The Flash Season 6 Episode 17 Review: Liberation
Sarah Little
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After six episodes, Barry realized that Iris was not his Iris, but it was a struggle convincing those around him.
Barry was dead set on proving that Iris' clone -- or reflection -- was a fake and on getting his wife back from wherever she might be. It took him a while and a few wrong guesses, but he knew it had to do with McCulloch Tech.
All in all, The Flash Season 6 Episode 17 was suspenseful and unpredictable. It finally addressed the growing need for Barry to notice something was wrong with his wife, even though the outcome was not what we had hoped.
Iris is still stuck in the Mirrorverse. Eva has escaped, and Iris' clone is dead.
But Barry now knows exactly where Iris is and about Eva, so maybe it is a half win? We will take whatever we can at this point.
Plus, those last couple of heartbreaking scenes between Barry and Iris' clone and Barry and Iris speaking to one another through the mirror were just about perfect.
Barry: Iris, I...I don't know if it's crazy to think that you can hear me. I guess right now I just need to believe it. I miss you. So much.
Iris: I know you probably can't hear me Barry, but Being away from you hurts more and more every day. But I still have hope because I know you are out there fighting to get me back home.
Barry: If you can hear me, I guess I just need you to know that-
Iris: I love you. And that love is constant.
Barry: Across dimensions. Across time. Through the end of the world and back. And if I know you, I know you aren't just fighting to find your way home.
Iris: And I'm gonna find Kamilla. And I'm gonna find Singh. But most of all-
Barry: I'm gonna get you back.
Iris: I'm gonna find my way back to you.
The acting was all-around brilliant, but the raw emotion between all the characters, centering around Barry and Iris' relationship, reminded us that they are one of the strongest couples on television who have gotten through the worst of circumstances.
Barry and Iris will overcome this, just like they have everything else. They are an integral part of what makes The Flash worth watching. While Iris is Barry's lightning rod, their relationship is the show's.
Many of us doubted just how faithful Barry was to his wife, given how long it had taken him to realize it wasn't Iris, but he went ahead and proved us all wrong with his determination throughout the hour.
Barry acted like a crazed man when trying to convince Cecile that Iris was an imposter, and it was hard to fault her for not believing him at first.
But Cecile came through like she always does. Though, you would think that her powers would have clued her in a bit earlier that Iris was a clone, and Barry was real.
You are Barry. I know it in my heart. And I'm willing to bet my life on it. Now go get Iris back.
Cecile
Thankfully she believed in Barry, and once he was free, nothing was stopping him from getting back the real Iris. Except for his diminishing speed, of course.
If only that briefly mentioned Artificial Speed Force had been up and running, Barry could have done some real damage on Eva and Iris' clone.
I went back and forth between feeling sympathy for Iris' clone and seeing her as only an extension of Eva.
The humanity within her shone through in some parts of the episode, but it was a little hard to believe when she was charging at Barry with her mirror knives for arms.
Look at all the clues. Okay, I mean, she speaks Italian all of a sudden. She smashed a bottle over some guy's head. She made incredible pancakes. Cecile, trust me, Iris can't make pancakes, alright? But the biggest clue was her throwing me out. The real Iris would never stop fighting for us.
Barry
If there had been any tease before this episode of Iris' clone turning good and wanting to be alive -- that line tugged at the heartstrings -- it would have been a bit more believable.
Instead, her compassion was sprung upon us and felt forced at times. There needs to be a bit of build-up to connect with a character, and that was, unfortunately, lacking here.
However, Barry, with his fierce kindness, was able to ignite some sympathies for Iris' clone that we were searching to find. And it helped that Candice Patton was phenomenal in Iris' clone's final scene.
While Barry was trying to figure out what exactly happened to Iris, Eva was planning on liberating herself from the Mirrorverse.
I would love to see someone count how many times they said "liberate" or "liberation" throughout the hour. It has to be at least in the double digits, right?
You just stay out of my way, Flash. And I'll stay out of yours. I have unfinished business to attend to. And a whole world to liberate.
Eva
Eva is interesting as she is a type of villain that Barry has never really faced before -- one that does not care about him or want anything to do with him.
Barry was just in Eva's way of enacting her revenge on her husband, and that is why she needed to take him down.
Barry is not her end game here, Joseph Carver is. And that is probably one of the only reasons why he is still alive.
Part of Eva's plan to escape the Mirrorverse was to use Ramsey AKA Bloodwork and his blood. And just when I thought we had seen the last of him.
His story seemed to be over the previous time we saw him on The Flash Season 6 Episode 8, but if his scene with Eva's clones was any indication, he is just getting started.
Ramsey is in it for the long game, making him a bit similar to the Reverse Flash. The most dangerous villains are always the ones with the most patience.
His reintroduction is kind of intriguing as he was a decent villain, but it feels as if we are moving backward instead of forward.
Hopefully, whatever the writers have in store for Ramsey for the future is a new story that does not feel like a repeat of the first half of The Flash Season 6. Besides that, though, it is always exciting to see an old face.
There was another, tiny story on the other side of the episode that was easily forgettable.
Caitlin is in some sort of danger because of her injury from her fight with Sunshine on The Flash Season 6 Episode 15.
Basically, her ice powers are not mixing well with the light-induced wound, meaning that she needs to get help from her mother to fix whatever is wrong.
Cisco: Polar bear's a little on the nose, don't you think?
Ralph: Well it's not like the stores have a "Get well soon from dual light-assassin attack" card.
It felt out of place on an episode that was all about saving Iris from the Mirrorverse, and it was only dropped in there for the sake of exposition.
Plus, there was no real payoff. Maybe we will get some answers soon, though, when Caitlin visits her mother.
What did you think The Flash Fanatics?
Are you disappointed that Iris is still trapped in the Mirrorverse? How relieved are you that Kamilla is not dead?
And why do the bad guys always tell the heroes all the details of their evil plan?
Let me know in the comments, and do not forget that you can watch The Flash online right here via TV Fanatic!
The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
Sarah Little was a staff writer for TV Fanatic.She retired in September 2021.
