Courtesy of CW
“Are you going to The Planet of The Apes?”
Grodd is BACK! After a week off The Flash returns with an episode that is more surreal than anything we have seen on The CW. The two-part event brings back some old friends to The Flash universe with the return of Earth 2 Harrison Wells, Jessie Quick, and Grodd.
The overall story line was so different from the normal formula that we have grown accustomed to on The Flash. With the return of Jessie Quick at the end of the last episode we learned the Earth 2 Harrison Wells has been abducted by Gorilla Grodd. Without hesitation Barry, Cisco, Caitlyn, and Julian (Indiana Jones Impostor) travel to Earth 2 to save Wells only to be abducted themselves.
The concept of the episode was very simple with Grodd needing Barry to take down the current leader of the Gorilla’s and his name is Solovar. If Barry did not comply with Grodd he would go to Earth 1 and destroy Central City, if he did comply then Barry and his friends could walk free. Where this episode really shined was the amount of money that was used on the CGI of the Gorilla’s. In the previous seasons we have only seen glimpses of Grodd or meta’s like King Shark in their stories. This time there was no hiding or using quick camera flashes the complexity of Grodd. The fight between Barry and Solovar is some of the best CGI I have seen used on this show. After a string of episodes with useless meta humans to challenge Barry this was a great break from the Savitar story line and brought us something fresh.
Courtesy of CW
While over in Star City the relationships on Arrow have been very complex and difficult to maintain on the show, The Flash has done a better job of balancing the growing relationships. The chemistry between Caitlyn and Julian has quietly grown into that relationship that we are rooting for but probably know it’s not going to end well. Julian’s attempt at being Indiana Jones was in my opinion was one of the best parts of this season. One thing that this season of The Flash has been missing this season is the use of comedic jokes that we were used to from the first two seasons.
Another special piece about this episode was the amazing acting of Tom Cavanagh. We have seen Tom portray Harrison Wells three different ways each season but tonight’s episode saw a Harrison Wells being mind controlled by Grodd. Cavanagh continues to show what a talented actor he is on this show. I know some of you all might think I am crazy to think playing a mind controlled character isn’t that difficult to do but realize that Tom has to constantly reinvent himself every time he is asked to play Harrison Wells.
Courtesy of CW
If you listen to the LRM TV Podcast that Mark and I do you know that one of the biggest complaints about Arrow we bring up is the amount of character story lines interfere with the main story line of the season. That has been a problem that has plagued Arrow but not The Flash. Overall this episode showed how to balance side character story lines with not diluting the main story line. I have said for a long time that in my opinion Grodd is the true rival to The Flash and this episode was a great example of this. I cannot wait for next weeks climatic episode of Grodd’s return to Central City.
Every time I see Grodd on TV I geek out. It is something as a little kid I would have never imagined ever coming to fruition. This episode was unbelievable in every aspect and it is only the first episode of two.
