Jessie Robertson reviews the twenty-first episode of The Flash…
The great thing about The Flash series (besides his rich and deep history as a character) is his vast Rogues Gallery. One of the most colorful, and frightening and iconic of those villains is Gorilla Grodd (now just Grodd on the show) Comics-wise, he’s a powerful psychic who takes over a Planet of the Apes-style land called Gorilla City with his great mental powers. You could see why there would be hesitation to bring such a character into a successful television series just starting out. It could go really, really badly and Grodd could look ridiculous. But, these Flash producers, they nailed it. Grodd has a cool back story, developing powers, and looks amazing on-screen. Tonight’s episode was all about seeing him in action, which we got big time.
There’s been a string of gold thefts in Central City, so Flash confronts the baddie up to no good; turns out its beloved General Eiling, but the guy’s a veggie and only speaks like a gruff 3rd grader. He reveals the voice is not his own; it belongs to Grodd, to which Barry classically responds “What’s a grodd?” Caitlin and Cisco fill him and Joe in on the deets. Grodd was a gorilla being tested on by Eiling to absorb psychic impressions to fuel a soldier program to make advanced, telepathic soldiers. Pretty nuts. But, as with everyone meta, Grodd was hit by the explosion of the particle accelerator and his abilities multiplied. Barry, Joe and Cisco go down into Grodd’s sewer lair in a generally creepy scene; I loved the “cave drawings” of Grodd showing his progression in intelligence. Joe quips that if he’s getting smarter, he’s getting bigger (which was true) but not sure how he got to that idea. Grodd takes Joe and Barry and friends regroup by making a device to drown out Grodd’s mental powers so Barry can hit the supersonic punch again (which Cisco reminds Iris that they used to knock out Girder) but this time, Grodd catches it! So Sick and I completely fanboy’d out there. How did Barry defeat such an impossible foe?
The answer is Iris. That was the other half of this episode; wily reporter Iris West got waaay more reporter-y than she’s been this whole season and tracked Barry down to Star Labs and confronted him. Am I being overly un-sensitive or did Iris bringing up how Barry lied to her, and she didn’t know him anymore feel whiny, and insignificant and vaguely close to some arguments she had against Eddie earlier in the season? Maybe so. But, Iris does come to the realization that Barry as the Flash is too important to drag him over the coals, especially when both her father and fiance were missing. So, Iris jumps in where Wells used to and gives Barry the pep talk he needed to defeat Grodd (by letting him jump in front of a subway car!). Barry and Iris have another chat in their “spot” and I found this to be pretty bad. Barry pontificates on Iris’ effect on his life and motivations, which is true to a point, but to vomit out the line “without you, there would be no Flash” felt completely false. Barry’s motivations started and continued to be to vindicate his father of a false crime, seconded by the need to stop crazy metahumans from destroying his city. Thirdly, Barry’s a genuinely nice guy and wants to help people (given that he already works for the CCPD), it’s already established. Sure, his unrequited love for Iris may be a driving factor in continuing or pursuing different avenues as the Flash, but in no way, is her just merely being the reason the Flash exists! Rant over.
Other Notes:
_ I thought they would almost forget about Nice Guy Eddie! He’s still kidnapped by Thawne, who regales him with tales of how he’s completely lame as far as Thawnes go and “you don’t even get the girl.” Path to the Dark Side?
– But, I loved how Eddie burned him by bringing up that Eobard is a dorky name, haha, Nice Guy Burn!
– Star Labs has a van? How did I not notice this before? It said it’s for Mobile Research. If I saw that parked across the street from my house, I’d be very scared.
– Grodd Lives! He climbs a building at the end and dives onto….what exactly?
– Grodd called Wells “Father.” They have so much good material for this monkey going forward, I hope he plays a big part next season.
– And remember: GRODD….HATES….BANANAS!
Jessie Robertson
https://youtu.be/pnc360pUDRI?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published May 6, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
