not sally writing a whole show where shes an amazing mother supporting her kid out of an abusive relationship and then becoming abusive towards her real life kid. not telling her agent that she has 'more to bring to the table than breakfast' only to end up as a waitress in a breakfast bar. not barry spinning a narrative to his son about being a war hero and even naming himself after superman when his son doesnt even know his real name or that they're on the run for murder. 'he thinks my name is emily' 'but he knows who YOU really are.' not hank telling barry that he didnt want to take everything for himself and wanted to split it 50/50 with cristobal only to kill cristobal and taking it all for himself but still acting like it's both of their empire. naming his business a combination of their names and erecting a golden shrine to his dead lover. everyone is acting. everyone trying desperately to live their own lie.
The cristobal/sally parallels though. Both of them thinking they escaped an abusive relationship for a safe one but not realizing they're with a violent man until it's too late and that violence is directed at them. Both of them starting season 4 trying to establish a normal legitimate life working with other people and seeing their efforts fall apart without truly understanding why. Cristobal leaving hank even though it's tantamount to suicide. Sally leaving with barry even though it's tantamount to suicide. "You have two high-profile strikes against you and on top of that you have integrity. I'm so sorry."
oh god i just realised barry did get redemption. hes been begging god to wash away his sins as if they never happened to be seen as a good man and he fucking got it. the whole world thinks that he was a hero. buried in arlington cemetery with full honours. god is propaganda. god is hollywood.
obsessed with the idea of What Will People Think that permeates actions in Barry. even though it’s a terrible idea, Barry goes on fun runs to support the family of the guy he murdered and posts evidence of it online because he wants to be seen as a good guy. Sally’s mother being more concerned about what the women from her church might say about Joplin than about the real abuse her daughter endured, because they don’t care about that. Cousineau making an awkward public apology to Annie and then later trying to capitalise on Barry’s arrest so he can be a big hero. The big song and dance Cristobal and Hank have to do to hide their relationship and trick people into thinking they’re enemies. Fuches constantly bragging about being The Raven because he wants to be the coolest guy in the prison yard. What people think doesn’t matter. What people think means everything.