The Flash Episode Guide: Season 9, Episode 5 - The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With the Red Death and her Rogues laying waste to Central City, Barry and Iris come up with a plan to stop them but it will require Cecile and the Rogue Squad, who are unwilling to help Team Flash anymore. To save the day, The Flash must face his greatest failure.


Influences

Kingdom Come (The Red Death's method of protecting Central City borrows from the Bat Sentinels and the speed with which The Flash protects his hometown.)


Goofs

Allegra complains about The Rogue Squad not trying to save Chillblaine in the last episode. This would be fair, if Allegra weren't the one responsible for running Team Flash's teleport and controlling the evac that led to the team leaving him behind in the first place.

While it's a dick move on Barry's part that he never checked up on Grodd or Gorilla City, describing it as his greatest failure is a bit much. For that matter, how is the Crisis causing the Gorilla City gorillas to lose their sentience Barry's fault? (Okay, as the Paragon of Love he was responsible for remaking the universe, but still....)

Red Death says that Grodd is amplifying her telepathy. How did she get telepathic powers? Did she steal them from another hero the same way she copied Barry's speed?  If so, why didn't she use it before this episode when it might have been useful, like when she was talking to Iris West-Alllen and pretending to be the Ryan Wilder of Earth-Priime?

It never is confirmed that Red Death's Rogues were captured in this episode.

It never is explained just where Ryan Wilder has been all this time the Red Death was running around.

It also isn't explained how Ryan got to Central City or where she got an anti-speedster Batarang. (Perhaps Luke built one after discussing the problems Reverse-Flash caused with John Diggle? Or maybe he and Chester talk-shop off-camera? Or maybe he started building it after hearing about Red Death?)

Did Red Death kidnap Ryan to get her out of the way? If so, why didn't she just kill her outright or take all of her Batwoman gear to stop her from coming after her? Given her paranoia, wouldn't she be most afraid of the Batwoman of Earth-Prime becoming a threat to her?

This episode completely ignores the rules established in B112 which dictate that two doppelgangers cannot survive on the same Earth following Crisis on Infinite Earths. (It's possible the Negative Speed Force protects its users from this law in the same way it protects them from paradoxes. It may also not apply since Red Death says she comes from an alternate timeline rather than a parallel universe.)

Why is Iris so stunned by the revelation that she's pregnant? Haven't she and Barry planning for her pregnancy for the past few episodes?  Also, wouldn't that be the first thing she or Barry would think of if she were suddenly nauseous?


Performances

As cliché as they are now, Jesse L. Martin can still nail those inspiring Joe West speeches.

Artistry

The make-up for Murmur with her mask off is disturbing.


Technobabble

By boosting Cecile's empathic telemetry and superimposing it over a grid of the city map, Chester can hone in on whatever she senses.

ARGUS upgraded the satellite security system on the GCPD roof.

The device Murmur and Captain Boomerang install on the roof of the GCPD allow Red Death to be in multiple locations at once.

Chester detects multiple reservoirs of psychic energy, which are like individual manifestations of a single telepathic consciousness. 

Allegra's light powers give her X-Ray vision.

Barry claims psychic manifestations cannot hurt someone. However, he is reminded that Psych was able to make a projection of Savitar hurt him in 705.

Batwoman has an anti-speedster Batarang.

Chester reprograms the STAR Labs satellites to find Grodd's tribe.


Dialogue Triumphs

Joe: If there's one thing I'm sure of after all these years, it's you have a gift for bringing out the good in folks, no matter how bad they started out.
Barry: Well, if that's true, I learned it from you.
Joe: Maybe. Either way... I have run out of things that I need to teach you. Just like I don't need to protect Cecile anymore, considering how much her powers have grown. I should tell you, up until a couple of days ago, Cecile and I were talking about moving out of Central City to the country for good.
Barry: What?
Joe: It's okay. We decided to stay. And it's a good thing because the team needs her here.
Barry: We need you, too.
Joe: No, you don't. I'm not a cop anymore, and I'm not a meta, so what am I doing here?
Barry: Joe... no one is more important to this team... to this family... than you. I mean, think of all the heroes you've raised over the years. We couldn't do what we do if we didn't have you to teach us how. Inspiring people is your super power.
Joe: That's nice. But if it's my super power, it's yours, too, Barry. 'Cause you've inspired me. What I learned about being a parent is whatever seeds we've planted, we have to trust that they take root, no matter how dark things get. So you have faith in your way of being a hero. If you do that, you'll always find your way and those who follow you will, too.

Dialogue Disasters

Most of Javicia Leslie's dialogue as Red Death.

The Rogue Squad saying "It's a Wednesday" in unison and everyone laughing when Ryan Wilder asks if Central City is always like this. 


Continuity

As the episode opens, red Negative Speed Force Lightning is striking randomly around Central City.

The shipyard, Central City High School and City Hall are said to have been set on fire.

Murmur breaks into Captain Kramer's office and steals her pager for summoning The Flash.

Captain Kramer tries to copy Rainbow Raider's power and turns it against him and Fiddler. Somehow, Red Death is able to resist the effect. 

Barry is still depowered after using most of his speed to start up the Cosmic Treadmill.

Barry says they need to do something, but the Rogue Squad point out that they need a plan first.

Iris suggests they can use Cecile's powers to track Red Death's anger and hatred of Barry.

Red Death somehow senses Cecile looking for her, but not in time to stop her from figuring out she and the Rogues are at GCPD HQ.

Cecile also senses intense pain and fear from someone at the Red Death's base. She recognizes the person and informs Team Flash that Chillblaine is still alive.

Barry wants to rescue Chillblaine but the Rogue Squad refuse, saying they should take the fight to Red Death while they know where she is and saving the city is more important than rescuing one guy.

Khione offers to go rescue Chillblaine if nobody else will, but Barry refuses to risk her after losing Frost and Caitlin. 

The Rogues agree to help rescue Chillblaine, guilted into it by Khione's courage.

Cecile tells Joe that her powers are growing the more she uses them.

Cecile senses that Joe still feels uncomfortable about something.

Red Death left Chillblaine alive specifically to set a trap for Barry so she could drain the rest of his speed.

Red Death explains that her newfound psychic powers came from Gorilla Grodd, who is now connected to her.

Barry last saw Grodd in 613, where he was going to find Gorilla City and live with other intelligent gorillas like him. It turned out, however, that the Crisis caused the gorillas in Gorilla City to lose their sentience and they all became scattered across Earth-Prime.

Grodd agreed to amplify Red Death's telepathy in exchange for reuniting his tribe.

The Rogue Squad quit, saying there's no way they can beat Red Death and they want to spend what time they have left with their loved ones. 

Khione watches over Chillblaine but tells Iris that she feels useless. Iris says she feels that way sometimes too, but she eventually found her place on the team and she's sure Khione will figure it out someday.

Khione kisses Chillblaine and this seems to heal him.

Joe tells Barry you have to have faith in the people who follow you. This inspires Barry to try to talk to Grodd again.

Chester is able to track Grodd's telepathic signal.

Grodd is confirmed to be the most powerful telepath on Earth-Prime.

Barry persuades Grodd that he can help him save the formerly sentient gorillas.

Grodd restores Barry's speed with the energy Barry loaned him in 613.

The Rogue squad show up to help fight Red Death.

Batwoman shows up to help fight Red Death.

Batwoman has never been to Central City before.

ARGUS takes Red Death into custody.

Ryan Wilder is a fan of Iris' writing.

Joe decides to move himself and Jenna to the country, telling Cecile she can come be with them on the weekends.

Chillblaine comes to Joe's going away party, but tells Barry he still feels awkward, despite Barry insisting he's part of the family now.

Chester and Allegra kiss again in front of everyone.

Iris complains of feeling lightheaded, leading Khione to tell her that she is pregnant. When asked how she knows, she says she just knows.


Untelevised Adventures

Ryan Wilder gets to know Team Flash off-camera.

Ryan Wilder has a monthly brunch with Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers and Nia Nul. She invites Iris to come to the next one.


The Bottom Line

An easy contender for the worst episode of all time. The Grodd subplot comes out of nowhere and doesn't make any sense.  The new Rogues are completely forgotten partway through the episode. Nothing about Batwoman's appearance makes sense. 

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 13 - Grodd Friended Me

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 



Plot

As Iris and Eva McCullouch continue to find a way to escape Mirror World, Barry turns his attention to trying to rebuild Giden. Unfortunately, STAR Labs' newest employee, Chester P. Runk, gets in the way trying to impress Barry and winds up setting the stage for Grodd to force himself into The Flash's mind. But Grodd isn't out for revenge... he needs help!


Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson (Grodd with super-speed and a lightning bolt emblem in his first), God Friended Me (the title is the pun on another series produced by Greg Berlanti) and The Fly (Camilla makes reference to the movie)


Performances

After being a non-entity in most of her appearances, Victoria Park gives her best performance as Kamilla Hwang in this episode - probably because this is the first episode to give her anything to do beyond being a hostage or the supportive girlfriend.


Goofs

Once again, The Flash contradicts itself as to what the heroes remember about the pre-Crisis universe, with Barry having no idea where his parents are buried now and not remembering that Pied Piper is a metahuman rather than a tech-based criminal.(Presumably, even as a Paragon, Barry has trouble keeping two contradictory sets of information straight in his head as the human brain can only recall so much and his brain has shut down his memory to protect him from the trauma.)

Why can't The Flash run around or phase through the train?


Artistry

The CGI for the gorillas is quite good.


