Before Season 6, the show took a colorblind approach to its depiction of Patton's character, Iris — and by extension, Iris' family — painting her as a journalist, a love interest, and a daughter, but never embracing her identity as a black woman. In fact, Iris and her police detective father, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), could have been any race. And Iris mainly served as Barry Allen's (Grant Gustin) sidekick and "lightning rod," championing him from the sidelines while he saved the world on a weekly basis. As the seasons progressed, so did her character development and her relationship with Barry. However, Iris' blackness was never really acknowledged by the show or its characters, a glaring omission for fans who'd connected with the show's black female lead.
But then, something changed in Season 6: The Flash hired its first black showrunner.
When Todd Helbing stepped down from his post to focus on other projects in 2019, Eric Wallace, who'd served as an executive producer since Season 4, took the reins and reevaluated areas that weren't given enough attention. One that stood out to him like a neon sign was the way in which Iris and her family's race was ignored. Wallace understood who the Wests were as an African American family and didn't shy away from that. Season 6 opened on a cookout, a staple within the black community, which featured recognizable dishes like creamed corn, candied yams, and collard greens. The scene stood in stark contrast to previous seasons, which raised eyebrows with dishes like Grandma Esther's ambiguous noodle recipe, a dish that seemed inauthentic and unlikely to have been passed down through a black family.