The Flash Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Gorilla Warfare
Carissa Pavlica
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Harry is staying! Thank you, Caitlin.
Alright, so it's not as if we really expected Harry to move back to Earth 2 and leave us high and dry, but on The Flash Season 2 Episode 7, Caitlin gave him a compelling argument about our Flash team and why remaining would be in everyone's best interests.
It worked. Wild applause could be heard all over Earth 1 and Earth 2!
Yet, despite the draw of Grodd and his relative sad sack demeanor (sad, lonely and desiring friends like Frankenstein? That usually gets me), as well as Harry's decision to stay on Earth 1, and the return of Henry Allen, this was another hour of The Flash that didn't have a lot of kick.
How on earth did Henry Allen return and give his pitifully unhappy son (lots of sad sack behavior going around) fatherly pep talks, while I escaped the hour without my eyes getting misty? That's not right. Where were the tears? With Henry and Barry usually come tears. I feel ripped off.
Everything felt just shy of a full emotional impact or a really dramatic storyline, and that includes the ending montage with all the supposedly mushy stuff (that fell flat) that was being bolstered by Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." They were surely pulling for that to bring on the feels. It just didn't.
Some of the episode was confusing, too.
Let's start with Cisco and Kendra. Why did Cisco think he saw a DUDE in his vision after holding her hand at the Princess Bride showing? His winged DUDE quite clearly had feminine hips and breasts. While WE know there is a hawkman coming, Cisco believing his vision was of a man was very strange.
That leads right into Caitlin's vision when she was under the control of Grodd. That vision was confusing, as well. Was that of baby Grodd getting the medications to make him smart? Why would Caitlin have been seeing THAT when under mind control? That seemed like a strange vision to have.
Another confusing moment was Barry so easily believing Harry was Harrison just because he put on the Reverse Flash suit. I mean, sure, Barry was down and out, but geez. Cisco was walking beside him without issue, so that's the best indication it's not Harrison.
And finally, everybody just jumping on board with sending Grodd to Earth 2 without knowing WHERE they were sending him. Wouldn't that be something you would want to know before giving the operation the green light? Harry is still a relatively new team member, so you probably want to vet the information he gives before you move forward on his plans for at least a little while.
They didn't find out WHERE Grodd was going until they were standing in front of the (apparently portable) speed cannon. Thank goodness nobody really goes out at night in Central City. Are they always on high alert for terrorists or what? The streets are always barren. You can just drag out your speed cannon at night, or the random land shark can mill around, and there's never any need to do damage control.
Anyway. We knew Barry would be concerned about Zoom using him as performance art, but Iris brought back Henry to fix that. Nobody knows what it feels like to be humiliated and to power through it like he does. Barry has two dads, and the full support of both did the trick.
But Henry's visit also reminded Joe that he isn't Barry's real father, which only hinted at the fact we have a dropped storyline out there. What ever happened to Francine? She just left town, taking with her the secret of Wally West? This is the first time Iris has mentioned fatherhood of a son to Joe. Maybe after all of the Legends brouhaha, we'll be ready to revisit that.
And...back to Harry v Harrison. Harry really recovered well after his initial foul up with Grodd, didn't he? He would never have been able to do that if he was not an actual father. It allowed him to speak both to Cisco and Grodd with a level of believability as Harrison, who learned to speak to both of them as a father figure after real experience with them both.
Very interesting how that worked out.
Overall, it still feels like both The Flash and Arrow are in a bit of a stasis as we wait for DC's Legends of Tomorrow to get up and running. There aren't any truly deep story threads running and keeping it interesting. I'm tuning in because I love the characters, not because I want to know what happens next. I'd rather a bit more of the latter.
Where do you stand on all things The Flash right now? What did you think of Grodd's return, Harry's performance as Harrison and his decision to remain on Earth 2? Or...anything else that happened, and I failed to touch upon in my rantings. You're up Flash Fanatics!
Don't forget, you can watch The Flash online any time. Next week is Thanksgiving so new episodes will be taking a break, but check out what's ahead December 1 when the two-part crossover begins with "Legends of Today," The Flash Season 2 Episode 8!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
