ABC’s High Potential season two, episode 14 starts off calm enough, with Sergeant Dottie Reynolds (Michael Hyatt) ready for a relaxing massage at a spa. But of course, the calm doesn’t last. Dottie was expecting a deep tissue massage and instead is nearly killed.
(The following is a recap of season two, episode 14, and there are spoilers.)
Ava (Amirah J) is super cheerful at breakfast, which sets Morgan’s spidey senses tingling. And it turns out Ava got into the art class at Overland Design Center. She beat out 60 students, and Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) is thrilled for her daughter. However, there’s no time to celebrate because Lt. Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) needs her at the hospital.
Dottie’s unconscious but stable and more than likely never saw her attacker. Dottie is Daphne’s mentor and they spent five years together patrolling the streets. She’s taking the attack hard and is surprised when Soto asks her to lead the investigation. Morgan and Daphne (Javicia Leslie) will work Dottie’s case while Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) are handling an overdose case.
As they head to the spa, Daphne admits her relationship with Dottie hit a rough patch when they argued over whether she should take the sergeant’s exam. Dottie was pushing her, but Daphne held back because she’d observed how Black women are treated in that position.
The masseuse explains Dottie was at the spa for her weekly deep tissue massage and on the table when he was called to the front desk. A delivery person insisted he pay for oils he didn’t order. He was only out of the room for 10 minutes, and Dottie was unconscious when he returned.
Morgan thinks the delivery was a distraction and is weirded out to learn massage rooms are soundproof, so no one heard the attack. Daphne realizes there are a lot of people at the LAPD that would have known about her weekly appointments, so they should start with her classroom.
Morgan and Daphne learn that Dottie’s by-the-book conduct earned her a few enemies. They look through her office, and Daphne’s shocked there’s a framed photo of her and Dottie on her desk.
Morgan quickly notices that the office isn’t as tidy as it looks at first glance. Binders are out of order and paper clips are in the wrong place. There’s even a file cabinet drawer partially open. Inside are mandated reports she hasn’t filed yet. Morgan remembers seeing an officer walking by with a similar red folder and yells for him to stop. Of course he takes off running instead. Daphne chases him down, tackles him, and places the cop in handcuffs.
Back at the station, Karadec and Soto prepare to watch Daphne handle her first solo interview as lead detective. Karadec’s sure she can handle it. While they’re waiting, Soto reveals she learned Arthur’s attacker is Eric Hayworth, and after he’s able to leave the hospital, she’ll bring him in for questioning.
Daphne nails her interrogation and learns the cop, who was written up for losing his gun outside a Rams game, has a solid alibi for the time Dottie was attacked.
Fortunately, Dottie’s awake and provides details on the attack. She’s proud that Daphne’s the lead on her case and admits she’s got lots of enemies within the department. However, she doesn’t know who would have done this.
Soto visits Arthur (Mekhi Phifer) in jail, and he’s worried that whoever sent Hayworth will find a way to get to him there. Hayworth is ex-military and it was difficult to get him to admit they took Roman.
Morgan’s frustrated about markers that don’t work and asks for Oz’s, promising to help with his case in exchange for it. Karadec suggests she keep her mind on Dottie’s case, but Soto decides the quicker they close Oz’s case, the quicker the whole team can concentrate on Dottie.
Oz and Karadec’s case involves Luke Knight, a personal trainer found dead in his apartment from an ibuprofen overdose. Karadec thinks his murderer gave him an intravenous overdose. Morgan quickly notices that Luke also went to the spa where Dottie was attacked. He’s got the same adhesive residue on his wrist that Dottie did. (It comes from sensors the spa uses.) Morgan points out the sensors are specific to Dottie’s spa, so Dottie’s attacker and Luke’s killer are most likely the same person.
Speaking of Dottie, she’s up and around against doctor’s orders and insists on helping find the killer. And it’s Dottie who delivers the episodes title, warning, “Come for the queen, you best not miss.” Dottie’s never seen Luke before, and Oz runs through what they do know. Daphne suggests she and Morgan will go back to the spa to find out more about Luke and invites Dottie to tag along. Morgan knows it’ll be the perfect opportunity for Daphne and Dottie to sort out their problems and opts out.
Karadec and Oz head to Luke’s gym and learn he has a normal early morning routine but didn’t show up this morning. He had many high-profile clients and was an up-and-coming trainer. Luke didn’t seem to have any enemies at the gym.
Karadec and Oz thumb through Luke’s social media and discover he may have poached a client from trainer Vaz Amadi…who just happens to be in the gym right now. Vaz claims to be flattered by Luke and has a rock-solid alibi for Luke’s murder.
Later, even Morgan’s offer of cookies doesn’t get Ava out of a bad mood. Some kid posted that she got into the class because she’s Black, and although Morgan understands, she admits she’ll never know what it feels like to be judged by the color of her skin. She asks how she can help, but there’s really nothing she can do. Ava thinks she can figure it out by herself.
