‘High Potential’ Episode 9 Recap: “The RAMS”

By
Rebecca Murray
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High Potential Episode 9 Recap
Daniel Sunjata and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ episode 9 (Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja)

ABC’s High Potential episode nine finds Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) with childcare issues and without a car, and with Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) not caring one iota about either issue. He needs her ASAP at the scene of a high-profile murder, even if it means she has to take the bus to the crime scene.

Morgan finally makes it to the scene, complete with Chloe in a stroller. Sportscaster Marvin Price is lying dead in the street, and Adam expects there to be lots of media coverage of this case. Detectives Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie) and Lev ‘Oz’ Osman (Deniz Akdeniz) have already interviewed a witness and can confirm it’s a homicide. The witness describes a car hitting Marvin and then backing up to hit him again.

Adam’s asking the witness about the car’s make and model when Morgan chimes in. She announces it was a ’73 or ’74 Malaga blue Jensen Interceptor, just like Bond, James Bond, drove in the later books. The witness said it was a super loud car, which the Interceptor is, and flecks of paint on Marvin’s watch are Malaga blue. Plus, the tire tracks are too far apart for an American sports car.

Adam proves he can piece together clues by determining the car has to be parked in a nearby garage. He’s right about its location, and Morgan’s right about the type of car. The paint’s chipped and the bumper’s dented, so it’s the murder car. Since its VIN and license plates are missing, locating the owner might take a while.

A short while later, Daphne learns Marvin was in a few lawsuits with his neighbor, Phil Elko, and Adam sends her out with Oz to talk to Phil. Marvin’s son, Dexter, shows up at the station to speak to Adam. Adam confesses that this case is personal; he and his father loved listening to Marvin.

Dexter’s certain Tiana Johnson killed his dad. Tiana was his “house manager,” and Marvin named her his sole beneficiary last year. Apparently, Dexter was on the phone with his dad when he was murdered. Marvin always got up and went to breakfast at 5am, and Dexter was returning his call since he knew he’d be awake then and not busy. Dexter claims Marvin told him he wanted Tiana out and him in as his beneficiary. He knew Tiana did it when he heard the impact, even before Marvin uttered his final word, “Tiddlywinks.”

Dexter has no idea what tiddlywinks means. Adam points out that Dexter has filed for bankruptcy and needs his dad’s money. Dexter counters by reminding Adam that if he wanted the money, he would have waited until after his dad changed his will.

In other news, Tom (JD Pardo) shows up at the station and Morgan seems happy to see him. Tom’s not nearly as excited to see her since she’s been ghosting him. Tom wanted to share the good news that he graduated from nursing school, but she never picked up. He confesses that he got that hint, and Morgan’s shocked. She didn’t mean to drop any hints; she just gets caught up in stuff and forgets to pay attention to anything else.

Morgan suggests they go on a picnic, and Tom finally smiles. Unfortunately, he’s leaving tomorrow to take a job in San Diego. Morgan realizes this is it and congratulates him. They hug and she apologizes. After they walk away, Tom turns and says, “Hey, Morgan, you know San Diego is not that far.”

Before catching up with Adam, Morgan receives a text from Lt Selena Soto saying she’s meeting up with Gio later to find out what she can about Roman’s whereabouts.

Oz and Daphne visit Phil (Steve Guttenberg), and he admits he didn’t like Marvin. They argued about Marvin’s dog and trees, but he didn’t kill Marvin. He was home when Marvin was murdered and has someone who can vouch for that.

Morgan and Adam check out Marvin’s home and speak with Tiana. She shows them around the house and Adam fanboys over some of Marvin’s memorabilia and photos. Morgan grabs a water from the fridge and briefly scans the kitchen before joining the interview. Tiana claims she never slept with Marvin, but she did love him. She’s also aware she was named the sole beneficiary and that Dexter always asked his dad for money. Tiana believes Dexter had something to do with Marvin’s death. She doesn’t care about Marvin’s will and wouldn’t have cared if he took her out of it.

Morgan asks about tiddlywinks and Tiana has no idea why Marvin would say that.

Back in Adam’s car, the detective admits he thinks Tiana was sleeping with Marvin. Morgan doesn’t think so since she saw blood thinners and anti-depressants in the kitchen. Marvin wouldn’t have been capable of having sex. Morgan’s convinced Tiana really does love Marvin.

A phone rings and Morgan’s forced to confess she stole Morgan’s phone. Morgan wants Daphne to look at it and see who Tiana’s been talking to. Adam correctly points out that whatever they get from it is inadmissible and orders Morgan to return it since they’re still in Marvin’s driveway.

High Potential Episode 9 Recap
Kaitlin Olson and Judy Reyes in ‘High Potential’ episode 9 (Disney/Raymond Liu)

Morgan joins Selena for her meeting with Gio, and Gio denies meeting with Roman 15 years ago. Morgan cuts to the chase and tells Gio to stop wasting their time. Gio wants to work a deal: info on Roman in exchange for getting his 16-year-old nephew off on misdemeanor charges. Selena won’t consider it until Gio reveals what info he has on Roman, which Gio refuses to do. He leaves without saying anything helpful.

Later that night, Morgan looks through a box of Roman’s stuff. A few things are missing, and she asks Ava about them. Ava admits she heard Selena say they found Roman’s car and the diapers that he bought for her 15 years ago. Ava reveals that she no longer thinks her dad just up and deserted them.

