Spoilers ahead for Episode 11 of The Flash Season 6, called "Love Is A Battlefield."
The Flash seemed like it was going for an hour of shenanigans for its Valentine's Day episode, with the intro appearing to reveal Iris easily and underwhelmingly escaping the mirror world after the killer cliffhanger from the week before. Iris was a little off from her usual self for most of "Love Is A Battlefield," but her explanations were believable enough. The twist at the end of the episode proved that the real Iris is still trapped inside the mirror world. Somebody is impersonating her with her friends, family, and husband... while Iris watches.
It's actually pretty messed up for everybody involved, especially with the implication that the unknowing Barry and Fake-Iris were about to hook up while the real Iris pounded on a mirror from the other side and tried to catch her husband's attention.
Iris' life, relationships, marriage, and the Citizen could be ruined or at least significantly damaged by the imposter. Barry is seemingly being tricked into sleeping with somebody other than his wife, which he would never consent to if he had all the information. Nobody knows what's happening to help the real Iris, so there's the combined problem of Iris being missing and Iris being replaced by a villain with no one the wiser.
On the one hand, Iris being trapped while dealing with the truth that she's been replaced by a sinister imposter while everybody at home is manipulated is messed up, especially for what was once the lightest series in the Arrow-verse. On the other hand, it addresses one of my biggest personal concerns about The Flash as the most senior series in the Arrow-verse following the end of Arrow.
I was afraid that The Flash wouldn't actually follow through and deliver consequences for characters' decisions. Barry has been able to undo some of the biggest things ever been done throughout the course of the show. The Flashpoint arc that could have been game-changing almost impacted the heroes of another show more than Team Flash, and that's only one example.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" already proved that The Flash wasn't just resetting itself to its pre-Crisis state, even though the Arrow-verse of course found a way to kill off a Flash in the crossover without killing off the main Flash. Now, the messed up Iris twist proves that The Flash is going to follow through on Iris' somewhat reckless decision to pursue a lead without letting anybody in on the secret.
It's a little unfair that Iris' decision is being punished on The Flash when Barry has been reckless so many times on such grander scales, and I wish The Flash wasn't punishing Iris boldly pursuing a lead by having her life stolen while she's trapped with no signs that anybody will realize she's gone, but consequences are a step in the right direction for The Flash as the Arrow-verse's flagship series.
See what's in store for Iris in the mirror world and Team Flash on the outside with new episodes of The Flash on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. The Flash has already figured out how to handle Danielle Panabaker's real-life pregnancy without writing Caitlin/Frost with a bun in the over, and there are still questions about Cisco's role post-Crisis. And what role will the long-awaited Sue Dibny play? Find out soon!
