While the effectiveness of the Man in the Iron Mask's reveal was one of the more debatable topics of The Flash Season 2, nobody was badmouthing John Wesley Shipp looking statuesque wearing Earth-3 Jay Garrick's Flash costume. His time in the finale was far too limited, but he'll thankfully be back in the early days of Season 3, and while we don't know just how Jay and Barry will meet up, Shipp makes it clear their time together is not a reflection of Harry and Henry's relationship.
Where [Henry] would be very nurturing, Barry would come to him when he wanted to be vulnerable, Jay doesn't know from that. Jay knows that right here and right now, you want to be a superhero. Okay, it's big boy rules. I look like your dad, sorry about that. Jay does not have any emotional investment in Barry, does he? He has an emotional investment in the Speed Force and in maintaining his legacy and making sure this kid doesn't screw it up.
Others out there also pictured Barry's face looking oh-so-smooshed after hypothetically hearing all that, right?. I don't know what it would be like to hang out with someone who looks exactly like my father (who died many years ago), but I don't doubt there would be some inexhaustible instinct to try and force that connection. But Barry better not look for any advice from Jay unless it involves busting skulls and keeping a helmet looking snazzy.
I'm not quite sure why Barry would want to seek solace from Jay's attention when time has already been flopped around specifically so that Barry could have his parents alive again. Perhaps Jay's arrival on Earth-1, or Barry's arrival on Earth-3, comes after the Flashpoint arc has been reversed Henry is gone again. It won't be long after this that Harrison Wells and his daughter Jesse return with some big news - more on that here - so it's clear that Flashpoint won't be used to shut down any inter-dimensional portals before the super-crossover sends everything back into madness again.
But back to Jay and Barry. John Wesley Shipp offered up another really interesting angle in his talk with Comicbook.com, putting out there the possibility that this version of Jay Garrick may also not be the golden child of the comics.
I don't know what his motivations are. Is he interested in being a superhero, or is he interested in jerking things around to suit his own emotions and temperament every time something doesn't happen the way he wants it to?
Lots of people got angry with The Flash in Season 2 when it seemed as if Greg Berlanti and the creative team were turning Jay Garrick into the evil Zoom, unaware that 17 more twists were coming. (I have at least $5 on Tom Felton eventually becoming the real Jay Garrick.) So it's a little less than delightful hearing John Wesley Shipp talking about his current iteration on the character possibly being a moody and put-upon hero who is way past the point of things seeming glamorous. But maybe Shipp is just throwing us off and he really doesn't know anything. They seem to be happy together up there.
John Wesley Shipp is one of many cast members coming back to The Flash, which will return us to our daily speedster-filled lives again when Season 3 hits The CW on Tuesday, October 4, at 8:00 p.m. ET. To see when you can rebuild your relationship with your other favorite shows that aren't from another Earth, check out our fall premiere schedule.
