Thursday, April 23, 2015

 
A SHOUTOUT POST TO CANDICE PATTON AND IRIS WEST 




I follow a few Iris West fans on Twitter. They also are a part of a ship with it's main character Barry Allen- The Flash. (I am a fan of "SnowBarry" but I do have no problems with WestAllen or Iris at all.)  I'm going to ignore ships and write about Candice Patton's performance as Iris.

There is a lot of people who do not like Candice or her portrayal of Iris. Those people are also WRONG. I think she is a very nice part of this cast and the show would suffer without her in it. (I do wish we could see more scenes of Iris with her father Joe (played by Jesse L. Martin who is also killing it this season as well). Candice has done a fantastic job with some writing that has not always been the best for her or her character and showing her POV.


First off, playing the love-interest is hard. You have to walk a very fine line as to not be too naive or too boring or too ''HELP ME" But I think Candice has done a pretty good job of showing the personality of Iris in the scenes where she is front and center. Also showing that Iris can handle herself when the situation gets very dangerous.

A example of this is the scene in 1x09 where Barry finally opens up her feelings for Iris. It is a strong scene for both Grant Gustin and Candice but some fans were not happy about Iris's reaction to Barry's declaration of love.



I think Iris did what most anyone would have done in this situation. She at first is happy to see Barry but then as Barry reveals more and more, you can see her happiness crack. Now fans have said "Why didn't see kiss Barry there?" Well she is in as serious relationship with Eddie here. It would have made her seem very unlikable if she had just jumped Barry there. I give a ton of credit to Candice for her silent face reaction as Barry is pouring his heart out. The tears coming out conveys that she does care about Barry like he does for her but she can't be with him and she is now worried that things have changed for someone she has known her entire life almost.

(Also a great episode for her was 1x15-- The scene where she reveals her feelings to Barry is one of the best of the show. Candice did a great job of letting Iris's feelings bubble up to the surface in one moment where she tells Barry all everything that has been going through her (emotions, thoughts) as they are trying to save Joe.  There is something to be said about emotional scenes no matter what type of show it is when they are done right and this one was.) 

Another thing I like about Candice's performance is that she plays Iris as a tough independent woman. She has a career and a life. When she is hired at the local newspaper , she wants to do hard hitting stories and not focus on The Flash.  It is good that they show that while Iris likes the Flash she wants to do more than be his "Gal pal reporter"

Also she plays Iris as a very loyal friend but someone you don't want to anger. She wrote about the Streak to help Barry out because she though he was feeling helpless and she didn't like seeing someone so close to her in pain. I do like the scenes of Barry and Iris in the coffee shop as it is two very close friends talk and chatting. There is a easiness to these scenes.  



Update: Last night's Flash was a really good episode for Candice . She had a few really great scenes in it (one a flashback by Barry's bedside and another at the end of the episode as she figured out Barry is the Flash. ) It was excellent to get to see Iris connect the dots and convey such emotion into one little whispered word at the end of the episode. 
 

It will be interesting to see how with everything else happening what Iris will do next. Will she confront Barry about it? Will she hide that she knows for a bit? I really am not sure. But it will be interesting to see what is next. I just can't wait for Candice's big confrontational scene with Grant. 
And if Iris does this in that scene and connects it will be all the better. hahaha









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