Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

and i mean, on some level, i am always thinking about family of rogues, this is not unusual behaviour. but i was thinking specifically about how incredible it is that len didn’t kill barry in that episode. 

i mean, think about it. this is leonard snart. there are, canonically, only two people in the whole world he cares about: mick and lisa, both of whom he would do anything to protect. in this moment, lisa is in life-threatening danger from their abusive father, who len knows damn well wouldn’t hesitate to kill his own daughter to get what he wants, what he wants in that moment being barry’s death. there is a bomb in lisa’s head. lewis could detonate it at any second, he has his finger on the button. lisa’s life hangs in the balance. all len has to do to guarantee her safety - at least temporarily - is shoot barry.

and len hesitates.

not just for a split second. he freezes (no pun intended.) he stops and agonises over what to do, whether to kill barry to guarantee lisa’s safety. he knows that every second of hesitation is putting lisa in greater danger. and it’s not like len is, if we’re being honest with ourselves, particularly concerned about murdering people. his canonically established reasons for not killing are a) convenience, bc murder is more likely to make the cops chase after him, and b) bc barry asked him not to as part of their deal, which is basically just a) with slight rephrasing. this is a man who froze a security guard to death just bc he was the first available person to test his new weapon on. a man who derailed an entire train full of people just to make a clean getaway. len is not someone who shies away from killing (as is made evident when he shoots his own father approximately ten seconds after the bomb is removed from lisa’s head, with NO hesitation WHATSOEVER.)

so i’m just in complete AWE of the fact that len pauses even for a second, that he lets his sister’s life hang in the balance rather than just killing barry on the spot. it’s not like he and barry are close - shipper goggles aside, they’ve had just a handful of interactions. i think len likes him, sure; he finds him entertaining, he enjoys their little skirmishes… but it’s not like barry is anyone majorly important in his life. he’s some guy that len flirts with ahem, fights with on occasion. when it comes down to him and lisa, there’s no contest. so the fact he hesitates is just??? unfathomable?? 

the safest thing to do would be to comply with his father’s orders, because every second len resists is another opportunity lewis has to detonate the bomb. but unlike lewis’ bullet - which barry caught with very little difficulty - the cold gun is made to stop barry specifically. if len shoots him at such close range, with this weapon specifically designed to take down a speedster, that’s it. game over. and len knows it. 

so he hesitates.

*screeches*

and of course, cisco removes the bomb safely, barry tells len, the dilemma is resolved. but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a MASSIVE thing len has just done, and a very telling decision on his part, that a man who purports to be so cold and calculating has what should be a very easy decision on his hands: whether to save his beloved sister by killing a man he claims to hate, or whether to put her in danger by refusing to do so… and yet he’s so obviously conflicted about what to do.

*takes deep breath and screams into the void*

now if we’re really going down that road, there’s also a LOT i could say about the fact that len trusts barry’s word instantly when barry tells him that the bomb has been safely deactivated. because if you look at len’s full-body relief, the way he goes limp with it for a second, you can see that there’s no doubt in his mind that barry’s being honest, and lisa is safe. that’s a hell of a lot of trust for someone like len to place in barry’s hands. and yeah, sure, we know barry is good and honest and kind, and a hero, and he’d never lie about something like that - but the fact len just instantly accepts that lisa is safe just because barry says so, that for all his trust issues it never even occurs to him to question it or demand proof before he turns on his father and takes out the threat… I’M FOAMING AT THE MOUTH HERE, PEOPLE