Spoilers ahead for the February 4 episode of The Flash Season 6.
The Flash returned to the airwaves in 2020 as the most senior series in the Arrow-verse, and the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover changed the Scarlet Speedster's status quo in some big ways. Not only are some friends and allies like Harry Wells and Jesse Quick presumably gone for good, but the latest episode's version of Mirror Master proved some previous villains are returning as new incarnations. Now it looks like another villain was changed by the "Crisis" crossover: Gorilla Grodd.
Grodd will return in the February 25 episode of The Flash, fittingly called "Grodd Friended Me." Although the official episode description from The CW doesn't give away every detail about post-Crisis Grodd, it does suggest that the changes for Earth Prime created a different kind of character. Take a look:
Feeling overwhelmed with all the changes since Crisis, Barry (Grant Gustin) conducts an experiment that goes awry and puts him directly in Gorilla Grodd’s (voiced by David Sobolov) path. Expecting the worst, Barry is surprised when Grodd asks for his help. Unfortunately for both The Flash and Grodd, things get worse when another villain appears – Solovar (voiced by Keith David). Meanwhile, Iris (Candice Patton) works with Eva (guest star Efrat Dor) to escape the Mirrorverse.
Grodd has been around The Flash since the very beginning, although never a villain on par with the likes of Reverse-Flash and Savitar. While there have been shades of gray to his character and he had his own version of a tragic backstory pre-Crisis, something in the new Earth Prime history seemingly turned Grodd into a different kind of gorilla.
That said, the episode description doesn't say that Grodd is a good guy or even neutral, but rather just that he asks for Barry's help. Would this be a case of a hero and villain joining forces to take down a greater threat? Or is post-Crisis Grodd really just a good gorilla and Solovar is the gorilla baddie to be feared?
The description does refer to Solovar as "another villain," which suggests that Grodd still isn't a hero, although "another villain" could also be from Barry's perspective. He is feeling overwhelmed, after all!
Interestingly, the description for "Grodd Friended Me" states that Iris will be working with Eva to escape the Mirrorverse. Does this mean that both Iris and Eva are trapped in the Mirrorverse, where Iris was seemingly pulled at the end of the February 4 episode? Or is Eva still trapped, and Iris is helping from the outside on Earth Prime?
I'm inclined to think Iris will be out of the Mirrorverse sooner than three more episodes following The Flash's 2020 return, but there's no predicting what's in store with the Mirrorverse at this point. All bets are off in the wake of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and presumably the end of Spectre-Oliver's influence.
The "Crisis" reset -- which I disliked from an Arrow point-of-view for rewriting the series right before it wrapped for good -- seems to be a good thing for The Flash now that it's the most senior Arrow-verse series.
See what happens next on The Flash when new episodes air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW, with "Grodd Friended Me" hitting the airwaves on February 25. For some additional super viewing options moving forward, check out our 2020 winter and spring premiere schedule.
