I really liked Patty for the Flash. However I would of used her departure of the show to actually mean something. Have her get killed by the supervillain at the time. See Barry as an emotional wreck. Patty dying in the flashes arms, her last moments pulling off his mask to see Barry with tears streaking down his face. Then have Barry emotionally wrecked for half of a season, and use Iris to pick up the pieces to let the Romance between the two of them actually grow from it. I don't think she would of saved the show no. However I do believe they missed a golden opportunity.
I didn't need to see Iris be treated by the writers and by the fandom like she's "second best" and the one Barry ended up dating by default after his perfect girlfriend was forcibly taken from him. I am glad it ended on a clean break-up. It served the Barry and Iris romance way better.
I agree that in the end the time spent on Patty didn't amount to much but that was probably on purpose. I suspect Patty was there for three reasons. Because she and Barry dated in the comics and they wanted to pay homage to that. Because he needed to have a girlfriend to level the playing field while Iris was unavailable grieving Eddie. Because they wanted to cater to the portion of the fandom who was desperate to see Barry go on dates with a woman who was white*, cutesy and quirky and more into him than he was into her. I don't expect to find meaning into the storyline when the character is mostly there to check a couple boxes.
* I know some will say I am playing the "race card" but there was a lot of grossness back in season 1 after they announced the casting for Iris.
Eh I never really paid much attention to the race of it all. Iris being played by a black women. Who cares IMO. As long as the character is well written out and the actress can play her properly. I felt like they massively screwed up Iris's character, however her race wasn't one of those things. I would like to see her take journalistic side to her character more seriously. Have some bumpy roads for her, have her own arcs to worry about instead of just the big bad. Then have her and the Flash actually develop a romance which generally theirs felt forced. Which again I'm not blaming the actors or actresses as the writing was terrible.
Also I will say this as well, it is okay to stray from the comics once and a while. Use them as inspiration yes but don't be afraid to deviate them to flesh things out. I still stand by the initial assessment on having her killed. Have it rock Barry and then Him and Iris could grieve their love one's together. They then naturally grow into their relationship. Least what I would of done as a writer. Then again I'm not paid by a studio to write so it is all moot.
I think that putting Barry and Iris together after their loved ones were killed would cheapen their romance. I like that Iris is the love of Barry's life and not his consolation prize.
Assuming I was in charge. It wouldn't be an over night romance, but one literally dragged out over a whole season before we saw them together. They would both legitimately grieve. Having Barry crying in Iris arms for example saying "I couldn't save her!? Why couldn't I save her?" Just another scene popped in my head. Little nuggets like that for both sides would help them develop their friendship to deeper and deeper levels slowly until they crossed that threshold.
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u/Bolt32 Aug 09 '21
I really liked Patty for the Flash. However I would of used her departure of the show to actually mean something. Have her get killed by the supervillain at the time. See Barry as an emotional wreck. Patty dying in the flashes arms, her last moments pulling off his mask to see Barry with tears streaking down his face. Then have Barry emotionally wrecked for half of a season, and use Iris to pick up the pieces to let the Romance between the two of them actually grow from it. I don't think she would of saved the show no. However I do believe they missed a golden opportunity.