Flash Facts

The address Chester tracks Pied Piper to is the corner of 52nd and Palm. This is yet another nod to the number 52 and its significance in DC Comics.

The idea of Grodd gaining super-speed and the design where he gets a lightning bolt in his fur while merged with Barry - is taken from the most recent run of The Flash comics written by Joshua Williamson.


Technobabble

The Metahuman-Detectors developed by Harry Wells apparently still exist on Earth-Prime, as Barry is wearing one, which alerts him to Pied Piper being close by.

Chester is able to track the Pied Piper by scanning for the same wavelength of the frequency generated by the sonic boom he generates while flying.

Gideon determines that there have been 3.725 trillion changes between the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis realities.

Barry describes Gideon as a mobile interactive artificial intelligence unit.

Chester attempts to alter Gideon by flipping the positronic solenoid.

Eva was running R-CEM tests when she became trapped in the mirror dimension.

Nash assembles a residual particle catcher, which can detect and detain the molecular afterglow of things.

Frost determines that Barry is in telepathic contact with someone based on his pulse, his rapid eye movement, his vitals and two distinct brainwaves patterns.

In a mindscape, the host transmits neural signals to the guest's primary motor cortex. It the Memory Machine can be made to synch up with those neural transmitters, it can be used as a communicator to reach the host and guest.

The neural-inhibiting capabilities of Grodd's telepathic crown can only handle the strain of two minds for so long. Eventually the mindscape created by Barry and Grodd's minds will collapse. This will kill both of them.

If you die in a mindscape, you die in the real world.

Removing the crown from Grodd would leave Barry trapped inside Grodd's head.

Sedatives have no effect on speedsters.

Grodd is the only being Frost has encountered whose neurons fire at hyper-neural speeds comparable to Barry's.

It is determined that Chester is responsible for enabling Grodd to take over Barry's mind. When he tweaked the positronic solenoid, he adjusted its hypothalamic connection by a factor of 900%. This was more than enough to boost the signal to allow it to be piggy-backed by Grodd's telepathy.

The subatomic particles emitted by Eva McCulloch's machine can penetrate the mirror's surface, but it won't pierce the barrier between the worlds.

Eva burns her arms and hands trying to reach through the mirror after Iris asks why she's so sure the machine won't work.

For some reason, Grodd's mind was not effected by the merging of the multiverse and he still recalls the Pre-Crisis reality.

Barry describes the process by which he and Grodd merge their minds as the mindscape version of the Firestorm Matrix.

Exiting the mindscape while merge would ultimately kill Grodd and Barry, as their bodies would forcibly merge despite being separated in the real world. Kamilla compares this to the process that created the monster in the movie The Fly.

Chester figures out that he can sync Gideon's quantum intelligence network to Barry and Grodd's bio-analytics and let her perfectly time the neural de-splicing as they exit the mindscape

ARGUS injects Grodd with a tracking polymer and agree to release him on probation so long as he can be tracked.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry has just lost it with Chester and kicked him out of his lab.)
Kamilla:  He's just trying to help.
Barry: Oh, I know. I know. It's... So much has changed after Crisis, and... You know, this morning, when I got the meta alert, I was trying to find my parents' graves. There's not even a cemetery there anymore. I...I searched every graveyard in Central City. I still can't find them. Just feel like a piece of me is missing. And friends like Hartley Rathaway are enemies now. Just everything is so different.
Kamilla: I'll bet hearing different voices on comms doesn't help, either. You want something familiar. That's not us.
Barry: Hey, I didn't mean it like that.
Kamilla: It's okay, Barry. I understand. Just maybe take it easy on Chester.

Barry: So, what, the cage is payback? What, you want vengeance?
Grodd: Not vengeance. Understanding. Grodd wants Barry Allen to see what it's like to have nothing. No powers, no freedom. Only captivity. Caitlin used a neural inhibitor to shut down Grodd's cerebrum. Caitlin betrayed Grodd. But you gave her the authority. This is your doing, Flash.
Barry: I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Your mind is a weapon.
Grodd: You take a weapon from a man, he's still a man. You took Grodd's mind. Grodd's greatest gift. That is not punishment. That is cruelty.

Chester: I am so sorry. I- I never should've came here. This is all my fault.
(Chester leaves the lab. Frost goes chasing after him.)
Frost: Hey. How's you running away gonna help us get Barry out of Grodd's mind?
Chester: Because if I'm not around, at least I can't make things worse.
Frost: Look, I hate to break it to you, but accidentally putting Barry's life in danger is kind of a rite of passage around here. We've all done it: Cisco, me, Ralph, even the janitor. He put too much wax on the floor. But then, after we put his life in danger, we figure out a plan to get him out of it. So now it's your turn.
Chester: You know, in the sixth grade, I got into the science fair with a Millennium Falcon that I built out of used vacuum parts. I mean, it it flew and everything, like a drone. But on the day of the fair, it didn't fly. Uh, rust in the intake manifold was preventing air from getting into the combustion, which was then causing it to...
(Frost looks impatient and gives Chester a "get to the point" look.)
Chester: Sorry. Anyway, I had begged my teacher to let me fix it and then fly again the next day. He said no. You know why? He was an old school brother. And he said that in the real world, people like us we don't get a second chance.
(Chester turns around again and starts to walk to the elevator.)
Frost: Hold on.
(Chester stops and looks back at her.)
Frost: I'm not gonna pretend like I have any idea what your life has been like, and I know that some of the stuff we do in here has nothing to do with the real world. But I'm offering you a second chance. Because you deserve one. 'Cause we all do.


Continuity

As this episode opens, the only people at STAR Labs to help Barry are Chester P. Runk and Kamilla.

Isis is away working on astory.

Frost is said to be at ARGUS checking on Bloodwork.

Cisco is said to be off the grid charting differences between the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis realities.

Ralph is still searching for Sue Dearbon.

Pied Piper has not been seen since 217.

In the Post-Crisis reality, Pied-Piper is a metahuman criminal with sonic control powers, who backs his powers up with technology that enhances his natural abilities.

Pied Piper is able to fly using his sonic blasts as a means of propulsion.

Chester tracks Pied Piper to 52nd and Palm Street. However, he is able to get away because the route Barry too to try to get to him was blocked by a train.

Chester learns that Barry Allen is The Flash.

Barry is trying to upgrade Gideon.

Barry is unable to remember where his parents are buried. He can't even remember the cemetery.

Eva and Iris decide to try and rebuild the machine Eva was working on when she was trapped in Mirror World.

Nash and Allegra assemble a residual particle catcher.

Nash is now hallucinating Sherloque Wells talking to him.

Allegra finds the picture of Nash and her doppelganger from his world. She is creeped out.

Barry suddenly finds himself in a cage, where he is talked to by Eobard Thawne in Harrison Wells' body and Caitlin Snow. Eventually he figures out that he is in one of Gorilla Grodd's memories.

Fake Iris gets into a fight with Joe over accessing a police file on Joseph Carver. She apologizes and makes lunch plans with him for later that day.

When Chester was 11, he drowned his grandmother's car while trying to convert it into a hovercraft.

Grodd is still locked in a coma in a cell in ARGUS, as he was when he was last seen in 515.

Grodd says he wanted Barry to understand what his life was like and that he truly has changed.

Frost uses Sherloque Wells' memory machine from 512 to make contact with Barry inside Grodd's mindscape.

Nash denies that the Allegra Garcia of his Earth was his daughter, describing her as an ex-employee who made a bad call.

Fake Iris misses her lunch appointment with Joe, because she snuck into his office and is stealing the file she asked for earlier.

Eva burns her arms trying to reach through the mirror in her office.

For some reason, Grodd's mind was not effected by the merging of the multiverse and he still recalls the Pre-Crisis reality.   He was also able to sense that Gorilla City now exists on Earth-Prime and wishes to go there and live out his life in peace there.

ARGUS agrees to release Grodd on probation after injecting him with a tracking polymer.

Cisco calls Kamilla and tells her he is coming home.

Chester finds the cemetery where Barry's parents are burried.

Barry apologizes for losing his cool with Chester because of everything in his life that is changing.

As the episode closes, STAR Labs satellites detect Pied Piper attempting another robbery.

Nash is once again confronted by a hallucination of Sherloque Wells, whose eyes glow red and features begin to vibrate like the Reverse Flash.

In the final scene, Eva is revealed to be controlling the Fake Iris, who received the same wounds Eva developed after being burned. Eva is able to heal the wounds on the Fake Iris with a wave of her hand, however.


Untelevised Adventures

It is said that Team Flash did something to Pied Piper in the past, but Barry has no memory of what.

STAR Labs employs a never before seen janitor, who nearly killed Barry by over-waxing the floors.

The episode ends before we can see Barry and Chester catch the Pied Piper.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry acts like a judgemental jackass, which is not entirely out of character for him. Its just amusing that for as much store as Barry puts in the idea of people like Leonard Snart being basically good deep down and as much as he preaches the idea that people can be redeemed like his friend Oliver Queen, Barry is totally unwilling to believe that Grodd has changed in the face of everything else in the world that is different.


The Bottom Line

A bit of a mixed bag, overall. On the one hand, the episode does give some much-needed definition to the new supporting cast members that haven't gotten much, like Kamilla and Chester. On the other hand, this episode underscores how much the show has been suffering without supporting cast members like Cisco and Ralph around and how utterly crowded the show has become.

It doesn't help that Barry is unusually pig-headed to justify his grudge with Grodd and Iris spends her limited screen-time once again trying to tell a traumatized genius how to do her job. It's a good thing that Eva has an agenda and has been faking being crazy because otherwise Iris would just look horrible.

