Jessie Robertson reviews the thirteenth episode of The Flash season 3…
“Are you going to Planet of the Apes? You’re going to the Planet of the Apes aren’t you?”
If you want to get technical Julian, it’s a city of Gorillas. Sometimes you just want to do something cool with your TV show and spend a bucket-ton of dough on the special effects; Attack on Gorilla City was just that. The wide forest landscape, the far away shot of Gorilla City, the tour of its arena and the crazy almost feature-film looking gladiator death match between the Flash and Solovar encompassed all of those things. It was truly a spectacle and from the looks of that extra scene at the end, next week is going to be no different. The Flash, by its nature, is special effects heavy but this episode more than others. Now, as we’ve all been spoiled by so much amazing special effects since the Prequels that Shall Not be Named, sometimes, it’s too much; or we’re too haughty, I can’t quite tell but there’s a backlash to it, like there’s so much special effects not enough is human or real. This came nowhere near that line; you still had the fantastic actors and cast interacting as they do and coupled with the downright cinematic set pieces we saw, the least of which was Grodd, which still impresses and awes even after his 3rd appearance, and you have a massively fun episode.
That being said, story was not heavy on the cream here. We get the setup (which we got last week) of Jesse telling the team Grodd took her father, the team talked about it for oh, I don’t know, less than a minute and now that Cisco can practically vibe anywhere (after that barnburner fight with Gypsy) here we are. Do we wait long for Grodd’s forces to pounce? No! We don’t. Do we wait long for the gladiator fight to the death to be teed up? No, we don’t! This thing was getting to the point, quick and dirty as they say nowadays and you know what, sometimes, that’s perfectly alright, like tonight.
Back in Central City, Jesse and Wally angstly mope around each other like they’re in a CW drama; oh wait! How old are they anyhow because they are way too old to be acting 13. It’s odd too; I first enjoyed Jesse’s bubbly personality but tonight her sad face was a downer; and it seemed she wasn’t even that upset her dad was missing; it was more that she couldn’t have her Wally at her side. And I used to loathe Wally; a character devoid of any redeeming qualities; now as Kid Flash, with speed powers, as Jesse puts it, he’s more rounded out and complete and I’m enjoying this journey. Maybe now that they are poised to be a full-time couple, the energy will work better. It was also great fun watching Tom Cavanaugh play both sides of the multiverse of doppleganger Wells’ this week, even interacting with each other.
I think it’s safe to say this week was the appetizer to next week’s main course and this app was pretty damn satisfying! – 8.5/10
Jessie Robertson
Originally published February 22, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
