TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews The Flash Season 02 Episode 10: Potential Energy

And…we’re back!

Yes, after a long, LONG, wait, all our shows have returned, and Flash was the first one to grace our TV screens once again. Now, for those who remember, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first half of Flash Season 02. I thought they made way too many questionable moves, and not enough good ones to lock us in the way Season 01 did. With “Potential Energy” we did get some of the flair back, but, it came at a price that I’m left scratching my head over.

First off, let’s do the positive. Cisco have a list of “uncaught metahumans” is actually quite brilliant, and perfect in the context of the show. We knew there had to be more metahumans than the ones we met in Season 01, that’s just logical. But given the confines of the show, we naturally can’t get to them all, thus, the list. The introduction of The Turtle was actually well done, and very funny, as Barry was the only one (in the know) that didn’t know who the Turtle was. And, while the start for this villain wasn’t very memorable, by the end, he was a very compelling villain.

Which of course leads to the fact of why the Turtle was here in the first place, Cisco realizing that if they could learn from him and his abilities, they might be able to slow down Zoom enough to make him beatable. Which of course, led to several amazing moments with Wells E2. Not the least of which was revealing how Zoom got his name, all the while adding to his evil presence. Then of course, there was the ending scene where Wells presumably kills the Turtle to get some vital DNA that’ll help him beat Zoom…hopefully. The monologue/diary entry at the end was brilliantly done, as it showed just how driven Wells E2 is to get Jesse back.

One of the other better storylines was the new member of the West family. Wally. Who we got to meet and learn a little more about. On one hand, it was good to see that the struggle to bring Wally into the family was going to be a challenge, that’s needed. As was Joe’s apology about trying to force the family together. However, I didn’t like how Wally continually bashed Joe because “he was a detective who didn’t know he had a son”. That’s a little unfair, maybe even a lot. Joe had no reason to believe he had a son. Especially after his wife left like she did. He pushed her out of his mind so he could focus on Iris, which was the smart call. So for Wally to hate him, and not his mother, because of that was stupid. But, there’s still plenty of potential here, especially given Wally’s not so glamorous occupation.

Then of course there’s Barry and Patty. Who went from cute couple, to very involved couple, to..they’re breaking up? This was very sudden, and yes, very lame. I’m not saying that every relationship should be perfect. However, the way this was done wasn’t very good. The setup was, with Barry struggling to tell Patty who he really was on the basis that Zoom might try and kill her, which he had good precedent for. And if they had broken up because of Barry’s “ditching” her, that would’ve been ok, as Barry would’ve then tried to win her back. But to have her leave like that? Because Mardon is now caught and she “needs to move on”? That’s shades of Henry Allen leaving right after being freed from jail. Too soon, and not believable.

Oh, and how about Caitlin and Jay? Yeah, still don’t like it. Why? Because, we know they won’t stay together, cause Jay will get his speed back and return to Earth-2, it’s the only possible outcome outside of him dying. But now, he’s sick! And so he NEEDS to get his speed back in order to live…yeah, not liking it. For whatever reason, Jay Garrick is getting the shaft since his introduction, and it hurts me cause this character is very strong, and yet he’s continually coming up as weak or a coward. This love story isn’t going to have a happy ending, so why are they doing it?

“Potential Energy” had just that, the potential to be really good. Sadly, despite some return to form, more questionable choices weighed it down. There’s still plenty of season left, but the countdown is on to make this memorable, and not a true sophomore slump season.