At any rate, the effects for Grodd are improved and we get to see the gorilla fight in broad daylight which would have been unthinkable years ago. Ultimately this episode is filler but we get a few good character moments out of it.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 15 - King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Cisco has completed work on the metahuman cure, but they still need a willing test subject to make sure it works. Barry suggests that King Shark - currently in the custody of ARGUS - might be just the man-shark for the job. Unfortunately, their visit coincides with Gorilla Grodd's attempt to escape custody and take over Central City with his newly honed psychic powers.


Influences

Traditional monster fighting monsters movies, The Shape of Water (subplot of woman falling in love with a fish monster) and The Flash comics of John Broome.


Goofs

Where the heck is Ralph Dibny this week? I know they probably couldn't afford two animal monsters AND the stretch guy this week, but it would have been nice if something had been said about where Ralph was.

Again, it must be noted how odd it is that Cisco - an engineer - is working on a cure for metahuman powers, while Caitlin - a medical doctor - constructs the delivery system.

It also seems strange that neither Caitlin nor Cisco had previously raised their objections to forcing their cure on metahumans who don't want to lose their powers... such as when Barry first suggested using their cure against Cicada weeks ago!

Even by the standards of comic book junk science, the idea that there is no way they'll ever be able to cure King Shark if he reverts back to his shark state is pure plot convenience. Or inconvenience in this case.


Performances

I didn't realize how much I missed Jesse L. Martin as Joe until they brought him back. While his subplot here is strictly unnecessary and is only there to make us realize how much we missed him... still good to have him back. Hopefully he'll be back in action soon.

The cast in general do a good job acting to empty air and suggesting that they believe all the various CGI beasties really are there.


Artistry

While the CGI is hardly the show's best, it is probably the best we could have hoped for given the difficulties of two CGI creatures fighting. And the effects team does a good job trying to make it look like the creatures have weight in the actual environment, even if Grodd seems way too bouncy for an 800 pound gorilla.


Flash Facts

Grodd is said to have climbed up the Broome Belfry. Located at the center of Central City, this building is doubtlessly named in honor of John Broome - a legendary Silver Age comics writer, who was probably most famous for his work on The Flash.


Technobabble

The metahuman cure works by altering a person's biology on a cellular level and suppressing the dark matter inside a metahuman's body.

Dark matter levels vary from meta-human to meta-human.

The Shay Lamden of Earth-Two developed a dark matter anomaly similar to the Shay Lamden of Earth-One. The difference is that while the Earth-One Lamden developed a mutated mass of tumors, which killed him, the Earth-Two Shay Lamden's neural pathways regressed, becoming more and more shark-like in his thinking.

Dr. Tanya Lamden was able to reverse King Shark's regression using a cerebral interface that stimulates his neural outputs, which she calls a telepathic crown.

Cisco compares the telepathic crown to the Mental Activity Dampener 2.0, even before they try using the two technologies together to increase their power and act as a lure for King Shark. The two are made to interact using a logarithmic code.

After having the metahuman cure used on him, King Shark's body still has some dark matter in his pituitary gland - the result of the first cure not being made with animal physiology in mind. A second dose, modified based on his unique biology should make his transformation to an ordinary human permanent.

A shark's amygdala triggers a huge emotional response when it feels attacked. Caitlin theorizes this is why Shay Lamden remembers very little of his early days as King Shark apart from rage.

Caitlin determines that King Shark's earlier rampage was caused by a severe brain wave disruption in his frontal lobe, resulting in a complete lack of control over emotions and judgment.The way the neurotransmitters work in the telepathic crown work never would have caused that. This leads to the revelation that Grodd was trying (and failing) to telepathically control King Shark.

Sharks only see in monochrome.

With the telepathic crown, Grodd's telepathy is powerful enough to override the anti-mind-control headsets that Cisco developed.

A vibration or jolt could be used to accelerate the cell cycle in Shay Lamden, prompting a return to the dark matter cellular form. Unfortunately,  saturating his metagene cells a second time will eliminate any possibility of the meta cure being able to ever restore him to normal.

When a shark is turned upside down, it enters tonic immobility - a state of paralysis.

Sharks have electroreceptor organs called ampullae of Lorenzini? It's how they detect electromagnetic fields and navigate. The organ can also attract electrical currents, which enables The Flash to wake up King Shark with a thrown lightning bolt.


Dialogue Triumphs

Sherloque: Monsieur Lamden, I should introduce myself. Sherloque Wells. You've probably heard of me. I have a question. I've been debating in my brain. What drives the King Shark? Is it the shark, or is it the man?
Shay Lamden: If you're asking should I be held accountable for my actions, my answer is simple. Yes, I should. I don't remember how many people I hurt, or who, but that's no excuse.

Sherloque: I see him out there and I see you in here in the shadows. Why is that, I wonder?
Tanya: Can you blame me? You saw his hand transform.
Sherloque: (chuckles) Yes, right. "Shark Week!" Not something you see every day, but no, I thought your hesitation occurred before that moment, not after. It was a slight hesitation, but it was there nonetheless. Again, why do you think that is?
Tanya: I don't know.
Sherloque: No? Well, perhaps I could be so bold as to offer a suggestion that it is not the hand of which you were frightened, but rather, it was seeing the face of the man that you love.
Tanya: I don't love Shay. We're friends.
Sherloque: All right, well, let's take a look at that too, shall we? So this is a friend from another Earth, for whom you left a high-paying job and for whom you have dedicated every waking moment of your life trying to help. It doesn't quite add up.
Tanya: I can't love Shay. He's my dead husband's doppelganger from Earth-2. How crazy would I have to be to fall in love with him?
Sherloque: No crazier than marrying the same woman from five different Earths. (laughs quietly) I know. I'm very good at marrying people, but not so great at staying married. Along the way, though, on these countless Earths and countless doppelgangers, I learned there is one thing that makes all of us unique. And if that is what you fell in love with, well then, perhaps a face doesn't matter that much.

Grodd: Hear your master, Humans. Soon, you will only know my will...The will of Grodd!

King Shark: Tanya, you look sad. Why?
Tanya: We found each other today, and now that connection is -
King Shark: Still here.
Tanya: Shay... What you did...
King Shark: I would do it again for you, my love.
(King Shark puts his hand against the glass of the tank. Tanya does the same.)


Continuity

Grodd was last seen in L317 as part of Damien Darhk's team. Before that, he was last seen on The Flash in 314.

King Shark and Dr. Tanya Lamden were last seen in 215.

ARGUS Director Lyla Michaels makes an appearance. She is informed of Nora's status as Barry's daughter from the future and comments that this is no stranger than finding out your son used to be your daughter - a reference to how Barry's time-traveling somehow caused Sara Diggle to become John Diggle Jr.

Joe West returns from his trip visiting Wally West in Tibet.

Joe suggests that someone besides Officer Jones might be helping Cicada out.

ARGUS hired Dr. Tanya Lamden to work with King Shark to try and find a way to improve his condition.

King Shark is agreeable to trying the cure, before he suddenly goes on a rampage.

Joe is allergic to Szechuan peppers.

Iris seems to have developed a fear of her new office, after hearing about all the times she died there after the events of 514.

Barry injects King Shark with the metacure after he grapples Cisco. The cure works, transforming him back into an ordinary human.

Shay Lamden says he only remembers fragments of his time as King Shark before Tanya began working with him.

It is revealed that Grodd escaped his cell at ARGUS by planting a psychic suggestion in his guard's mind when the power was knocked out and the power dampeners in his cell turned off during The Enlightenment. The suggestion was to keep the power dampeners powered down while Grodd bid his time and gathered the information he needed for a new plan to take over Central City.

This led to Grodd's discovery of King Shark's telepathic crown and the realization he could use that to augment his telepathy to rule a whole city.

Sunset is Shay Lamden and Tanya Lamden's favorite time of day.

Joe reveals to Iris that the reason he stayed in Tibet for so long was so that he could heal himself after his confrontation with Cicada in 503.

Joe tried to help Iris work through her fears by having her punch them out on a punching bag.

The Flash Museum wrongly says that speedsters are immune to Gorilla Grodd's telepathy.

Shay Lamden elects to become King Shark again, since Grodd can't control his half-shark brain.

King Shark beats Gorilla Grodd.

Grodd is placed in a medically induced coma to prevent him from telepathically controlling his guards ever again.

Ever since being exposed to the telepathic crown, Grodd's telepathic powers are now growing without any outside stimuli. A coma was the only thing Caitlin could think of that would keep him alive without endangering his life.

Cisco also develops a new set of AI-enhanced power dampeners for Grodd's cell at ARGUS that continually upgrade to match Grodd's power level.

Cisco's favorite comfort food is Swedish Fish candy.

Barry thinks the team should approach Cicada and offer to let him take the metahuman cure.


Untelevised Adventures

It is never explained just how Grodd was returned to ARGUS custody after having become unstuck in time during Legends of Tomorrow Season 3. Presumably the Time Bureau returned him to his cell after Grodd's attack on Amaya Jiwe's village in 1992.


The Boomerang Factor.

The chief fight of the episode could have been avoided had Barry not very slowly worked his way to the downed Grodd and removed his crown at super-speed.


The Bottom Line

The episode takes its time in delivering its promised fight, but once we get it... it's there. It's not that the fight is dissatisfying, but it takes forever for Grodd to be revealed and there's something awfully strange about an episode where the main characters are acting like cardboard cut-outs while the most satisfying emotional subplot involves two characters we haven't seen in three years. The bits with Joe and Iris are okay, but feel completely disconnected from everything else.

