Some spoilers ahead for The Flash Episode 22, “Invincible.” Look away if you still need to catch up.
The Flash just delivered another milestone episode, and, as Season 2 has progressed, we’ve seen Barry and Iris grow closer on the show. Of course, they were always close, having basically been raised together, but we all know that Barry had much more than brotherly/friendly feelings for Iris as they grew up. Tonight’s episode gave us yet another piece in the Barry and Iris (Barris?) puzzle as a newly optimistic Barry asked Iris to give a real romantic relationship between them a shot.
It’s no big surprise that The Flash has played so much with Barry’s feeling regarding Iris. In the comics, their relationship is a cornerstone of The Flash’s story, although Iris’ background makes their story somewhat more complicated. In the comics Iris was born in the 30th century and was sent back to our time by her parents, where she was raised by the West family. After several years as a globe-trotting reporter, she moved to Central City and met Barry while reporting on a murder. They dated and later married, with this version of Iris finding out about Barry’s secret identity on their wedding night. After Iris is killed by Zoom, her birth parents are able to draw her life force back to the future, give her a new body that looks like her original one and reunite her with Barry. They went on to have twins Don and Dawn, who inherited Barry’s speed and became the Tornado Twins.
See? A love story for the ages if I’ve ever seen one. On The Flash, Barry asking Iris to consider a relationship with him is just the most recent gesture in a long line of will they/won’t they, or, more to the point, when-will-they moments on the show. Iris, of course, frequently stood vigil by Barry’s hospital bed while he was in his particle accelerator generated coma. During the first season it was obvious that Barry was quietly aching for Iris as she dated, and then moved in with, Eddie. Barry finally reveals his feelings for her, and Iris later admits that she feels the same, but this happens right before Barry accidentally goes back in time and undoes their mutual confessions, so…oh,well.
It was just a couple of episodes ago that Iris felt like she was over Eddie’s death enough to reveal her feelings to Barry. Between finding out last season that in the future Reverse Flash came from, she and Barry were married, and that their current Earth-2 counterparts are husband and wife, Iris seems to have finally realized that the two of them might be destined to be together. Now, though, Barry will be dealing with his father’s horrible death at the hands of Zoom, which, to put it mildly, may be a boner killer. This could go either way. Maybe Barry will lean on Iris more and they’ll get even closer. Or, he’ll be so despondent and/or filled with rage over his dad’s death that he won’t be able to keep himself from pushing her away for a while.
Well, whichever scenario Iris and Barry find themselves in for Season 3, it’s pretty clear that they need to find their way to each other eventually. The fans can’t wait much longer to use that Barris couple name without getting laughed at.
You can catch the Season 2 finale of The Flash next Tuesday on The CW.
