Season 2 Episode 10 of The Flash, titled Potential Energy, revolves around an enemy that is the “opposite” of Barry–The Turtle. Check out Josh’s recap on this episode, as well as both Josh and Violet’s thoughts!
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Episode Recap of The Flash, Season 2 Episode 10: Potential Energy
This episode begins with Barry meeting up with Patty for a date, and they seem to be hitting it off pretty well. But Zoom shows up, and takes Patty. He takes her to a cliff, and Barry watches hopelessly as Zoom drops her from te cliff. Luckily for Barry, this is all a dream, and Barry wakes up next to Patty.
Meanwhile, at the precinct, Wally is being shown around by Joe at his work. Wally doesn’t seem too excited about hanging out with the family, and seems jealous of “the white shadow” which refers to Barry. We also get some insight that Wally might be a troublemaker when a man in handcuffs calls out to Wally. Wally plays it off though.
Then Patty comes into the precinct, and wants to talk to Iris about Barry. Patty feels Barry is being distant. Iris tries to tell Patty he takes on a lot of responsibility, and that Patty should try to get him to share his burden.
At STAR Labs, Wells is frustrated when he can’t figure out how to work his formula, which most likely pertains to increasing Barry’s speed. Cisco comes in, and he wants to try to figure out how to make Zoom slower, and might even have an idea. Cisco has a secret nemesis apparently, referred to as the Turtle, who has the ability to slow down people around him. Team Flash works on locating Turtle, and Flash seems to have a bead on the next target. Barry heads to intercept, but the Turtle makes his move. Everyone around him stops moving while the Flash moves very slowly. The Turtle makes his escape.
Back at STAR Labs, the Team figures out that the Turtle turns people’s kinetic energy into potential energy. They also figure out the identity of the Turtle. Meanwhile, Jay Garrick hangs back with Caitlin, and Caitlin wants to help Jay get his speed back. Jay has written it off, feeling there is no hope anymore.
At the precinct, Joe and Barry talk about the Turtle, but it moves on to talking about Wally, and Joe nervous about their dinner with Wally. Patty then shows up and talks to Barry, asking if Barry is okay, and wants to help him if she can. Barry tries to calm her by asking her to dinner for the next night.
That night, Wally doesn’t show up to the dinner, and Joe seems a bit bummed. Joe heads to bed, and Iris and Barry talk. Iris talks about Patty and she tries to tell Barry to talk to Patty. Iris tells Barry that he might want to tell Patty about being the Flash. Barry seems to agree.
Back at STAR Labs, the Turtle’s next target seems to be identified–a famous painting. Barry plans to try to take him down again. Barry realizes that his dinner with Patty is that night, so the best solution Barry comes up with for his date, is to bring Patty to the museum, the target of the Turtle. She agrees, despite not being a big art girl. Barry then tells the Team he will be telling Patty about being the Flash. Most seem supportive, but Wells tells him to not, because she will be a target once Zoom finds out that Barry/The Flash cares for her.
At the museum, Team Flash shows up all fancy, with tuxes/gowns. Cisco and Wells are outside in a van, using surveillance. After some watching, the Team identifies the Turtle. Unfortunately, they are too late, and the Turtle makes his move, right as Barry is about to tell his secret to Patty. Barry leaves Patty to try to stop the Turtle. Barry tries to stop Turtle, but Patty winds up a target of the Turtle, to which the Turtle realizes that Patty must have some special meaning to the Flash. The Turtle makes his escape with the painting, and Patty is left alone on the ground.
Back at STAR Labs, they have no leads on Turtle. Barry heads back to Patty, and Jay and Caitlin have another moment. The two share some champagne, and Jay heads out. Caitlin decides to “borrow” Jay’s flute to run some DNA tests on it.
At Patty’s, Barry shows up, and she is really irritated, as can be imagined. Barry gets the cold shoulder and ends up leaving.
Joe, meanwhile, finds out what Wally is really doing in town. Wally apparently is a street racer, and Joe catches Wally in the middle of winning a race. Apparently Wally has won too many races in his hometown that he needed a new city to race in, needing new competitors. Joe confronts Wally, but Wally doesn’t really have much to say to his dad.
