The Flash Review 2×10: “Potential Energy”

Tensions rise, relationships are put to the test, and an old enemy returns in the mid-season premiere of The Flash.

The Flash - Continuing in their efforts to try and stop Zoom, Barry (Grant Gustin) and the S.T.A.R. Labs team try to harness the power of a meta-human Cisco (Carlos Valdes) calls “The Turtle” aka Russell Glosson, due to his ability to slow down time. Capturing him proves difficult, however, as Barry can only move at a snail’s pace whenever he’s in proximity of Glosson. Things later take a dangerous turn when Glosson kidnaps Patty (Shantel VanSanten) as bait to lure The Flash out. Eventually, Barry is able to contain The Turtle in the basement of S.T.A.R. Labs, but it comes at a dangerous cost. There’s so much to discuss, so let’s get started!

This is how a heart breaks.

The episode begins with Barry and Patty out on a date. It seems normal, except for two things: She knows he’s The Flash and the next moment she’s being thrown off a building to her death by Zoom! It turns out Barry was only having a nightmare, as he awoke gasping and sweaty. This would haunt him throughout the episode as well as struggling with whether or not to reveal his secret to her. As Patty attempts to get closer to him, he pushes her away at first, but then agrees to dinner. Later, Barry asks her to the Crystal Ball instead, which she says yes to, not knowing the real reason for Barry’s sudden interest in art: The Turtle would be planning his latest heist there and it would be a great opportunity for Barry and the team to stop him.

As Barry and Patty danced, things suddenly came to a screeching halt, both in their relationship and the rest of the evening. As Barry pursued Glosson, Patty came face-to-face with him in the middle of the crowded ballroom. She fired off a few rounds, which Glosson easily stopped and he in turn tried to crush her with a crystal chandelier, but Barry was able to push her out of the way at the last second. When time resumed, she found herself abandoned and forgotten in the middle of the dark, empty dancefloor, but her night would only get worse from there.

While Patty sat home wallowing in sadness, there came a knock on the door. It was Barry, apologizing for ditching her at the Crystal Ball. She would not hear it though, telling Barry to sort out his priorities fast, prompting him to quip “Fast is my specialty.” After Barry left, she got an unwanted visit from Glosson took her to his lair, where he planned to turn her into a living doll as revenge for The Flash getting in his way, making that the second brush with death for Patty in one night. Just when it seemed that Glosson would succeed in murdering her, Barry mustered up all of his speed and came at him with full velocity, knocking him out cold. Patty gratefully thanked her savior and for a moment, we could see in Barry’s eyes that he wanted to tell her the truth right then and there. The next morning, while Barry tried to reconcile with Patty, she delivered some crushing news: She had been offered a CSI position and would be leaving Central City effective immediately.

“It’s time to move on.” - Patty

“From the job?” - Barry

“From everything.” - Patty

Meanwhile, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Jay (Teddy Sears) had some devastating news of their own to deal with. Caitlin discovered that Jay was sick after taking his DNA from a beaker he drank champagne from. The only way he can be cured is if his speed is restored, which means Velocity 9 has to come into play. In the comics, Velocity 9, developed by Legends of Tomorrow baddie Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) is a serum that can grant or restore super-speed powers. If we remember, Jay momentarily got his speed back a few episodes ago when he reached into Harry’s body (Tom Cavanagh) to remove the bullet that was killing him after he was mistakenly shot by Patty.

Getting back to Patty, we feel that it’s best that she leave Central City. From the beginning, she was too overeager, and that made her really annoying. She also was not a good match for Barry, which Iris (Candice Patton) practically stated by saying they rushed into their relationship. Aside from moving too quickly (no pun intended) and not having anything in common other than working for Central P.D., the main reason Barry and Patty were not meant to be is that Iris is his true love. No, we don’t mean that in a fangirl-ish way - It’s cold, hard facts. Back in season one, when Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco, discovered the Reverse-Flash’s secret hiding place, artificial intelligence Gideon showed him the front page of a newspaper from the year 2024 published by Iris West-Allen. Even though both Barry and Iris describe their relationship as one of a brother and sister, they aren’t fooling us. And now with Patty out of the picture, it might just be a matter of time before they become official.

