As much as I love the character of Barry Allen, he is not perfect and has done some not-so-nice things over the course of the past three seasons. Whether it was the older Barry shunning his time remnant because he wanted a disposable hero, the time remnant becoming Savitar and plotting to kill his younger self’s fiancée, Iris West, or selfishly creating the alternate universe Flashpoint, Barry is a complicated character who has a dark side. Of course, this makes for great drama especially given the fact that Barry has essentially been fighting himself throughout the entire third season when he went head-to-head with Savitar.
The following list of times where Barry has been the absolute WORST on the show is dedicated to all of my fellow fans of The Flash. We all have either yelled at the Scarlet Speedster to stop being an impulsive idiot or facepalmed at his screw-ups during the past three seasons.
15 Creating Flashpoint
When Barry made the decision to go back in time at the end of season two and save his mother Nora from being killed by the Reverse-Flash, I started screaming at my television. Honestly, how stupid can Barry be? Has he never read Outlander? Trying to mess with time generally doesn’t work well. Just look at Claire Fraser — she tried to avert the Jacobite rebellion and stop the bloody massacre at Culloden Moor. Her meddling only caused the very event she was trying to stop. Barry is a speedster and should have known better than to mess around with the timeline. I get that he was depressed and grieving, but someone should’ve stopped him from doing something stupid. Heck, I’m shocked the Speed Force didn’t stop and smack him upside the head!
14 Letting Savitar Kill Iris
Don’t hurt me Barry Allen fans, but he was a total idiot when it came to trying to outsmart Savitar in season three, episode 22 . Once he found out that Savitar was his very own time remnant, he should have had the team pick a hiding place and NOT TELL HIM. Heck, they probably should’ve kept it a secret from H.R., too. After all, he was the one who goofed and accidentally revealed to Savitar that she was on Earth-2. Savitar can’t travel the multiverse THAT fast, and it would’ve given the team time to come up with a plan to defeat Barry’s doppelgänger once and for all. Barry honey, for a CSI and someone who is supposed to be incredibly bright, you sure are dumb sometimes.
13 Not Being There For Caitlin After Her Surgery
The fact that Barry wasn’t by Caitlin’s side after she had performed surgery on herself is gross. I get that he was searching for a way to save Iris, but for goodness sake, his BFF was hit by shrapnel and suffered through a surgery without painkillers. The least that he could do is stay by her side and maybe help assist with the surgery. Maybe if Barry was actually THERE for his best friend and stood by her side while she was recovering, he would’ve been able to prevent her from turning into Killer Frost. It is possible that once Julian removed Caitlin’s power dampening necklace and allowed her body to regenerate, Barry could have used his super speed to immediately put it back on her. That way, Caitlin wouldn’t have lost control of her powers and never would’ve joined up with Savitar.
12 Shunning His Time Remnant
Savitar admitted to his younger self that he was originally a time remnant created by an older Barry Allen. He pointed out that his creator never meant for him to survive the fight and was ROYALLY pissed when he did. The remaining members of Team Flash shunned time remnant Barry because they felt that he wasn’t the REAL Barry Allen. Mix in a grieving time remnant who still has all of his doppelganget’s memories and was shunned by the people he loved, and it’s no wonder that he became Savitar. Someone should have smacked older Barry upside the head. Why did he create all of those time remnants in the first place? Didn’t he realize there’s a chance that one would survive? Also, why not just ask Felicity to help his time remnant create a new identity? Oh Barry. Your impulsive nature has returned to bite you in the a*s.
11 Accidentally Causing Dante Ramon's Death
I felt so bad for poor Cisco Ramon when he found out that his older brother Dante died as a result of Barry messing with the timeline AGAIN. I know Barry was grieving because Zoom killed his father at the end of season two, but why didn’t Iris and Joe West drag his a*s to a grief counselor or a therapist? Maybe if he had been able to work through his grief properly, he never would have felt the need to go back in time and save his mother Nora from being killed by the Reverse-Flash. Then Dante would still be alive and Cisco wouldn’t have had to suffer through his own soul-crushing grief at the beginning of the third season. Great job, Barry Allen!
10 Lying To Iris About His Identity In The First Season
I still side-eye Barry Allen for lying to Iris West about his secret identity back in the first season. I know Joe West was worried about his daughter getting hurt, but that is a piss-poor excuse for keeping someone in the dark about their BFF’s super powers. Iris was an ADULT, not a child. And Barry should have argued in her favor when Joe was trying to pull the “overprotective father” power trip. He should have pointed out that Iris would be rightfully furious when she learned that both her father and her best friend were lying to her. It’s not like she would’ve stopped digging into the streak — she’s a stubborn reporter and doesn’t back down from a challenge. In this case, both Barry AND Joe were being jerks.
9 Possessing Poor Julian Albert
Okay, I know that it was TECHNICALLY Savitar Barry that possessed poor Julian Albert and turned him into Doctor Alchemy, but it was still a form of Barry Allen (just one that was twisted AF). Seriously, possessing some poor dude and using him as a puppet is NOT cool, Savitar Barry—Julian is his own person and shouldn’t have been treated like a toy. Savitar Barry is pretty intelligent, so I’m surprised that he didn’t just disguise himself as Doctor Alchemy in order to gain followers. I mean, the guy can create a giant metal suit, I’m pretty sure he could come up with a way to change his features and create a whole new persona. If he did, it probably would’ve been WAY less ethically disturbing.
8 Tricking H.R. Into Revealing Iris's Location
I was shrieking at my television when Savitar Barry pretended to be his younger self and tricked poor H.R. Wells into revealing where the team had hidden Iris West. Now THAT is cold. He knew that Team Flash would be more willing to trust Barry because they were jubilant over the fact that he managed to get the Dominator’s crystal out of A.R.G.U.S. and that he was presumably on his way back to S.T.A.R. Labs with his prize. Savitar Barry is devious and is pretty much the worst. Heck, I wouldn’t be shocked if it will take more than a Speed Canon in order to destroy him once and for all. I’m picturing something like an epic speedster team-up between the younger Flash, Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, and Jay Garrick versus Savitar Barry... and maybe Killer Frost. Even then, I doubt he’ll go down without a fight.
7 Going After The Mist Despite Caitlin's Pleas
I was side-eying Barry SO DAMN HARD when Caitlin Snow BEGGED him not to go after the Mist in the first season. He knew that she was worried that he would get hurt and that Caitlin was still traumatized over the death of her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond. The smart thing to do would have been to come up with a plan with the rest of the team. But no, Barry had to impulsively play the hero. Needless to say, he wound up getting hurt by the Mist — which only served to confirm poor Caitlin’s fears. Thankfully it wound up working out, since the team was able to get a sample of the gas created by the Mist and it helped them come up with a plan to defeat them.
6 Being Angry That Cisco Created The Cold Gun
It was pretty irrational and selfish of Barry Allen to blow up at Cisco Ramon in the first season of The Flash after he learned that his buddy was the original creator of the cold gun. I was cringing when he read poor Cisco the Riot Act. I know it must have stung to learn that Cisco created it in order to stop Barry just in case he went rogue, but he’s a scientist. Barry should have looked at it from a practical standpoint. Cisco had no way of knowing that Barry would’ve wanted to become a hero, so OF COURSE he would’ve created a way to take out a rogue speedster. It wasn’t personal, so I don’t know why Barry got all butt-hurt about it.
