Gorilla City (The Flash)
Barry Allen faces intelligent gorillas on Earth-2.
"Gorilla City" is a two-part story arc from the third season of The Flash, a superhero series set in the Arrowverse. The episodes follow Barry Allen and his team as they travel to Earth-2 to rescue a colleague from a city of intelligent gorillas. The arc aired on The CW in February 2017 and features the return of the villain Gorilla Grodd.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Flash
- Director
- Dermott Daniel Downs
- Story
- Andrew Kreisberg (part 1); Todd Helbing (part 2)
- Teleplay
- Aaron Helbing (part 1)
- David Kob (part 1)
- Benjamin Raab (part 2)
- Deric A. Hughes (part 2)
- Airdate
- 21 February 2017 (part 1); 28 February 2017 (part 2)
- Season article
- The Flash (season 3)
Facts from the source article.
Plot
On Earth-2, Harry Wells is captured while running through the woods in Africa. His daughter Jesse tells Team Flash on Earth-1 that her father was leading an expedition to Gorilla City that was ambushed. Barry, Julian Albert, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow travel to Earth-2 to rescue Harry but are captured by Gorilla Grodd. Telepathically speaking through Harry, Grodd asks Barry to assassinate Solovar, the leader of Gorilla City, to prevent an invasion of Central City. Barry agrees to fight Solovar in the arena; he defeats Solovar but spares his life. Grodd uses Barry's victory to convince the apes that humans are dangerous and forces Cisco to open a portal to Earth-1. Grodd seizes control of Gorilla City and prepares an invasion. The team fakes Barry's death with Caitlin's ice powers, and they escape back to Earth-1. Grodd assembles his army with a brainwashed Gypsy at his side.
Production
Gorilla Grodd first appeared in the show's pilot and returned in the first two seasons. In the season two episode "Gorilla Warfare", Team Flash sent Grodd through a dimensional breach to a jungle sanctuary on Earth-2 for experimented-upon gorillas. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg said in January 2016 that he intended to wait for a multi-episode arc to continue Grodd's story, comparing it to the Ra's al Ghul and Nanda Parbat storyline from Arrow. In August 2016, Kreisberg confirmed Grodd's return in the third season for a two-part episode set in Gorilla City. The two-part arc was announced for episodes thirteen and fourteen in January 2017. Kreisberg noted that one episode would take place in Gorilla City and the other on Earth-1. The first part, "Attack on Gorilla City", was written by Aaron Helbing and David Kob from a story by Andrew Kreisberg; the second part, "Attack on Central City", was written by Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes from a story by Todd Helbing. Voice actor David Sobolov said Grodd had evolved since season two, making the plot more interesting. Carlos Valdes described the episodes' tone as one of fear.
Release
The first part aired on February 21, 2017, and the second on February 28, both on The CW. In Canada, the first part was simulcast on CTV, after which the series moved to CTV Two for the second part and the rest of the season. The episodes became available for streaming on Netflix in the United States on May 31, 2017, and were released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 5, 2017, with a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Reception
Scott Von Doviak of The A.V. Club wrote that the two-part Gorilla City adventure showcased ambition outstripping budget and ingenuity, calling it a hit-and-miss proposition where the limitations of weekly television were laid bare. Vinnie Mancuso of the New York Observer said the episodes were some of the most fun TV in a long time and described them as a perfect example of both High Art and Low Art, or Exact Middle Art. Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated "Attack on Central City" 8.4 out of 10, noting it did not reach the heights of "Welcome to Earth-2" but was hardly lacking in entertainment value. Von Doviak graded the episode B+, stating that it was never going to deliver the full-on comic book version of Gorilla City and that it was pointless to gripe about the budget. He added that the episode had enough going for it to forgive some visual shortcomings.
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