Recap: Flash fights a gorilla with telepathic powers. I am NOT making any of this up.
Muggle Musings: So we finally have things come to a head this episode. It’s hard not to like Grodd as a Flash villain, being a super-smart ape that has mind powers on top of the great physical abilities of the great primates. In general I thought the CGI wasn’t that bad, save for some fairly odious moments. I really wish they could master some kind of animatronic/CGI hybrid where they perhaps use a guy in a suit for much of filming with CGI to “touch it up” and add layers of realism to it.
Then there’s… Iris.
This is one of the things that bugs me so much when it comes to a lot of writing. Situations where there’s two opposing sides, and neither of them is really wrong. So rather than letting the debate stand and have the characters react according to their nature, often times one side has its points overplayed while the other side’s is downplayed.
Yes, secrets aren’t always a good thing in a relationship, you can watch the latest seasons of Supernatural to see that. But first of all, Iris having a cop father, brother AND boyfriend SHOULD know that there are some things which canNOT be talked about; even more so now that Iris is a reporter. It’s called conflict of interest and yes, some people might say, “she’d never misuse their trust” without realizing that a lot of departments have these very policies to take away the temptation. (i.e. “I can’t tell you, honey, it’s the rules.”) So the whole recent arc and this episode of her angry that people aren’t talking to her shouldn’t be anything new, she should have experience and understanding that ongoing investigations may be hush-hush.
And oh how I wish Barry had shot back not “I was trying to protect you” but actual examples that we’ve seen this entire season. “Caitlin was once strapped to a bomb! Cisco had his brother injured and nearly killed. Then he was killed (but I went back in time and changed that). Your dad’s been in danger more than once. We’ve tussled with the military more than once, you think they wouldn’t arrest you? Oh yeah, and that reporter mentor of yours WAS ALSO KILLED BY WELLS!” This isn’t some theory, we’ve seen people with more talent, intellect, and experience than Iris be kidnapped and threatened this season as well as fights within the STAR Labs so it wasn’t just a hypothetical that she would be in danger (it certainly would have been a better argument then the “you did it too” whine Barry did).
Not to mention that during her rant Iris just keeps going on about “me, me, me.” As annoying as I’ve found the recent Supernatural trends, at least then when secrets break the debate is almost always “hey YOU’RE in trouble now because…” or “the WORLD is in danger because…”
I did like the touch of the team trying out tactics they’ve been developing over the last year as soon as possible. It’s good when a show demonstrates that the characters are actually learning.
Metahuman Musings: Sooo…. General Eiling is still alive. He achieved comic memorability during Grant Morrison’s run of the JLA when he merged his mind with the body of a former JLA foe, so any time he appears in a series, fans start counting down and taking bets on when “the General” himself will appear. (and for him to be voiced by Clancy Brown? oh HELL yes) I’ll admit that when Grodd attacked him earlier this season, I thought the show was being unexpected and just using the name – no grander plan. But turns out he’s still alive so betting pool is back open!
I’ve always liked him as what I’ll call the “pop-up” villain (pops up, causes a bit of trouble, then goes away) more than a strict MotW style. He’s a lot like Amanda Waller (who always works best as the arc foe) in that on paper his goals are logical, even admirable, but he usually ends up going over that line Amanda doesn’t cross as a way of proving WHY that line shouldn’t be crossed.
Interesting that they confirmed Wells as “Grodd’s father” in this series. Yeah, I know it’s disappointing to some of us that we won’t get the “Gorilla City” of the comics but let’s be honest, that’s too silly even for this series’ style (they put it in the cartoon, savor it there fans).
So an episode that’s sheer crack for the nerd viewers, yet still remaining fun and accessible for the rest. This, is Flash at its best.
