'The Flash' Recap: Gorilla Grodd vs. WestAllen

Warning: This recap contains storyline and character spoilers for this week’s episode of The Flash.

It’s a good thing that a mind-controlling gorilla almost gets overshadowed by the romantic issues of Barry and Iris (aka WestAllen): It means that the show’s biggest problem area has been fixed, and The Flash is firing on all cylinders as it heads into the final two episodes of the season.

The Plot

A mysterious masked man is attacking the Central City Gold Reserve. It turns out to be General Eiling (Clancy Brown), who’s being mind-controlled by Grodd, a hyper-intelligent, super-strong, telekinetic, psychic gorilla. Which is not nearly as important as Iris confronting Barry and Joe about keeping her in the dark all this time.

She joins the team as Barry, Joe, and Cisco head down into the sewers to find Grodd. Grodd captures Joe, and Cisco and Caitlin must build a psychic defense headband to protect Barry from the gorilla’s psychic attack. Barry rescues Joe, but it was all a distraction as Dr. Wells finishes “The Key,” which he uses to turn on…

Related: Get Up to Speed With Our Recaps of ‘The Flash’

Conflict Resolution, The Flash-Style

Trying to root out an embarrassing secret? Have a hurtful confession to reveal? Try mortal danger!

Yes, mortal danger. If there’s a good chance that you could die, your loved ones will forgive you immediately. You could be in a coma; you could be at the leading edge of a tidal wave; you could be about to be mauled by a hyper-intelligent, super-strong, telekinetic, psychic gorilla. (Yahoo TV is not responsible if you actually die while attempting emotional development.)

Look Who’s Iris Now

Now here’s a funny thing: A lot of us have been rolling our eyes at Iris this whole season because she’s been made to look like an idiot for not knowing that Barry’s the Flash. But as soon as she figured it out, a lot of eyes stopped rolling and, all of a sudden, she’s a whole lot more interesting. (Sorry, Snowbarry fans; Biris isn’t looking half-bad now.) Which means that now, Eddie is the Iris, constantly asking questions and generally being a buzzkill. So that’s… progress?

The moment with Barry using Iris as his happy place to protect himself from Grodd’s attack was beautiful and, perhaps, a long time coming. However, nobody — not even blandly pretty Eddie — deserves to have his great-great-great-great-whatever-grandson tell them that they were a “waste of a life, waste of a man, and oh no, you don’t even get the girl.” Killing Barry’s mom seemed like less of a jerk move.

Related: More ‘Flash’/’Arrow’ Spinoff Casting

Gorilla Grodd

Just one thing: How jaded does a New York subway engineer have to be to slam into a 12-foot tall gorilla and not even slow down? Is that a normal thing to happen in a New York subway? If it is, it’s no wonder that it never shows up on the tourist brochures.

Cisco Reference of the Night

Most of Cisco’s movie references are pretty obvious: King Kong, The Exorcist, Planet of the Apes, etc. Though it’s a shame he wasn’t back at the lab instead of in the sewers, because somebody needed to call out the Aliens homage going on with those head-mounted cameras.

C.H.U.D., of course, stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller, from the 1984 film of the same name. And R.O.U.S.s are Rodents of Unusual Size from The Princess Bride.

Creepy Dr. Wells Coda

WELL, OF COURSE HE WAS HIDING IN THE ACCELERATOR. This is the comic book version of the “The Call Is Coming From Inside the House!” urban myth. If only Eddie had whined a little louder, all this mess could have been avoided.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.