Seven episodes into THE FLASH Season 2 and we’ve already gotten Zoom, Cold and now Grodd. Looks like the writers aren’t going keeping fans waiting for very long this season! Except, of course, when it comes to Wally, who get another tantalizing name-drop this episode.
I was quite impressed with how Grodd was handled last season. Anytime you’re dealing with something as cartoonish as a giant talking gorilla it’s hard not to play the whole thing for laughs, but I thought the show did a wonderful job making Grodd sufficiently scary without taking itself too seriously either. Happily, the show was able to keep that balance up during Grodd’s reintroduction. The visual effects on Grodd were good enough to earn the crew an Emmy nomination last time, and they seem to have gotten even better. The animators pulled off some really great facial expressions that went a long way in showing how angry and lonely Grodd felt.
Said anger and loneliness are the result of the Reverse Flash, Grodd’s former master, going missing. Without Wells’ companionship or guidance, Grodd ends up kidnapping Caitlin, hoping she can help him create other creatures like him, so he won’t be alone anymore. The team, however, picks up Grodd’s devotion to his “father” and has Earth-2’s Harry Wells pose as the Reverse Flash for a rescue mission. Watching Harry try and imitate the Reverse Flash’s villainous monologues is both amusing and creepy; major kudos must go to Tom Cavanagh for playing a character playing a character, a challenge even for the best of actors. It’s pretty interesting to see Wells bond with the STAR Labs team given how much complicated history they have. Harry’s definitely still keeping some secrets, but it seems like he’s getting a lot more invested in lives of Barry and co. than he intended, even to the point of risking his life to save them from Grodd.
While seeing Grodd once again reduced to Wells’ henchman is a little disappointing, the show seems to be working towards establishing him as an independent antagonist by fleshing out his character and sending him to Gorilla City. Sorry, I’m too excited, I’m going to type that again... Grodd goes to Gorilla City. The city of talking gorillas. I never dreamed we’d get this kind delightful comic book absurdity on-screen, but boy am I happy to be proven wrong. In-universe, the show manages to justify this by placing it in the much wackier Earth-2, which works pretty well, although that excuse could get old if the show relies on it too much.
Whilst Wells is off playing the hero, Barry is still healing from his fight Zoom. This near death experience has left Barry traumatized and unable to access his powers. Iris, who after all knows Barry better than anyone, calls in the big guns by inviting Barry’s dad into town, hoping he can get through to his son. Seeing Henry is always great fun, even if it is a little weird that he and Barry haven’t been in contact at all since he got released from prison. But even if he’s a bit out of touch, Henry’s a natural fit for Barry’s encourager, even if the actual execution was rather uneven.
While Henry comparing Barry’s current loss of faith to how he felt after being wrongfully convicted was a very poignant moment, things seemed to fall flat afterwards. Henry spends the second half of the episode spouting off clichés like “you can do it” and “believe in yourself,” you couldn’t help but feel it was a little phoned in, which felt particularly odd after Barry and Henry’s earlier conversations were so natural and genuine. But even with these hiccups, Grant Gustin and John Wesley Shipp have such great chemistry you’re left hoping it won’t be too long before Henry drops in again.
Barry taking time to recover from his fight causes him to make more than a few sick days a work, worrying Patty and causing her to be suspicious after his and Joe’s stories clash. As subplots go, this one was pretty pointless and felt disconnected from the main story. Mystifyingly, the show appears to be attempting to recreate the storyline from last season about Iris being kept out of loop about the Flash with Patty — in spite of the fact that said previous subplot dragged on for twenty-some episodes and earned the show quite a bit criticism. Unlike with Iris, Barry and Patty have only just met, so at least his hesitancy to confide in her is more understandable in this case, even if it doesn’t make it any less tedious to sit through. If the show wants to explore more secret identity drama then they really need to give it a unique spin beyond the “superhero lies to girlfriend” trope that’s been done.
Cisco’s new romance is much more enjoyable to watch, but it still manages to feel almost as of place as Barry and Patty. He and Kendra are very sweet, but their scenes didn’t tie in at all to what was going on. It felt like they were part of a totally different story—which is true in a way, since Kendra’s presence in the show is really meant just to pave the way for LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. Hopefully the show will tie things together more neatly for the big Arrow crossover in two weeks, during which Hawkgirl and Hawkman are both primed to take center stage.
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer