TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 02 Episode 07: Gorilla Warfare

Another day…another disappointing Flash episode. Seriously, this is KILLING me! Nearly every episode of the first Flash season (with a few exceptions to be fair) was amazing on many levels. To me (my opinion alone), Flash Season 02 is struggling with some of it’s many storylines, which is sad, because they have a LOT of potential, especially now! And yet, they just can’t seem to make them materialize in a way that matters.

So obviously, “Gorilla Warfare” was about the return of Grodd. If you recall my review of his true “arrival” in last seasons “Grodd Lives” you’ll note that I was not a fan. While this episode certainly did better with him, it wasn’t enough to save the episode. I’ll give credit, the use of Grodd was much better this go round, as we saw him a LOT more than in the his arrival. Which just goes to show how much better the team has gotten with managing the effects budget. No more dark sewer lighting, we got to see him in full light many times, which was great!

Sadly…it just wasn’t good enough. While the opening with him was great (especially the “Stupid Human”) line, he kind of fizzled out in the end. Yes, I understand that he’s still learning, and growing in many ways, but it still doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s just not incredibly intimidating at times. He was more of a threat in “Grodd Lives” than in this episode. What’s worse was that he took Catlin (insert King Kong reference here) in the hopes that she would be able to help him make more Grodd’s. While that is certainly a Grodd-esque move based on who he is in the comics…it’s a very dumb plan if she couldn’t do it. Also…why was Caitlin so willing to help him? I get that it wasn’t Grodd’s fault that he’s Grodd now, but after everything he’s done? On his own and through Wells’ commands, she’s still ok with him being alive? Really?

And then there’s Barry. No, I’m not mad that he healed quickly from his back injury, I would’ve been mad if he hadn’t. What didn’t work was his “depression” over what happened with Zoom. His loss to Reverse Flash didn’t affect him this badly, and that’s the guy who killed his mother, but because Zoom showcased his “bloody corpse” to the world…he’s now broken? Yes, I get while that would depress him on some level, but after everything he’s been through, that shouldn’t have affected him this much. Also, the “cure” was a visit from Papa Allen! Who has apparently been camping this whole time…ok…. Anyway, I still don’t like how they made him leave at end of the season 2 premiere, and having him return just to heal Barry, while a nice plot point in some ways, just enforces that he should stay in Central City.

Thankfully, a true saving grace for this episode was all things Harrison Wells-E2, who continues to develop as a character, and in a believable/logical way. His wanting to leave to face Zoom on his own was a nice touch, only for Caitlin to convince him otherwise. Also, his willingness to put on the RF suit to stop Grodd’s rampage was very cool in innumerous ways. Having him save Catlin and Cisco, and then devising a way to send Grodd to Earth-2…more specifically…GORILLA CITY!!!!!!…was awesome. True, I can hopefully guess that Grodd won’t play well with others…and hopefully become the Grodd we know and fear…but it was awesome to see Gorilla City in ANY aspect on live-action TV.

Look, there was good moments in “Gorilla Warfare”, there was! But it just didn’t click like it should’ve. Thankfully, the crossover with Arrow is the next episode (on Dec 1st and 2nd) and I expect great things from that. Hopefully it’ll ramp things up in a big way, cause I would hate, HATE, for Flash to fall after being so great.