Barry (AKA THE FLASH, played by Grant Gustin) toys with the idea of telling Patty (Shantel VanSanten) about his secret identity and a new villain able to slow down time (The Turtle, played by Aaron Douglas) on this week's ep of THE FLASH.
We open with Barry speeding to meet Patty for a date. He slows down to walk to the table only to realize the flowers he has brought her are on fire from the lightning he generated while traveling at super speed. I guess there is a downside to being the fastest man alive...
They share a romantic moment. Zoom speeds in and grabs Patty. Barry gives chase to the top of a building where Zoom is holding Patty over the edge, threatening to drop her to her death. Zoom tells him everything that Barry has will be his. He then drops Patty.
And Barry wakes up from a nightmare. Patty is in the same bed next to him. She's a heavy sleeper.
At the police station, Det. Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and his daughter Iris (Candice Patton) are giving a tour to Joe's long lost son (and Iris' brother) Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale). A perp asks Wally where his cuffs are (and calls him "taillights"). Wally tells Joe he doesn't know the guy. Joe is immediately suspicious, though. Patty arrives to spirit Iris away for girl talk. It fails the Bechdel Test, of course. She's there to talk about Barry. Iris actually gives her good advice.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Earth-2 Harrison (Tom Cavanagh) is frustrated by a formula and throws some things around. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) tell him Harrison he doesn't get to just throw Cisco's stuff around. Harrison tosses more stuff. Cisco picks it up and then tells Harrison his approach is all wrong. Don't focus on making Barry faster, focus on make Zoom slower.
He then proceeds to show the team (including Caitlin, played by Danielle Panabaker) footage of a man who possesses the ability to slow down everything around him. Barry quickly figures out the next target (a press conference at the police station where some stolen jewels are being presented to their rightful owner). Barry speeds down to nab The Turtle, but the minute he enters the bubble generated by the villain, he too slows down.
Back at the lab, Jay (aka Earth-2 FLASH, played by Teddy Sears) explains that Barry was still able to move (albeit at a slow pace) because he was able to recover faster. Caitlin uses facial recognition software and identifies The Turtle as Russel Glosson. Barry heads to the police station, leaving Caitlin to offer her services in restoring Jay's speed power. He tells her any test she could run he's already done.
At The West's, Wally is a no-show for dinner. Barry has a lot on his mind. Iris tells Barry she told her to talk to Barry herself. Barry is upset. She tells him to man up and tell Patty he's THE FLASH.
Team FLASH has unearthed the next target: a painting on display at the museum that was recently recovered. Barry has previously made a date with Patty. He calls her and switches the romantic dinner to the art gala opening. He also tells the team that he is planning to tell Patty about his secret identity. The team is OK with it (Cisco figures she has already brought down two meta-humans, so she's practically Team Flash anyway). Harrison thinks Barry should keep her as far away from his world as possible.
Patty arrives at the gala. She is wearing the dress from Barry's earlier nightmare. They share a dance. He is about to reveal all when The Turtle makes his move. He freezes Patty, grabs her gun and fires it at the chandelier above her. When THE FLASH moves to rescue her, The Turtle zaps The Flash twice. He gets away, but not before Barry is about to push Patty out of the way as the chandelier crashes down on him.
At the lab, Cisco and Harrison go off to figure out how to stop The Turtle, Barry speeds off to meet back up with Patty and Jay pops a bottle of champagne and shares a quick drink with Caitlin (before he too runs off). She picks up the beaker he has sipped out of and examines it.
Patty tells Barry they've been having fun, but she's moving into the serious part of a relationship and Barry needs to catch up and fast.
Wally, meanwhile, is drag racing. He wins the race, collects the other guy's car as his prize and then sees Joe watching from the sidelines. His pissed that Joe never figured out he had a son. Joe is mad that Wally feels he has to pay for his mom's hospital bills by selling the cars he wins instead of using Joe's pension.
The Turtle breaks into Patty's home. He grabs her gun (again) and holds it to her head. He tells her he wants the thing most precious to THE FLASH: her.
Barry shows up at Patty's apartment. The door is open. Never a good sign. Barry calls Joe and tells him to meet him at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Patty and The Turtle get to know each other. She tells him THE FLASH saved her because that's what he does. The Turtle reveals that he has permanently frozen his wife who was going to leave him and he know plans to do the same to Patty.
THE FLASH speeds to the rescue, gets beaten by the Turtle, speeds off to gain speed and then charges through eventually breaking through several of The Turtle's speed traps before slamming him against a wall.
Barry locks The Turtle away under the meta-human prison at S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin confronts Jay about being sick. The only way to save him is to get his speed back. Caitlin vows to stop Zoom.
Barry catches up with Patty and is about to reveal things to her when she interrupts him. She's leaving Central City to get her degree in forensic science. She kisses him goodbye and he is stunned.
Harrison proves he'll kill to get his daughter back. He sticks a needle up The Turtle's nose, extracting something (brain tissue?) and killing him.
Final reveal: Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher) removes his mask and asks his computer where he is.
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