High Potential Episode 13 Recap: 8 Biggest Moments & Reveals

Warning: this article contains SPOILERS for High Potential season 1, episode 13.High Potential was arguably ABC’s most stylish new title when it premiered last fall, but the season finale took it to a new level. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson leads the High Potential cast as Morgan Gillory, a mother of three with a genius-level IQ. Morgan’s recruited to the LAPD by Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) and, despite initial reservations, becomes a dependable partner for Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata). Over the course of High Potential season 1, Morgan helps the LAPD solve a dozen cases.

In the High Potential season 1 finale, however, Morgan and the LAPD find themselves facing a much more calculated adversary. The other members of the core Major Crimes team, Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie) and Lev “Oz” Ozdil (Deniz Akdeniz), come to the forefront as they investigate a dangerous kidnapper who takes pleasure in toying with the police. Aside from setting up High Potential season 2, the year-ender was full of exciting twists, revelations, and reveals that prove why the procedural is a hit.

8 LAPD Major Crimes Team Encounters A Trickier Case Than Usual

The Kidnapper Toys With The Major Crimes Division

After an anonymous email is sent to the LAPD with a picture of a man being held hostage, Morgan and the rest of Major Crimes throw themselves into the investigation. The team quickly realizes that the kidnapper is different from previous cases when they find a puzzle to solve for the location of their next clue. Over the course of High Potential episode 13, the LAPD goes on a wicked scavenger hunt to free three victims.

As Morgan herself puts it, there’s something brilliant about the way the kidnapper meticulously plans his games. The disturbing precision makes High Potential episode 13 feel a little less like Clue and a little more like Saw. The way the kidnapper would communicate with the LAPD gave the chilling sense that he was playing with his food. Although Morgan manages to save the day on multiple occasions and find the proverbial missing puzzle piece, it rattles her to know the potential killer can go toe-to-toe with her from a distance.

7 Karadec Confronts Gio About Roman

The Informant Doesn't Take Well To Police Involvement

The underlying mystery of the season was what happened to Roman in High Potential. According to Morgan, her first husband vanished 15 years before the series. In High Potential season 1, episode 9, Morgan makes contact with Gio Conforth (Domenick Lombardozzi), a shady character who interacted with Roman shortly before his disappearance. Though Gio has lucrative information that may give insight into where Roman went, he refuses to be seen helping the police in High Potential.

In the High Potential season 1 finale, Gio returns to tell Morgan that Roman was worried about a woman named Lila Flynn. After he maintains he’ll only deal with Morgan, he sets up a meeting. Karadec insists that Morgan not go, talking her into letting him meet Gio in her place. Gio tells Karadec he’s done with the investigation since his demands aren’t being met, but Karadec gives a final plea for Gio to be forthcoming with what he knows for Morgan’s sake.

6 Morgan's Father Had HPI Too

He Had Morgan's Intelligence But Lacked Her Empathy

While High Potential has hinted at Morgan’s past vaguely, Morgan reveals enlightening details about her childhood in High Potential episode 13. As she tells Karadec, her father was a High Potential Intellectual (HPI) just like her, but he had a very different perspective on what it meant. Morgan’s father discouraged her from interacting with her peers, with him even expressing disappointment after she played a game of jacks during recess. According to her father, the other children didn’t deserve to play with someone as smart as Morgan.

Learning how condescending Morgan’s father was helps to explain why Morgan's true superpower in High Potential is her empathy. While her father thought their intelligence made them inherently better than others, Morgan grew up to think of her HPI as a curse rather than a gift. Thanks to her father’s snobbish attitude, Morgan’s childhood was incredibly lonely. The reveal helps illuminate why Morgan takes her children’s feelings so seriously, with her trying to comfort Ava (Amirah J) and Elliot (Matthew Lamb) by drawing on her own experiences that are slowly starting to unravel.

5 Morgan And Karadec's Slow Burn Begins (Just As Tom Returns)

Morgan's Love Life Has Never Been So Complicated

Morgan and Karadec’s chemistry in High Potential has been palpable from the start, but the pair have been strictly professional up until episode 13. At the police gala, their first interaction feels straight out of a rom-com or high school prom, with the camera focusing on Karadec’s reaction to Morgan’s grand entrance and stumbling over himself to offer a drink. The partners even share a slow dance, with Karadec implying he cares about Roman’s case because he cares about Morgan.

