Barry mind-melds to create Flash Grodd, Chester joins the team in the latest Flash

The weird fallout of Crisis on Infinite Earths continued to play out this week, as we pick up with Flash’s old foe Gorilla Grodd still locked up in a post-Crisis world trapped in a mind prison at ARGUS.

Spoilers ahead for “Grodd Friended Me,” the latest episode of The CW’s Flash, which aired Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

A whole lot of things change, but a few stay the same, namely the fact that Gorilla Grodd is still trapped in that mind device where we last left him a season or so ago. But, he finally gets a chance to escape when Barry tries to make some tweaks to his Gideon earpiece (with Chester hanging around to lend a hand, accidentally making it susceptible to Grodd’s intrusion), and the Gideon interface mind-melds Barry into Grodd’s mind. He initially traps Barry in a cage, showing him memories from his own captivity at STAR Labs in the pre-Flash days. 

But he soon comes clean about what he really wants — his freedom. It seems Grodd was spared from the merging realities of Crisis and remembers the world as it was, though he’s also aware of how things have changed. The biggest tweak in this new world? Gorilla City is here, and Grodd just wants a chance to live his quiet life in peace with his own kind. Barry is understandably skeptical at first, but comes to believe Flash.

The only way to escape this mindscape? A gorilla battle royale to get past the gatekeeper and free their minds. The only way to win is to merge into a super-fast Grodd Flash, complete with a lightning bolt on his furry chest. It’s a wild bit of action, and a team-up fans never knew they wanted to see.

The CW

Back in the real world, Team Flash is working with a whole new lineup, as Chester and Kamilla on comms as Barry heads off to battle the new and improved Pied Piper (you know, before he got sucked into the mindscape). Cisco is still on the road trying to chart the differences of the post-Crisis world (though he’s apparently headed back to town soon), and Iris is knee-deep in her investigation (with the real Iris still trapped in a mirror universe). That leaves Chester and Kamilla manning the comms at STAR Labs, and they do an admirable job keeping the Team Flash train running on schedule.

Chester takes some big steps forward this week, and shows his technological prowess helping save the day and bail Barry out of the mind-meld. If the team ever needs a new member to help out (or God forbid, replace) Cisco, he looks up to the task. He also brings a fun, excited energy we haven’t seen in a while around STAR Labs, and it’s a welcome change. It’s been a long time since anyone on Team Flash was truly geeking out about all this stuff, which was a charming bit of fun the first season or so. Chester brings that back in spades. He also helps Barry find where his parents are buried (the original cemetery apparently doesn't exist post-Crisis). It's a sweet moment, and shows Chester really does want to help and be a part of this effort.

Nash’s strange connection with Allegra also took a big step forward this week, as she discovered the photo of Nash and her doppelganger that Nash has been holding onto. He doesn’t come clean, though, because he’s pulled aside by those alt-universe Nash visions and warned that “He is coming.” Who is that mysterious person on the way? We’re anxious to find out.

Turning our attention to the mirror dimension, Iris is still tracked there with Eva, though we learn a bit more about Eva. Turns out she’s not as innocent as we’ve been led to believe. When Iris isn’t around, she communicates with Mirror Iris on the outside and talks about their “plan” in the works. So yeah, there’s definitely some shady stuff happening there. Here’s hoping Iris finally gets out soon.

Next up: The Flash returns on March 10. Wally is back, but he brings some bad news. Turns out the Speed Force is broken. Uh oh.