The Flash 6x17 : Liberation review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

The Flash is back again and with this episode which is the shortest of the season so far they may have just delivered the very best episode of season 6. Beginning in the speed lab we see the team who have assembled an artificial speed force begin to test it out. It looks like it's working at first as coffee from Cisco's cup begins to float in the air. It machine soon powers down leaving everyone confused as to just how Eobard Thawne on his own managed to create his own negative speed force. Cecil happens to be in the speed lab also and asks Barry about the ending of last week's episode where he was thrown out of his apartment by Iris. He hasn't seen his wife since and has completely committed himself to the cause of restoring his speed through an artificial speed force. Cecil goes to see Iris and is stunned by her words. She seems not interested at all in Barry and even though Barry said he does miss his wife she just seems hollow. Sad but still hollow and empty. When she arrives home Cecil can't get inside the door as inside the house in packed to the brim with files, papers and other research done by Barry. Once inside she sees Barry writing over a giant board. He has cracked it. Ever since Iris left during the night not so long ago what has been Iris since then just hasn't been the same person. Barry knows Iris, his Iris is in trouble as even though this Iris isn't a doppleganger thanks to the multiverse being destroyed during Crisis this could still be an imposter. Barry even mentions it being a Martian but J'onn J'onnz would've figured that out by now. All in all though Barry intends on confronting this Iris back at Star Labs especially after going through the Citizen's cloud files one which sees a photo of Iris in a Prismatic Filter. 

In the mirror world we see Iris and Eva once again. While Eva goes to work on a plan to get them out of the mirror world Iris finds a secret room behind the very mirror which she was pulled through. Inside she sees everything. Eva talking to her husband Carver from the last episode and everything else in between. She falls to the ground as it all becomes too much to take in and Eva finds her. Back at Star Labs and after Iris arrives at the building Barry tells her everything. How he knows that she isn't his Iris. He offers her a way to explain herself but she declines at first. He then tells her that he is going to take a photo of her with a camera tuned into a Prismatic Filter. He does this but nothing happens to Iris. It has zero effect on her. Stunned by this Cecil and Nash Wells who are present alongside Barry begin to question just exactly what is going on. And what is going on is that Iris with the help of Eva (who we find out later helped here) manage to turn the tide on Barry and make it so that he is the one who is an imposter rather than the real Barry Allen. He even gets cuffed and put into the pipeline by Cecil who soon has a change of heart and releases him stating that deep down she knows that he is the real Barry. 

The episode draws to a close with the reveal of Bloodwork still being alive and kept at a secure location. Iris, Singh and Kamilla pay him a visit as the final pieces of Eva's plan gets put into place. She wants some of Ramsey Russo's lifeblood which in turn will allow her to escape the mirror world and walk right into the real world. Kamilla sacrifices herself for the cause as they all first explain that Eva is their mother to Ramsey which even he finds a bit off. Kamilla explodes as she shuts down the force field around him. Bloodwork soon takes out Singh but does end up giving Iris some of his lifeblood. At least enough to help Eva. Ramsey steps back into his cell and tells Iris to ''Run Iris, run'' as she heads back to fulfill Eva's main goal. And it's back at her apartment where the best part of this episode takes place as when she places Ramsey's lifeblood on the mirror which turns it completely black. Eva watches on as Barry soon arrives. A fight breaks out between Iris who grows Terminator T-800 like arms and really takes it to Barry wounding him multiple times thanks to mirror placed in the apartment. In all honesty this scene was as good as it gets in terms of the hero being pummeled by the villain or I should say villains as Eva helps Iris by exploding a giant pain of glass right above Barry's head. Inside the mirror world Eva has the real Iris all tied up. She says that Iris may think her love is her strength but it is not. Iris manages to manipulate Eva however as she suggests that she is still in love with her husband Joseph Carver. This hits deep with Eva and the Iris on the outside who is continuing to beat up Barry pretty bad. While Eva begins to itch extensively so does Iris and soon enough Barry manages to talk Iris into becoming one with herself. This leads to Iris exploding into little itty pieces right in front of him as she mentions that she felt alive just before she shattered. With Barry hurt pretty badly Eva walks out of the mirror and further injures him stating that now is the time for her Liberation. We get no mention of Iris however as she is still seemingly stuck inside the mirror world. The last thing we see before the episode ends is Barry on his back on the floor covered in cuts and bruises. And that is that. Man what an episode. Of course there was more going on here too like Cisco and Ralph helping Caitlin awake from an Ice Coma thanks to her encounter with Sunshine a few weeks back. But truly the Barry / Iris aspect and narrative was fantastic here and just a joy to take in. For being the shortest episode this season this was a real step up in quality not only from last week which was only an okay episode but overall this season. Which is saying something because this season for the most part has been exactly that. A major step up in quality from season 5. This is The Flash at it's best. Long may it continue for however many episodes now remain.

★★★★★