FLASHBACK: Trajectory (S02-E16)

There’s a new speedster in town, and she doesn’t go by the name Bad Flash. Who is Trajectory, and how does she tie back into the world of comics? Find out in this installment of Flashback!

Trajectory arrives in town intent on creating maximum chaos. Trajectory’s antics are misinterpreted as having been perpetrated by The Flash himself. Barry must thus act quickly to uncover the mystery of who is causing damage in which others think it is him, and what may be driving their mad desire for speed and destruction.

TRAJECTORY

Yes, it is kind of a bad thing when a meta gets to name their self, but in the case of Trajectory, her ability to speed along a set path is on target for the villain of the week.

Created by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid during DC’s 52 event, Eliza Harmon gained the power of super speed thanks to Lex Luthor’s Everyman Project (52 #17 August, 2006). The Everyman Project was Luthor’s attempt to create his own superhero team during a time when Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman took a year off to reflect and contemplate on their roles in the world. At its core, the Everyman Project seems very altruistic – give those without powers the ability to go toe to toe with anyone who is doing wrong. The original recipients of the Everyman drug, went on to form Luthor’s Infinity, Inc., which included Eliza, a.k.a. Trajectory, and the wonderfully well adjusted characters Hannibal Bates (Everyman), who we saw last season.

Unfortunately for Eliza, once she was granted superspeed, she was unable to slow down without using another drug called Sharp. Her reliance on the drug caused her to blame Luthor, and she left the team for a while. When she returned a few weeks later, it was only for a brief run (pun intended). As with anything having to do with Lex Luthor, the Everyman Project was one under his complete control – if he can give you powers, he can also strip them away at the touch of a button. Which is exactly what he did to Trajectory while she was in the middle of a fight with Blockbuster. She did not survive. Her final appearance was in 52 #21.

As it ties to the Jay Garrick Reveal

Though Trajectory ultimately becomes another throw away character for the show, her use of Velocity 9, multiple personality disorder, and ultimate demise, really helps to clarify what is going on with Jay Garrick and Zoom. It will be interesting to see if Team Flash will be able to fix Jay, or if he will also be killed off by the end of the season.

Velocity 10

We know that Velocity 9 is the drug that gives everyone their speed powers, but at the cost of their lives. The next logical iteration of the drug is Velocity 10, that in the comics grants the users super speed but it causes different parts of the body to metabolize at different rates. Could targeted metabolism be the solution to Jay’s problems?

SPEEDY NOTATIONS

Here are a couple of quick notes based on things that popped up in this week’s episode:

Escape Velocity – The Escape Velocity from Earth is about 25,020 mph.

Mach 3.3 – Mach 3.3 is 2,531.99 mph.

Fuzzy math – I understand that math is a bit weird in the fictional worlds of television, but if Barry needs to run at escape velocity to jump the river, but only mach 3.3 to jump a bridge, there’s a mismatch of about 23,000 mph.

Sonic Boom – At some point during Barry’s attempt to jump over the bridge, he should have created a sonic boom. Get on that special effects team!

Sympathetic Resonance – If you were wondering why Trajectory was able to bring down a bridge simply by running over it again and again, it’s all in the physics.

The classic example is demonstrated with two similar tuning-forks of which one is mounted on a wooden box. If the other one is struck and then placed on the box, then muted, the un-struck mounted fork will be heard.

If you are familiar with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940, you have an idea of why Team Flash was so concerned.

Beyonce Knowles – On Earth-2, Beyonce became a U.S. Senator instead of a world renowned singer.

Begger’s Canyon – When asked what he should jump next, Cisco mentioned the famous canyon Luke and Bigg’s talk about in the Star Wars movies.

Toilets – It’s nice to know that the public toilets in the Arrowverse are just as disgusting as toilets in the real world.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Two cities get a name check this week:

Midway City

Jesse gets on the Midway Bus as she exits the show this week.

If you are a fan of Hawkman or Hawkgirl, or even the Doom Patrol, then Midway City is on your radar. It was originally thought that Midway City was located around the Chicago, Illinois area, but in 1977 it was placed firmly in Michigan, near Sault Ste. Marie.

Though we know the Arrowverse isn’t following the Atlas of the DC universe, I prefer to think the bus left Central City, on its way to Midway City, and ultimately Opal City.

Opal City

Opal City is first mentioned in Action Comics #251 in April 1959, but became a city in the DCU in the Starman series by James Robinson and Tony Harris. In addition to being the home of Starman, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, and the Elongated Man call the city their home.

It was founded in 1864 by Burnley Ellsworth after he amassed a fortune from his mining operation in Australia. With this in mind he named the the city after the little gem stone that had brought him such prosperity.

According to Robinson, Opal City is located in Maryland.

IT’S CALLED A SECRET IDENTITY FOR A REASON!

No new names to add to the list this week.

• 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)
• Jesse 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.

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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!