I’m a shark! Repeat that four of five dozen times, and you’ll be in the mindset to discuss this week’s episode of The Flash, as King Shark returns, and Zoom is unmasked!
When King Shark escapes from an A.R.G.U.S. holding tank, Lyla and Diggle travel to Central City to warn The Flash. King Shark shows up at the West house and attacks Joe, Iris, Wally and Barry.
KING SHARK
So, all this time we thought King Shark was locked up, or dead, or something that wouldn’t be a threat to Barry and the gang. However, when King Shark appeared in The Fury of Firestorm, the animators did such a fantastic job that it would have been a shame to use King Shark one time.
King Shark has been around in comics since October 1994, when Nanaue emerged from the ocean in Superboy #0. The character lured us in and made an impression in Superboy #9 in November of ’94. King Shark was created by Karl Kesel, and has appeared in a number of comic series over the years.
Most recently, King Shark received a lot of attention when Gail Simone sunk her teeth into the character by including King Shark as part of the Suicide Squad.
If you are wondering why everyone thought King Shark was dead, you might want to check the very first appearance of King Shark in the Arrowverse in the pages of The Flash: Season Zero. There, readers were introduced to Shay Lamden who was slowly mutating thanks to the particle accelerator accident.
Lamden went to outside his old apartment and began to eat garbage. He found a letter addressed to his wife, Christina Lamden. He threw it back in to the trash, but before he could escape he was trapped in by the Suicide Squad. Captain Boomerang threw a boomerang, but King Shark simply bit through it. Deadshot shot him, knocking him over, followed by Cupid shooting a trick arrow, which expanded in to a net, trapping him. The Squad brought him back to A.R.G.U.S.’ headquarters, where he was tortured by Amanda Waller and forced to become a member of the Squad, soon having his first mission overseas.
Interestingly, in the comic, Shay Lamden’s wife is named Christina, and in the show she’s called Tonya.
All those references
If you are going to have a shark, you better include a lot of references to Jaws.
Jaws is a 1975 American film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a fictional New England summer resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter.
This week, the creative team threw a bunch of references in our faces, including:
- One of the ARGUS guards refers to King Shark as “Bruce.” Bruce was the name the crew called the mechanical shark during the movie production.
- “We’re gonna need a bigger Flash,” says Cisco. In Jaws, Roy Scheider’s character says when he see’s how big the shark is in the water.
- “Just when you thought it was safe to back in the suburbs.” The tagline for 1978’s Jaws 2 read, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”
- Cisco wonders why Caitlin gets to be Quint. Quint was the captain of the Orca, the ship used to track down the great white shark.
- Cisco also said, “Cue the Jaws soundtrack,” and if you were listening carefully, a similar theme started playing later in the episode.
ZOOM
If you stuck around to the end, the big reveal has Jay Garrick confirmed as Zoom. Some may be happy, some may be confused, and some are still hoping he’s Rival…
So, is this evil twin? Yet another alternate Earth? Or is it something else altogether? Until the final piece of the puzzle is added to the picture, we are still on the edge of our seat. For those who are confused by this movie, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg explains why it had to be Jay.
“For Barry and the others, as much as they were stung by Wells/Thawne’s betrayal, he had been their mentor and friend and they all felt that vacuum when he was gone. Jay had been watching them and knew that so he was able to masterfully step into the role each of them needed. He became a friend and mentor to Barry. A love interest to the heartbroken Caitlin. He skillfully played them all.”
We still don’t know who the Man in the Iron Mask is, but if it is another take on Jay, I’ll be truly impressed as we’ve already seen three versions of Jay Garrick on screen this season.
A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF
Promethium Metal
Promethium metal is mentioned this week, and those who follow the life and times of Cyborg, know that the metal parts of his body are made from depleted promethium. Depleted promethium was invented an patented by Steve Dayton of Dayton Industries. Because Cyborg first appeared in New Teen Titans #9, Marv Wolfman gets the credit for creating Promethium metal in the DCU.
If you are looking to use promethium metal for nefarious deeds, “volatile promethium” can be used to trigger a person’s mutagene. Dayton used it to create the villain Hybrid, and Deathstroke the Terminator incorporates volatile promethium in his costume.
Clark Bronwen
Clark Bronwen gets another name drop this week. He was the one pushing Wally to race cars in the Fast Lane episode. As I mentioned in that Flashback installment, “Bronwen Clark is an assistant to the Executive Producer of the show, so I’m guessing Bronwen is working for one of them.”
Diggle, Lyla, and A.R.G.U.S.
We’ve covered all three of these in previous Flashback installments, but it was nice to see the Diggle’s working together, and to see both of their reactions to how fast Barry is.
IT’S CALLED A SECRET IDENTITY FOR A REASON!
No new names to add to the list this week, as Lyla knew about Flash from previous encounters.
Dr. Harrison Wells(deceased)- Eobard Thawne (as Dr. Harrison Wells)
- Dr. Harry Wells (Earth-2)
- Dr. Caitlin Snow
- Dr. Cisco Ramon
- Detective Joe West
Ronnie Raymond(deceased)- Dr. Martin Stein
- Mrs. Clarissa Stein
- Hartley Rathaway (Pied Piper)
- Felicity Smoak
- General Wade Eiling
- Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)
- John Diggle
Bette Sans Souci(deceased)- Dr. Henry Allen (out of prison)
Iris West(in another timeline)- Iris West-Allen (in the future)
- Iris West (via spark touch)
- Iris West (of Earth-2)
- Leonard Snart (Captain Cold)
Detective Eddie Thawne(deceased)- Ray Palmer (The Atom)
- Brie Larvan
- Laurel Lance (Black Canary)
Hannibal Bates (Everyman)(deceased)- Gorilla Grodd
- Lyla Diggle (Harbinger)
- Jay Garrick (The Flash of Earth-2)
- Dr. Henry Hewitt
- Jefferson Jackson (Firestorm)
- Linda Park
- Malcolm Merlin/Al Sa-Her/Ra’s al Ghul
- Vandal Savage
- Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl)
- Cater Hall (Hawkman)
- Thea Queen (Speedy)
- Patty Spivot
- Barry Allen (of Earth-2)
- Killer Frost (of Earth-2)
- Jessie Quick (of Earth-2)
And that should be everything! What did I miss? What did you catch? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts on this episode, and until next week – RUN, BARRY! RUN!
Next week, Trajectory makes her appearance.
The Flash 2×16 Promo “Trajectory” (HD)
The Flash 2×16 “Trajectory” – A new speedster has everyone distracted in a new episode of The Flash, returning Tuesday March 22nd on The CW! Subscribe to tvp…
FLASHBACK: THE PODCAST
Want to hear Matthew Peterson and I sit down to discuss this episode in detail? If you are a Major Spoilers VIP, look for the Flashback Podcast hitting the VIP site very soon!
