'The Flash' Season 6 Episode 16: How Mirror Iris blew her cover and made Barry realize something is off
It took Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) getting kicked out of his own house by Mirror Iris (Candice Patton) for him to realize that something was really off. Finally. Fans have been wondering when the Scarlet Speedster would finally realize that Iris is not herself, and it has been quite a while.
In the latest episode titled 'So Long, And Goodnight', Barry is compelled to send Joe West (Jesse L Martin) to Witness Protection, as his life is in danger, and due to Barry's failing powers, he won't be able to save him. A furious Miris (Mirror Iris, fans somehow like calling her this), yells at him for taking this decision and then ends her relationship with him. Or so we think. In the promo for the next episode, Barry has figured out the truth and tells Miris that she isn't the real Iris, and he knows that his true love is out there somewhere.
Understandably, Barry has been so distraught about the dying Speed Force that he failed to notice anything else, be it the subtle or the big changes in Iris. Though Miris has been subtly tapping into the real Iris, she finally blew her cover in the latest episode.
Real Iris wouldn't bring Barry's parents up in a fight
In the last confrontation scene, Miris verbally attacks Barry after he tells her that Joe has been sent to the Witness Protection Program. She tells him that they now have a thing in common — "They don't have parents."
Real Iris would understand why Joe needs to WP
The real Iris would understand the importance of being sent to Witness Protection, especially after the fact that Joe West was almost killed several times in the episode. First, the car accident, then a gunshot and then the bomb. The real Iris would never make Barry feel guilty about sending Joe to safety.
Real Iris wouldn't pressure Barry to save lives after Speed Force's death
Miris was practically manically sending Barry to save Joe, even though the Scarlet Speedster could barely catch his breath and was stumbling. When Barry tells her that he is exhausted, his fingers are tingling and he feels numb, Miris just looks at him rather coldly and goes on ranting about how he is the Flash and tells him to get out of his own house. The real Iris would understand exactly how he is feeling right now.
'You're my home', well... 'not anymore'
It's been one of their couple-things to 'come home' to each other. Barry and Iris have always said this cutesy line to each other in different ways. It was even the song that Barry sang for Iris when he proposed to her. Just earlier this season, when Barry was infected by Bloodwork (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and had gone over to the dark side, Iris asked him to 'come home', and he said no. That's when Iris knew something was up. Barry tells Miris in this episode that she's his home, and she coldly answers, "Not anymore".
You overplayed your hand, Miris. There were other instances like her amazing cooking and speaking a different language or not even caring to see whether Barry was okay in a showdown. Both Joe and Wally had noticed that something was wrong.
Hopefully, Barry finds the real Iris soon.
'The Flash' airs on CW Tuesdays at 9 pm.