#emotions, but also acting excellence™

Please suffer with me

Iris vs Mirror Iris

Listen as heart breaking as it was to hear Iris mention “Lightning Rod” line in such sad circumstances...

I don’t think it was just for angst reasons. In a episode where the speedforce dies, and Barry loses his powers as a speedster, and the chain of future speedsters being broken….I don’t think its a coincidence that Iris mentions the lightning rod. 

Because ultimately what does a lightning rod do? It draws the lightning out. 

Somehow I think Iris is going to play a major role in Barry getting his powers back.

#please reunite Iris West-Allen with her husband, thanks

it fucking SUCKS that Barry’s confessing his responsibility for the Speed Force to mirror!Iris instead of his Iris

“maybe you weren’t supposed to be the flash forever”

IRIS WOULD NEVER SAY THAT 

let’s pretend that’s not evil Iris he’s talking to.

Now I’m seeing a lot of you dragging Barry after tonight’s episode...

But keep a few things in mind…

1) He did in fact question and thought things were not right with Iris several times. But every time he brought it up Mirror!Iris always had a good explanation that threw him off. 

2) He’s already been told things are going to be different in this new post-Crisis world so he doesn’t know if these changes with Iris are because of that or not.

3) Mirror!Iris knew to hit him right in the feels to make him feel guilty about how he’s been treating her. This was smart because it completely threw Barry into a tailspin and made him completely stop questioning if something was wrong with Iris.

I know he’s being a bit slow but Barry is out here trying to be a good husband and do the right thing that he’s not realizing he’s being manipulated

We will find each other once again, however long it takes.

the only thing I'll say was that I too was gullible enough to WANT to believe it was the real iris, that even though I KNEW she wasn't her, I kept watching their scenes together and how she'd say the right thing and bring up the right issues to sting him where his guilty hurts over them are, and I was nearly convinced they were pulling a fast one on us and it WAS the real iris but just earth-primed out. until that final scene confirmed the truth about iris vs. "iris".

so yes barry is an idiot but this dude has ended the last five years having lost or about to lose his connection to iris in some way or another, from the singularity to flashpoint to savitar to the speed force to nora and then crisis, so the idea that he'd allow himself to squash all his instincts and force down all his doubts to spend even one more minute in blissful peace with "iris" again -- it's entirely on brand for him to push tomorrow aside for today. even I wanted to believe it.

the rest of this arc, if handled emotionally well, could easily be one of the best treatments of the westallen relationship that looks seriously at iris and barry's separate weaknesses and flaws, before looking at what makes them better when they're together.

Barry and Iris looking at each other during Iris’s vows.