The end of Season Three of The Flash saw The Fastest Man Alive say goodbye to the love of his life and family to enter the Speed Force to pay his penance for Flashpoint. While the premiere will most certainly see the return of Barry Allen into the arms of Iris West and into the new scarlet suit Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) has waiting, one question remains:
What now?
The bulk of last season – aside from dealing with the ramifications of Barry’s creation of the Flashpoint timeline – had been about preventing Iris’ death at the hands of Season 3 big bad Savitar, which was accomplished by H.R. Wells’ bait-and-switch sacrifice move. However, both the loss of the drumstick-twirling romance novelist from Earth-19 (masterfully played by Tom Cavanaugh) and Central City’s Speed Force storm that Barry sacrificed himself to stop, there was little time for celebration.
Actress Candice Patton revealed recently in an interview that while Iris will have Barry back and things will be more upbeat this year, there’ll be issues that have to be addressed. “This season [we’ll] be getting a little more lighthearted and funny. Barry, once he comes back from the Speed Force, Barry and Iris have to go to couples therapy and kind of work through those issues. So there’s really funny stuff coming up.” Although counseling is nothing to laugh at, given Barry’s problems are always layered with sci-fi craziness, it would be hilarious seeing he and Iris try to paint such issues in a normal light as best they can.
Although earlier reports have confirmed that a wedding will take place between Barry and Iris, it is unknown at this time as to whether or not this therapy will take place prior to taking their vows or afterwards. In related news, it has been confirmed that Julian Albert, played last year by Tom Felton, will not be returning, thus ending his budding romance with Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker, who celebrated her 30th birthday on September 19).
Season Four of The Flash will premiere on Tuesday, October 10 on The CW at 8 Eastern.
