The Flash Season One: Grodd Lives

"I am Grodd!"

In order to distract Barry the Reverse Flash releases Gorilla Grodd on the city meanwhile Iris confronts Barry about her finally knowing the truth.

I got to tell you I have nothing but praise for the people behind The Flash show because every week they seem to step up their game more and more. Especially more for this episode when it came to adapting probably one of the hardest villains from comics for TV without the help of a massive budget that films get. Grodd just looked so impressive in this, props to the CGI people on this show,  and it was probably one of best villain debuts in live action. First off I actually really like this changed backstory for Grodd because not only does it gives him a more tragic element it simplifies it a bit for the show and involves Eobard more with Grodd believing he is his father. They also made Grodd really damn creepy as well; the way he spoke through Eiling, the search for him in the sewers and the fear that was in Joe when being controlled (that there was some damn good acting). We didn't really see Grodd all that much (because of budget constraints) for the first half but they made up for that with the "less is more approach" that is used in Jaws and they used it well here with the whole sewer search that I mentioned above. However when they did get to the action it was so epic, The Flash looked completely outmatched and the way Grodd caught the Speed Punch was a big WTF moment. All I all I was really looking forward to seeing Grodd and I was not disappointed at all and I am sure we will see more of him in Season Two where his powers will be even stronger.

As for everything else it is great seeing Eiling alive again because as I said before Clancy Brown is such a great actor and it looks like he has now formed an uneasy alliance with Barry (wonder if he will help with Eobard?). It was also really cool to see him in that kickass military suit while he was fighting The Flash and I hope we see that again soon. Then there was the scenes with Eddie and Eobard and it is great to see Tom Cavanagh fully embrace the antagonist role when he has been playing a split one for ages. All this taunting of Eddie makes me think they are setting him up to be another incarnation of the Reverse Flash for future seasons which would be cool. Eobard also had some really great lines too such as saying how he is a genius where he is from which makes him far superior in this time and his torture of Eddie by saying how insignificant he really is. There was also the big reveal that he was underneath STAR labs all along and I'm guessing that vial he used at the end was made from Blackout's blood who managed to steal Barry's powers for a while. Finally there was Iris dealing with the lies everyone has been telling her and I really agreed with a lot of what she said though she may have went too far with Barry because it really was all Joe's stupid idea in the first place, Barry shouldn't have any blame in my opinion. I don't know how much help Iris will be to Team Flash but at the very least she is in the know now.

Overall this was such a perfect episode that I really have no complaints with and an epic debut for Grodd! Again I know I am using a pic from an older episode but Screencapped hasn't updated their Flash and Arrow lately.

SCORE: 10/10

Highlights: Everything with Grodd
                   The scenes with Eobard and Eddie
                   Iris finally knowing the truth
       
The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;





http://screencapped.net/                    

The Flash Season One: The Sound and the Fury

No Meta - Humans this ep again

Well's former protégé Hartley Rathaway (Andy Mientus) returns to seek revenge after being affected by the particle accelerator and becoming Pied Piper. Cisco recalls his first day at S.T.A.R labs and Iris is hired by the Central City Picture News but gets off to a rocky start with reporter Mason Bridge (Roger Howarth).

This episode saw the introduction to a really great villain from the comics, Pied Piper, and I was really impressed with how he was portrayed; Andy Mientus did an awesome job. First off I liked how closely weaved in he was to the origins of the particle accelerator and the staff at S.T.A.R labs which was seen in the Flashbacks. This also gave Wells and Cisco a character who was close to them in their past which is good because unlike the other characters we don't know anything about their friends and family (especially Cisco). Back to Pied Piper I really liked his sonic based weapons, that he was affected by the explosion in a more negative way because of his hearing and how much of a challenge he posed to Team Flash because of his genius and the cool mind games he played with them. It is also good that he is the first gay character in the series and they didn't go overboard with that and made him a gay comic - relief. If there is a negative to say it is that while I liked his weapons and his plan I didn't like the way he was defeated because the whole cars with satellite radio was too convenient and a weak way to defeat him.

Finally the Speed Force is confirmed!

The other highlight was Wells who continues to be more and more interesting and we actually got to see him use his speed but that he couldn't use it for long. That was really interesting and it could be that like some other Reverse Flashes from the comics his speed did not naturally come from the Speed Force and he acquired it through other means. I am really glad they finally mentioned the Speed Force which is (keeping this spoiler free) a form of energy that grants a Speedster their powers and Barry plays a really large part with it in the comics. A Reverse Flash from the comics used technology to grant him powers from the Speed Force which could explain Well's wanting the tacion device, like with everything Wells does I want to know more and more about him. As for his role in the rest of the episode it does seem he generally cares for Barry, Caitlin and Cisco which still makes it hard to believe that he is a villain and I liked his confession about the particle accelerator because he also seems to regret ruining the lives of the citizens of Central City such as Caitlin. I tell you if this is all an act by Wells to hid his evil intentions then it is a really good one.

You should really wear a suit to your first day Cisco

As for the rest of the episode I wanted to first mention that the cameo of the Royal Flush Gang that appeared in Arrow was really cool, obviously it isn't the same gang but they could have inspired others and I kind of hope they touch on this a bit more. Iris actually had some strong material to work with this time and I enjoyed the scenes she was in at her new job. It isn't anything new (new reporter trying to prove themselves at the job) but it is something good for her character and now she will either want to find more information on the Flash or prove she can write other stories all the while trying to impress Bridge who I did like as well. One thing I didn't like was the moment between Joe and Barry when Barry says how good he was at raising him which I felt came completely out of no where. It's always good when we get a heart warming scene from these two (like in the last few episodes) but it just felt really out of place this episode because they had no conflict or anything throughout. As for Joe seems he is back to not trusting Wells but I wonder if his investigation will lead him getting killed in the end?

"Your time is over Bridge"

Overall great introduction to the Pied Piper and I hope he becomes a regular villain like Captain Cold. Looks like next episode could focus on Firestorm or not; I'm sure the Americans would know because their three episodes ahead of us! You know how hard it is to resist the temptation on reading what happens on Arrow and The Flash every day!

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Pied Piper debut
                   Wells and the Speed Force
                   Iris had a good plot for once

Let - Downs: How Pied Piper was defeated
                      Barry and Joe's scene was just out of place

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/