The one thing that’s working well for The Flash in year 7 is the love between Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candace Patton). The Arrowverse series has been littered with problems this season, but what it is doing with the two leads isn’t among them.
The ending of the Mirror Master arc at the start of the season guaranteed a new trajectory for Barry and Iris, who have been married since now 4. Iris, who’s long been known as Barry’s”lightning pole “, helped him reignite the Speed Force, but at the same time brought into existence three other cosmic forces, that have resulted in the introduction of Fuerza (Sara Garcia), Psych (Ennis Esmer), and Deon (Christian Magby). Considering that the few were directly responsible for the rebirth of the Speed Force and the forces of the 3 new characters, they have come to regard themselves as a family. This connection has been a central element of the series’s Speed Force story in year 7.
The Arrowverse’s handling of the story concerning how it’s influenced Barry and Iris’s relationship is among the greatest parts of the entire year. Finding ways to keep long-running relationships such as theirs from getting stale can be challenging for TV shows, but The Flash is successfully pulling off this. The series did something somewhat unusual for them in episode 9 when Barry and Iris split over whether they should undo the creation of the four Forces. But though they have not always been on exactly the exact same page this year, the two have managed to persevere together with no bond being ruined. Both beating their disagreements has proven the strength of the connection.
Also, the two treating themselves as the”parents” of the Forces has been an intriguing direction for the series to take. In the latest episode, this plotline culminated in them looking to start a real family, which felt like the right end with this chapter in their lives, especially because it has been revealed that what comes alongside the show is the debut of the future kid, Impulse (Jordan Fisher) along with the return of XS (Jessica Parker Kennedy).
Regrettably, there are fewer great things to say about the rest of the season. The story offered for Killer Frost and Caitlin Snow felt deep and meaningful at the moment but was created moot by Frost’s hurried re-entry to the show. The characters associated with Team Citizen happen to be underutilized, and possibly worst of all, Barry’s status as the Fastest Man Alive seems more unimportant today than ever. Time and time again this year Barry has found his pace to become inadequate when it comes to beating their villains. Too often Team Flash has had to resort to the same tired tactics – talking their enemies down – to resolve conflicts. All things considered, The Flash has a number of problems that will hopefully be fixed in the season’s remaining episodes.