For a filler episode based around a ludicrous comic-book idea though, this episode is oddly satisfying. But it would have been better had the premise been given two episodes for Grodd's plan to be better fleshed out, like the last time he attacked Central City and for us to have had more time to develop the conflict between Barry's desire to use the cure to save lives and Cisco and Caitlin not wanting to turn it into a weapon against every metahuman some other authority decides shouldn't have powers. There was a time and a place for this argument and it was several episodes ago when Barry first suggested using the cure against Cicada. Again, more time (and a second episode) might have helped with this. All in all, though... not a bad bit of filler.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 17 - Guest Starring John Noble

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

With the timeline barely stable and Mallus about to break free, The Legends have their hands full. As Wally and Nate try to stop Amaya from changing her own future, the rest of The Waverider crew will recruit a most unlikely ally in the battle against Mallus after thwarting Gorilla Grodd's attempt to assassinate a young Barack Obama.



Influences

The Lord of The Rings (references to the movie and the whole plot does center around the retrieval of magical jewelry to stop the release of a great evil who takes possession of people.)



Goofs

Grodd is oddly resistant to fire, surviving two point-blank blasts from Mick Rory's Heatwave gun.

The old age make-up used to turn Maisie Richardson-Sellers into "Old Amaya" is pretty lousy.


Performances

There is something about the way Dominic Purcell says "Boss?" when he's questioning Sara as to whether or not he should just kill Damien Darhk when everyone except Sara is giving him reasons not to. While it's understandable that Mick would ignore Ava as an authority figure and Rip as someone who has betrayed him more than once, that one word speaks volumes about Mick's respect for Sara and his acceptance of her as a leader.

Caity Lotz and Neal McDonough steal this episode. Usually their individual performances will be the best aspect of any given episode buy the way they play off of each over is smooth as silk.


Artistry

The special effects work for Grodd is top-notch for television quality.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

John Noble is an Australia actor and director, best known for playing the role of Denethor in The Lord of The Rings trilogy. He has provided the voice for Mallus throughout Season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow, but appears in this episode playing himself on the set of The Lord of The Rings in 1999.

This is not John Noble's first time appearing in a DC Comics related production. He also provided the voice of The Scarecrow in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight and voiced Brainiac in the animated movie Superman: Unbound.

Ray tells a terrified Barack Obama to "Run, Barry, Run."  This is a callback to a repeated line from The Flash, where Barry Allen is told to, "Run, Barry, Run."

Zambesi is described as being 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro. In our Earth, this would place it the middle of north-eastern Tanzania. This matches the description of Zambesi given in Animal Man #10, which said that Zambesi lay in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The exact location of Zambesi has changed throughout comics history. It is generally described as being in Central Africa, but has also been described as being in West Africa along what was called "The Slave Coast". Confounding matters is the fact that there is a real world Zambesi River which flows through Zambia and Zimbabwe in East Africa. Further complicating things is that the mythology behind The Anansi Totem is based around the legends of The Ashanti - a people based in West Africa - but the name of Vixen villain Mustapha Maksai is Swahili - a language based in East Africa!

Originally, Vixen's home country was called D'Mulla in her first appearance in Canceled Comics Cavalcade #2. It was later changed to M'Changa in Justice League of America #234, with her tribe being referred to as The Zambesi Nation for the first time in Animal Man #10 and eventually just being called Zambesi. The Vixen animated series reconciled this by saying M'Changa was the name of a province within Zambesi.

John Noble tells Ray to tell Peter Jackson that he is sick of eating chicken, having eaten four whole chickens that morning. One of the more famous scenes of Lord of The Rings has Denethor eating chicken rather messily while Pippin sings for him.


Technobabble

John Constantine gave Ray instructions for a magic spell that could be used to contain a hostile magician. It requires a magic circle with an ankh. One of the ingredients needed is bat spleen.

According to Damien Darhk, The Death Totem was drawn to Sara because she had died and come back from the dead. He says that he can wield The Death Totem for the same reason.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon.

Water is crucial to life on Earth.

The human body is made up of 60% water.

The Earth Totem does allow its bearer to reshape the ground around them. Previously, we had only seen it being used to control plants.


Dialogue Triumphs

Nate: Code 1-3-1?!  Come on, guys! I wrote a whole memo!
Sara: Yeah. Nobody read it.
Ray: I did!
Nate: Thank you, Ray!
Ray: Pancakes for breakfast!
Nate: (frustrated) No! 1-3-1 is not... (suddenly uncertain) Is it?!
Ray: Yeah. (pauses) Does this mean no pancakes?

Nora Darhk: (gasping)  I can feel his arrival.
(Nora begins to move around the altar, making the kind of moans that a father does not want to imagine his daughter making, much less hear, as Damien Darhk stands in the background looking horrified and disgusted.)
Damien Darhk: (sarcastically) Oh goodie.

(Barack Obama looks up at the stunned Grodd, clearly terrified.)
Ray: Run, Barry, run!

Rip: I must say it has been such an honor, Barack.
Barack Obama: Oh, I go by Barry.
Sara: I really like Barack.
Barack Obama: Well, Barack is what it says on my birth certificate.
Sara: Yeah... you might want to hold on to that.

Sara: The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was let Darhk live. And now he's back. And it is taking every ounce of self-control not to kill him. And I keep asking myself... why?

Rip: Where are you going?
Sara: To go talk to someone who can think straight when the world has gone crazy!
(Cut To: Barry Obama's dorm room.)
Barack Obama: So, what you're saying is... you won't aid the man who killed your sister, even if it will prevent Mollusk from escaping-
Sara: Mallus
Barack Obama: - from escaping an inter dimensional prison. And wreaking havoc across time?
Sara: Yeah, when you put it that way it DOES sound kinda petty.

Sara: (smiling at Barack Obama) I really miss you.

Sara: I want you to listen to me carefully. I don't believe for a second that you've changed. You're still the same cowardly son of a bitch that put an arrow in my sister. But I will work with you to defeat Mallus under one condition. After this is over, I'm putting you back in the ground where you belong.
Damien Darhk: Deal.
(Sara scuffs the chalk marks of the magic circle. Damien offers her his hand and they shake.)

Ray: What if we just ask Nora nicely? I did have a bit of a connection with her in Berlin.
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.) 
Ray: Not that kind!
Sara: All right. Maybe she'll listen to her dear old dad?
Damien Darhk: Not anymore. Nora only listens to Mallus now. He's always in her ear.
Ray: That's it! What if I get inside Nora?!
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.) 
Ray: Not like that! What if I shrunk down, flew into her ear, and pretended to be... (puts on a deep scary voice) Mallus?!
Damien Darhk: New guy on the team here. Is that a joke plan or a real plan?
Ava: We are so screwed.

Damien Darhk: Nora's gone. It's just Mallus now. You must be enjoying this, seeing your nemesis with a broken heart?
Sara: I didn't know you had a heart to break. (pauses) Where was it the night you murdered my sister?
Damien Darhk: Look, what I did was unforgivable. But back then I hadn't loved anyone enough to understand the pain that I caused. Not that it's any comfort, but if I could take it all back... I would.
Sara: We all have regrets. But we can't undo the things that we've done.
Damien Darhk: True. But even the worst of us can be made whole again. You, for example. From League to Legend. Killer to Captain. That's not a bad makeover, is it?
Sara: It's not good enough.
Damien Darhk: Why? Because you put on The Death Totem and almost killed your entire team?
Sara: Yes!
Damien Darhk: But you didn't, did you. And you know why? The same reason I'm spilling my guts out to a woman who has imagined my death a thousand times over!
Sara: (quietly) More like ten thousand.
Damien Darhk: Love, Sara! Because without it, people like us? We're left alone with the darkness. (pauses) That's not good for anyone, is it?

Nate: You couldn't be selfish if you tried. See that boomin' granny over there? (nods to the older Amaya) She doesn't remember me. Or The Legends. You know why that is?
Amaya: I must have erased my memory...
Nate: And why would you do that?
Amaya: Because if I chose to came back here, after everything we've been through, then... erasing you would be the only way that I could be the protector my people deserve. Otherwise, I'd always be split in two. And part of me would be in love with you. 

Sara: Ava! Please! Just trust me.
Ava: You don't understand! This plan breaks every rule in every book and all I have right now are the rules. Okay?
Sara: You have me.
(Sara kisses Ava passionately.)
Ava: What are you doing?
Sara: I'm admitting something that could save us both... I love you.
Ava: ...there is no me to love.
(Ava steps through her Time Corridor, leaving Sara alone.)

Damien Darhk: (To Sara) You literally stabbed me in the back!
Sara: It only seemed fitting. You're lucky I wasn't aiming for your heart.


Dialogue Disasters

Grodd: Time to make America Grodd again!


Continuity

Mick is in the middle of marathon-viewing The Lord of The Rings movies as the episode opens.

Nate wrote a series of codes for The Legends to use in a crisis situation. Only Ray read the memo and he composed a song to help people remember the codes. Despite this, even Nate can't remember whether Code 131 means "all hand to the bridge" or "pancakes for breakfast."

Code 111 means "Mallus has escaped the time dungeon."

Zari uses her Temporal Simulator to try and find a loophole that will help Amaya save her family but keep the timeline intact. She fails to find one.

Mick makes reference to 307 when he confronts Grodd, saying he should have killed Grodd in Vietnam.

Ray makes reference to 302, saying he thinks they still have some chew-toys on the ship from when they had the saber-tooth tiger, after shrinking Grodd.

