The Flash – Love Is a Battlefield

By starrymag | February 17, 2020

By: Malasha Parker

 

 

Iris (Candice Patton) disoriented as she comes from behind the table. She’s still in McCulloch’s office. She looks at the mirror and then quickly leaves once she hears someone coming.

 

Iris makes Barry (Grant Gustin) a surprise Valentine’s Day breakfast. He’s shocked when the pancakes actually taste good and she’s made fresh squeezed orange juice from a very expensive juicer. Barry asks her how she had time, but Iris tells him that Team Citizen is regrouping before going after Carver again. They get a reservation reminder and Barry suggests they make another one at Giovanni’s just in case they get interrupted. Barry sets the reminder and Iris goes to shower. 

 

Frost (Danielle Panabaker) is hanging Valentine’s decorations in The Citizen’s office when Allegra (Kayla Compton) comes in. She tells Frost how Nash is being very clingy. Frost says she wouldn’t miss her Valentine’s Day and Allegra tells her how she hates the day. Frost deduces that she doesn’t like it because she’s had a broken heart. Allegra tries to quickly hide what she’s looking at on her tablet, but Frost opens it back up to see that she’s looking at a profile of a guy she met at a gig his band played. Frost quickly encourages her to hang out with him by getting them to meet at Jitters. 

 

Barry and Iris are at Giovanni’s for dinner. The waiter asks what they would like in Italian and Barry starts to tell him they don’t speak it when Iris fluently replies to him. Barry is visibly shocked and asks when she learned to speak Italian and she says she picked it up from a Little Italy story she was working on. Before he can ask more they hear a crash and Amunet (Katee Sackhoff) comes in with an evil rhyme. A man walks up to her with a case warning her what will happen if she gets it, but she wants it anyway. He tries to run but she hits him and grabs the case. Barry and Iris stand to stop her. Barry tries to arrest her, but she quickly reminds him that she knows his secret identity and if he tries to arrest her that she’ll out him. Also, if he tries to come after her she’ll come after him and his friends. She leaves them after ruining their date night. 

 

The cops are on the scene and they can’t find any trace of Amunet anywhere. Iris says that whatever Amunet is back for that it’s for something big and bad. Barry is stressed because he let her walk, but Iris said they had no choice. Since Barry can’t be The Flash and take her down, Iris says they should visit her “playground” to do so. 

 

Frost and Allegra are at Jitters. Frost convinces Allegra to go talk to the guy she met the other night. When Allegra goes to talk to him, she sees another woman walk up to him and the two seem very close. Allegra gets mad and tells Frost before storming off that “the next time she decides to be a life coach – don’t.”

 

Barry and Iris are in the S.T.A.R. labs van outside of a bar that Amunet frequents. Iris is going to go in to get information, but Barry isn’t too happy about it. He’s nervous to send Iris in, but she says she can get the information because this is her job. So, they have their code word– Banana. 

 

Iris walks right into the bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says she looks familiar and Barry immediately starts to freak out thinking she’s been made. She asks for Amunet and the bartender gets suspicious. A man wonders if he has a problem and Iris takes a bottle and smashes it over his head. Barry starts to frantically scream the code word and puts his suit ring on his finger. Iris stays calm and gets information that Amunet was snagging a specialized tech. He writes down the location and Iris drinks her drink and leaves. When Iris gets back in the van, Barry asks what happened because he heard glass crashing. She calmly says that she smashed a bottle over some losers’ head and Barry tells her that she might’ve crossed a line. Barry is still not comfortable with how she got the information, but Iris hands him the napkin showing that IVO Labs is Amunet’s next target.

 

Amunet breaks into a safe retrieving a case with the tech she’s looking for inside. Barry and Iris are hidden and wonder what the reason for the tech is. Suddenly, Goldface (Damion Poitier) bursts in saying that this tech is just what he was looking for. Amunet says that he’s too late and refers to him by his real name. Iris and Barry think they’re working together, but it seems he wants the tech for himself. 

 

Amunet deduces that he’s there to steal what she already stole. They start to argue over some vinyl records that they had a dispute over while they were apparently dating, when security comes in. They ignore him and continue their argument. Goldface takes off his chain and snatches the case with it. The two start to fight and one of Amunet’s weapons causes a huge steel ball to roll over the security guard. Barry vibrates the man from under it. The case is thrown Iris’ way and while Amunet and Goldface are fighting, she manages to get whatever is in the case out. Goldface leaves thinking he has the tech, but Iris shows Barry the tech.

