The Flash - Gorilla Warfare - Review
Last week on The Flash, Zoom made his debut in the closing minutes, breaking and parading our hero around Central City. Linda returned to help team Flash out by posing as Dr.Light, and she got more than she bargained for when Barry revealed to her his secret. Wells revealed to the team why he's so eager to take down Zoom and Patty continued to grow suspicious of Barry's strange behavior.
"Sometimes you've just got to slow down to get back to where you want to be." Henry
The Flash continued this past Tuesday with a rather dull follow-up to what was the best episode of the season. After the excellent episode we saw last week, this week's was always going to struggle to build upon that and although it didn't, it was still a solid entry into this season. As a result of what Zoom did, Barry spent most of the hour suffering from PTSD. Barry has always been the hero - who people look up to, rely on - so to be paraded in front of them, weak and crippled, is a huge loss for Barry's self-confidence.
Henry's exit earlier in the season disappointed me as there was a lot of room for the writers to explore his and Barry's relationship now that he was a free man. It would have meant another person Barry cared for would be put at risk due to what he does and that would have prevented Barry from working to his best ability, but he didn't need to stick around forever, just long enough so Barry could get to know his father properly and to spend some much need quality time with him. In fact, he should be a series regular.
It was evident that Joe can't connect to Barry like Henry can. Joe may have raised him as if he was his own, but he can't get through to him. Barry and his father's relationship is a close one despite the lack of actual interaction outside prison walls. Barry spent much of his life believing in his father when others didn't, and you can see that as Henry reciprocates the same thing towards Barry. He will always believe in his son, even when Barry doesn't believe in himself. His and Barry's scenes are always so sweet and endearing, and I hope to see more of Henry in future episodes to come.
"Zoom destroyed me. He showed everyone in Central City what he could do and that I'm powerless to stop him. They gave me the key to the city, Joe. I'm supposed to be their hero. I'm supposed to be the guy who can protect them from something as evil as that, and I failed. In front of all of them! When they see The Flash, all they see now is someone not strong enough to protect them." Barry
Elsewhere, Grodd made a return this episode and was featured as the main 'villain.' I have never been a fan of Grodd, and his return seemed pointless. There were a lot of options to choose from in what would follow the last episode, and bringing back Grodd would not have been one of them, for me. One of the few bright spots about Grodd's return though was that we were given a little glimpse of Gorilla City, and that was visually stunning. Though our heroes won't be heading there soon, I think Gorilla City will feature more prominently soon enough. It would be a change for Barry, Cisco, and the rest to get out of Central City.
Harrison Wells played a vital role in the downfall and capture of Grodd. With Barry out of action and with Caitlin taken, Wells stepped up to save her. He was trained by Cisco on how to be 'Wells' to fool Grodd. Though that part failed, the interplay between Cisco and Harrison was hilarious. Both are very different people and them together just brings out the best of them both. After saving her, I hope the team can finally move on and trust Wells. He is a good man and deserves the same trust everyone else gets. He's definitely proved himself.
I keep mentioning it, but the writers must find a way to keep Wells around. Without him, the show is nowhere near as good in my opinion. The thought that Wells might be heading home - which got mentioned this episode - crushed me. Wells is an incredible character, and the blend of cockiness and intelligence is brilliant. One thing I don't want to happen - which could happen should the writers choose it - is a relationship forming between Wells and Caitlin. Both are lonely and it's obvious they'll start getting closer in episodes to come, but that's as far as anything should go between them, friends.
After a rather poorly written introduction of the character, Kendra and Cisco had their first date - which redeemed the writers for the poor dialogue used to first introduce her to us. The date was a sweet moment, and it's them kind of scenes that make The Flash stand out. How it continuously blends the action, with them moments of laughter or them sweet moments. The big reveal though was her suit. It looked incredible, and I can't wait to see how she and Hawkman are written into the two-part crossover. Cisco's ability though is going to be very useful going forward.
Patty continues to be kept in the dark, and though she perhaps shouldn't find out about his secret just yet, I do hope she gets a chance to know the real Barry soon. She and Barry share great chemistry and I'm in the minority that actually like them together. Their relationship certainly won't last forever given Barry's track record. I hope she makes it through the season alive. I can envision a heart-breaking death in Barry's arms where she finds out who he is, but that's something I hope it won't come to.
Summary
‘The Flash’ continued this past Tuesday with a rather lacklustre follow-up. It was still a good episode, just nothing spectacular and out of the ordinary. Grodd made a return in what was a fairly mediocre appearance from one of The Flash's longest running villains in the show. The introduction of Gorilla City though more than made up for Grodd's below average storyline. Wells continues to shine and his interplay with Cisco this episode was brilliant, though I hope his and Caitlin's relationship will hit a standstill when they become friends. Henry returning to help Barry was bittersweet. He's always been a favourite of mine and I do hope the writers reconsider keeping him as just a recurring character. Watching Barry struggle to overcome the trauma from what happened to him was saddening but also interesting. It was nice to see others take the lead, but I'm thrilled his recovery only took one episode. Overall, this was a solid entry into what is turning out to be a fantastic season.
As always, thank you for reading. Let me know in the comments what you thought of Gorilla Warfare!
