The Darkness and the Light had Team Flash facing a big obstacle – let’s be clear when I say big … I mean BIG!!! While we saw King Shark last time and the return of Harrison Wells to the show – this time the real Harrison Wells and not the reverse Flash posing as him – this episode brought in some new participants into the game and went a little dark in some corners while balancing it with some romance and comedic scenes.
Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) made his return to The Flash, but it turns out that he’s the Dr. Wells from Earth Two. While you’d expect the team to react somewhat strongly to his reappearance and treat him with a little bit of wariness – especially Barry – they’ve actually been quite trusting and accommodating which is somewhat surprising to say the least. While Joe and Jay are a bit tentative with Harrison Wells’, the rest of the team seem to just take it in stride. Seeing that lack of anger was a bit of a shock, making us wonder if there was some missing scene where they buried the hatchet that we’re just not seeing? It must be stated that Tom Cavanagh does an excellent job of playing the same character in two completely different ways. The original Harrison Wells was serene and devious, Earth Two’s version is uptight, insulting, and doesn’t care who he pisses off.
Watching that opening sequence with a quick glance into Earth Two was a grand way to start off the episode. It was so cool to see the big differences between both worlds when it comes to the design and style. By looking at Earth-Two, you can immediately tell how much further advanced they are in certain elements in comparison to ourselves.
While Well’s return by itself would be enough for most shows, The Flash also introduces to another villain from Earth-Two. It turned out that Doctor Light just so happens to be the Earth-Two version of Linda Park (Malese Jow), Barry’s ex-girlfriend and Iris’ colleague. While some of the other villains sent through the portal were a bit two-dimensional, in this case, Doctor Light didn’t want to be a villain – she was being forced by Zoom. Her plan was to kill Linda and take over her life so that she could hide from Zoom. The fight scene between Light and Barry was one of the best we’ve seen, especially when Barry learned how to use the Speed Mirage.
While there were some romantic sub-plots at play throughout this episode also … Barry and Patty having a very cute first date, Caitlin and Jay sharing a kiss and Cisco and Kendra getting into some flirting action, the biggest reveal was the return of Harrison Wells’. It was great to see Wells back in action, even though this version is different but it works.