“Escape from Earth-2” is episode fourteen of season two of The Flash.
In the previous episode, “Welcome to Earth-2”, Barry and Cisco had confronted Reverb, Killer Frost and Deathstorm, Cisco, Caitlin and Ronnie Raymond’s evil twins. Reverb and Deathstorm had Barry down and were killing him, even though Killer Frost told them not to, because of what Zoom would do to them. At which point Zoom showed up and killed Deathstorm and Reverb. They were supposed to bring any speedsters they found to him. Zoom then took Barry and left.
It opens on Earth-Two, and Zoom is narrating. He is saying that he know you are here, Harrison Wells, and that he didn’t come alone – paralleling what Wells said at the beginning of the previous episode. Zoom leaves a photo of Harrison Wells with the message ‘Bring Me Harrison Wells’ on it with a cop, and throws more such photographs around the city. As well as having a burning version saying ‘Bring Me Wells’ on the side of a building. Zoom says he will hunt Wells and his friends down, and that they all will feel his wrath.
Wells himself is at S.T.A.R. Labs and Henry arrives in his office and tells him it isn’t safe for him. Wells tells Henry to alert security and to evacuate the lab. Then Cisco shows up and nearly gets shot by Wells, who is a little jumpy. Which is not surprising. Wells wants to know where Barry is and Cisco explains what happened. Wells also wants to know why Cisco is still alive; Cisco says that Zoom cares even less for him than Wells does. To which Wells replies that Zoom does nothing by accident, and suspects Zoom has followed him. Although Cisco says he hasn’t – and, besides, it’s not like Zoom doesn’t know where S.T.A.R. Labs is. It’s a pretty big building to miss.
Cisco has Reverb’s visor and thinks that if they tinker with it a bit Cisco himself will be able to use it. Wells is panicking a bit and Cisco tells him to calm down. Then Barry Two makes himself known as there’s a camera in the room he is being kept. Wells and Cisco go and get Barry Two, who demands to know how long he has been kept prisoner. Wells tells him barely a day. That does not reassure Barry Two. He says his wife is an important member of the police department and will be very upset. They tell Barry Two that’s it’s a long story which they don’t have time to tell him.
This is underscored by the lab’s proximity alert going off and Zoom arriving. Wells tells Barry Two that they need to leave. Wells has a time vault just like on Earth-One; he says that he’s an enemy of Zoom and needs a place to hide if something like this does happen. After Zoom fails to find them, the other two promise to explain everything to Barry Two.
In Zoom’s lair, Barry asks Jesse about the man with the iron mask who is in another cage and keeps knocking on the glass. She says the man was there before her. Barry thinks the man is trying to help but Jesse says nothing is going to help. Barry tells Jesse that her father is going to come and find them. She asks him how he can have faith in a man who only cares about himself. Barry tells Jesse that he used to think that, but it isn’t true. That everything Wells has done is to save her. Zoom arrives and tells Jesse that the only reason she is still alive is so that he can kill her in front of her father, and the only reason Wells is alive is to get Barry’s speed and give it to Zoom.
Barry Two greets Iris Two at the precinct. He explains, with the help of Wells and Cisco, that the Barry she was with yesterday wasn’t him. Cisco says they need help to find Zoom’s lair. Wells questions the word use; Cisco says Zoom is a bad guy, he’s calling it a lair. The reason is to rescue Jesse and Barry.
Nobody has been able to find it, but Cisco suggests a meta who has worked with Zoom could tell them. Such as Killer Frost. Who has always obeyed Zoom, which is why she is still alive, but Cisco thinks she will be more upset because Zoom killed Ronnie. Barry Two can track Killer Frost, but not Zoom as he’s too fast. So they pinpoint where she probably is. Iris Two tells Wells and Cisco that she’s coming with them. Barry Two says the same. Even though he’s rather more nervy than Barry. He won’t take no for an answer either.
The man in the iron mask’s tapping isn’t, according to Barry, Morse code. Which was the logical assumption. Barry believes the man is trying to tell them something – he can hear and see, but not speak – if they can only find the pattern. Jesse doesn’t think there is a pattern. Barry inspires her a bit though; he says that Dr Wells is probably the smartest person in the world and the only person that Wells believes is smarter than him is his daughter. So they work on the message. The part that’s heard, and the man in the iron mask’s response, is rather suggestive.
Back on Earth-One, Jay tells Caitlin he’s stabilised the breach, so the others can come through. Caitlin is now working on Velocity-8. She discovered that Velocity-7 caused further cellular degeneration to Jay, and she doesn’t want to give him any more if it’s hurting him.
Iris has a new editor, Scott Evans. He rejects her piece on Geomancer, and instead wants her to write a piece on how the Flash is not always there to save them. Iris doesn’t want to do that and suggests a new piece – on Jay – instead. If it’s a fluff piece, Evans will reject that and run a story about how the Flash isn’t a hero instead. When Geomancer reappears, Jay has no choice but to try Caitlin’s newest formula, now up to Velocity-9, to stop him.