The Flash - Grodd Lives - Review
May 9, 2015
Reviews SW The FlashSo...The CW just pulled off Grodd on live action TV. Let that sink in for a minute. Grodd! A character that as a long time comic book fan I never would have thought would translate into TV so well. As an important member of The Flash mythos he has always deserved more attention then adaptions have given him, and thankfully The Flash has given him that chance to shine.
We've had multiple hints throughout the season, along with a very brief cameo at the end of a previous episode. But now we got to see Grodd in his prime. The villain that will plague Flash for years. While his origins have been changed from the comics, it really fits the show with how they have adapted his character. Not to mention the added sense of tragedy as we caught glimpses into what Grodd had been through.
This really stuck out to me, it was subtle and I missed it on my first watch. However the torture and torment that Grodd underwent by Harrison and Eiling was shocking to see. The drawings across the wall also added into that, his mind is now chaotic, broken. Of note, is how Grodd dislikes Eiling but refers to Wells as "Father". Grodd has been mentally broken by these men.
As for Harrison, he didn't have much of a role this week. However that played into his strengths as we head towards this seasons finish line. His manipulative nature in full swing as he drives wedge after wedge into Eddie. Trying to break both his morale and his heart. I feel that if we lose Harrison (or should I say Eobard) in the season final, his presence will live on through Eddie.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other important event of the episode, and that of course is Iris finally learning the truth. After weeks and weeks of being kept in the dark she finally knows the truth and confronted our heroes (in particular, Barry) about it. I loved seeing her as a member of Team Flash and if we don't get the original Harrison Wells back, then I'd love to see her take his spot on the team. I wonder how Joe would feel about that however.
As for Joe, I'm pretty sure I've said this nearly every week but once again Jesse L. Martin knocked it out of the park. His sense of fear and his sense of dread came across the screen perfectly as Grodd struck terror down his spine.
Overall Thoughts:
Grodd Lives! An intense yet terrifying episode as we finally got to see Grodd take the stage. A perfect debut for a villain that I thought would be impossible to be adapted to TV correctly. We also got some great development for Iris that has been long time coming. 2 more episodes remain, the countdown to the season final has begun!
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Great review! Sharp, short and on point. I just watched the episode this morning and was blown away. A really good hour of television.
ReplyDeleteGrodd's introduction was smooth and emotional. I liked he wasn't able to talk just to communicate mentally, don't know if that is part of the comics but it worked perfectly here.
Iris finding out was handled well, at first he snobish attitude was annoying but as she entered the Lab it got better.
*Only bad remark: Iris entered SL to easily. Come on where is all that wicked alarm system?
Can't wait to see on which note next episode will end.
The episode was a great introduction to Grodd, and that CGI was very good for a TV show
ReplyDeleteI.AM.GROOT!!
ReplyDeleteOops, I mean Grodd.
But seriously, I think I've been too impressed with DCAU's Grodd (Justice League Unlimited) and his background to care about the show's own take on the character. But I do like that they didn't really need to rely on his comic book backstory and just built a new one from scratch that is more believable narrative-wise and less "out of there".
Jurassic Park reference was hilarious. While not as strong as last week's epic episode, it was still an awesome episode!
ReplyDeleteGlad Iris finally knows. #WestAllen
ReplyDeletei thought the way Iris let her feelings out toward barry about them being best friend and him keep universal secrets and not knowing who he was anymore was done very well and i thought the CGI on grodd was done very well now if i can get my other TV show aka shield to show the blown up version of Mr. hyde on agents of shield i will be a happy camper at the end of both these tv shows seasons
ReplyDeleteseems like Cal will be hit or miss based on them waiting so long or it will be ok if they saved budget.
ReplyDeletesort of similar problem with Wells' hidden room. But I suppose he was alerted to it the moment they entered and he thought they would not be looking. This is supposed to be moonlighting as a prison after all.
ReplyDeletefrom the comic budget strip tease for episode 21 it looks like he about to go completely nuts but yea lets hope they saved the big part of the budget for season finale
ReplyDeleteThe time vault was because Gideon has control over its system and Barry created her thus accessing it.
ReplyDeleteI meant more them being able to easily find it, even with Cisco being Cisco.
ReplyDeleteIt appears to have been part of Wells' plan given the cameras, the staged Bates thing everything.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how they are going to deal long term without having Wells as the head of the team. And I have to disagree that Iris could possibly take his place--he's a genius from the future and a rational adult. More likely she is taking Caitlin's place when she goes evil. I certainly never need to hear a ridiculous Iris pep talk again. Sure, Iris, the sound of your voice is the key to everything. At least Wells had vaguely "scientific-y" solutions he presented. I'll shake my head and accept Barry creating a cyclone in a building with open windows and lots of people to "suck" the oxygen away from a fire (what? and the people are all still breathing? and conscious? and nothing bad has happened to their lungs in this "vacuum" thingy? okay) but I'm not going to accept that the mystical power of love brought him out of mind control. Iris continues to be the weakest part of this show. And no you don't go barging into a team of people trying to do something and yell at them that they should totally be able to figure out how to stop a mind-controlling gorilla because hey the people in danger are important to you. Basically everything Iris annoyed me. I felt so bad for Eddie. Jesse Martin is awesome. And Iris and all the "destined" crap just drug the entire episode down.
ReplyDelete