Nate uses the alias Andy Watkins when he visits Amaya's village in 1992, claiming to be a PhD student doing history research. Wally is Darren Applebottom - a talent scout for The New York Knicks.

Code 222 means "We're screwed no matter what we do."

Damien Darhk gives The Legends The Water Totem as a gesture of good faith and consents to be locked inside a magic circle. Sara still gives Rory the order to kill him in spite of this.

Amaya discovers that her daughter, Esi, rejected the right to become a totem bearer and take up her role as the protector of their people in 1992.

Wally refers to the events of F301 and how Barry Allen changed the past, creating the divergent Flashpoint timeline when he stopped his mother's murder.

Sara refers to 217 and how the hardest thing she had to do in her life was restore Damien Darhk to his proper place in history, knowing he would go on to kill her sister.

Damien makes reference to The Time Bureau's failed plan to take down Nora Darhk before she got the power upgrade from Mallus in 305.

Ray refers to his brief bonding with Nora in Berlin in 313

After hearing the voice of actor John Noble as Mick is watching Lord of The Rings, The Legends go to New Zealand in 1999 to get John Noble to record some convincing dialogue for Ray's Mallus impression.

Old Amaya has no memory of her time with Nate or The Legends. This suggests that her memory was erased before she returned to Zambesi in 1942.

Rip reveals that he has recruited several Ava clones for The Time Bureau. He says that Ava Sharpe is exceptional, but Ava does not give him a chance to explain why.

Ava Sharpe is the 12th Ava Clone recruited for The Time Bureau.

Sara suggests letting Mallus break free so they can use The Zambesi Totems to kill him, reminding everyone that Constantine said the only reason the Totem Bearers couldn't kill Mallus and had to settle for trapping him in time was because The Death Totem betrayed them.

Damien Darhk is given The Death Totem.

Rip is fired from The Time Bureau.

Nate takes up The Earth Totem.

Nate watched all of the Planet Earth series on Blu Ray while stoned.

Ray takes up The Water Totem.

This makes the roster of Totem Bearers...
Earth: Nate
Fire: Mick
Air: Zari
Water: Ray
Spirit: Amaya
Death: Damien

Damien has a vision of Nora saying that Mallus hasn't killed her yet and it's not too late to save her.

Damien releases Grodd on Amaya's village. This destroys the village, keeping history intact despite Esi stopping the warlords.

Nate saves Esi from Grodd, managing to get The Earth Totem to let him create a wave of Earth that knocks Grodd flying several hundred feet.

The older Amaya recognizes Nate after taking a blow to the head after being hit by Grodd.

Sara stabs Damien in the back allowing Ray to take The Death Totem from him.

The episode ends with Mallus breaking free, manifesting as a large bat-winged monster.


Location

Occidental College - Los Angeles, California - 1979
Zambesi - 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro -  1992
New Zealand - The set of The Lord of The Rings - 1999


The Crisis Factor

The only reason Damien is put in a position to betray the team is because Sara manages to put her hatred and rightful distrusting of Damien aside long enough for him to get to that position.


The Bottom Line

A fitting penultimate chapter for the season, silly and touching in equal measure with most of the meta jokes working well. The Nate/Amaya subplot seems to get buried under everything else, sadly, but the Sara/Damien conflict is so strong you almost don't mind Sara's apparently out of character decision to trust Damien with The Death Totem. (Personally, I think she was just looking for an excuse to kill him and figured that if he upheld his end of the bargain, she got to kill him and if he double crossed them, she got to kill him slow.)

The Flash #41 - A Review

As Gorilla Grodd and The Black Hole slowly grind Central City to a molecular stand-still, Barry Allen struggles to restore his powers. Can Kid Flash and The Flash of Justice League China save the day while the elder Wally West tries to evacuate the city?



Carlos D'Anda provides the artwork for this issue and I never thought I'd find myself missing Carmine Di Giandomenico. While D'Anda's pencil are clearer, he recycles more than a few panels here and there. Ignoring the laziness of this, his inks are all over the place in regards to shading cerain characters and the definition of certain lines. It's a shame because Williamson's story is as strong as ever, but this title seems to be cursed by mediocre art and an inability to find a regular artist.

The Final Analysis: 5/10. Great story with erratic artwork.

Injustice 2 #43 - A Review

Civil War has broken out in Gorilla City, as Grodd leads a rebellion against King Solovar. Now, to prevent the destruction of what little he has saved since losing his base in The Amazon Jungle, Ra's Al Ghul must lead his Suicide Squad to aid in the battle. Will Ra's new secret weapon tip the balance of power?






Is there anything that speaks more to the power of comics than armies of great apes fighting? I think not. Yet even set apart from that standard Injustice 2 #43 is a darn fine comic.

Tom Taylor's script has everything. Action. Romance. Horror. Comedy. Often all on the same page! Gloriously brought to life by the pencils of Bruno Redondo, the insanity and glory of this story is perfectly completed by the inks of Juan Albarran and the colors of Rex Lokus. If you aren't already reading this series, start. If you are already reading this series, good for you! 

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

Injustice 2 #42 - A Review

Returned to Gorilla City with the news of Black Adam's disinterest in an alliance, Damian Wayne soon finds himself trapped in the middle of another struggle for power - one which could spell the end of Ra's Al Ghul's alliance with the rulers of Gorilla City.


I cannot recall laughing harder at a comic than I did at one scene in this issue. Don't worry - I won't spoil the gag. Suffice it to say that I recommend this issue highly, even apart from that much needed laugh, which showcases how this comic and Tom Taylor's writing paired with Daniel Sampere's art and Rex Lokus's colors never ceases to amuse me in some form of fashion.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10. 

Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 7- Welcome To The Jungle

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

Sara Lance is still in a coma, but The Legends are still committed to fixing anachronisms while their Captain recovers. Traveling back to the time of The Vietnam War to investigate reports of a monster killing both American and Viet-Cong soldiers, Nate and Rory run into a familiar face from Rory's past.


Influences

Various Vietnam War movie tropes, particularly Apocalypse Now.


Performances

Dominic Purcell delivers a great performance here, as Mick Rory is forced to understand the abusive father he hated and what made him into the man he knew.


Artistry

There's a great shot of Rory staring at a bonfire that is a nice visual nod to Apocalypse Now.

There's some great moments in the script, with Rory confronting his daddy issues and Zari getting a touching scene with a female VC villager working with Grodd who lost her parents and brother in the war and is desperate for an end to the fighting.

The CGI for Grodd is impressive for broadcast TV.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The episode title comes from a 1987 Guns N' Roses song.

Much of the plot and imagery of this episode is inspired by the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, which detailed an American Army Captain being sent into Vietnam at the height of the war to kill a rogue Colonel who had set himself up as a god among the survivors of a local tribe. Nate directly name-drops the film at one point. 

Nate gives Rory the alias Officer Schwarzenegger. This is a nod to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, famous for playing gun-totting soldiers in many films. Nate later mentions the movie Predator, which - while not set during The Vietnam War - was filmed as an allegory for it and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The three figures Stein recruits to help him solve the problem with The Firestorm Matrix are Sir Issac Newton, Galileo Galilei and Marie Curie. All three are prominent physicists who were also masters of other disciplines. Newton was a mathematician, Galileo an astronomer and Curie a chemist.


Technobabble

Stein attempts to find a salient stimulus - a noise or sound that provokes an emotional connection - to bring Sara out of her coma. In this case, he attempts to beat on a training dummy with Sara's escrima sticks.

Stein says that there must be a theorem that supports the deceleration of the subject's rate of fission to individually power the thermacore. Madame Curie says there is only one way to safely split the thermacore but it would leave both Stein and Jax powerless.

Grodd creates a communications jammer which blocks all comms around his village.

By freezing a mine trip-line, a person who pulled the wire should be able to step away from it.

When Sir Issac Newton knocks out Sara, he says this proved his Laws of Motion. Indeed, knocking a person unconscious does prove all three of Newton's Laws of Motion. The first law states that an object will stay in motion until another force affects it (i.e. Newton knocking Sara out). The second law states that Force equals mass times acceleration (i.e. when you hit someone, the faster and bigger you are, the more it will hurt). The third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. (i.e. Sara was going to hit Martin, Newton hit her first.)

Ray rebuilds the Molecular Hyper Compressor. (i.e. shrink ray)


Dialogue Triumphs

(The team discusses what to do while Sara is in a coma.)
Rory: How about you drop me off on an island full of beautiful women like Zari did with that Helen chick?
(Everyone stares at Zari.)
Zari: Rory, you weren't supposed to say anything.
Amaya: Wait, you didn't take Helen back to Troy where she belongs?
Zari: That's what The Time Bureau does. We - we - do something different.
Nate: No, we do it different... ly.
Ray: Yeah. More messy.

Rory: You know why I've never seen a shrink?
Nate: Why?
Rory: I don't regret killing my old man.
Nate (shocked) What?!
Rory: That's right, Pretty. You heard me. I let my old man burn to death. How's that for tough love?
(Rory walks off, leaving a stunned Nate behind.)

Ray: Look, I'm sure it's not easy learning that your granddaughter is in league with Damien Darhk. If you ever want to talk about it-
Amaya: What happened to men? When did you all start talking about your feelings?
Ray: Uh... early 90s?

Jax: I've never told anyone this before but... I'm scared.
(Jax turns to look at Sara, still in her coma.)
Jax: I don't know who I am if I'm not a part of Firestorm. But then you've never had any super-powers and that's never stopped you from being the most kick-ass person I've ever met.
(There is a long silence as Jax just watches Sara, as if waiting for a response.)
Jax: Well, good talk, Captain.
(Jax take's Sara's hand and pats it gently before turning around and leaving the room.)