We need to talk about Wally.

Speaking of the Wests, the family reunion between Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) was off to a very rocky start this week. While showing Wally around the precinct, Wally couldn’t help but throw a jab at his dear old dad by replying “Obviously not,” when Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) commented on Joe being a heck of a detective. The moment grew even more tense when a suspect in custody called Wally “Taillights” and asked him why he wasn’t in cuffs too. Before accepting Joe and Iris’ dinner invitation, Wally tried to pass it off by saying “he had one of those faces,” but we knew he had some splainin’ to do.

Wally later did not show up to dinner, which disappointed Joe greatly and led him to an unlikely place. The reason Wally didn’t make the dinner is because he was moonlighting as a Fast & Furious street racer but someone else’s ride wasn’t the only thing waiting for him at the finish line. As Joe looked on disapprovingly, Wally approached his dad, leading to a major confrontation. He explained that the reason for the street races is that it was the only way he could help his dying mom, Joe’s ex, with her medical bills. Joe offered to dip into his pension, however, Wally it made it abundantly clear he wanted none of his money and nothing to do with him.

“I’m the man of our house. That position has been filled. Go home to your family, Joe.” - Wally

Surprisingly, Wally showed up on Joe’s doorstep, although he had no intention of apologizing. Joe realized that and extended the olive branch by apologizing to his son and offering him a seat at the dinner table, which Wally accepted. It’s a good thing too - Keiynan delivered a great performance this week, making it clear that both he and his character have much to offer. We know he’ll become Kid Flash later on this season, but what will be even more interesting is seeing when/if Wally will come into conflict with Barry. Besides harboring resentment towards Joe, it seems he also has some for Barry, calling him the “white shadow” when Iris said she always wanted a baby brother. Combine that with super-speed and it makes us think Wally will do whatever he can to show Barry up and prove that he’s more deserving of Joe’s love.

I’m coming undone, too late.

If we thought Joe and Barry were struggling with their relationships, no one was suffering more than Harry. He was a man possessed as he worked tirelessly trying to figure out how to steal Barry’s speed for Zoom in exchange for his daughter Jesse’s (Violett Beane) life. Despite his frustrations and fear however, he was able to bond with both Cisco and Barry. He first offers up a heartfelt reason as to why Barry should not have told Patty his secret: Zoom would take everything he loved from him, just as he had taken Jesse. Then, while staking out The Turtle in the van with Cisco, he somberly explains how he came up with Zoom’s name. Before murdering fifteen police officers, Zoom left one of them alive long enough to tell the tale and describe a blue streak of lighting zooming by them.

By the end of the episode, everything had taken a toll on Harry, leading him to take drastic measures. In a recording to his daughter, he recalls their first outing together when she was four - the aquarium. He remembers how crowded it was but more importantly, he remembers the fear he felt when she let go of his hand and disappeared. At that moment, he was no longer Jesse’s sweet, affectionate father but a monster who would do horrible, unspeakable things to get her back. He proves this by opening Turtle’s cell and taking a sample of his blood, killing him. Ironically, after Wells leaves Glosson’s dead body lying there, we see the man who wore his skin last season, the Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher) arriving in Central City, not knowing how he landed there.

“It was in that moment… that I realized for certain that I would do anything to get. you. back.” - Harry

Final Verdict: The Flash delivered strong performances and a powerful ending that will make us come back for more next week.

In an episode defined by relationships and the loss of them, Tom Cavanagh truly delivered an amazing, emotional performance. The way he can go from cold and calculating one moment to friend and mentor the next truly speaks to his craft. That perfect shot of Harry’s back as he walked towards the cell courtesy of director Rob Hardy gave us chills because it reminded us of Reverse-Flash Wells and how easily Tom reverted back to the role in that moment. At the end of the day, Harry may be a d***, but he’s a d*** with a heart of gold. We were also extremely impressed by the work of writers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns. Not only did they create some pretty incredible, memorable lines, they also left us eagerly awaiting next week’s episode!