WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for The Flash Season 6, Episode 15, "Grodd Friended Me."
Iris West-Allen has been kidnapped and replaced with a Mirror Duplicate! And the Flash... hasn't noticed? For the last three episodes of the CW's hit television series, Iris has quite literally not been herself after being imprisoned in a mirror dimension by Eva McCulloch, a genderbent version of the second Mirror Master, and replaced with an imposter. Although Barry immediately noticed Iris was acting differently, he eventually came to the conclusion he could chalk up these differences to Iris growing and changing as a person, especially after his prophesied death in the reality-shattering mega-event that was the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover.
If this were any other show, that explanation might be enough to satisfy the audience's suspension of belief, but this isn't any other show; this is the television program whose last three seasons have revolved around the ongoing love story of Mr. Allen and Mrs. West-Allen. Multiple episodes and storylines have made it clear Iris and Barry are each other's lightning rods; they keep each other grounded and will always be able to find their way home. So where is their cosmic connection now?
It would be one thing if describing their connection as a "lightning rod" was simply an emotional expression, but in a world of accelerated men and the extra-dimensional Speed Force, that connection becomes a very tangible, very real cosmic link. Even if Barry can emotionally and logically rationalize why Iris seems different now, it seems difficult to believe that he can't somehow sense that this is literally no longer his Iris.
When Barry found himself infected and subsequently mind-controlled by Ramsey Rosso, the monstrous villain known as Bloodwork, Iris knew instantly Barry was no longer himself. Even though he still looked and sounded the same, he didn't act the same, and that alone was enough to tip Iris off that something was up within minutes of Barry succumbing to Rosso's influence. Now the roles have been reversed: Iris has been taken over by a villain and is no longer acting herself, but Barry cannot truly tell, and Iris, the real Iris, is directly suffering in Eva's mirror universe as a result.
Only time will tell how Barry's failure will continue to play out upon the show's return, but it's hard to imagine that this won't prove to be a huge obstacle in Barry and Iris' relationship once she returns to the real world. Iris has been watching Barry fall for a fake version of herself; what does that say to her about Barry's love and knowledge of her, and will she resent him for not being able to figure out in weeks what she could discern in seconds?
If someone else on Team Flash figures it out first or if Iris breaks free on her own, Barry may never be able to make it up to her. He has lived with mirror-Iris for weeks without figuring it out; they have shared meals and spent countless nights together, and somehow Barry is still none-the-wiser. Unless he is able to figure it out for himself before Iris manages to escape her mirror prison, it seems possible that this could be the problem that finally breaks the iconic couple.
Airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/CT on The CW, The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Nicolet and Hartley Sawyer.
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