Barry and Iris split(?!), a surprise betrayal and Joe is on the run in the latest Flash

The conspiracy surrounding Carver’s nefarious organization almost takes a deadly turn, while Mirror Iris makes some major moves that rock Barry — and their marriage — to the core.

Spoilers ahead for “So Long and Goodnight,” the latest episode of The CW’s Flash, which aired Tuesday, April 21, 2020.

Joe is closer than ever to cracking the case and finally busting Carver for running his shady organization that takes full advantage of all those light-based meta human assassins. But just as he’s looking to crack the hired killer they have in custody, Carver sends super creepy Arrowverse meta Rag Doll (you know, the guy in the freaky mask who can contort himself to squeeze into anything) to kill Joe. He almost does it, too, cutting the brakes on Joe’s car and making it accelerate into oncoming traffic. 

After Rag Doll strikes against inside the CCPD, we get a face-off between Joe and Carver where the air is finally cleared: Carver slips up and admits he sent the killer, and has no qualms about telling the police chief he’s the big bad and doesn’t care who knows it. It’s a deliciously evil turn to finally have all the cards on the table, and despite knowing the truth, Joe still has to find a way to prove it — and survive in the process.

Rag Doll easily gets to Cecile and almost kills her, which is finally what pushes Joe over the edge to go into witness protection until the case is solved by Team Flash and the rest of the CCPD. Carver is gunning for Joe, and with a young baby and wife to think of, he finally relents and chooses his life over catching the bad guy. So, Joe is headed off into hiding — which is only the beginning of the problems for Barry and Iris.

Of course, we know the real Iris is trapped in the mirror dimension, and an evil “reflection” version of her is the one who has been running around in the real world for the past several episodes. Sadly Barry hasn’t figured that out just yet. Evil Iris is tasked by Ava to push Barry to use up his remaining residual Speed Force (remember, the Speed Force is dead/dying post-Crisis and the speedsters only have a finite amount of remaining speed to draw upon until it’s gone), and to do this she picks a fight and goads him into using his speed to search for Joe so she can say goodbye. When Barry refuses, she kicks him out of their home and seemingly ends their marriage.

Which is brutal regardless, though of course we know that’s not the real Iris. That said, you’d have to think the real Iris might be a bit peeved it took Barry this long to figure it all out when he eventually does.

Carver’s wife Eva, who is kicking it with real Iris in the mirror dimension, also made a few moves of her own — and seems to want Joe out of the way as well, but only because she wants to take out her husband herself. Yeah, that marriage isn’t doing so well, either. Oh, and the big betrayal twist? Former CCPD Capt. David Singh is apparently working for Eva?! We don’t know why (does she have leverage on him? is he a mirror doppelganger himself?), but what we do know is Capt. Singh is no longer an ally.

You know it’s a busy episode when it takes to this point to even mention that Sue Dearbon makes a return appearance, with Cisco and Ralph tracking her down at a fancy party while she’s continuing to super spy her way through her own investigation. Hilariously, Cisco is positively smitten by her (as comic fans know, Sue goes on to be Ralph’s wife). Sue also shows some trust in Ralph, handing over the diamond she stole during her first appearance in hopes that Ralph and Team Flash will also decipher the secret, shady information hidden inside of it.

Next week: It took long enough, but it sounds like Barry will finally realize Iris is missing and she’s been replaced by the evil, mirror version. Here’s hoping, at least. This has been an interesting story, but man Iris has been sidelined for a while now. Oh, and to be clear — next week’s episode is expected to be a new one, barring any last minute CW scheduling changes.