Warning! This post contains spoilers for Season 4 of The Flash. Read At Your Own Risk:
Now that the awesome trailer that shows Iris taking lead is out, even fans avoiding spoilers are more or less in the know that Barry has been gone awhile when The Flash picks up for Season 4. Actor Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco, shared with Head TV Editor Nick Venable at SDCC why Team Flash didn't rescue Barry from the speed force during the time jump in the quote below:
Actually, in those six months, the team has taken on a somewhat dour and accepting Barry's fate. They said, 'He disappeared. He told us not to go after him, and that's what we're gonna do.' In the six months, the team collectively resolves to accept it and move forward. But unfortunately, Vibe and Kid Flash and Joe West and Iris' attempts at keeping the city safe don't quite measure up to how Barry used to keep the city safe, then we're gonna have to act in response to that.
So, basically, Team Flash wanted to respect Barry's wishes and went on to try and protect Central City in his absence. That's a great clarification to make to fans because, it's definitely better to know The Flash characters haven't tried to get Barry back versus they've tried unsuccessfully and can't get Barry back. Hopefully, that means that once the team finally decides it's time to bring Barry back home, they'll have him back sooner than later, although, it is suspect that Carlos Valdes didn't explicitly say the team's response was saving Barry from the Speed Force.
While it seems highly unlikely that The Flash is going to go an entire season without Barry Allen, it may be the team is without him longer than they have been in the past. Whether that solution Carlos Valdes mentions is finding a way to rescue Barry or something else, Team Flash appears to include Caitlin Snow after she announced she was out of Team Flash in the Season 3 finale. Valdes failed to mention Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, Harrison Wells, and others in that new Team Flash roster, so maybe they aren't around as much following the immediate help they gave in the finale? He also didn't mention Caitlin, either, so maybe he was just airing on the side of caution and not wanting to reveal too much.
Rescuing Barry might be a moot point until Team Flash can find another speedster to offer themselves up as a tribute to the speed force. Even if they did, Barry seemed pretty adamant that it was his time to go, so he likely wouldn't take the tag out should the offer come. It sounds like a pretty impossible situation in terms of saving him, which is probably why Team Flash is so disheartened in their current situation.
The Flash fans will have to wait longer for answers as Season 4 isn't set to return until October 10th at 8 p.m. EST on The CW. For more info on Season 4, check out what Tom Cavanaugh has to say regarding a new Harrison Wells or how The Flash you saw in the latest trailer might not be Barry Allen. For more information about the here and now and all the great television one can watch in the present be sure to visit our summer premiere guide.
