Cry of the week: Barry and Iris' tragic love story has us sobbing through 'The Flash'
Welcome to our weekly series "Cry of the Week," in which we highlight whatever moment made us ugly cry on our couches the most in the past seven days.
This week’s episode of The Flash was a particularly rough one for Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), who ventured into the Speed Force to try and rescue Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) from an eternity of emotional torment after the young speedster was trapped there by the villainous Savitar in last week's installment.
Barry was probably anticipating that Wally’s jailbreak would be a simple grab-and-go operation, but instead he found himself confronted by the ghosts of failures past (or at least the Speed Force representations of them): Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett), Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) and Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller).
Both Eddie and Ronnie heroically sacrificed themselves so that Barry didn't have to, and they wasted no time telling him so -- pointing out his troubling penchant for making messes and letting his friends pay the price for them.
Barry’s frequent attempts to change the past -- and now the future -- have wreaked havoc in the lives of his loved ones, and the latest victim of his hubris is his girlfriend, Iris West (Candice Patton), who is supposedly destined to die at Savitar’s hands in a matter of weeks.
After Barry admitted that he only proposed to her because he was trying to change the future, Iris felt understandably betrayed, but she seemed willing to give him a second chance after his suicidal jaunt into the Speed Force. So what did Barry do in the face of such benevolence and forgiveness? Basically break up with her, natch.
The confusion and devastation on Iris' face when Barry told her that they needed some space was gut-wrenching (kudos to Candice Patton for ripping our hearts out so effectively); hasn't the poor woman suffered enough?
While Barry is clearly doing his best to alter her fate, he’s also pushing her away right when she needs him most -- too focused on saving her to actually make her feel loved and valued, or to take her desires into consideration.
If the future is fixed and Iris’ death is inevitable (and come on, would the show really do that to its OTP?), Barry will undoubtedly regret not pausing to enjoy the time they have left together. And if there is a chance to change the outcome, it seems both arrogant and shortsighted of him to make the decision to hit the brakes on their romance without giving Iris a choice -- shouldn’t she have some say in her own destiny?
Barry’s intentions are pure, but he clearly missed the point of the Speed Force’s warning, once again barreling ahead without stopping to consider the consequences of his actions -- believing that he can only defeat the Big Bad alone, when it's clearer than ever that he's strongest with his loved ones by his side. (And why haven't they just sent Iris to Hawaii on a one-way ticket until all of this Savitar nonsense blows over, anyway?)
You might be tempted to cry with frustration as our hero yet again attempts to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders alone, but luckily, Gustin and Patton possess the acting chops and chemistry to sell any conflict between Barry and Iris, no matter how ill-advised it might be.
Iris has always been a steady anchor for the impulsive men in her life, but she's also the resourceful author of her own story, not a damsel in distress. Barry shouldn't start treating her like one now.
It’s clear that our star-crossed couple loves each other unconditionally (which is why we’ll always root for them, even when Barry’s being boneheaded), so it's especially painful to see them on the rocks -- particularly because Grant Gustin’s misty eyes could rival Superman’s heat vision when it comes to melting our hearts.
Barry and Iris might be on a break for now, but we're betting that won't stop them from tugging at our heartstrings (or tear ducts) as we race towards the season finale. I don't think my heart is ready.