Morgan watches old baseball games the entire night, hoping to hear Marvin say tiddlywinks.

Dexter shows up bright and early to talk to Adam, and Adam confirms he spoke with Tiana. Adam admits Tiana said Dexter asked Marvin for money, and Marvin claims he asked for help paying for his daughter’s school. Marvin refused to help, and Dexter explains his daughter is Marvin’s step-granddaughter. Marvin and Dexter’s husband did not get along.

Dexter confesses his last memory of his dad will be their final phone call and his dad calling him a vulture. He just wants justice for his dad’s death.

Daphne discovered there are 16 Jensen Interceptors in the area, and Adam advises her to keep digging. Oz hasn’t been able to speak with Marvin’s neighbor’s alibi because she just got married and was cheating on her husband.

Selena asks Adam for help with the district attorney in getting Gio’s nephew’s charges dropped. She explains she’s working on something for Morgan and that right now she can use Adam’s help. He agrees to speak with the DA.

Daphne’s frustrated in her search because although she can rule out the individual owners, some of the others are LLCs owned by other LLCs. Suddenly, Daphne realizes one of the LLCs – Autophile – is Auto Phil E…Phil Elko. (Umm, that’s stretching things a bit, isn’t it?)

Adam, Daphne, and Oz show up at Phil’s to arrest him, and it turns out the car they’ve found is just one of four he owns, and he’s named all of them after The Beatles. “Ringo” was stolen a week ago. He filed a report and turned over surveillance footage once he discovered it was gone.

Phil reveals that when Marvin left on a road trip, he noticed a motorcycle pull into Marvin’s garage. It turns out Tiana had a boyfriend. Phil wrote a note to Marvin about it and Marvin caught the guy. The motorcycle raced away a few minutes later.

Oz confirms there was a stolen car report taken. Adam asks to see his surveillance footage.

Meanwhile, over at Morgan’s, she watches old baseball games and finally hears Marvin say tiddlywinks.

Adam meets with the DA at a bar, and she agrees to take care of Gio’s nephew’s case. Selena informs Morgan they’re now waiting to see what Gio gives them in return.

High Potential Episode 9 Recap
Deniz Akdeniz, Judy Reyes, Daniel Sunjata, Kaitlin Olson, and Javicia Leslie in ‘High Potential’ episode 9 (Disney/Raymond Liu)

Adam fills everyone in on Phil’s stolen car and that he had surveillance footage. The team watches the video and after 10 seconds of viewing the footage (and a quick search on her phone), Morgan announces the killer is Olivier Debois and he works at Hollywood Auto. No one understands how she figured it out so quickly, and Morgan reveals that when she “accidentally” took Tiana’s phone, a call came in from Hollywood Auto. A mechanic could hotwire a car, and the car thief was wearing a French brand of tennis shoes. The brick wall behind him confirms the thief is 6’5,” and a photo from Hollywood Auto’s website shows a very tall, very hunky mechanic named Olivier Debois.

Morgan believes that after Phil told him about “motorcycle man,” Marvin walked in on Tiana and Olivier having sex. Marvin told her he was taking her out of his will, so Olivier stole Phil’s car to set him up to take the fall.

Morgan and Adam head to Hollywood Auto, and when Olivier spots them, he makes a run for it. Adam gives chase and knocks him off his motorcycle as he’s trying to flee. Olivier’s placed under arrest, and Tiana’s brought in for questioning. Olivier claims he was with Tiana, but Tiana already told them she was alone when Marvin was murdered.

Tiana confesses she didn’t want to bring up Olivier’s name since he’s on an expired visa. She admits Marvin learned about them and told her Olivier was a waste of time. When Tiana says Marvin never learned Olivier’s name, Morgan shouts, “Tiddlywinks!” (She’s learned that’s what Marvin said when things were a waste of time during his broadcasts.) Which means Marvin’s last word was naming his killer. A waste of time = Olivier.

Tiana insists she did not know Olivier was going to murder Marvin, and she wasn’t with Olivier on the night Marvin was murdered. Tiana wishes Marvin didn’t put her in his will, and Adam has questions about that.

Later, Adam tells Dexter that Tiana’s giving up all claims on Marvin’s estate to help her case. Adam is certain Marvin loved his son, but Dexter believes his dad just tolerated him. Adam informs Dexter that while there were photos of sports greats around the office, the only framed photo on Marvin’s desk was of him in Henry V.

Dexter thanks Adam for his work on the case. Adam credits Morgan with an assist (as he should).

Morgan also thanks Adam for helping to get Gio to talk about Roman. Adam offers to help look for Roman and warns her to be careful of Gio. And speaking of Gio…he’s waiting outside a restaurant and asks for a ride. He claims they won’t go far, and it won’t take long. He confesses he didn’t know Roman well, but he thought he was a good guy.

Morgan reluctantly agrees, and Gio says he’s leaving town for a while. When he returns, he’ll see if he has something to offer. Gio doesn’t want them to contact him; he’ll contact her. As she drives, Morgan says she doesn’t think Gio ever met Roman. Gio says Roman was afraid for his family. He gives her directions and then has Morgan pull over. “The RAMs…Roman, Ava, Morgan. You guys used to call yourselves the RAMS,” says Gio. Roman told him that.

Gio leaves without saying anything else.




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