Zari: Where are we taking Grodd when we return him to where belongs?
Ray: Well, last I heard he was in an ARGUS prison.
Zari: Wait... he's just another persecuted meta?
Ray: Okay, I know you're not a fan of ARGUS, but Grodd is a psychopath. And... well, a giant gorilla!

Rory: My whole life I saw him as a monster. Blamed him for all the sick things that I've done. But now I see... I'm worse than him. Should have been me that burned in that house.

Zari: I know what it's like to lose the people you love in a senseless war. It makes you desperate. But if you really want peace, it starts with you.

Stein: I swear to you, if I die today because of a telepathic gorilla, I'm going to be very upset!

(Rory is in a stand-off with his own father.)
Rory: I've got nothing to lose. But you do. You get to go home. But if you kill these people, you'll hear their screams forever. Then one day... when you have a family... you won't be able to look them in the eye. Because this day - this act you're about to commit - will be burned in your memory forever.
(Sgt. Rory lowers his gun. Rory sucker-punches him, knocking him out.)
Nate: Why did you do that?!
Rory: I always wanted to!

(Jax examines the minefield between where he and President Johnson are and safety.)
Jax: Follow my lead. And, uh, if I don't blow up, path's clear.
President Johnson: And if you blow up?!
Jax: Then you're on your own, Sir.

Stein: Where is Captain Lance when I need her?
(Sara steps onto the bridge. Her movements are slow and forced.)
Stein: Sara! Were you just waiting for the right moment to make a dramatic entrance?!
(Sara continues her slow steps. Stein notices something is odd about her behavior.)
Stein: Are you all right?
Sara: There is no Sara.
Stein: What?!
Sara: (pulls her escrima sticks) Only Grodd.
(Sara takes a swing at Stein as he nervously backs away.)
Gideon: It appears that The Captain is under some kind of telepathic control.
Stein: (sarcastically) Really, Gideon? Do you think so?!
Sara: I claim this ship for The New God! Kneel before Grod-
(Sara is cut off suddenly as Sir Issac Newton sneaks up on her and hits her across the back of the head with a frying pan.)
Sir Issac Newton: Oh, how I do love proving my laws of motion!
Stein: (tiredly) Please save that lecture for another day.


Dialogue Disasters

"One Nation Under Grodd!"


Continuity

As the episode opens, Sara is still in a medically-induced coma, though she has just been taken off of sedatives.

Zari told Rory the truth about where she dropped off Helen of Troy in 306 - a secret Rory lets slip to the rest of the team.

Zari shows the team that there is no anachronism in Troy, despite Helen's absence.

The anachronism in 1967 Vietnam is a Level 8. Gideon reports that both American and Viet-Cong soldiers were disappearing amid reports of a monster in the jungle.

Ryan Sanders was the sole survivor of the group of soldiers attacked in the opening scene.

Mick Rory hates jungles.

Mick Rory's dad, Sgt. Dick Rory, fought in the Vietnam War. He was a Green Beret.

Mick tells Nate about how he killed his own father - a fact we first found out in 112, where it was also suggested that Mick's father was abusive.

Jax's favorite desert is his mom's pecan pie.

Professor Stein has formed an advisory board made up of Sir Issac Newton, Galileo Galilei and Marie Curie to help him ponder how to give Jax all of The Firestorm Matrix. They are unable to find a solution that will not depower both Stein and Jax.

Nate refers to the events of 202 and how he got to meet his own grandfather thanks to time travel.

Ong Troi Moi - The New God uniting Viet-Cong and American soldiers - is revealed to be Gorilla Grodd, last seen in F314.

Grodd's plan to assassinate President Lyndon Johnson while he is in Vietnam will bring about the start of World War III. This escalates the anachronism level to 10.

For saving President Johnson's life, Jax is rewarded with Ladybird Johnson's secret pecan pie recipe.

Jax still thinks his mom's pie is the best.

Damien Darhk rescues Grodd from falling to his death, teleporting him through time to Central City 2017 with his rune stone.


Location

3 Klicks East of Khe Sanh, Vietnam - December 1967
Central City - 2017


The Bottom Line

A shockingly good episode considering Caity Lotz - usually the glue that holds the show together - is absent for 95% of it. In fact, this may be one of the best episodes ever. The script gives most of the cast some honestly good dramatic moments and nobody is forced to act like an idiot to make the plot or jokes work. Dominic Purcell steals the show, however, and the effects work on Grodd is fantastic.

Injustice 2 #33 - A Review

Harley Quinn is free of Ra's Al Ghul's clutches, but she's not out of the woods yet. First she has to return Lucy - the daughter she gave up  - to her "mom". Then she has to return to her own awkward homecoming. Meanwhile, Ra's Al Ghul - bested but not defeated - works with his allies to activate their latest weapon in the war on Western Civilization.



It is a struggle for me not to spoil everything awesome within this comic in a bid to get you to read it. And why aren't you reading it? Have you not been paying attention all the other times I've written of how well Tom Taylor portrays these characters? How wonderful Bruno Redondo's character expressions are and how he hides little references in the backgrounds? How Juan Albarran's inks find the perfect balance between merely outlining and overshading the original pencils? How skillfully Rex Lokus uses a variety of palettes and gradients to create the perfect finishes?

Even if you haven't, I do love this comic and writing about it. So please believe me when I say (again) that this series is a must read for all lovers of the DC Comics Universe. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy fans in particular will love this issue.

The Final Analysis: 10 out of 10.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 14 - Attack On Central City

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

When Grodd returns to Earth One leading the armies of Gorilla City from Earth Two, Team Flash faces a challenge unlike anything they've ever faced before. Can Barry stop Grodd without giving into the demands of Ape Law - kill or be killed?  Or will he find another way?


Influences

The Flash comics of John Broome (creator of Grodd), countless Flash comics involving Grodd leading an army of gorillas, the Planet of the Apes movies (basic idea of an intelligent ape uprising), any Doctor Who story involving multiple Doctors (the conflict between the two Wells) and the comic Multiversity (the character of The Accelerated Man).


Goofs

If Grodd's telepathy is strong enough that he can control a metahuman well enough to make them use their powers in a controlled circumstance (i.e. having Gypsy create a breach), why didn't he mind-control Cisco into doing that last week?

Barry's sudden crisis of faith regarding not killing his enemies comes out of left field and doesn't ring at all true.

Harry's math regarding the number of combinations possible in a five digit code is slightly off. Assuming the digits 0-9 can be used for each number in the code with repetitions allowed, the total number of combinations is 100,000 - not 90,000.  The 90,000 number seems to be based on this site, which assumes the combination is an actual number and thus couldn't have a 0 as the first digit.

So Grodd just stood there and watched Barry disarm the nuclear weapon?  He didn't try to mind-control Barry into stopping what he was doing?  He didn't attack Barry?  He just... stood there.


Performances

Tom Cavanagh playing against himself as Harry and HR is just plain delightful.


Artistry

The effects for the gorillas are vastly improved from last week.


Flash Facts

This Valentine's Day themed episode was aired on February 28, 2017 - two weeks to the day after Valentine's Day.

Gypsy makes reference to a character named Luke Starkiller.  In several of George Lucas' early drafts for the first Star Wars movie, the main hero's name was Luke Starkiller rather than Luke Skywalker. Reportedly, the reason for the change was that George Lucas worried that the name Starkiller might not be seen as heroic in the wake of the Manson Family's murder of actress Sharon Tate.

Harry makes several references to the movie Rocky, doing an impression of actor Burgess Meredith, who played the trainer Mickey.

HR makes reference to a great poet of Earth 19 named Alfred Yankovich. On our Earth - and apparently Earth One, based on Iris' reaction - Alfred Yankovich is better known by the name "Weird Al" Yankovich and is a famous songwriter and parodist. He also has distinctive long curly hair on both Earths.

Fort Reynolds is the name of a military base with nuclear missiles near Central City. In the real world, there were two forts in the United States with the name Fort Reynolds.  One was built in Colorado and abandoned in 1872. The other was in Virginia in Arlington County and was abandoned in 1865.

The speedster in the scarf and the goggles whom Gypsy speaks to regarding the "breacher" she busted on Earth Two is identified in the show's advertising materials as The Accelerated Man. In the Multiversity comics, The Accelerated Man was The Flash of Earth 19.

Earth 19, in the modern DC Multiverse, is the Earth of the Gotham By Gaslight reality where The Age of Heroes began in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. Here, Bruce Wayne was a student of Sigmund Freud and his first case saw him fighting Jack The Ripper.

Despite sharing a number, the Earth 19 of The DC Multiverse is a different place than the Earth 19 of the DCTVU.


Technobabble

The device Harry builds with Wally will broaden the overall harmonic resonance of Cisco's vibrational frequencies all while focusing them on a fixed temporal locus.

Harry describes vibing blind as like riding a monster wave - you need to stay above the temporal flow or your consciousness can get sucked under.

Harry says there was an Earth Two neuroscientist who was able to achieve near total memory recovery using trans-cranial magnetic simulators on damaged brain tissue.  Caitlin notes the same process is used on Earth One, but as a depression treatment.

In the Earth Two experiment, the scientist focused all their energy on the occipital cortex. Harry theorizes that the connection Grodd creates between himself and those he controls telepathically goes both ways and leaves behind trace memories that could be used to figure out his plan.

