Remember when Barry Allen used to be this happy, selfless, fun-loving, SINGLE hero? It was true at one point, then WestAllen happened. And ever since, Barry's been dragged down to levels of boring mediocrity. Failing to get rid of trashy Iris West in Season 3, the writers had to figure out what to do with her going forward, so they come up with the "brilliant" idea of making her the leader of Team Flash, even though she has no scientific background or acumen, stood around the for 3 seasons like a deer in headlights, and doesn't even seem like she has the capacity to read. So in Season 4, Iris is in Starlabs full time bossing everyone around and play acting like she's smart. Really, she was in the lab all of Season 3 also, even though she supposedly was a reporter.
I've always known Iris was trash, but this episode 'Mixed Signals' is the one where everyone else figured it out, too. The beginning of the infamous Iris proclamation "We are the Flash" to Barry. Yeah, somehow, the ONE person in the lab who didn't do anything but stand around like an idiot for 3 full seasons and doesn't know her left from her right is all of a sudden the most important member of the team. You've had characters like Cisco, Caitlin, Wells, and Joe who have repeatedly saved Barry's life for 3 seasons and none of them would ever have the audacity to self-promote and insist to Barry that he needs them to survive. Nor would they ever emotionally blackmail Barry into thinking he abandoned them for the Speedforce, because you know why, Iris? Barry didn't abandon you! He saved your life and everyone in the city. But Iris has been like this for years, just more low-key and subtle about it. Everything is pretty much about her. Her only "use" is as Barry's love interest, so all she can do is turn the Flash into some angsty romantic melodrama. Sadly, at the end of it all, somehow, the writers intimated that Iris was actually right and Barry wrong for, you know, saving the world! But, hey, as long as this canon relationship sticks and Iris shoots out Barry's speedster kids, that's all these pscyho fangirls care about. WE ARE THE FLASH!
I've always known Iris was trash, but this episode 'Mixed Signals' is the one where everyone else figured it out, too. The beginning of the infamous Iris proclamation "We are the Flash" to Barry. Yeah, somehow, the ONE person in the lab who didn't do anything but stand around like an idiot for 3 full seasons and doesn't know her left from her right is all of a sudden the most important member of the team. You've had characters like Cisco, Caitlin, Wells, and Joe who have repeatedly saved Barry's life for 3 seasons and none of them would ever have the audacity to self-promote and insist to Barry that he needs them to survive. Nor would they ever emotionally blackmail Barry into thinking he abandoned them for the Speedforce, because you know why, Iris? Barry didn't abandon you! He saved your life and everyone in the city. But Iris has been like this for years, just more low-key and subtle about it. Everything is pretty much about her. Her only "use" is as Barry's love interest, so all she can do is turn the Flash into some angsty romantic melodrama. Sadly, at the end of it all, somehow, the writers intimated that Iris was actually right and Barry wrong for, you know, saving the world! But, hey, as long as this canon relationship sticks and Iris shoots out Barry's speedster kids, that's all these pscyho fangirls care about. WE ARE THE FLASH!