Ever since the beginning of Season 2, viewers have been trying to predict the identity of Zoom on The Flash . Many have suspected that it's probably somebody we already know, thereby making the eventual reveal all the more shocking. But that still hasn't helped us narrow the playing field all that much... not until recently, that is. Last Tuesday's episode "The Reverse-Flash Returns" led to the discovery that Jay Garrick's Earth-1 doppelgänger is named Hunter Zolomon, which many comic book fans immediately recognized, since Zolomon is DC’s third Reverse-Flash who eventually started going by — you guessed it — Zoom. So does that mean that this Hunter Zolomon is the Zoom we've come to know and fear? I think there's a good chance that the characters are connected in a very big way.
First of all, I highly doubt the writers would just throw Zolomon's name out there for no reason, knowing how much weight that name carries in the comics. Now, of course, I'm not saying it's going to all be as straightforward as all that. The Flash loves to incorporate its own unique twist on things to keep us on our toes. But now that we know Zolomon's been out there this whole time, it kinda makes you wonder what he's been up to aside from reading in the park. If you ask me, he looked a little too innocent during Jay and Caitlin's little stalking session, so I'd be interested to see if he has an alibi for all the times Zoom has shown up.
However, by the same token, many of you may be thinking: how can Zolomon be Zoom when one's from Earth-1 and the other is from Earth-2? But given that Zoom has the power to go back and forth between worlds without issue, I'd say assuming two different identities wouldn't be much of an issue. We know how interested he is in acquiring Barry's speed. Perhaps becoming a resident of Earth-1 was his way of infiltrating Barry's world. And let's not forget that we're just assuming that Zoom is from Earth-2 because that's where we initially saw him, but in actuality he could be from anywhere.
On the other hand, it also makes you wonder just how innocent Jay is in all of this. So far he's come across as the epitome of a nice guy, but we've been fooled by these characters before. Nothing is usually ever as it seems. Perhaps Jay's real name is actually Hunter Zolomon as well and he's just been assuming the identity of Jay Garrick — much like how Eobard Thawne killed the real Harrison Wells and took over his identity back in Season 1. That whole illness and lost speed thing could just be a facade.
Even Zoom's height and body structure seems to almost mirror that of Teddy Sears, who plays both Jay Garrick and Hunter Zolomon, so it's not hard to imagine that at least one of them is our Big Bad speedster. Granted, someone's going to need to give Jay all the Academy Awards if he turns out to be Zoom because that innocent act he's been dishing out is top notch stuff. Then again, maybe Zolomon really is Zoom and therefore the key to making Jay healthy again. Maybe that's even why Zoom took Jay's speed away from him, because he knew it was his doppelgänger self.
Either way, now that Zolomon's name has been thrown into the mix, we're one step closer to unmasking Zoom and taking him down once and for all. Hopefully.
Images: Dean Buscher/The CW (2); tv-vddict/Tumblr
