‘Shiptober: Where will ‘The Flash’ season 3 take Barry Allen, Iris West?

Mrs. Carter: Is the future finally bright for Barry and Iris on “The Flash“?

For much of the first season, the biggest problem for these two was that Iris didn’t know the extent of his feelings, and she was also in a romantic relationship with Eddie Thawne. He died, and then season 2 was about her handling her grief while Barry was with Patty Spivot. The two finally came close to being together at the end of the season, but the death of Henry Allen led to Barry being in a precarious place romantically.

Now that Flashpoint is over and we’re two episodes into season 3, they’ve kissed! More importantly, they’ve kissed in a way that Iris will actually remember for a change. They’re moving into a more romantic and stable place, which is great given the future prophecy of these two being married. From the standpoint of the show, there are advantages and challenges that came along with this.

The benefits – For one, you’re giving ‘shippers of these two characters something that they can celebrate. Viewers have been fairly patient over these past two years, and given all of the drama in Barry’s life, we imagine that you want him to have some happiness to balance things out in terms of tone. Also, there are some fun stories that can be told about this that were introduced during Patty’s arc on the show. For example, will Barry be able to make it to dates easier, or set up a night of romance in the blink of an eye? There has to be something nice about having a partner who can create a little bit of magic.

The arrangement could also help the two professionally, given that Barry could give Iris information for her stories, while at the same time she could help him figure out details when it comes to people he’s battling since she’s great at digging up scoop. Basically, they could make Central City a safer place together.

The challenges – One of the biggest ones is trying to keep things fresh, since you don’t want the relationship to settle in and become boring. Yet, at the same time we don’t want a pattern forming where Villain A learns that Barry is the Flash, and then they immediately kidnap Iris on a regular basis. We also don’t want things to become super-depressing and melodramatic to the point where it changes the relationship. To us, this is why Oliver and Felicity were more fun on “Arrow” before they got together; there was more casual flirting and a little less angst, and we hope that this is something the writers look at if they decide to bring these two back together.

You have to find a way to make the relationship suit the show, and then also ensure that it stays fresh and interesting for the people involved (“Bones” is a great example of how to do this). Hopefully, “The Flash” figures this out.

Do you want Barry and Iris together all season? Be sure to vote in the attached poll, or head over here to check out some more of our recent updates on “The Flash” via our archive. (Photo: The CW.)

This column is written by Jessica Carter and you can follow her on Twitter here or Facebook here.