Barry Allen walked off into the Speed Force at the end of Season 3, but he's coming back in Season 4 -- because let's be honest, you can't have The Flash without its titular hero -- and he's returning with more than a few issues. In fact, Iris West actress Candice Patton recently opened up and explained that Barry and Iris will have to seek some professional help when Barry finally zips back to Central City, and apparently hilarity will ensue as a result. The actress explained:
We're getting a little more light-hearted and funny. Barry, once he comes back from the Speed Force, Barry and Iris have to go to couples therapy and kind of work through those issues. So there's some really funny stuff coming up.
The fact that Barry and Iris will need a third party to help them work through their issues isn't necessarily surprising. After that whole ordeal last season with Savitar (who turned out to be a scarred, dark-timeline version of future Barry), they never really had a chance to unpack her survival, her killing Savitar, and everything else that happened between them, since it wasn't very long before Barry had to sacrifice himself to the Speed Force. Now, with Barry coming back (and acting pretty weird when he finally returns), they're going to need to fix a few relationship issues before they decide to move forward as a normal couple, if that description even applies to them anymore.
Despite something as dreaded as couples therapy rearing its head in the upcoming season of The Flash, it doesn't sound like the romantic issues will be nearly as severe as the problems Barry and Iris faced in previous years. Barry will have let go of a considerable amount of emotional baggage during his time away, and based on Candice Patton's comments at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest (via one attendee), it feels like these scenes will be used more to deliver laughs than straight heartfelt emotion. Think less Kramer vs. Kramer and maybe more The Odd Couple, in terms of how The Flash will approach this angle. (Barry is such an Oscar.)
Even without the funny business, it seems doubtful that this couples therapy subplot could have any significant and permanent negative impacts on the West-Allen dynamic. After all, we already know that Barry and Iris will finally tie the knot this season -- thus giving Iris the Flash-ified newspaper byline teased during The Flash's first season. (Not that we think that wedding will go smoothly, but we can hope.) Beyond that, Season 3 was so heavily influenced by the drama between these two; to keep things fresh, playing their increasingly improving relationship for laughs can allow the series to give WestAllen shippers their happiness while focusing the episodes on other issues, like Harry's diminishing sense of purpose and The Thinker's master plan.
Barry Allen and Iris West will get to work on their relationship woes when The Flash returns to The CW for Season 4 on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET (right before the Season 3 premiere of Legends of Tomorrow). That said, The Fastest Man Alive's solo series isn't the only show premiering this fall, so check out our fall premiere guide for more information on everything debuting in the next few months!
