A Look™

Barry and Iris’ gorgeous loft

i’ve been trying to keep up with season three of the flash but i can’t pay attention to any major plot points because i still keep coming back to this damn ridiculous loft and how barry and iris could ever afford it so i paused the episode and did some research

central city is allegedly supposed to be in missouri (probably either st. louis or kansas city). i tried to do some research on how much money penthouse apartments cost in both cities and i got met with “please call for details” (and i absolutely would if it wasn’t 7:30 PM on a wednesday right now). the closest equivalent apartment i could find had rates of about $2,000 a month for a spacious one bedroom, so i’m going to assume a loft like this with That HGTV Certified Exposed Brick ™ would be somewhere closer to $2,500-$3,000 a month.

a crime scene investigator in missouri makes an average of about $55,000-$60,000 a year. a journalist makes probably like $30,000-$35,000, maybe more (thank you @ author of this flabbergasted review). barry and iris make about $90,000 a year combined. if their apartment is on the low end of the range above, they’re spending about $30,000-$35,000 a year on their apartment minimum.

but this isn’t even taking into consideration 1) the amount of food barry has to buy (average groceries per month for 2 people is like $400, so let’s conservatively quadruple that for barry - 4 x $400/month x 12 = $19,200 on groceries. he can’t just be eating protein bars!), 2) how much it took to decorate that loft (i know nothing about decorating because my house is covered in fake ikea plants and cat trees but this has to be like, $10,000 worth of furniture and kicknacks at least), 3) utilities/internet/cable/etc, and 4) …just the general cost of living in a big city.

now i know what you’re saying…harrison “the original flavor” “evil” wells 1.0 left barry star labs and any/all hangars associated with it…but we have no proof that he left him anything beyond the actual building and everything in it, except maybe, possibly some patents? (source) (uproxx counts as a source if it’s fake-sciencey enough) barry’s got a football stadium full of gadgets and particle accelerators and doomsday devices but those don’t pay rent! if the necessity star labs museum is any indication, they may have a fancy Science Lab but they’re not making any money right now. also, you have to pay taxes and utilities and fees on buildings! star labs may be a gift but someone still has to be paying for it

in conclusion…..i’m no Economist and i know it’s a fakey fakey tv show about superheroes and magic and barry’s legs somehow don’t shred each other to bone fragments from the friction of his fast fast running BUT – it just barely adds up. i think they could theoretically afford it for a while but i hope they don’t expect to retire any time soon. anyway i hope they approve my roommate application so i can live in their storage closet and eat all their fancy snacks and sodas from whole foods and central market

The Flash 3x13 (2017) / Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)