The Flash S06 EP17 spoiler review

Flash had its 17th episode of the season this Tuesdy and I really enjoyed it. The episode wasted no time with its premise and by the ends things felt revved up for some major events in the coming episodes! The plot was pushed forward very heavily which felt awesome after Eva and Black Hole haven't felt like they've really done anything yet. Here is my review and thoughts on the episode!
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To start off I'll talk about the side story with Ralph, Cisco, and Caitlin. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but with only two scenes devoted to it and having no connection to anything else in the episode, it felt a little disposable. Caitlin was sick in her apartment when Cisco and Ralph came to visit, and eventually used Ralph as a pair of jumper cables to heat her up. Caitlin says that the wound she got from Doctor Light several weeks ago ruptured and she tried to use her ice powers to heal it, instead putting her into an ice coma. That was pretty much the totality of the side story, with the resolution revealing that they would then go to Caitlin's mother for help. This did feel like a development towards the future and saved the whole thing from being meaningless; and maybe we'll get a follow up on the tease last season that her mother is a meta human?

In the main portion of the episode, it dealt with Barry and Cecil teaming up to try and out the fake Iris. Barry has finally caught on that something was wrong and went through a couple possible solutions to explain how a doppelganger has taken her place, as the multiverse no longer exists to his knowledge. Barry rules out shape shifting martians as Martian Manhunter would have sensed it, he considers the possibility of it being Everyman who is now alive post-Crisis (I loved him in season 1!), but Barry centers around McCulloch labs since the night before she started acted weird she went there. I love that the episode didn't putter for a while with Barry trying to convince Cecil as she went along with him pretty fast, trusting that Barry knew what he was talking about. The episode also didn't just become a hunt for possible evidence, as Barry quickly found the picture supposedly deleted by Kamilla which showed Iris distorted in some kind of prismatic form. This leads to a confrontation between Barry, Cecil, Nash, and mirror Iris in a pretty tense moment which I really wasn't sure how it was going to go down. Barry used some kind of device (Science stuff) that should have distorted Iris' body if she truly was a fake but there was nothing of the sort until she turned it on Barry, leading to the group throwing him in the pipeline.

While this all happened, Mirror Iris, Kamilla, and Singh (confirmed to be a mirror version like we expected) worked on the next phase of Eva's plan. They head to ARGUS (Singh's police credential's getting them in as reporters for an interview) in order to meet with Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork. Mirror Iris is quickly able to convince Bloodwork that she isn't the real Iris and they make a deal to release him in exchange for some of his blood. Mirror Kamilla sacrifices herself for this mission, disintegrating into Bloodwork's cell's energy barrier which then shuts off. Bloodwork attacks the two remaining mirror versions, sensing the fake Iris wasn't telling the truth about herself and demanded to know what she truly wanted. This revealed to the audience that the mirror version of Iris wanted to feel alive more than anything else, and with that answer Bloodwork slunk back into his cell as the barrier went back up. He tells Iris and Singh that he is content to play the long game, knowing that he wouldn't be able to just walk out of ARGUS. While holding Iris, he had given her the blood she needed, the final piece of their plan.

In the mirror world, the real Iris ends up discovering that there is a secret room behind the mirror with mirror styled computers that reveal to her everything about Eva's deception and that she is the one who pulled her into the mirror dimension in the first place. Eva incapacitates her, and using the components she has gathered throughout the last few episodes creates a device that will work in congruence with Ramsey's blood to allow her to step out of the mirror.

In STAR labs, Cecil lets Barry escape, believing that he is truly Barry and that something else isn't right. He quickly speeds (with his speed running on empty) to his apartment and catches the mirror Iris speaking to Eva in the mirror, confirming his suspicions that she wasn't who she said it was. The fake Iris splashes the blood onto the mirror, and extends her arms into long blades that she puts to use in a fight with a slower, weaker Barry. It was a really awesome scene altogether, and a great fight that felt intense as it kept going. Seeing Barry sliced continuously made it feel truly dire, and mirror Iris using the mirrors she had set up around the apartment as portals for her blades to reach all around Barry made for an even greater layer to the fight's genius. Mirror Iris is able to send Barry to the ground, bleeding, after Eva shatters a mirror over him and mirror Iris stabs him through the falling debris in a beautiful shot. Mirror Iris mocks Barry about the fact that he never noticed it wasn't the real Iris for weeks, through all the meals and nights together, though as she is about to kill him the real Iris in the mirror world rides Eva about still having feelings for Joseph Carver. As Eva vehemently refuses these accusations, the mirror Iris suffers from the powerful emotions and her connection to Eva. Barry uses his words to get through to the mirror Iris, getting her to admit to herself that she just wants to be alive and not just a puppet of Eva. Sadly, Eva kills the mirror Iris for this betrayal and finally leaves the mirror world in an awesome moment. It is neat to have her as a villain especially after she responds in dismay at having to stab Barry when he tries to stop her; she really doesn't want to hurt other people it seems, just her former husband. Eva leaves, now able to travel through mirrors at will.

The final scene of the episode saw Barry and Iris talking to each other through the mirror, even though neither could see or hear the other. They both talked about how in love they were, and that they wouldn't stop fighting and searching for each other. Iris declared that she would find Kamilla and Singh and escape, which sounds like a great story for her in the next episode after she hasn't done much these last few weeks. The events of this episode over all really felt like a huge push for a story and getting things rolling on the Eva and Black Hole story front. I can't wait to see where they head next, and I hope they keep this same energy and ferocity with the story telling.