The Flash 2x10 Recap: "Potential Energy"

Potential Energy.
Welcome back to Tuesday nights, everyone! It's been a relaxing hiatus, but I'm very excited for shows to come back and recaps to be up as usual again. That means more Earth-Two and lots of exciting things coming up. On tonight's midseason premiere of The Flash, Barry's considering letting Patty in on his secret identity. We'll also see Iris and Joe getting to know more about Wally West. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Barry had a nightmare about his relationship with Patty putting her in danger and he fears Zoom will take her and hurt her. While Barry fears that, Patty feels he's being guarded and knows he's having nightmares, so she decides to talk to Iris about it, who gives her advice on how to let Barry know he can open up. She says that he has a habit of carrying the weight of the world (which we all know to be true), but that Patty should tell him that he doesn't have to do that with her. Patty does confront them and the two decide to plan a romantic date the next day to talk and do some kissing, which is what they both say is exactly what they need.

Iris is the advice giver for both sides of the relationship when she admits to Barry that she and Patty met for coffee. Her advice to him is to let Patty fully in and tell her he's The Flash. If he's serious about her, he has to tell her.

Wally's getting to see some of Iris and Joe's daily lives, but when they get to the CCPD precinct, a newly arrested male seems to recognize him. He brushes it off, saying he just "has one of those faces," but the real question is: What is Wally West up to? He doesn't help his case when he ditches the whole family on their dinner plans. He's taking part in drag racing to win cars and pay for his mom's hospital bills, and he's actually very good at it, since he wins. He's also not being fair to Joe about him not knowing about him. He was never told, he could've never known he had a son since no one told him. There's bitterness and tension between them, but Wally's not being fair about the situation Joe was put in. Yet, later in the episode, Joe apologizes for not being there for him and that may be a small step in them forming a better relationship because they decide to order takeout together.

Cisco thinks that he's discovered a way to stop Zoom and steal his speed and that's with the help of a new metahuman who has the ability to slow down time called the Turtle. When The Flash goes to talk to him, however, he's also slowed down by his ability, but he could still move. Basically, his stored "potential energy" is what allows him to do so, and is also what gives this episode its title.

So since that plan fails, they decide to go to the black tie event at the art exhibit since a famous painting will be there and instead of having dinner, Barry asked Patty to go with her. He plans to tell her there, but then Wells warns him against it, saying that Zoom will go after anyone he cares for once he finds out who that is.

The entire team is inside except for Wells and Cisco, and Wells decides that it's story time, so we learn about how Zoom got his nickname. And Cisco offers to Vibe anytime he doubts that his daughter is alive.

Despite Wells' warning, Barry does begin to tell Patty, but then he notices the Turtle and has to go. Patty also notices him and she pulls out her gun, but he slows down time, grabs the painting, and then walks to point Patty's gun on her. The Flash arrives to the scene and instead of shooting Patty, the Turtle shoots the chandelier at the top, which would hit Patty if The Flash didn't save her life. And we see that she's definitely not happy about Barry ditching her when he goes to apologize.

The Turtle is aware that The Flash cares about Patty, especially since he risked his life for hers, and because of that, he gets into Patty's apartment and takes her. When Barry goes to see her again, he finds the bullets on the floor that the Turtle stopped and now he needs to find her. Patty thinks that he wants to hurt Barry, so she doesn't understand when he says that he's actually intending to hurt The Flash. When he says that his wife was taken from him, he says that that's why he takes the things that matter most from people. This is also the point in the episode where we find out how insane he is. Team Flash discovers where he is and goes to get Patty. His first attempt at pushing through isn't successful, but his second is and he's able to rescue Patty.

Barry goes to tell Patty the truth and be honest about everything, but Patty has some news of her own. She's leaving the city to go back to school since she got into the special program to train for the CSI. That means that she's leaving everything behind, including the job and Barry.

I believe at the end of the episode Wells took some of the Turtles brain, since he's attempting to steal the Turtle's power. That's what appeared to happen, so we'll see if that helps him out. Next week, the Reverse-Flash from an earlier timeline is making an appearance. It's claimed to be one of the best episodes, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store, especially since it's the Reverse-Flash we know and not from Earth-Two.

Other things worth mentioning:
⚡Jay and Caitlin had a cute scene together. They're a very subtle couple, but their moments are always nice to see.
⚡Follow up from the previous thing, that champagne scene was also sad later on because since Jay lost his speed, he's been sick. He needs his speed back in order to get better, and Caitlin's ready to stop it.

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