Will channeling the Green Arrow affect Barry more than he expected?
Will channeling the Green Arrow affect Barry Allen more than he expected?
The CW's Elseworlds crossover event kicked off with a special episode of The Flash on Sunday, as Barry (Grant Gustin) and Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) woke up to find themselves living each other's lives. It took some time -- and a super-sweet "lightning rod" callback -- for Iris (Candice Patton) to be convinced of her husband's true identity, but eventually she believed him, making him promise to come back to her when they've sorted out their body-swap confusion and defeated whatever power has thrown their world into chaos.
But will that be easier said than done?
"Emotionally, I think we went to bigger places than we have in the past, which I think was what everyone liked about the concept of the swapping lives," Arrow EP Beth Schwartz told reporters last week, when the crossover's producers gathered to dish on the epic episodes.
For Barry, that means embracing the darkness behind the hood as the Green Arrow, something that may not be easy for the usually-lighthearted CSI to shake when all is said and done. "There is an episode a little bit down the line where Barry deals a little bit with that, yeah," Flash EP Todd Helbing hinted.
But his reconciliation with Iris at episode's end seems to reassure that, no matter what's to come, the married pair will weather the storm together.
"I think it just speaks to everything that they’ve experienced this year as parents for the first time," Helbing added of the couple's emotional scene. "It really speaks to their relationship, how much they’re in love."
"Barry says, 'Whenever mask I’m wearing, I’ll always reveal my true face.' I just think it really speaks to who they are as a couple and it sets up what they’re going to have to go through in the back half of our season."
Even the actors themselves know the bond their characters share is a special one.
"They're so steadfast," Patton told ET's Leanne Aguilera during San Diego Comic-Con this summer. "[They've been together] since childhood, and I think there's something really endearing about that. Everyone wants that, everyone wants a relationship [with] someone that you can count on and trust and to tell you the truth and I feel like Barry and Iris have that. They're kind of just like an ideal couple."
The Elseworlds crossover continues Monday with Arrow and Tuesday with a special episode of Supergirl, both at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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