Barry’s phone rings, and it’s Patty Spivot checking up on him. Since he can’t tell her the truth, his story is that he’s very sick. He even turns down her offer of homemade chicken soup, saying he likes the canned stuff.
Elsewhere, a determined Caitlin has tracked down Harry at a local bar, scribbling down notes and diagrams of some sort. He says he made a mistake, because getting the Flash to help didn’t work. Obviously. Harry has no backup plan except to face down Zoom again, but Caitlin points out that he’d likely die in the process. He’s still uninterested in hearing her out until she mentions that Professor Stein wanted to close the breaches. Eureka! Harry says they can close all the breaches but the one in S.T.A.R. Labs, which they can use to set a trap for Zoom.
Cisco’s date seems to be going pretty well. That ends when Kendra offers him her hand, at which point he gets a vibe — of Hawkman! Or at least his back. Freaked out, Cisco begs off from the movie and says he’ll call Kendra.
We next see a lab of some sort, where one lab tech gets a weird mental image and knocks out one of his colleagues before taking a container of something out of the building. We soon learn why: he’s being controlled by Grodd, who kills him with one mighty swing.
Joe West and Patty investigate the crime scene the next day, with Patty noting that another scientist was recently killed under mysterious circumstances as well. She asks how Barry is feeling, and Joe tells her he’s going to bring Barry some homemade chicken soup since he hates the canned stuff. Busted!
The liar himself is on the treadmill, but he has memories of the beating he took from Zoom, and he falls. Though both Joe and Iris offer to help, he says there’s nothing they can do. Barry later confides in Joe that his confidence took as much of a thrashing as his body, and that he thinks the citizens of Central City no longer trust the Flash to protect them.
Cisco asks Caitlin if there have been any reports of a birdman, but she laughs him off. At least she does at first. Then she starts staring off into space, punches Cisco in the face and walks off without saying a word. Uh-oh.
Iris gets an update on Barry and wonders if they shouldn’t get someone else who can get through to him. Joe gets a call from Patty, who has two updates on their case: both recent murders involve thefts of nootropic drugs intended to increase intelligence, and the hairs found at both scenes aren’t human, they’re gorilla. That realization comes at just about the same time Joe bursts in and announces that Grodd is back. Yeah, that’s definitely him on the security cameras. Team Flash heads outside, but Grodd and Caitlin are already gone.
Harry reveals that Earth 2 also has talking gorillas, and the group wonders why Grodd would abduct Caitlin since she was always nice to him before. Barry is bummed that he can’t help, but Joe says he can still contribute with his brain. But where is Grodd? Harry works on an algorithm to find him, but he’s not underground any more. Grodd tells Caitlin she was always kind to him — and that he needs her help. He wants Caitlin to “repeat Grodd,” meaning to make more gorillas like him, but she says she’s not sure how to do that.
Back on the treadmill, Barry is getting faster and feeling a bit better when he gets a visitor. It’s Henry Allen, and his reaction to seeing his dad makes Joe thinks this was a good idea. Thanks Iris!
Cisco explains Grodd’s origin to Harry. At the same time, Henry checks Barry out and finds that he’s fine from a physical perspective. Dr. Allen also reveals that while he was away, he spent a lot of time fishing. Sometimes, he figures, you have to slow down to get where you want.
In the meantime, Harry and Cisco have narrowed down Grodd’s location to one of three penthouses. They’ve also dug up a spare Reverse-Flash suit from the time vault, and the plan is to make Grodd think Harry is Wells/Thawne. Barry notes that if something goes wrong, he won’t be able to come to the rescue, but that’s a risk Harry is willing to take.
While Harry practices his Wells/Thawne impression in order to try to fool Grodd, Henry gives Barry the “I believe in you” pep talk you knew was coming. It’s still awesome, though.
Caitlin tells Grodd that maybe the chemicals he’s stolen can take the place of the particle accelerator wave and help create more like him. Harry shows up in the Reverse-Flash costume and says that now that he’s back, they can let Caitlin go. His mistake is saying please, because Grodd says “father” never asked. Grodd smashes Harry, though Cisco is able to sneak in and get Caitlin clear of Grodd’s influence with special earbuds. Barry’s idea is to give Grodd a super dose of the drugs, maybe overloading his brain? I’m not so clear on that part, but Harry does it, and everyone manages to escape.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin thanks Harry for saving her. When Joe suggests killing Grodd, Caitlin protests that he’s simply lonely and sad. Harry has another idea. He’s figured out that all of the breaches lead to different places on Earth 2, and one in particular will send Grodd to the closest place he’ll ever have to home. They still need someone to lure the gorilla into position, but Henry says his son will do it.
Caitlin calls for Grodd, and Barry is on hand as the Flash. A chase ensues, with Cisco and Harry manning the Speed Cannon in order to blast Grodd through the portal once he’s in the proper spot. Unfortunately, when Grodd and Flash throw down, Grodd makes our hero experience the Zoom fight again, and he’s in big trouble. Caitlin shows up to try reasoning with Grodd, and the Speed Cannon is fired. It looks like Grodd might be strong enough to fight off the effect, so Henry gives his son another well-timed pep talk. With a super-speed running start, Flash punches Grodd hard enough to shove him through the breach. Welcome back, Flash.
Though Team Flash wants to destroy the Reverse-Flash suit, Harry notes that he might be able to get Barry’s costume to fit into a ring in a similar manner. That’s a pretty cool comic book reference. He also explains that there’s a refuge for intelligent gorillas on his world, because of course there is. Caitlin assures Harry that working as a team, they can close the breaches, defeat Zoom and get Jesse back.
Barry, Henry and the Wests have dinner before Dr. Allen departs again. Joe notes that Patty isn’t buying his illness story, and in the next scene, we find out he’s right. It looks like Barry might tell Patty his secret, but he instead chooses to hide behind the fact that his dad was a convicted murderer. Bullet dodged, for now.
At Jitters, Cisco shows up with flowers and chocolate to apologize to Kendra. He gets a kiss for his efforts, and his vibe this time shows Kendra pretty close up as Hawkgirl.
The final scene reveals that Grodd has indeed landed near the refuge, letting out a mighty roar as he goes to check it out.
OMG Moment of the Week: I think that one came right at the end. Gorilla City? I think so. The Hawkgirl reveal, wings and all, was a very close second.
#SnowJay Alert Level: Condition Green. No Jay again this week, but you have to figure he’ll be back sooner or later.
Final Thought: Not bad at all. A second appearance by Grodd was very welcome, Barry got over his injuries quickly, and we got more on Hawkgirl. Things are gathering speed for the Arrow crossover, which is happily only two weeks away. We still need to know why Kendra is in Central City — I’m assuming it’s not a coincidence — but that should become clear very soon. No new episode next week, but the crossover should be worth the wait.