Katie Yu/The CWCan we just acknowledge that the villain on the midseason premiere of The Flash was named Turtle, but he did not roll with a crew of bros named E, Vince and Johnny Drama so we were definitely a little disappointed at first? It just feels very important to note that. But it's okay, because we quickly got over it when the episode proved to be a biggie, setting up what's to come for Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and co. throughout the rest of the season.
Turtle turned out to be not a driver/tequila salesman but a metahuman who was able to slow down everything around him—including Barry—to steal stuff. He ended up snatching up Patty when he saw The Flash rescue her, which kind of defeated the purpose of Barry's other big conflict of the night: Whether to tell Patty (Shantel VanSanten) the truth about his identity.
Iris (Candice Patton), smart woman that she is who was lied to for WAY too long, told Barry what everyone else knows—that secrets are no fun for anyone, and he should tell his love before she split for good, because she not only deserved to know but she would absolutely be able to handle herself in situations of danger. She is a cop, after all. But Earth 2 Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) took Barry aside and told him that was a bad idea because then Zoom could get to her, and apparently the advice of a stranger was much more worthwhile to him, so he didn't.
Just has Barry was about to spill the beans, Turtle went after Patty. Everyone emerged okay, but Barry chickened out. But since Turtle saw him save her before, he kidnapped her anyway. See? Still in danger. Just tell a girl the truth. Once he rescued her and got Turtle safely locked away, he went to confess—only to find that she'd decided to leave Central City to pursue her dream of becoming a CSI.
So now Patty's leaving for CSI school (one can only assume Midway City University has locations in both Vegas and Miami, obviously) and Barry's all alone once again. Which sucks, because Patty was awesome and superheroes deserve love too.
Meanwhile, Joe and his newfound son, Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale), tried to bond. It went badly. Turns out, Wally wasn't too happy that Joe didn't even know he existed but now wanted to be a happy family. After Joe tracked Wally down while drag racing (his nickname is "Tail Lights," which, like, couldn't he come up with something cooler? Maybe Cisco could help.) and explained that he just wanted to get to know him, Wally begrudgingly decided that'd be okay. Probably because how could you say no to Jesse L. Martin's face?
Also, Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) realized that Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears) is sick, and the only cure is to get his speed back from Zoom. So now she's extra down to stop Zoom, because girlfriend can't deal with losing her love AGAIN.
Oh, you know, and EOBARD THAWNE IS BACK. You know, the guy who tortured everyone throughout the first season of this show? The one who died in the season one finale? Yeah, he's here. Good times. The end of the episode saw Reverse Flash racing through what looked like the streets of Central City. UH OH. We'll clearly see more of him in weeks to come, so who knows what this means for the S.T.A.R. Labs team.
What did you think of the episode? Are you sad to see Patty go? Do you have any theories about what Thawne wants? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.