Meanwhile, Patty gets another visitor–Turtle. He kidnaps her. Barry discovers that Patty has been taken, and heads to STAR Labs to figure out where she is. They do some research and figure out he must be in a storage facility. Meanwhile, we learn the Turtle’s motives–he takes what is most precious to people, and freezes them in time. Barry heads there, and tries to save Patty, but the Turtle is able to lay down his whammy on Barry. Finally, Barry is able to stop him though, and Patty is saved. Patty thanks the Flash for saving her.
Later, Patty gets another visit from Barry, who tries to apologize. But Patty tells Barry that she is leaving Central City to go back to school.
Back at STAR Labs, Caitlin tells Jay she knows his other secret–that he is sick, and the only way to save him is to get his speed back. Caitlin says they are going to work on it.
Meanwhile, Turtle is put into the metahuman prison in Star Labs. But Doctor Wells shows up later–and winds up extracting something from Turtle–which winds up killing him, it seems.
Also, we see Wally make one last visit to Joe before he heads back to his home town. But before he leaves, Joe and Wally sit down for some Chinese food.
And in the final scene of the episode, we see an old enemy show up–Eobard Thawne as the Reverse Flash. Earth 2 version perhaps?
Josh’s Thoughts: The Flash, Season 2 Episode 10: Potential Energy
I had a really hard time understanding the Turtle’s power. It was odd, because he wasn’t stopping time, but was turning kinetic energy into potential energy? I guess that means he can slow every aspect of every person into “slow motion”? It is kind of a strange power. I guess it sort of makes sense, but it is something that is hard to wrap my mind around.
But it looks like Dr. Wells might not be on the up and up. At least not any longer. He is now willing to kill for his daughter, which is somewhat admirable I guess, but he should be asking for help from the Team that has taken him, despite their initial distrust.
As for the relationship between Patty and Barry, I am sad to see that it might be ending. I knew from the moment that envelope showed up in the episode, it would be some sort of transfer for Patty. Hopefully this is just temporarily, as I kind of like Patty.
As for the Reverse Flash, he seems to be back. I am curious to know how he made his comeback–is he the “Earth 2” Reverse Flash? I guess we will find out more next episode…
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 10 of The Flash: Potential Energy
I am really getting tired of them drawing out whether or not Barry should tell Patty that he’s The Flash. Obviously, he should. Everyone else in his life knows. Why shouldn’t Patty? And she’s on the metahuman task force, so even more reason she should know, so that the Flash Team can work together better in cooperation with her, and her boss, Joe, who also knows. Her not knowing has been putting everyone at a disadvantage, including herself. There’s no real reason he shouldn’t tell her, and Dr. Wells’ reasoning not to tell her doesn’t even make sense. This episode proved that. Dr. Wells says Barry shouldn’t tell her because that would make her a target. Well, guess what, she was a target despite not knowing. Anyone that Barry cares about could be a target, regardless of whether or not they know that he’s The Flash. But I guess that’s all moot at this point, since Patty’s supposedly moving away. I wonder if that’s just temporary or permanent? What if Barry went ahead and told her the truth? Would that change things? I hope they keep Patty around, as she would make a great asset to the team, and I think she and Barry make a great couple.
The Turtle was an interesting villain, and it was cool to see a familiar face — Chief from Battlestar Galactica! It was a bit funny how they came up with excuses as to why he’s never come up before. But I guess if Dr. Wells killed him, he’ll never come up again. Did he kill him, or just somehow take away his power? If he is dead, what will the Flash team think about his death? When will they figure out that he’s dead? How often do they monitor those metahumans in the Pipeline anyway??
That brings us to Wally, Wally West, who turns out to be a bit of a troublemaker, but then we find out that it’s really only because he needs money in order to pay for his mom’s medical treatments. It’ll take some time, but it looks like he and Joe will start to get along, and he’ll probably eventually join the Flash Team in some way. I’m not familiar with the comics, and I don’t really want to spoil myself, so I’m not going to look up information about him.
For now, I’m intrigued about the return of Reverse Flash! I thought we’d seen the last of Eobard Thawne. But with time travel and parallel worlds existing in this show, I guess you’ve never seen the last of anyone!
Scenes from The Flash, Episode 11: The Reverse-Flash Returns
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Flash, titled The Reverse-Flash Returns:
