The Flash - 'Potential Energy'

Patty Spivot; a pretty good mix of action gal and interestingly distressed.

Barry is equivocating about whether or not to tell Patty that he is the Flash. Iris says go for it, but Harry says no: Telling her will just put her in harm's way as Zoom will attack the people his target loves. As always, this is a false argument, since Patty not knowing doesn't change either the way Barry feels or her utility as a bargaining tool, and as a woman of action she is far better equipped to deal with that threat (as little as anyone can do against Zoom) if she's forewarned.

But Barry is Barry and so he vacillates. Meanwhile, Sisko has suggested a means to combat Zoom by using the abilities of a metahuman thief whom he has dubbed 'the Turtle'. At first appearing to be a speedster, the Turtle is instead capable of slowing down everyone around him by turning their kinetic energy into potential (also apparently affecting their perception, as they don't stand around completely aware of his actions.) Barry can change his energy back faster, but still moves sluggishly within the Turtle's slowfield and two attempts to trap the Turtle both fail. In the second, which doubles as the date on which Barry was going to tell Patty his secret, Patty is almost killed when she attempts to tackle the Turtle herself.

Seeing that the Flash cares for her (do you see how that works? Huh?) the Turtle kidnaps Patty in the wake of a difficult heart to heart with Barry in which he still fails to tell her the vital information which might have prevented her being kidnapped, not for ransom or to bait a trap, but simply because after the breakdown of his marriage he has become obsessed with taking away things that people care about, and intends to add Patty to his museum of stolen treasures alongside his energy locked (and probably quite dead) wife. To save her, Barry takes a beating but powers through the Turtle's pulses with what looks like a much slowed supersonic punch. Despite the fact that this means Zoom could almost certainly do the same, Harry starts drilling holes in Turtle's head behind Team Flash's back while musing on how he would do anything to save his daughter. I think this is supposed to be bad, but I got his back on this one.

Then Patty decides to take up her deferred acceptance on a forensic science course, what with her nemesis being in jail now, and leave Central City forever, in part because she still doesn't know that the Flash is Barry. The tragic irony is that if you're going to have a long distance relationship, the Flash is the guy to have it with.

In subplot city, Caitlin learns that Jay is sick, perhaps terminally so, and likely to remain so unless he can somehow recover his access to the Speed Force. Joe tries to bond with Wally, but Wally isn't looking for a dad and is mostly in Central to take part in an illegal street race, as no one in Keystone City will race him anymore.

And then Reverse Flash appears from the future with Gideon the supercomputer and tenure, so a huge what the fuck on that one.