The Flash season 2, episode 7, “Gorilla Warfare,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Barry’s recovery
After being “destroyed” by Zoom, Barry is struggling to regain what he lost. While his broken spine has healed, he’s still dealing with the after effects of an injury that would have left a non-metahuman paralyzed. However, taking more than six steps at a time is not Barry’s only concern; he’s having flashbacks to Zoom’s assault, which is keeping him from progressing in his recovery. Barry refuses to talk to his adoptive family, though, so Iris calls in Henry.
Henry’s been camping — you need to slow down sometimes, Henry reminds Barry. Barry opens up to his father about the fact that even though he’s physically healed, Central City now believes The Flash is incapable of protecting them. And this comes on the heels of them giving him the key to the city. Henry encourages Barry to push through his struggles, and by the end of the episode, The Flash is up and running.
It was nice to see Henry again after his rather sudden exit in the season premiere. The two Allen men share a tear-jerking scene where Henry talks about recognizing when his family members started believing he’d killed his wife in front of Barry, and he compares that to what Barry is going through as The Flash. Having that connection with his father is exactly what Barry needs to deal with his trauma. And while this experience with Zoom will likely continue to affect Barry in the future, with Henry’s help he knows he can push through it.
Grodd returns
As if Barry dealing with physical and emotional trauma after Zoom isn’t enough, Grodd returns in this episode. He kidnaps Caitlin because he remembers her being kind while he was in S.T.A.R. Labs and he wants her to recreate the accident that led to his creation — he wants more like him.
The S.T.A.R. Labs team plus Harrison Wells rescues her, but they realize they need to do something about Grodd. Wells knows of a place on Earth-2 they can send him where he can find a home. This seems to be The Flash‘s version of Gorilla City. They lure him to the appropriate breach, and The Flash is able to knock him through.
Beyond the amazing special effects required for Grodd, the big takeaway from this plotline was Harrison Wells’ development. He originally wanted to return to Earth-2 to confront Zoom himself since getting Barry’s help failed. However, Caitlin convinces him to stay, telling him that with the team they will defeat Zoom and rescue his daughter.
Wells was clearly a loner on Earth-2, minus his daughter. His abrasive personality pushes people, like Jay, away. But finding the right combination of people seems to have softened something in him, convincing him to combine his impressive intellect with that of the S.T.A.R. Labs team. Now he and Jay are going to need to mend fences if they really want a shot at defeating Zoom.
Also worth noting
- Cisco’s first date with Kendra is interrupted when he vibes off of her. He gets a glimpse of a figure with wings. When they resume their date at the end of the episode, they kiss and Cisco gets a bigger picture vibe of Hawkgirl.
- Barry lies to Patty about being sick, but she realizes pretty quickly that he’s lying. Barry later admits he was spending time with his father, and all ends up forgiven.
- Seeing Henry get Barry to open up has Joe wondering what life would have been like with his own son. Iris unfortunately knows a little something about that.
Watch a promo for the next episode