Just as Karadec delivers his most vulnerable lines thus far, Tom (JD Pardo) arrives in search of Morgan. Although Morgan and Tom’s short-lived romance in High Potential seemed to be definitively over, Tom called Morgan in the High Potential season finale to confirm he was going to the gala for the express reason of seeing Morgan. Karadec backs off for Morgan to dance with Tom, but it’s clear that his feelings for Morgan will likely grow in High Potential season 2.

4 Oz Is Kidnapped And Nearly Drowns By The Serial Killer

High Potential Puts One Of Its Main Characters In Danger

Aside from being one of the scene-stealing members of High Potential’s underrated ensemble cast, Oz was a major character in the High Potential season finale. The kidnapper’s first victim was a member of the same support group Oz attends as grief counseling. He and the rest of the team quickly realize that the grief group is being targeted specifically, but it becomes painfully clear that the LAPD failed to seriously consider that Oz could be the next victim.

After he walks to his car alone in an empty parking garage, Oz's airbag deploys and knocks him unconscious. Daphne finds his car empty, save for traces of blood and an hourglass. The team decode the clue left behind by the kidnapper and find Oz chained at the bottom of a residential pool. Karadec drags him out, but Daphne realizes he isn’t breathing. After a tense montage of CPR and emotional reactions, Oz pulls through and, although shaken, ends High Potential episode 13 alive.

3 The Serial Kidnapper Gets Away (Setting Up High Potential Season 2's First Case)

For The First Time, Morgan Doesn't Get The Bad Guy

What sets High Potential episode 13 apart from the rest of the season is that, for the first time since Morgan joined the LAPD, a case goes unsolved. Throughout High Potential episode 13, the LAPD believe they know who they’re playing with, it’s just a matter of finding him. According to Oz and the rest of the grief group, there was a former member named David who had an odd affinity for board games. The LAPD employed a sketch artist to make a rendering, but the true suspect changes the rules in the closing scene.

As High Potential shockingly reveals, the real David was in a rehab facility for months. The kidnapper simply posed as the man to throw the police off his scent as he used David’s backstory of his twin sister’s death to push a false motive. Once the LAPD locked in on David, the real kidnapper shaved his distinctive beard and gave himself a haircut. For High Potential’s first recurring case, the LAPD has a doozy: in many ways, the team is back at square one.

2 The Kidnapper Targets Morgan & Her Family Next

A Criminal Has Her And Her Loved Ones In His Sights

After dramatically changing his appearance to evade capture, the kidnapper even walks right up to Morgan and her children in broad daylight without being recognized in High Potential episode 13. Even more disturbing, the man managed to sneak a pack of cards into Morgan's bag, with a message stuck to the back vowing they’ll “play again.” While it makes sense for the game master to take interest in how quickly Morgan solves his puzzles, the kidnapper singling out Morgan puts her and her loved ones in danger.

The kidnapper nearly killed Oz in High Potential's season 1 finale, so nothing is preventing him from targeting other members of the LAPD— or their families. While High Potential season 2 should highlight Morgan’s kids, it would be heartbreaking for the kidnapper to go after Ava, Elliot, or even Ludo (Taran Killam). Karadec and the rest of Major Crimes would do everything they could to save them, but Morgan would realistically be the only one capable of stopping the kidnapper.

1 Roman Is Alive (And Was An FBI Informant)

High Potential's Biggest Mystery Just Took A Turn

Theories about High Potential’s Roman mystery spanned far and wide; some posited convoluted explanations for his disappearance while others maintained he was simply murdered. High Potential season 1’s finale didn’t solve Roman’s case, but there was a giant development. Roman is alive, Karadec claims he knows where Roman is, and Roman was secretly working as an undercover FBI informant when he vanished without Morgan ever knowing. High Potential episode 13 offered new information, but what exactly happened 15 years ago is still unclear.

Lila Flynn, the woman Gio told Morgan about, turned out to be an undercover field agent who was murdered at the same time Roman vanished. Depending on what case the two worked together, the reason Roman had to leave could be incredibly complicated. It’s clear he disappeared to protect Morgan and Ava, but what he had to protect them from could always return along with Roman himself. Though Roman’s mystery is still far from solved, High Potential episode 13 left just enough clues to occupy viewers until season 2 premieres.

Enjoy ScreenRant's primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check "Network TV" in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.

SIGN UP NOW!