 

Back at the loft Barry flashes in after patrolling the streets because each side thinks the other has the device. Iris thinks that the two are trying to hurt each other and not just their businesses. Barry says he’ll keep patrolling and says that he thinks innocent people will get caught in the crossfires waiting for things to blow over. Iris doesn’t think it will. She’s convinced that all of this is personal. It is a specialized UV Protector and biome simulated storage unit that if combined can be used to transport delicate plants. Iris thinks if they give Amunet what she wants that they’ll be able to solve it from the inside. Barry doesn’t want to do that because he thinks it’s too dangerous and Iris takes offence to that, thinking that he means it’s too dangerous for her. Iris brings up the fact that she can go buy intuition because it saved her life from an assassin while he was on an island. Barry is taken aback and tells her that she’s been acting different ever since she came back home the other night. She says that all of this stuff isn’t her acting differently and she tells him that she was following a lead the other night. Barry immediately says that something could have happened to her and Iris gets upset because she believes that she doesn’t need him to save her as she was planning to start a life without him before Crisis because he asked her. Her eyes start to get watery and her voice breaks as she says, “I would do anything for you and you know that, but I can’t be your damsel in distress anymore and I can’t be the voice inside your cowl cheering you on” she says she deserves to be in the field just as much as him, Barry says he knows, but he doesn’t feeling like they’re connecting. Iris says she’s grown and she’s proud of the person she’s become and wishes he felt the same way too. 

 

Nash (Tom Cavanagh) joins Frost in the lounge area at the offices. He says he’s looking for Allegra to give her something. She’s drinking something left behind by a Wells and sulking about how everything she touches goes wrong. Nash tells her to just get back in there and show Allegra that not everything is just black and white. 

 

Iris finds Amunet shooting pictures of Goldface. She tells Amunet she knows what she’s after while showing her the device and saying she wants in. Amunet asks why she’s willing to give her the tech. Iris shows her a picture of Rappicini’s Daughter- a rare orchid. The  flower’s pollen can be synthesized into a telepathic narcotic. She thinks it can help Amunet gain access to pin numbers to big bank accounts. Amunet asks why she should believe her and Iris says she wants to use the pollen to read Barry’s mind and she thinks the superheroing is ruining her marriage. Amunet likes this idea and agrees to the plan. They leave to steal the flower.

 

Joe (Jesse L. Martin) is telling Barry about all the trouble Goldface and Amunet’s gangs are causing. Barry tells Joe something is not right about their dispute. Barry is talking lowly and looking at the ground and Joe asks what’s going on with him. He tells Joe that something is off with him and Iris. He tells Joe what she said and Joe agrees that she had grown. They start to list off all the things that Iris has saved them from with her intuition and Barry agrees but he still doesn’t think they’re clicking. He asks Joe if he thinks they’ve grown apart, but Joe quickly says no. Marriage is like a tree– branches grow from the center. They grow from the roots and the branches grow further from the center, but as the branches grow so does the foundation. They grow together.

 

Frost comes in as Allegra is doing some art. They apologize to each other and Allegra tells her some backstory on her previous relationship. She tells her that she ghosted the guy because she didn’t want him to find out she was a meta. Frost suggests she comes clean to her ex so that she can move forward.

 

Amunet gives them the history of her and Goldface’s relationship history. They were going to run the town together, but their relationship died once their business started to bloom. Iris says that she should just try to talk to him, but Amunet isn’t a fan of that idea. The flower is inside a bigger device exactly like the smaller one Amunet previously stole. The other piece sets it to the nurturing temperature the flower needs. As they’re about to steal it, Goldface joins them and snatches the tech again.

 

They start arguing and fighting with their gangs to help. Iris backs away and The Flash comes in. He tells Iris that he’s done playing Amunet’s game and he’ll risk anything to save Iris. Iris says they need to figure out they still have feelings for each other and Barry states that Joe did say they were better together. The Flash starts to grab their henchmen and then asks the two why they broke up. They start talking it out, but they both use their powers to pin The Flash against the wall. He gets out of it and tells Iris there’s no use in stopping them. Iris come up with the plan to burn the flower. The Flash snaps his finger and throws a small lightning bolt at the case. It breaks and explodes the flower’s pollen everywhere causing the telepathic narcotic to reach the two villains. They start hearing each other’s thoughts as The Flash and Iris watch on. They drop their weapons and eventually start making out in the middle of the floor. Barry and Iris stand with comically disgusted faces. They say “Happy Valentine’s Day” as they laugh and hug.

 

Allegra tells Frost about her talk with her ex. They’re going to be friends again and that’s what Allegra thinks she was really hoping for. She thanks Frost and tells her that whoever gave her the advice may not know her, but they get her. Nash joins Frost at the table once Allegra leaves because she thought he wanted to give Allegra the device and she wanted to thank him. Nash looks at Allegra through the window and when he turns he sees a flash of Harrison Wells. 

 

Barry tells Iris that he’s sorry about making her feel like he wasn’t seeing all of her success. He tells her he’s proud of her and her accomplishments and felt that they were growing apart. She tells him that that will never happen and that “no matter what happens, you’re always going to be my lightning rod, too.” He asks her to be his valentine and she accepts. They share a hug and Iris looks into the mirror facing her. We then see Iris in the outfit she was taken into the mirror in banging and screaming for her to get away from Iris. She yells, “Get away from him! She’s not me! BARRY!”