Given all the bad blood between the two, it would have been easy for him to become blindsided by his anger or the familiar sting of betrayal, but Barry was able to appreciate the difficult predicament Wells was in, admitting he might have done the same thing in Wells’ shoes. It was a very mature moment and a nice culmination of all the work Barry has done this season to let go of his grudge against the Reverse-Flash. The show has always tried to emphasize that Barry’s compassion is his most heroic trait, but it’s often done so by having other characters make speeches about how great Barry is. Letting Barry’s actions speak for themselves, as they do here, is much more powerful.
This episode also gave us some nice insight into Wally’s character, building upon his reasons for racing and his love of speed. I’ve really enjoyed the slow but steady approach the writers have taken to integrating Wally into the West family. Seeing the normally strict and straight-laced Joe try and act cool and laid-back makes for an interesting change of pace, and it feels more truthful than if Joe had instantly taken to parenting a twenty-something after being absent for his childhood. It also gave Iris a chance to step up and try to address Wally’s criminal activities Joe has been turning a blind eye to. Seeing her go undercover and plant listening devices was fun, even if it didn’t ultimately lead to much; hopefully this means a return to more of the journalistic adventures she had in Season One.
Curiously, however, Barry seems to be totally oblivious to what Joe and Iris are dealing with. While Barry is obviously not related to Wally in the same way that Iris and Joe are, it is a bit odd that he’s so removed from all the West drama when the show has gone to great lengths to show close Barry is with his foster family. His distance is understandable to a certain degree, given how busy he is, but you’d expect him to at least visit Iris in the hospital or have dinner with the rest of the family; especially given that he lives at home.
It might be that the writers are planning to explore Wally and Barry’s dynamic later when less is going on, but it feels weird that the two haven’t even been on-screen together yet. And it looks like we’ll have to wait a while longer for that, since Barry and Wells are making the long awaited journey to Earth-2 next week.
Fingers crossed for a glimpse of Atlantis!
Written by Kaitlin Roberts, THE FLASH Beat Writer - Click here to read Kaitlin's posts.
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