It was only a matter of time before Grodd came back, and we get a very Grodd-centric episode this week in “Gorilla Warfare.†While I don’t really enjoy that huge characters are around for only a couple episodes and then are absent for weeks, they did a tremendous job with Grodd.
Carrying over from the brutal beatdown from Zoom, Barry spends the a majority of his time learning how to walk again. It’s crazy seeing a guy that ran fast enough to alter a timeline, to being completely unable to walk at the slowest of paces. While Zoom did a number on Barry, he broke his spirit more than anything. But, Iris has just the person that can lift him up.
Henry Allen makes a random appearance when he comes back from wherever he was. I love the way that he explains to Barry that this is exactly how he felt after Nora was murdered. Everyone looked at him like he was guilty, even when he was proven innocent. They related this story to Barry’s current plight perfectly; although, it’s weird that Henry just shows up out of the blue. He does get Barry up and running just in time, considering that Grodd is on the loose.
Grodd has killed two lab techs in two weeks, and he is after one thing. No, not a cure, but the ability to replicate himself, possibly in hopes of having a Planet of The Apes thing going on. However, while Grodd is able to converse and think, he has no idea how to use these chemicals. Thankfully, he knows someone that does! He mind controls Caitlin, and she wakes up in a huge tower, very King-Kong esque.
The whole dynamic between the two is quite unique since Grodd genuinely likes Caitlin. The scenes where they are talking about how she can help Grodd makes you really feel bad for him. I mean, yes he kills people left and right, but he seems to really just be trying to find a home. The special effects were top notch as usual; although, the scene where Grodd was sucked through the “wormhole†and sent to Earth 2 was a little iffy.
When they do finally find a way to trap Grodd and send him to what will presumably be “Gorilla City,†there’s only one slight problem; Barry isn’t over his beating from Zoom. He keeps having mental lapses where he stops focusing for just a moment and it puts him into some bad positions. So, they try to pull a Dr. Light 2.0 and have Harrison Wells dress up as Reverse Flash, since he was Grodd’s keeper and all. But, while it worked well enough to get Caitlin out and The Flash in, even this Wells’ isn’t as wretched as the Reverse Flash.
Moments later, they bait Grodd into one of the breaches that will send him back, but this Flash has a flashback of his fight with Zoom. Bad news for The Flash because he gets continuously stomped on. Yet again, Caitlin saves the day and talks Grodd down. The trust between the two is so unique, and this is just enough for The Flash to “Superman punch†Grodd into the breach.
Everyone cheers, except for Caitlin. She feels like she betrayed Grodd. I love this aspect of her because it really shows that she cares for everyone, and she understands that Grodd didn’t chose this life for himself.
Aside from all the actions, there are two pretty big plotlines that have further developed during this episode. Cisco is finally getting some love on the show and is going to have his date with the barista from CC Jitters, Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl). But, the moment they embrace, Cisco vibes off of her. He sees what he believe is a figure with hawk-like wings and totally freaks out and leaves the date. However, on their second date, he makes up for everything with some chocolate and flowers. They kiss and this time, in his vibe, he sees that she is the one that has the wings. When she asks what’s wrong, he simply says, “You’re a great kisser.†The hints at the characters that will be going to “Legends†has been pretty great. Usually things like this feel hamfisted in, but they’ve done a fine job with it in this show.
Our final plotline is Barry and Patty’s relationship. For some reason, of which I still can’t figure out, Joe and Barry don’t want to tell Patty that he is The Flash. Instead, they choose to lie to her and often get their lies twisted up. Not to mention, Patty is super intuitive and knows that something is up. The final scene, she says that she has to be able to trust him for this to work, and then they kiss and all is good. I am interested to see if this will unravel when she eventually does find out that he is The Flash; although, I feel that she may already had that inkling.