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» » Flash King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd (2014– )

Short summary

When Gorilla Grodd attacks Central City, Barry and friends find themselves teaming up with King Shark; when they hit a snag, they bring in Dr. Tanya Lamden to try to reach the man behind the shark.

Jesse L. Martin's return to the series since his back injury during the summer hiatus. He was last seen in Флэш: News Flash (2018).

This episode was subtly foreshadowed in the season 3 episode "Attack on Central City" (2017); after Grodd was defeated and was mentioned to have been locked up at A.R.G.U.S., Caitlin stated that he can be thrown into the same cage as King Shark for all she cares, since any good in him is long gone. Cisco then states that was a fight he'd pay money to see.

Joe says to Iris that he traveled to Tibet to "heal", an in-joke as Jesse L. Martin was recovering from a back injury he sustained.

This episode foreshadows the fact that the meta-cure is one of the most important developments in the entire Arrowverse to date.

This is the third episode Lyla appears without Oliver Queen, and the second episode she appears without John Diggle.

Grodd falling from the construction crane and onto a car is an homage to King Kong, who, after getting shot by biplanes, falls to his death from the top of the Empire State Building.

After the battle between King Shark and Grodd, Cisco states that it was the best "Kaiju" battle ever watched, a reference to Godzilla and King Kong etc.

Dan Payne takes over the role of Shay Lamden/King Shark, which was previously portrayed by David Hayter.

Dan Payne played Obsidian in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "The Justice Society of America" (2016).

This episode marks the return of Tanya Lamden, who last appeared in the S2 episode "King Shark" (2016) and was played by Haley Beauchamp, she's now played by Zibby Allen.

Grodd having not been in Central City since "Attack on Central City" since he was transferred to "Legends" for the 2017-2018 season where he was last seen in early 1990's Zambesi in "Guest Starring John Noble".

King Shark was last seen in a cameo at the beginning montage of Crisis on Earth-X.

The GIF that is texted in the denouement is taken from an episode of The Simpsons.

After Cisco and Caitlin are verified to no longer be under Grodd's control, Cisco states "there are no more strings on us", referencing the 1940 film Pinocchio. A similar line was said by Leonard Snart in the Legends of Tomorrow episode Destiny (2016) and Flash S3 episode Infantino Street (2017) the latter episode featuring King Shark.

In an amusing moment,Nora says that the Flash Museum got a lot of things wrong, It's possible that the Flash Museum was just put together by someone who wasn't closely connected to Team Flash, and made huge errors when researching Flash's missions. Alternatively, another possibility is that - somewhere down the line - Flash will develop an immunity to Grodd's powers, which the Museum's curator assumed meant speedsters had always been resistant to telepathic control.

Grodd gets his trademark mind control helmet he has from the comic, which he stole from Dr. Lamden who developed it to help King Shark.

Cisco likens King Shark freaking out to the critically panned film Jaws: The Revenge. Shark Week was also mentioned; an annual, week-long TV programming block, which features shark-based programming.

Lyla readily accepts that Nora is from the future. She points out that it's no weirder than finding out that her son used to be her daughter in an alternate timeline, something she found out in the Invasion crossover.

Cisco refers to Grodd as the team's "simian Svengali", harking back to a character from the 1895 George du Maurier novel Trilby

Iris is shown punching a punching bag while wearing a black tank top being encouraged by Joe, similar to the S2 episode of Arrow, Time of Death (2014) in which Felicity is training with a punching bag while wearing a black tank top, while being encouraged by Sara.

When trying to find someone to test the metacure on Cisco suggests Earth-2 Harrison Wells, who is referred to as "Ric" a reference to Ric and Morty.

It's stated that King sharks mind is regressing more to primal instincts, in the comics his mind is a little more balanced which is shown when he's reading a book in one issue.

Joe texts Iris saying, "but Grodd hate banana", a reference to the S1 episode Grodd Lives (2015) when Grodd kidnaps him and Joe tries to give him a banana to which Grodd refuses as he detests them.

When King Shark is approaching the dock for the first time, the Jaws theme song can be heard.

King Shark says to Grodd "King Shark wants you gone", a similar line he said to Barry in the S2 episode Fury of Firestorm (2015), "Zoom wants you dead."

The producers had wanted to an episode like this for a long time, but when they got later into the episodes, they realized they wouldn't have the money or resources, but they ended up doing it anyway with this episode.

This episode is similar to the S4 episode Enter Flashtime, both episodes start off in a predicament then goes backwards in time explaining the events that eventually lead up to where it left off at the beginning.

Cisco quotes Oliver Queen when he says to Caitlin, "don't interrupt a man when he's brooding".

Barry mentions an old trick to Nora, by running in a circle around Grodd before Barry delivers a supersonic punch to him is similar to the way how he defeated him in the S1 episode "Grodd Lives" (2015).

Nora assumes that, as speedsters, she and Barry should be immune to Grodd's powers (something she learned from the Flash Museum, which Team Flash informed her was not true). This may be a reference to the fact that Barry is immune to telepathy in the comics.

Second episode with both King Shark and Grodds name in the title, first was Grodd Lives (2015) in S1, and King Shark (2016) in S2.

Gorilla Grodd's method of subduing Killer Shark in The Flash is also accurate to real life; some sharks do indeed go into a trance-like state - called "tonic immobility" - when they're upside-down that can last for up to 15 minutes. Once sharks "snap out of it," they revert to their normal positions, and then promptly resume their typical activities. Interestingly, just like Grodd some real-world predators actually use tonic immobility to give them an advantage against sharks in a confrontation pinning a shark upside-down and suffocating them. Marine researchers often use tonic immobility to safely subdue a shark.

