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

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for The Flash: Season 6, Episode 13. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here's our review for Season 6, Episode 12. Also, in the interest of transparency, we should note that Jesse is related to one of the co-writers of this episode. That relation had no bearing on the content of this review.

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It's one of the great tragedies of the Arrowverse that we'll probably never see a full season of The Flash built around Gorilla Grodd. Grodd certainly has the potential to be more than just an annual guest star, but it's really not practical from a time and budgetary standpoint. On the other hand, the benefit is this forces the series to make the most of those annual appearances when they do come along. "Grodd Friended Me" keeps the hot streak going, even if it is a much smaller-scale Flash vs. Grodd story.This episode flips the script by casting Grodd as a sympathetic protagonist trying desperately to win over an incredulous Barry Allen. Coming in the wake of both Crisis and a series of episodes where Grodd attempts to take over Central City, this plays like a logical and even necessary shift for the character. There's only so much that can be accomplished with Grodd as an annual, one-and-done antagonist. At some point the series either has to find a new angle or just retire the character.

This episode's greatest strength is in creating a sense of a cohesive arc for Grodd over the course of six seasons. He may only appear once or twice a year (plus that recurring role on Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3), but there has been a clear progression as Grodd has evolved from pitiful lab specimen to power-hungry villain and now homesick ARGUS prisoner. Thanks in no small part to David Sobolov's grave vocal performance, Grodd's transformation feels both genuine and earned.

The Flash: "Grodd Friended Me" Photos

The actual story fueling Grodd's redemption and unlikely alliance with Barry is disappointingly spartan. It's literally a case of two characters moving from one isolated spot to another and trying to run through a portal. It's hard not to wish the series had given its other subplots a rest for a week and focused more fully on Grodd's return. As it is, Grodd only appears in the flesh in a handful of scenes, with the rest taking the economical approach of having him assume the forms of other Team Flash members. Still, the visual of Grodd and Barry merging to form "Brundleflash" is neat, and at least this pairing hits the right emotional notes despite the overly straightforward narrative.

We'll see how Grodd's apparent redemption plays out in the recently greenlit Season 7, but for now its most immediate impact seems to be in giving Chester his official induction into Team Flash. Chester and Kamilla are both seemingly being positioned as Cisco's replacements, which raises the question of what happens when Cisco returns and whether that character is being gradually phased out. Chester doesn't immediately click in his new role as junior tech support trainee. Regardless of the series, the Arrowverse tends to cast all of these characters from the same mold. They're impossibly brilliant yet annoyingly quippy and chatty. The Flash doesn't need a Cisco Lite.

Fortunately, Chester shows signs of more depth than that. The character really starts to click during his heart-to-heart with Caitlin, as he reminisces about being a young African American student learning the hard way that there's no room for screw-ups or second chances. That moment of introspection tells us more about the character than we've learned all season. There's a refreshing honesty and candor to the character that the series would do well to lean into going forward, rather than the usual fast-talking tech geek shtick.

Even if more Grodd content would have been nice, there is something to be said for this episode's ability to keep the Mirror Master storyline moving along. Here we catch a glimpse of the true villain lurking beneath Eva's befuddled facade. It'll also be interesting to see how much damage Mirror Iris
does to Iris' personal life and relationships by the time she's done.

 Finally, the series continues to struggle on the Nash/Allegra front. As I've said before, the idea of a Harrison Wells pining for an estranged daughter just isn't compelling enough to be rehashed all over again, even with the added complication of Allegra being a doppelganger. This episode does nothing to change that view, even as Allegra uncovers the truth about her "father." It's a disappointing shift for a character who showed plenty of promise in the first half of the season. Why isn't Nash's guilt over Crisis enough of a story catalyst on its own?

We do get a major swerve at the very end of the episode, as Sherloque resurfaces to deliver a dire warning about the return of Reverse-Flash. This could potentially be what the series needs to get back on track with all things Wells. On the other hand, it wasn't all that long ago that Eobard Thwane made another surprise return. Will this be another case of The Flash rehashing familiar beats too often? Thawne's presence wasn't enough to salvage Season 5, and with Season 6 improving so dramatically, this time The Flash may not actually need him at all.

Verdict

"Grodd Friended Me" isn't necessarily the best Gorilla Grodd episode The Flash has delivered, but it does succeed in continuing this villains ongoing arc and shaking up the usual formula in a major way. It justifies the character's transition from fearsome villain to reformed hero despite his fairly limited screen time and the overall small scale of the conflict. This episode also manages to keep the momentum of the Mirror Master story going despite the pivot to Grodd. And while Nash Wells continues to flounder post-Crisis, the twist ending offers new hope this character will find his footing again soon.