Attack on Central City – After the team escaped Earth 2, Grodd forces Gypsy to portal his army to Earth 1 bringing hundreds of armoured gorillas to Central City leaving even 3 speedsters hopelessly outnumbered. Harry takes the news of Jessie moving well... or does he?
So following Barry’s away victory this is the home leg of Flash Vs gorillas. In that respect it has the same primal constraint as last week’s episode; it revolves around a story and villains requiring large amounts of visual effects that have to be rationed due to budget constraints. That’s nothing new to a Grodd episode of the Flash and it’s been done very well in the past but in this episode it sadly becomes a pivotal deal breaker. The episode is billed to be a gorilla attack on Central City.... and we get little to nothing of it. Now some of the story “work arounds” are genuinely good and inventive. The nuclear missile attack makes complete sense and plays to the idea of Grodd evolving and getting smarter with his attacks like any credible villain should. Why launch a full army attack on the city that will cause the deaths of many gorillas when he can mind control a certain military general into blowing the city up with its own weapons? As a character Grodd is about more than mere physicality and this really reflected that. It successfully occupied part of the episode while providing a dramatic setup and innovative use of Flash powers with Barry having to speed punch in every combination. Although, nuclear missiles with only a 5 digit disarming code?.... I really hope that’s fictional. In fact even large amounts of teasing or delaying the gorilla conflict until a final showdown is absolutely fine provided that climax is worth the wait. Sadly that wasn’t the case with episodes blink and you’ll miss it street showdown. Yes, it did produce a nice story twist and a decent one on one face off as a result but the much hyped speedsters Vs gorilla army affair was non-existent. Even with taking a minimal approach this could have been done so much better and any fans that have been eagerly awaiting it since last season’s Gorilla City tease will be disappointed.
Although the gorillas were a bit of a no show thankfully the human contingent of the episode fared much better. Firstly, even though their action was only brief, just seeing Barry, Wally and Jessie all suited up in action together is a great tease for a future Flash Family team up to take down Savitar. We also have Jay Garrick ready to join the party and even our first glimpse at an Earth 19 Flash in a costume resembling The Accelerated Man complete with purple lightning (did anyone else think their face resembled Teddy Sears aka season 2’s Zoom/fake Jay Garrick?). Next up I really liked the way they explored Barry’s emotional dilemma over justifying killing Grodd. Both sides of the argument were presented intelligently and I particularly enjoyed they way Oliver Queen/Green Arrow was used an example of a hero who has killed. Not only does it tap into the classic show idea of Oliver being a mentor figure to Barry but it’s a meaningful not Arrow’s current storyline where (for non-Arrow fans) Oliver is facing the consequences of his early killing days. This even smelled like a major plot tease towards something bigger. Joe, in his wisdom, pointed out that once you commit an act like that (i.e. killing) it gets easier and easier to do it each subsequent time. That seems like a huge tease towards a present day trigger event that causes someone on Team Flash to become Savitar in the future.... maybe even Barry himself? Even the Wally/Jessie/Harry subplot was enjoyable. Not only did it give Tom Cavanagh a chance to flex the cold and emotionless muscles of his Earth 2 persona but it produced some fun moments of manipulation and surprise over Harry’s reactions. Seeing Earth 19 HR and Earth 2 Harry get on each other’s nerves was a great laugh too.
I love that The Flash has showed no fear over incorporating and depicting such a problematic comics character like Grodd but if this episode has taught it’s save Grodd for the bigger episodes rather than trying to scrape by with him on a lower budget episode. Hell, maybe even save him for a future crossover? Despite its glaring limitations the episode still has a lot to enjoy along with some great Planet of the Apes and King Kong references. The episode still succeeds by drawing the spotlight it’s emotional character arcs which has always been the basis of its appeal above any visual effects.... but sometimes it still needs to give action craving monkeys like us a banana and in that respect, it slips up.