Flash and XS use lightning to jolt King Shark back into action, with Team Flash's scientists suggesting that sharks are uniquely vulnerable to electricity. Surprisingly, again The Flash is being fairly scientifically accurate; sharks are tremendously sensitive to electrical currents; when in the water, they have an additional sense called "electroreception" that allows them to detect the small currents generated when another creature moves a muscle. Presumably, King Shark has this sense; it wouldn't work in the open air, as air doesn't carry a charge in the same way as salt water, but it certainly would make him feel the impact of a lightning blast even more than a normal human.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: porosh
    Very entertaining and lived up to the hype!! I hope for more episodes like this one!
  • comment
    • Author: Iell
    The main plot of the episode is the Metahuman cure and the drama that follows along with it, it was honestly better than what I expected. But as the episode went on we get to see what they hyped us up about and it was executed in a good way but I felt that there was too little action but seeing King Shark fight one of my favorite Flash villains was nice to see. Stefan Pleszczynski did a great job at directing the episode and the actors, he managed to direct something that felt fresh and not recycled. Great episode!

    We get to see Jesse L. Martin back as Joe West and it's great to see him back in the role. We also got to see Lyla crossover once again from Arrow, it's always nice to see people crossover in even small roles. It's amazing that we get to see Cisco being his own self again, the positive and funny person and the dialogue he had in today's episode was S1-2 great! The Swedish fish candy was a nice addition, I agree it tastes pretty great.
  • comment
    • Author: Jockahougu
    That was really good.iris wasn't hero of the episode and we saw two villians and the metahuman cure worked. The Flash's goodness finally returnes!
  • comment
    • Author: Vishura
    I had high hopes for this episode and it proved me right. It might even be better than the season 2 episode "King Shark". We also get to see the return of Joe West which was great.
  • comment
    • Author: Usishele
    The episode managed to live up to the hype, and featured great action, a romance subplot acted out very nicely by the two guest stars, as well as lots of original team flash (Barry, Caitlin, Cisco) interactions. All in all, it had lots of S1 and S2 elements, and that is never a bad thing. Well done Flash!
  • comment
    • Author: Mbon
    Awesome CGI for a tv show with limited budget.

    The rest of the plot was actually pretty good.
  • comment
    • Author: Shakataxe
    Such a great episode and hope more of this comes in future.
  • comment
    • Author: FRAY
    An entertaining episode; heavy on the CGI (must've used a lot of budget) and a little light on the Cicada storyline (which at this point Im fine with, seeing next week's promo).

    I always like when Grodd makes an appearance, he's such a classic Flash villain. However, I couldn't really see his motivation for attacking Central City in this particular episode. Maybe it was for revenge about what happened two years ago on Gorilla City.

    The Flash has more screentime (like he should), and participates more in the overall battle. Not acting like a dummy (thank you writers). Nora is...well, Nora. If you've read my reviews you know how I feel about the character.

    That's sort of what I thought about this episode. It was fine; Im not really impressed by CGI fights unless they have great stories behind them and involve more than "Im gonna destroy the city!" or "The city will be mine!". I still have to admit that the fight was entertaining, and it was well done. King Shark was also more interesting than in previous seasons.

    My rating: 8.4/10
  • comment
    • Author: Seevinev
    Welcome back, Flash fans! No Cicada but this time it is Grodd v Killer Shark. It may sound like a warm-up to Kong v Godzilla but the visuals were too generic to be immersed in this episode. Time to concentrate more on Cicada and press the pedal! VERDICT: My ratings (based on what I marked on IMDb): Season 1: 200/23 = 8.69; Season 2: 193/23= 8.23; Season 3: 188/23= 8.17; Season 4: 146/23= 6.65 and Season 5= 105.5/15 = 7.03 (This episode = 6.5/10)
  • comment
    • Author: Wild Python
    The Flash Season 05 Episode Number 15 was a waste of time and money both. I think the age bracket for this episode is three to seven years kids. The CGI used was very weak and simply looks clumsy and stupid? This TV show started great, and now it is losing its charm and is dying down. After watching this episode, I must feel that it is right to drop some lines on this kiddish performance by the two villain's. I will gave this episode 1 out of 10 rating.
  • comment
    • Author: BlessСhild
    I generally like most of the flash eps and I know the effort to create this particular effort takes money and time however I would've thought creating a cartoon version would've got the same effect. I found storyline boring and didn't serve much purpose to the overall series plot. Could e given this a miss
  • comment
    • Author: Pipet
    Reaaaally really boring episode.already done better in a movie won an oscar and all that. its about 2seasons since the crew ran out of ideas..just end it
  • Episode complete credited cast:
    Grant Gustin Grant Gustin - Barry Allen / The Flash
    Candice Patton Candice Patton - Iris West-Allen
    Danielle Panabaker Danielle Panabaker - Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost
    Carlos Valdes Carlos Valdes - Cisco Ramon / Vibe
    Danielle Nicolet Danielle Nicolet - Cecille Horton
    Jessica Parker Kennedy Jessica Parker Kennedy - Nora West-Allen / XS
    Tom Cavanagh Tom Cavanagh - Sherloque Wells
    Jesse L. Martin Jesse L. Martin - Joe West
    Audrey Marie Anderson Audrey Marie Anderson - Lyla Michaels
    Zibby Allen Zibby Allen - Dr. Tanya Lamden
    Dan Payne Dan Payne - Shay Lamden
    David Sobolov David Sobolov - Gorilla Grodd (voice)
    David Hayter David Hayter - King Shark (voice)
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