S02E10- Potential Energy

Summary: Now that they've grown closer, Barry considers telling Patty that he is The Flash. Meanwhile, Joe and Iris try to get to know Wally, and the team hunts down a meta-human.....
Description: Barry Allen was just 11 years old when his mother was killed in a bizarre and terrifying incident and his father was falsely convicted of the murder. With his life changed forever by the tragedy, Barry was taken in and raised by Detective J
Patty Spivot has left the building.

I'm sure that's upsetting to those of you who were enjoying the character, but The Flash Season 2 Episode 10 made it clear she was more hazardous than not to Barry and his calling as The Flash, so I wish her all the best studying to be a CSI.

While I was glad to see Patty take her leave, it didn't give me reason to celebrate (I'm not callous), and there wasn't much else of note going on during the hour, either.

It wasn't the episode I would have expected coming back after the break.

The Flash Photos from "Potential Energy" Start Gallery

Opening on one of Barry's nightmares of Zoom taking Patty, knowing she's the most important thing to The Flash makes you wonder.

First, why was the Turtle able to figure out without Barry making too much of a fuss that Patty really was of the utmost importance to The Flash and why hasn't Zoom put that together? That was rather...lame.

Second, why did Barry decide to go ahead and make the decision to share his identity with Patty knowing the risks he would be bringing upon her? Granted, they're just dreams, but Harry warned him again just in case Barry forgot where Harry's daughter has been spending her time.

Of course, Barry didn't get to tell Patty, because before he got the chance, Patty got involved in their plan, needed to be rescued and the Turtle got away because Barry took a date on a mission. Very uncool, Barry.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: Barry either has to date someone who is not concerned with his highly confidential CIA like position within the police force (yeah, he's going to need to lie a bit), or he's going to have to date someone like him or someone already in the know. He cannot date a curious cat like Patty.

He shouldn't be forced to tell someone his identity, thereby putting them in harm's way. He should probably just pull back for a while and think it through.

The other couple of the moment, Caitlin and Jay, also had a setback, as he's dying. It was a little too vague for my liking. He's dying of lack of speed. What? So he won't be able to live until Zoom is dead.

Can we get a little clarification on that please? What's causing the problem, exactly, and what are the symptoms? And when Zoom dies, do his powers come out in a breath of smoke and Jay inhales them like happens on Supernatural with demons entering and exiting bodies and stuff?

And thank you, Harry, for not having any qualms about killing the Turtle. Screw him, right? We like our Wells men to be morally questionable. He's trying to save his daughter, and to do that, he needs to do whatever he's going to with the brain goo so someone can slow down Zoom like Turtle slowed down everyone else.

Or no, they're going to try to find a way to drain Zoom of his speed the way Turtle drained Barry of his while he simultaneously slowed everyone down, right? It got a little confusing in there.

I really like the new relationship Cisco and Harry are forging, and Cisco offering to vibe for Harry was a big deal. Cisco's exasperation with Harry is fun to watch, because he wouldn't have dared to be like that with Harrison. The new level of comfort is amusing and puts them on a more even keel.

On the other hand, it was slow going for the West Family 2.0. It shouldn't come as any surprise that Wally doesn't think Joe's a very good detective. After all, he was living in plain sight and was never discovered. It would probably be going better for Joe if he was an auto mechanic.

Apparently Francine has no health insurance, because Wally is street racing for cash to cover her medical expenses. You know that won't fly for long now that Joe knows, but it's sad Wally's been doing it all himself.

Wally didn't seem to hold his new sister in the same regard, which is good. They already have a decent rapport going. She can be angry with him, but not hold it against him, etc.

Overall, this felt like an hour of standing still. It was necessary to get Patty out of the picture. She was taking up too much time, and Barry's head wasn't in the game. He was thinking of her when he should have been thinking bigger picture after a failed mission.

Unfortunately for him, his life has more meaning than a love affair, and he has to put that second sometimes. Not always, but when the team is debriefing after a loss, he should probably be there.

It does seem weird, though, that we spent all that time getting to know Patty and her family history, etc., just to have her disappear off to university. I mean, there was a lot of time invested in that character. Valuable time. We learned a lot more about her than we have about Jay Garrick, and he's a Flash!

Even I didn't enjoy seeing her clinging to The Flash and calling him "whoever you are," though. Enough was enough.

The only other thing I want to mention is seeing the Reverse Flash running down the street, lost. Was he here, on Earth, in our time? I didn't catch any frame of reference. He just kind of popped up out of nowhere for no apparent reason.

What did you think of "Potential Energy"? Thoughts on Patty's departure? Are you ready to get moving on this Zoom storyline?