“Attack on Central City†represents the conclusion of the current Grodd story arc. It’s impossible to say the conclusion of Grodd entirely because it is certain that he will more than likely be back at another date. I was a bit down on the prior episode, hoping it would be more than a setup; but did the second half of the two-parter change my mind on the Grodd plot bits? Yes and no.
Gorilla Grodd has always been an interesting, yet not all that dynamic of a character. His mind controlling abilities are the main aspect of him which make him interesting, while him being a Gorilla kind of falls a bit flat. The first time seeing him, there was this “omg†moment, but now it is just a really mad gorilla. I feel his tactics are really all over the place. In part of this episode, he mind controls a general who has the ability to launch nuclear missiles, thus taking out all of Grodd’s opposition before coming over to Earth-1 and presumably taking over the world. But, this fails for him pretty miserably. In one of the more uneventful saves from The Flash, Barry simply tries every button combination until the code works. When websites lock you out after three or so failed attempts, I can’t fathom why a nuclear launcher allows for an infinite number of entries.
One of the better scenes with Grodd’s mind-control was when he controlled Joe West and nearly made him shoot himself in his head with his own gun. While this same occurrence has been seen time and time again whenever there is a person (or gorilla) that can control people’s movements, it was still a tense scene in The Flash universe.
The big showdown has little to do with the speedsters abilities and more so delves into their cunning. After Cisco hilariously schmoozes Gypsy, they come up with the only plan that is sure to stop Grodd and his army, a battle between Solovar and Grodd.
It felt a bit strange that Grodd’s last plan was going to army-up the various other gorillas and take over Central City. Sure, it goes to his primal side kicking in, since he is a gorilla after all, it just felt a bit fast transitioning from mind-controlling a general that has the ability to launch a nuclear weapon, to commanding an army of gorillas. The fight scene was somewhat neat, but it never holds a candle to any of the speedsters action sequences. Once Solovar defeats Grodd, he becomes rightful leader to the army of gorillas, and they send Grodd away to Argus.
The other main plot thread dealt with Jesse and Wally. The two are at odds as to how and when they will tell Harrison that Jesse is going to stay with Wally in Earth-1. Harrison goes as far to say that he is dying, convincing Wally to tell Jesse that she should go back to Earth-2. It’s interesting how close they are, and I hope that a future storyline delves further into that. It seems like it is much more than just a father looking out for his daughter.
This wouldn’t be an episode of The Flash if there wasn’t a huge teaser leading into the next episode. This time, we get a cutesy scene with Jesse and Wally getting close, and she has a craving for a Big Belly Burger. Wally speeds toward it and is confronted by none other than Savitar. I don’t have a problem with Savitar, I just feel that his arc is sticking around too long, since he has a handful of episodes and then disappears. It all just feels a tad disjointed, which is something I never felt with previous big baddies, Zoom and Reverse Flash.
