#i decided i'd just make one giant post instead of 100 tiny ones today. just shaking things up

[coldflasher]

no but 1x06 is SO good. IT’S SO GOOD. it has everything

first and foremost all of barry’s queer little outfits this season. i have thought of this every episode but the wardrobe department literally never missed. the collared shirts underneath sweaters. the layering. and then in this ep he wears TANK TOPS and his shoulders? immensely biteable. i am gnawing on my couch. i won’t stop. 

secondly, barry is COVERED in blood for at least 50% of this episode. he just KEEPS getting punched in the face. it’s peak content. he gets PUNCHED. he BREAKS HIS HAND. he has his SHOULDER DISLOCATED. and he looks good during ALL OF IT. 

we have barry being a simp for iris 24/7, as always. the funniest part of this episode is that barry keeps going to see iris as the flash because he misses her so much and it’s tearing him apart that they’ve been fighting for so long without making up, only for it to later be revealed that it has literally been a week

barry: “I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT HER, THE PAIN IS TOO GREAT, I WON’T SURVIVE THIS, GO ON WITHOUT ME”

cisco: “barry, it’s been ten minutes”

then we have the infamous thallen “HARDER” scene which. i don’t even have to say anything. why did they do that. they—they didn’t have to—but they—

i actually love that barry and eddie start being friendlier after this because genuinely eddie is so nice, i adore him. he has never done a thing wrong in his life. and as much as i love bitchy barry, whenever he is mean about eddie i get cross with him. like NO *squirts him with water* you stop that. 

SUPERSONIC PUNCH BABY!! one of my faves out of barry’s abilities because it is senselessly violent and dangerous and therefore sexy. also i need to update the cry count. i have discovered that the secret is every time barry discovers a new ability i WILL cry because i’m so proud of my little meow meow... 

we have barry and iris both punching woodward in the face one after another which is EXTREMELY funny. also hilarious that barry ran at mach 1.1 and yet iris was the one to deliver the knockout blow. why don’t we see iris punch people more? she’s good at it honestly. barry should leave it to the professionals. idk im just in love with this whole fight scene because barry is SO protective of her, and vice versa. the first glimpse of westallen teamwork and power couple vibes to come. and you also get to see the shock and betrayal and fear on iris’ face when barry shoots off for his runup and she thinks he’s abandoned her. idk i talk a lot about how much i love seeing barry get his ass kicked but it’s only because it’s so satisfying to see him win at the end. and also because i like seeing him covered in blood but we knew that already

and then to close out we have the honestly TERRIFYING scene at the end with eowells threatening joe... the thing is that season one reverse flash was so deeply sinister in a way that i don’t think has been replicated since. like we kind of know him now and we know how pathetic and scared he is deep down, and we’ve seen him defeated time and time again. but there’s just something about the particular aura of menace that tom cavanagh brought to that iteration of thawne specifically. like. he’s so unnerving. he makes your skin crawl even when he’s ostensibly being nice. he just has that constant, low-level unpleasantness that’s sending off warning signals 24/7. and i like that we don’t really get to see him properly this early on, you just get this horror-esque blurred face lunging at you from the darkness with red eyes and snarling and you get the sense of how frightening it would have been for barry to witness that as a child when joe, a grown man, is so afraid you can see the whites of his eyes. he’s shaking. because he’s powerless against it. like. eowells doesn’t even have to speak to him. i know he leaves a photo of iris’ face with a knife sticking out of it (which honestly... made me laugh and kinda ruined the moment :/ it was very teenage girl scribbling on a photo of the girl who’s dating her crush vibes) but the really chilling part is when he’s just in the room shooting around with all this lightning flying everywhere and you get that feeling of menace and he doesn’t even have to say anything to be utterly terrifying... SO GOOD.