Cisco says that anyone can draw but that some people have a more developed visual cortex and manual ability.

Cisco notes that the computers that control nuclear missiles are basically analog, still using floppy disks. As such, they have to be stopped in person and can't be hacked from STAR Labs.


Dialogue Triumphs

(HR watches Harry brushing his teeth.)
HR: Ohhhhhh!  You go front to back!  Tooth-brushing? You go front to back. Cause I'm a small circles guy.  I wonder how the other Wells brushes his teeth?
Harry: The murderer?
HR: I'm fascinated by the subtle differences between us, you know?
Harry: And the not so subtle ones.
HR: Like what?
Harry: Like the fact that I'm a genius and you're a moron.
(Harry spits in HR's coffee mug and walks out. HR is nonplussed for only a moment.)
HR: (smiling and waving) Okay! See you at the party!

(Jesse tells her father that she wants to stay on Earth One because of Wally.)
Harry: This guy? You like him?
Jesse: Yeah.
Harry: He makes you happy?
Jesse: Dad...
Harry: ...Okay.
Jesse:  That's it? You're not going to yell?  You're not going to go throw that over there?
Harry: Your happiness is what matters to me. You're both adults. I respect your decision. Don't screw it up.
(Harry leaves the lab.)
Jesse: Okay.  That was weird...
Wally: I guess that this means we have to find you a place?
Jesse: Me? More like us!
(Jesse smiles and leaves the room.. Wally makes a nervous face once she's away.)

Caitlin: Cisco, I promise, there is a beautiful, intelligent woman out there who's going to challenge you to be the the best version of yourself. In fact, she could be right around the corner.
(A breach opens and Gyspy jumps out.)
Cisco: (smiling) Gypsy!
(Gypsy blasts red energy from her hand and knocks Cisco off his feet.)

Barry: Any sign of him?
Cisco: Not since you asked 30 seconds ago.
Barry: Okay, he's a giant gorilla! Who is probably leading an army of giant gorillas! How can you not find him?!

(Cisco tries to convince Gypsy to join them in fighting Grodd.)
Cisco: We need you.
Gypsy: You need me? (smirking) Are you trying to Luke Starkiller me?
(Cisco pauses, seems to consider that difference in their worlds, smirks and steps forward.)
Cisco: What if I am? Is that what it's going to take to get you to stay?

Joe: Hold on. You all want to put a bunch of magnets against my skull, to look into the mind of a psychotic, murderous ape?
Harry: Yeah.
Joe: (deadpan) Fine.

Harry: Barry, there's a thousand things I've done that I'm not proud of! (sighs) Some of them recently. Every time I do one of those things, it makes it easier to do the next time. I look at you out there battling the darkness with Honor and Hope and I'm reminded there's always another way. Always. Killing Grodd is not your answer. Saving one life doesn't justify taking another. Find the other way.

Cisco: General Matthew McNally. And I'll give you one guess - just guess - what he's in charge of.
Barry: (shaking his head) I know you're going to say military weapons, but I really hope you don't say military weapons...
Joe: It's worse, Bar. Nuclear missiles.
Caitlin: McNally has the highest clearance. He can have a rocket in the air in less than ten minutes.
Barry: So are the satellites back to functional?
Harry: We ran a full antagonistic. Any nuclear weapon that is authorized to fire, an alarm will sound.
Barry: Okay. Good.
(An alarm goes off. Barry face palms with both hands.)
HR: Does it sound like that? That's an alarm.
Harry: (sarcastically) Yeah. It's THAT Alarm, HR.


Continuity

Friend's Day is a holiday on Earth 19 roughly equivalent to Earth One's Valentine's Day.

Jesse tells Harry that she wants to stay on Earth One.

Julian is in London at the time of this episode.

Caitlin refers to Lisa Snart's flirtation with Cisco, which started in 116.

Gypsy was last seen in 311.

Gypsy was on Earth Two, hunting another fugitive from Earth 19 when Grodd took over her mind and used her powers to create a breach between Earth One and Earth Two.

HR's nickname for Harry is "Hardhat".

Apparently, on Earth 19, the hero of the Star Wars movies was Luke Starkiller.

Harry has an untreatable terminal illness. He isn't sure how long he has to live and asks Wally to keep this news secret from Jesse.

Cisco sees the gorilla attack occurring at the intersection of State and Oakhill. This is one block away from the main bridge into Central City.

Wally tells Jesse what Harry told him about being ill. She presumes her father was lying. It turns out she was right - Harry was lying, figuring that Wally was too honest to hide anything from Jesse and that he'd do the honorable thing and tell her to stay with her dad.

When tapped into Grodd's brain, Joe creates a sketch of a human adult male. This man turns out to be Air Force General Matthew McNally.

Fort Reynolds is a nuclear missile launch site near Central City.

On Earth 19, Alfred Matthew Yankovich is a renowned poet - not a song parodist.

Military haircuts are the same on Earth 19 as they are on Earth One - very short.

Cisco is now able to "vibe" people's emotional states as well as their locations. He claims to feel Gypsy's urge to be a hero.

Caitlin makes reference to King Shark - last seen in 215.

Cisco needs Gypsy's help to find Solovar. - presumably because her command of her powers is enough to locate beings with whom she doesn't have a direct connection.

Solovar returns to Earth Two along with his people.

Grodd is handed over to ARGUS.

Harry returns to Earth Two.

Barry proposes to Iris with the ring his great-grandfather gave his great-grandmother after WWII. He couldn't afford a ring to propose before he shipped out. He bought the ring three years later while in London and gave it to her when she met him on the docks at the Brooklyn Shipyards when his ship came in.

We do not hear Iris' answer to the proposal.

Casablanca is Wally West's favorite movie.

Jesse is confused by Casablanca and asks if it took place during the War of The Americas.

Earth Two had more wars than Earth One.

Savitar reappears as Wally is running to Big Belly Burger, in the final scene.


Location

There is a brief scene on Earth 19 when Cisco goes to Gypsy as she is talking with The Accelerated Man.


Untelevised Adventures

Gypsy tracks another fugitive from Earth 19 to Earth Two. This is how she came to be under Grodd's control. We don't see her hunt for the fugitive or their eventual capture after Cisco frees her, but Gypsy is seen reporting on the capture to The Accelerated Man before Cisco arrives on Earth 19.


The Fridge Factor

Gypsy's reasons for not wanting to get involved in the fight with Grodd - that she was traumatized by visions of his plans for destroying Central City - really ring false given how tough she was built up in her first appearance.


The Boomerang Factor

Barry's sudden crisis of faith regarding killing comes out of nowhere and Grodd could have easily won the battle if he'd tried telepathically controlling The Flash.


The Bottom Line

An improvement on Part One, despite a number of plot holes. There's a lot of good character moments here - most of them involving the interplay between the two Wells. Still, Barry's sudden crisis of faith seems to be introduced only because he has so little to do in this episode without the angst and the romance between Jesse and Wally is so much more engaging than Barry's whining over everything turning against him as he tries to save Iris.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 13 - Attack On Gorilla City

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

When Jesse Quick returns to Earth One seeking help after her father is abducted, Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Julian travel to Earth Two. They are quickly captured by Grodd, who claims he needs their help to stop Solovar - the leader of a secretive city of super-intelligent gorillas - from launching his own attack to take over Earth One!  Meanwhile,Wally is anxious to get to spend some time with Jesse but there seems to be some kind of wall between them now...


Influences

The Planet of the Apes films (Julian name drops the franchise, the concept of an intelligent ape uprising, the general aesthetic of the Gorilla City sets) and the Indiana Jones films (Julian's explorer outfit.)


Goofs

Tom Cavanagh's voice for when Harry Wells is possessed by Grodd isn't intimidating.

The green-screen work during Barry's "I will not kill him" speech looks a bit off.


Performances

Watching Violett Beane and Keiynan Lonsdale play off of each other is the best part of the episode.


Artistry

The art design on Gorilla City is fantastic.

The CGI for the gorillas is top-notch.


Flash Facts

First appearing in The Flash #106 (April/May 1959), Gorilla City was a technological Utopian society society founded by super-intelligent, telepathic gorillas, who were enhanced by a meteorite. In the original comics, Grodd was originally a rogue member of this society.

Solovar also first appeared in The Flash #106. The progressive leader of the Gorilla City gorillas in the comics, Solovar was respected for his wisdom and his impressive psychic powers. He weathered several attempts by Grodd to overthrow him and usurp control of his people.

Julian lies to Captain Singh, telling him that he and Barry are going to a morphology conference in Bludhaven. In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is a city near Gotham City which was patrolled by the vigilante Nightwing.


Technobabble

Jesse says that she and her father took a week to translate a mathematical cryptogram that was sent to their STAR Labs on Earth Two.


Dialogue Triumphs

Barry: Harry's my friend. I'm not just going to abandon him. I'm going back to Earth Two.
Cisco: And I suppose you'll want somebody to come with you who is going to open those breaches for you?
Barry: We had... so much fun last time!
Cisco: (deadpan) Fun-ish.

(Barry is trying to explain where he is going to Julian, who he needs to cover for him at work. He finally lets the name Grodd slip.)
Julian: Grodd? The telepathic gorilla?
Barry: Yeah.
Julian: Where are you going? Are you going to the Planet of the Apes?!
Barry: No, it's just a city of them.

Jesse: When I first got my power, you were so lost not having yours. And I thought maybe part of the reason you liked me was...you were attracted to speed and not me.
(Wally chuckles.)
Jesse: I know! I know, okay? But... I saw you out there today! Being Kid Flash? You were complete Wally. You were scary complete.
Wally: I could have all the speed in the world. I'm not complete without you.

