Patty Spivot

Patricia "Patty" Spivot is a fictional character who appears in various DC Comics publication and was created by writer Cary Bates and artist Irv Novick. She is a friend and partner of the second Flash Barry Allen. She first appeared in "Five-Star Super-Hero Spectacular" (DC Special Series #1, September, 1977).^[1]

Fictional character biography

Patricia 'Patty' Spivot was the part-time lab assistant to police scientist Barry Allen in the Central City Police Department. She later became the police department's full-time forensic blood analyst.^[2]

After David Singh took over the crime lab as director and began to emphasize the quantity of the cases solved over the quality, Patty decided to leave Central City for Blue Valley, Nebraska.^[3]

Barry attempted to contact Patty to get help on the case of Elongated Kid's death.^[4] She was visiting her mother in Keystone City at the time, so she went to the police lab to meet Barry. She told him that she was enjoying her new life in Blue Valley. Wanting to put the past behind her, she asked not to get involved. Barry received a call to another crime scene, and he convinced her to join him. Here, they found a young boy hiding in a shipping container.^[5] They brought the boy to the police station to interview as a witness, but he refused to open up to anyone but Patty. Shortly thereafter, the boy revealed himself to her as Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash.^[6] It was he who had been responsible for the deaths of Elongated Kid and others, and he threatened to kill Patty in the same way, by accelerating her aging process until she died of old age within seconds. However, Flash, Kid Flash, and Hot Pursuit arrived on the scene just in time, saving Patty.

Later, Barry went to the police station to see if Patty was okay. Patty revealed to Barry that she planned to return to Blue Valley, but Barry tried to convince her to stay. Then, Patty revealed to Barry her unrequited crush on him. Surprised by this, Barry tells her that he will always be her friend and asks her to think about staying in Central City, and Patty promises she will. But in that moment, Iris comes in, and Patty, trying to avoid an awkward moment, leaves.^[7]

Flashpoint

Patty, wanting to do something bigger with her life, stole the former Hot Pursuit's gear from the Central City Police Department evidence locker, becoming the new Hot Pursuit. Escaping from a group of cops in her Cosmic Motorcycle, Patty went to a rooftop. Suddenly, her bike detected a timestorm and initiated an emergency chronal-evac, transporting her to the year 3011.

There, she was captured by Brainiac's forces and placed in a hibernation chamber, where she was forced to relive her worst memory: drowning to death for a few minutes in a pool when she was a kid. However, she managed to escape.

Later, she helps Kid Flash (Bart Allen) escape from Brainiac, Earth's ruler in 3011. After they get to safety, Patty reveals her identity to him and explains that they are in the 31st century. Kid Flash tells her that he was born in the 31st century and it is nothing like the 31st century he was born in, so something must have changed in the timeline. Patty tells him that her bike can travel through time but only if it has the Speed Force tank, so Kid Flash agrees to find it. Kid Flash tells her that they must get back to the past and fix the timeline. Then, Kid Flash takes off his glove and shows that his right hand has lost its skin and it only has muscles and bone.^[8]

Patty reveals to Kid Flash how she became Hot Pursuit. Bart takes Patty's helmet and uses it to see how much was the timeline changed. Suddenly, the two are attacked by Brainiac's probes, but they escape using the Cosmic Motorcycle. Hiding in an abandoned building, they decide to enter Brainiac's fortress to obtain the Speed Force tank.

Bart lets himself be captured by Brainiac, who places him in a virtual reality chamber. Inside the chamber Bart manages to rewrite several of Brainiac's programs, including his security systems. This allows Patty to enter the citadel and rescue Kid Flash. They manage to find the Speed Force tank, but Brainiac impales Patty in the chest with his claws. Enraged, Bart attacks him while Patty obtains the tank. Using her last moments, Patty smashes the tank in front of Bart, allowing him to regain his speed. Patty dies and her body is taken by Brainiac. Bart escapes to the past, promising to save her.^[9]

The New 52

Flash managed to change reality and create a new universe, bringing Patty back to life. In this new reality, Barry is in a relationship with Patty, never marrying Iris West.

In other media

Shantel VanSanten as Patricia "Patty" Spivot in The Flash.

Patty Spivot appears in season two of The Flash, portrayed by Shantel VanSanten.^[10][11] Here, she is a uniformed police officer rather than a lab assistant. She intended to become a C.S.I. investigator, but put that aside when her father was murdered by Mark Mardon and joined the regular police force. She has a deep hatred for Mardon that comes from survivor's guilt; when she was a teenager, she was supposed to make the bank deposit that Mardon killed her father over. She harbors no ill will towards metahumans (her father was killed before the particle accelerator explosion that empowered the Mardon brothers), but believes that metahumans can be either good or bad, and should be stopped if necessary.^[12]

In her debut episode, "Flash of Two Worlds," she repeatedly applies to join Joe West's now-disbanded metahuman task force, only to be turned down. She meets Barry and tells him she admires his scientific accomplishments. She is kidnapped by Sand Demon and rescued by two Flashes (Barry Allen and Jay Garrick). Joe eventually accepts her as his protégée. Barry and Patty later meet accidentally at CC Jitters, and she gives him her phone number. In the episode, "Darkness and the Light", Barry asks Patty on a date but is blinded by Dr. Light, resulting in a literal "blind date". Their relationship develops quickly. In the episode "Legends of Today", Patty believes she's spotted Harrison Wells, the man who murdered Barry's mother, and follows him to S.T.A.R. Labs. In reality, it is the Earth-Two Harrison Wells. Patty shoots him while trying to arrest him and is ordered to back off by Joe. In "Running to Stand Still", Mardon breaks Captain Cold and the Trickster out of prison, and Joe and Barry are concerned that Patty will seek vengeance. The Flash defeats Trickster and Mardon, but Patty traps the Flash so that she can kill Mardon. The Flash is able to convince Patty that she will regret outright murder, regardless of the reason.

After his battle with Zoom, Barry has dreams that his relationship with Patty will endanger her life. Patty also has doubts, believing Barry is keeping secrets and not fully trusting her. Still, Barry does plan to reveal his secret to Patty, but she is kidnapped by the Turtle ("Potential Energy"). The Flash rescues her, but Barry is now hesitant to reveal his secret. He reconsiders the next day, but he is too late. Patty believes that he abandoned her before the kidnapping and plans to move to Midway City to continue her education as a crime scene investigator, essentially ending their relationship. Afterwards, Patty starts to doubt her plans to move, but Barry tells her that she should pursue her dream. After seeing Barry and Caitlin Snow discuss a S.T.A.R. Labs report about Jay Garrick's Earth-1 doppelganger, she begins going over some of Barry's older case files.

She questions Joe about Barry's involvement in the case files and relays her suspicion that Barry is the Flash. Joe lies to her to protect Barry's identity, but Patty is unconvinced. Patty then confronts Barry, saying she will stay in Central City with him if he'll just admit to being the Flash and his true feelings for her. Barry, however, admits nothing. Patty later calls Barry from her train bound for Midway City, telling him there's a gunman on board. The Flash immediately arrives on the train before Patty hangs up, and Barry tacitly confirms his identity to her, making her closure easier.

Patty's Earth-2 counterpart is mentioned in "Escape from Earth-2." She works as a full-fledged C.S.I. agent.

References

External links

• Character Comic Vine profile