The Flash - Potential Energy - Review
"I can't figure you out, Barry Allen." Patty
After that mid-season finale which was trying to achieve too much, The Flash toned it down this week and refocused its attention more on a new 'villain of the week' style episode. That, however, was by no means a bad thing as the Turtle was a solid villain, and a fun one at that too.
Zoom has and will continue to be a central focus of this season, but his absence every now and again is needed to help retain the familiarity of the 'villain of the week' style episodes. This episode though introduced us to a new metahuman who will play a crucial part in the episodes to come in regards to the capture and ultimately defeat of Zoom. The Turtle was a villain that simply gave Well's a new opportunity to produce a new way of trying to defeat Zoom. But, the Turtle was also an unexpected villain that really put Barry's true feelings for Patty to the test.
What I found interesting though was the re-introduction of the Reverse Flash. Well's obtaining Turtle's powers is going to play a huge part going forward. The logical reasoning behind his reappearance would be that Wells will use Turtle's powers to somehow obtain and take Reverse Flash's speed to use to defeat Zoom. Wells could do many things should he actually take Reverse Flash's speed, but since Jay's deteriorating health also got a lot of focus this episode I think there's a real possibility that he could well give Jay the speed should he accomplish all that I think the show is setting up for.
Well's and Jay have never seen eye to eye and will probably never will, but if Wells gives Jay back the thing that will not only save his life, that will make him whole again, I see Jay finally getting past his previous encounters with Wells on Earth 2. Their feud played a prominent role when Jay was first introduced so I can see that been re-looked at in time for Wells to help him - should they, of course, go the route I think they will take with Reverse Flash. At the moment, Jay is being wasted and underused.
"West Family 2.0 is not really off to a great start." Iris
Elsewhere, after the brief introduction of Wally West last episode, he was given a lot more focus this episode. And we really got to see the strain of not having a father around has had on him. This gave Keiynan Lonsdale some fantastic material to work with, and his scenes with Jesse L. Martin was some of the best of the episode. It's nice to have Joe get a storyline of his own, and what better way to test Jesse L. Martin than for him to play to more of Joe's emotional side than the tough acting detective.
Moving onto Patty, this episode was quite hard to take as Patty decided she wanted to move on for the sake of her career. Barry finally found someone who he really clicked with and truly cared for. It's a huge shame that she is leaving and that the writers decided to write her off so quickly. She did take up a lot of screen time each episode and there wasn't much more they could have done with her if Barry didn't reveal his secret, but keeping her around still would have been a good idea. She's a sweetheart and a strong female character.
Personally, I think the writers should have had Barry tell her his secret. It's been looming over their relationship ever since they got together, and just once I wanted Barry to be in an honest relationship. He deserves it and has earned it. Even if they still had her leave, he should have told her. That would have been a better ending to their relationship, I think. Still, her leaving is going to play heavily on Barry's mind next episode and it will be interesting to see if he becomes an emotional wreck or manages to move past it quickly. Something that could even spark the return of Henry Allen? I sure hope so.
Summary
The Flash returned this past Tuesday with a toned down, character focusing episode. Barry and Patty's troubling relationship came to an end when Patty decided she would take a new job and leave, crushing Barry. Wally West played a bigger role this episode giving us insight into his past and the strain of having no father has had on him. A new villain Turtle was introduced, but only to play a part in the bigger narrative by giving Wells a new way of trying to defeat his nemesis. Overall, it was a solid episode, but far from anything out of the ordinary.
As always, thank you for reading. Let me know in the comments what you thought of Potential Energy!
