajectory gets to the other side of the bridge right before it comes down. The other side of the bridge is, you guessed it, about the same length as the canyon Barry couldn’t jump at the beginning, but he’ll be damned if he gives up. So, he easily makes the jump and takes Trajectory out. But she won’t go down so easily and despite Flash trying to convince her not to, she takes another shot of V9. This turns her lightning blue and as she races away, she vaporizing, blowing away into nothing.
Wells gets a message from Jessie as she’s run away, looking to find her own life on this new world, away from her suddenly murderous father. Iris meets with her boss and apologizes for the weird end to their meeting and then decides that they’re going to start dating now, because sure, why not. The blue lightning is a sign to the team and they start hypothesizing about Zoom’s lightning and the V9. This leads them, obviously, to wonder about Jay which leads Cisco to realize that every time he’s vibed Zoom the whole episode is when he’s been near Jay’s helmet. When he takes it, he vibes Zoom again and sees him taking his mask off, revealing it to be Jay. He tells the team and they’re all shocked but Barry is especially furious, racing off back to the canyon to scream in frustration (seriously).
Team Flash raced back for the last leg of the season by bringing in another of Flash’s comic book foes. The episode itself, while fine, was clearly just for the end where they realize Zoom is Jay. Which, kind of seems like a waste of my time in the end because there was no real point to the rest of the episode, was there? I mean, the subplots have developed a bit but unless they all come back around to be an important factor as the season concludes, this was all just a 40 minute diversion for a 2 minute plot device.
Either way, everyone knows about Zoom’s identity now and obviously everyone is pretty upset about this. Barry is going to take this particularly hard seeing as everyone he allies himself with seems to turn out to be a monster. Much like the first season, it’s starting to look like the last leg of the season is going to ramp up in intensity! Here’s hoping The Flash can match the previous season conclusion!
Doug Mercer reviews The Flash each week, so stay tuned right here for more! Also be sure to check out our recent review of 11/22/63!