Daphne and Dottie meet with Kirk, the spa owner, and he deeply regrets that she was attacked. Kirk confirms Luke Knight is not listed as a client and the spa’s employees are cleared as possible suspects because they were in a staff meeting at 9pm last night.
Daphne’s frustrated that her investigation hasn’t turned up any leads, and Oz assures her it’s not her fault. Ava walks in just as they’re all about to call it a day—and just as Dottie collapses by the break area. She claims she’s fine, but Daphne insists on taking her back to the hospital. That gives them time to clear the air about why Daphne refuses to take the sergeant’s test.
Ava grabs a few minutes of Daphne’s time and shows her the post. Daphne reads it and says, “The quiet disbelief that a Black woman is good at something.” Daphne can relate, and Ava asks what she does when this happens to her. Daphne suggests that she show them they’re wrong, and Ava worries other kids think the same thing. She doesn’t want to take the class if people are going to think she doesn’t belong there. Daphne advises her to follow her heart.
Elliot asks for Morgan’s help about something his drone picked up and that sparks an idea. She returns to the station and pores over all the evidence, putting the pieces together. Dottie and Daphne are still at the hospital the next morning when Morgan announces they need to look for a total stranger. The stranger studied Dottie and tracked her daily routines. And Dottie made it easy for the stranger to know things by posting a lot on a Neighborhood Hub. Multiple posts show a motorcycle near Dottie’s house and around places she visits. And if a stranger attacked Dottie, then whoever killed Luke probably didn’t know him either.
Morgan believes there are two killers and they swapped targets so no one could connect them to their victims. Daphne agrees that the killers seem to have made a murder pact.
The team gathers at the murder boards, and now that they know the one after Dottie killed Luke and the killer after Luke attacked Dottie, it opens up people previously cleared. It turns out Vaz was at the spa when Dottie was attacked. And Oz discovers Vaz’s license plate matches the motorcycle that’s been following Dottie.
Daphne, Oz, Morgan, and Karadec look around Vaz’s house and it appears he’s in debt and is now on the run. Morgan finds evidence that indicates Vaz was having an IV drip of nutrients to help his body recover from workouts. Whoever was treating him might be the other half of the murder pact.
Soto questions Eric Hayworth and he confesses he’d rather be locked up than flip on the woman who had him kidnap Roman. However, he’ll cooperate if Soto gives him what he needs to feel safe.
Karadec and Oz confirm the IV theory and Daphne thinks the evidence all points back to Kirk, the spa’s owner. Daphne and Morgan question him about who supplies the IVs the spa uses and he claims that’s confidential. Morgan notes that his IV bags were blank, which isn’t up to code and means they’re bootlegs. Kirk confesses he gets them from Phyllis Martell, who happens to be the woman at the gym that Oz and Karadec asked about Luke.
The only thing Morgan and Daphne can’t figure out is why Phyllis wanted to kill Dottie. Daphne asks Dottie about Phyllis and learns Phyllis was her sorority sister. Phyllis took hazing way too far, so Dottie reported the sorority.
Daphne’s research shows Phyllis was charged with a felony. Three weeks ago, a judge refused to remove the felony from her record. Phyllis then attended a sorority alumni event where Dottie was speaking, and that set the murder pact in motion.
Dottie refuses to stay in bed and goes with Daphne and Morgan to Phyllis’ RV. Morgan deduces that Phyllis hopped on a bus and is on the run, and the bus is headed to Tijuana.
Daphne, Oz, Dottie, and Karadec intercept the bus on its way out of California and demand Phyllis give herself up. She’s got a gun and the passengers are scared, but she lets them all off. Daphne boards the bus and talks her into surrendering.
Soto informs Karadec that Hayworth pointed her to Willa Quinn. In exchange for immunity, he’ll say more about how Willa fits into Roman’s disappearance.
The case helped mend Daphne and Dottie’s relationship, and Dottie confesses she just wanted Daphne’s bright light not to fade out. Daphne asks Morgan for permission to speak with Ava again, and Morgan assures her that whatever she wants to say is fine with her.
Daphne and Ava meet for dinner and Daphne tells Ava that she wants her to decide for herself who she is and not let others control the narrative. Ava should choose the path that’s right for her.
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 1 “Pawns” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 2 “Checkmate” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 3 “Eleven Minutes” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 4 “Behind the Music” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 5 “Content Warning” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 7 “The One That Got Away, Part 1” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 8 “The One That Got Away, Part 2” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 9 “Under the Rug” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 10 “Grounded” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 11 “NPC” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 12 “The Faust and the Furious” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 13 “In the Driver’s Seat” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 15 “Pie in the Sky” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 16 “Turn, Up the Heat” Recap
- High Potential Season 2 Episode 17 “Second Sunday” Recap