Barry: Solovar never wanted to attack Central City. You do.
Grodd: You took my home away from me and now I will take it back! The gorillas saw what you did, Flash. They saw you defeat Solovar and now they are afraid of humans and will do anything I order. And I will order them to invade your Earth and your city will burn!
Barry: You were planning this the whole time.
Grodd: Yes. Father taught me well. Always think ahead.

(Cisco proposes his idea that someone kill him to stop Grodd's invasion.)
Julian: He's right. Cisco's death would change the newspaper headline in the future.
Harry: Headline?
Caitlin: It's a long story.
Julian: But it would also make another one come true. The one about Killer Frost...
Caitlin: You want -me- to kill him?
Cisco: Think about it. Grodd doesn't know you have cold powers. You might be able to use them.
Harry: Cold powers? (To Caitlin) You have cold powers? (in revelation, to Cisco) I knew it! I knew that you and I did not get Barry out of that mirror!
Julian: Wait! Caitlin! If you kill someone, there's no going back. You'll be Killer Frost for the rest of your life. Now, I did not come all this way to see that happen!
Caitlin: (incredulous) Did you come here because you "live for danger" or to protect me?
Julian: (putting his emotionless mask back on) I just don't want to see you become something you're not.

HR: When it comes to love. you've got to go for it!  You know? Everything else be damned. Because if you don't, you're gonna end up being the kind of person that lives the rest of their life with regret. And I know that telling your dad that you're switching Earths - that's got to be a difficult conversation to have, but one that you've got to go for if you want to be happy. But - you know -  that's just my opinion. What do I know? I'm just a handsomer guy than your dad, with a song in his heart. Good luck, Jesse.


Continuity

Grodd was last seen in 207 just after being sent through a breach to Earth Two to a sanctuary that Harry Wells said was set up for gorillas who had been mistreated by scientists. Harry Wells also noted that there were talking gorillas on Earth Two.

Barry refers to the news crawl from 310 and the text "City Still Recovering From Gorilla Attack".

Jesse finds out Wally is a speedster now.

The Africa of Earth Two (or, at least, the part where Gorilla City is located) is not hot and has vegetation more consistent with a temperate forest than a tropical jungle.

Grodd is somehow able to repress the powers of Team Flash while they are imprisoned. It is unclear if he is doing this telepathically or if it is a property of the cages.

The Indiana Jones movies apparently exist on Earth Two.

Harry refers to the events of 304 and how they used extreme cold to free Barry from a mirror but it wasn't enough and Caitlin had to finish the job, secretly, with her powers.

Jesse decides to move to Earth One. She and Wally seem to officially become a couple.

Julian asks Caitlin out to dinner.

The final scene show Grodd assembling his armies, talking to Gypsy (or some version of her), telling her that she will open the breaches for him.


Location

Gorilla City on Earth Two.


Untelevised Adventures

How exactly Gypsy winds up under Grodd's control in the final scene.


The Bottom Line

Serviceable but not the slam-dunk one expected from the advertising. The Grodd plot is predictable and most of the cast is given little to do but sit in a jail cell and worry for most of the episode. Given the high-end Silver Age concept, the script is surprisingly joyless and it's Julian of all people who makes the inevitable references to Planet of the Apes. At least the production values are top-notch but the whole episode seems oddly lifeless.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 7 - Gorilla Warfare

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

A week has passed since Zoom's attack and Barry has almost healed all of his physical injuries. But his confidence is still in critical condition and he's not sure he's the hero Central City needs any more. But ready or not, Grodd has returned and Barry will need to prove himself once more after Caitlin is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Patty begins to grow more suspicious about Barry's sick-leave and Joe's covering for him...


Influences

Countless The Flash comics where an injury sidelines Barry Allen, King Kong (giant gorilla abducts a woman who was nice to him, Caitlin is wearing all white like Fay Wray when she is abducted), the recent Planet of the Apes movies (a super-intelligent ape plots to make more of his own kind) and the original Planet of the Apes movies (the appearance of Gorilla City)

Performances

John Wesley Shipp steals the show as Henry Allen and makes us wish once again he was a series regular.


Artistry

As before, the CGI for Grodd, is of amazing quality for a TV show.


Flash Facts

Barry's accelerated healing is confirmed to be strong enough to heal a broken spine in just over a week. It should be noted, however, that The Flash's accelerated healing is not the same as the regeneration other comic heroes possess. While most speedsters are depicted as being able to recover from injuries faster than a normal human (say a broken arm healing in weeks rather than months), they can do nothing to grow back severed limbs or torn cells.

Although not identified by title, it's clear from the description - "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles" - that the movie Cisco took Kendra to see was The Princess Bride.

Patty identifies Encephalopathy as "a blood disease in the brain". Actually encephalopathy is used as a broad term to identify any kind of brain disorder. Hypersensitive encephalopathy, for instance, refers to conditions brought about through acute high blood pressure.

Cisco refers to the creature he saw in his latest vibe as "a bird man". Birdman is both the name of both an award-winning film staring Michael Keaton and a Hanna-Barbera superhero.

Cisco stands outside C.C. Jitters holding a basket over his head as Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes plays. This is a nod to the movie Say Anything.

The place Harry Wells sends Grodd appears to be Gorilla City. In the comics, Gorilla City was a society founded by super-intelligent, telepathic gorillas, who were enhanced by a meteorite. Grodd was originally a rogue member of this society in the comics.


Technobabble

The initial MRI Caitlin took one week before this episode showed a complete dislocation of the T12-L1 interspace of the thoracolumbar junction.

Having problems breathing is totally normal following a spinal injury.

Cortexin is a serum used to treat encephalopathy - a blood disease in the brain.

Racetam drugs are typically used to treat vertigo.

Both Cortexin and Racetaim are nootropic drugs, used to enhance intelligence.

Barry did not have any spinal cord edema or subacute hemorrhaging and the bone fused fine.

One of the main differences between ape and human brains is the white matter and connectivity in the brain cells. The chemicals Grodd was treated with as an infant were meant to overcome those differences and cause an explosive growth of both, similar to what humans experience in their first few years of life. Caitlin theorizes that those chemicals can be used to duplicate that growth without a particle accelerator explosion.

Once the speed cannon is activated, the quark matter stabilizes, stretching the nearest breach.

The Reverse Flash suit fitting inside a ring is apparently a product of micro-technology.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry has just blown off Patty's invitation to bring him some homemade soup.)
Patty: Okay, well... try and stay off your feet.
Barry: (shifting uncomfortably in his wheelchair) Oh yeah, believe me, I am.

Grodd: Foolish human... I am Grodd!

Cisco: Oh, hey, I know I keep asking but have you read any reports or anything recently about a Birdman attacking anywhere?
Caitlin: There's no such thing as a bird-man, Cisco.
Cisco: Okay, like that's a stretch in this city?

Harry: I'm continually amazed by the similarities between our two worlds.
Joe: You've got talking gorillas on your Earth too?
Harry: Oh yeah.
Joe: Remind me never to go there.

Barry: He showed everyone in Central City that their hero wasn't good enough to stop him.
Henry: Well, that's certainly what it looked like. Was he right?  (scoffs) Your body's healed Barry, and yet here you are - feeling the shame of loosing.
Barry: I can't stop him. I know it. He knows it. And now everyone in the city knows it too. They don't believe in me anymore, Dad.
Henry: At my trial for your mother's death, a lot of our family and friends were in the courtroom. They heard awful things about what I had done to your mother. It didn't matter that it wasn't true. Every day, I could see it on their faces, the moment when I lost them, until everybody had stopped believing in me. Well, that was my reality. I was going to serve a life sentence for a crime I didn't commit, but worse than that, every time I looked someone in the eye, from that moment forward, they were going to believe that I killed the woman I loved in front of our son. So yeah, I do know what it's like being destroyed.
Barry: How did you get past that?
Henry: I embraced it. Accepting it was the only way I could move forward. But I knew that if I could survive that, and learn to believe in myself again, then I could survive anything. You know what lit that belief in me, Barry?  You. 11-year old you running around, believing in me, gave me that hope. And now I'm giving it back to you, son. No more monsters can take that from us.

Cisco: I didn't know if you like flowers or chocolate, so I got you both.
Kendra: Well, I'm allergic to chocolate and I think flowers are a waste of money.
Cisco: Um... I have lollipops in my car?


Continuity

At the start of the episode, Cisco hasn't vibed since he touched Wells last week.

Cisco vibes when taking Kendra's hand on their date. He has a winged figure in armor.

Grodd is seen for the first time since 121.

Barry hates canned chicken noodle soup.

Henry Allen has been camping in Granite Peak National Park.

Cisco explains how Grodd had his intelligence enhanced to Harry.

Cisco has Harry practice Wells' speech from 115 about him being like a son.

Cisco's has a second vibe vision when he kisses Kendra. Here, he clearly sees her in the Hawkgirl armor.

Harry sends Grodd to a nature preserve for gorillas experimented on by other scientists on Earth 2. It turns out the gorillas have built a city of some kind...


Untelevised Adventures

Harry Wells apparently has experience dealing with talking gorillas.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode, through and through. Lots of good character development for everyone, though you'd think everyone involved would have learned the dangers of keeping secrets at this point.  And it's weird that Barry is comfortable telling his ex-girlfriend he is The Flash but not the woman who has been consistently smart enough to see through every lie he's tried telling her. But hey - Gorilla City is now part of the DCTVU!