High Potential Season 2 Episode 16 Recap: A Deadly Concrete Cover-Up

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Rebecca Murray
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High Potential Season 2 Episode 16 Recap Karadec and Morgan
Daniel Sunjata and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ season 2 episode 16 (Disney/Mitchell Haaseth)

A self-driving delivery vehicle has blood on its tires as ABC’s High Potential season two, episode 16 opens. The blood belongs to Tyler Villanueva, the case of the week, who was found dangling from an empty building.

(The following is a recap of season two, episode 16, and there are spoilers.)

Willa Quinn is still in LA and attempted to visit Hayworth in jail but got turned away after Selena put her on the restricted visitors list. Lt. Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) suggests they move Hayworth to protected custody, just in case Willa sends an inmate after him. Daphne (Javicia Leslie) confirms Captain Wagner has a team surveilling Willa.

Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) and the team arrive at the crime scene, and it’s obvious Tyler was a graffiti artist. He was hit with a cylindrical object and then fell over a balcony. Morgan and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) examine the second floor he fell from, and the area’s filled with graffiti. Morgan appreciates it; Karadec thinks it’s disgusting vandalism.

Blood spots indicate where Tyler, who goes by Dfnkt, was struck and then hit the ledge and fell over. Morgan points out Tyler’s final art piece and that he was painting over someone else’s work. The tagger’s code is taken seriously and “ragging” over a completed piece could lead to violence. Suspect number one: the tagger whose work was covered up.

They don’t know the name of the original tagger and come up empty when looking through the binder of graffiti collected by the gang unit. Morgan suggests that they need to speak with someone who knows the tagger scene. Fortunately, she’s got just the person in mind.

Willa Quinn (Jennifer Jason Leigh) shows up uninvited at the station and Karadec stops Morgan from trying to speak with her. Selena asks what brought her to LA and Willa claims she’s there to clear her name. Willa offers a deal: she’ll help with Roman’s case using her contacts if Selena lets her speak with Hayworth. Selena doesn’t go for it and reveals they were able to pull messages from the BlackBerry in Roman’s backpack. The messages are in code but match the day that Roman disappeared. It’s possible the messages are instructions, and Selena’s sure Hayworth will help them crack the code. (Not even Morgan can decipher it.)

Morgan attempts to talk to Willa as she leaves but Karadec holds her back. Selena’s certain that Willa’s scared and Hayworth will tell them why. On a happier note, Lucia put in an offer on a house and the seller accepted it. Morgan’s surprised that Karadec might be moving in with her after such a short time back together.

High Potential Season 2 Episode 16 Recap
Kaitlin Olson and June Carryl in ‘High Potential’ season 2 episode 16 (Disney/Mitchell Haaseth)

Morgan’s tagger expert is her old friend Nicole (June Carryl), who she hasn’t seen in 16 years. After a warm hug, Nicole looks at the artwork and is shocked that Dfnkt is dead. Nicole points out specific parts of the artwork behind Tyler’s and says it’s by Psyclops. Apparently, he and Dfnkt had an ongoing beef.

Nicole doesn’t know his real name, but Morgan notices all the paint cans are from the same store where he works. (She knows that given the state of the cans.)

Captain Nick Wagner (Steve Howey) is summoned by his dad to discuss his potential run for the senate. He’s launching a panel to look for corruption and thinks that Morgan would be the perfect fit. He’d like to offer her a full-time job, but Nick’s certain Morgan won’t want to work with him. His dad forces him to agree to ask her.

Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) and Daphne head to the hardware store, and after a short chase, they learn Psyclops, real name Antoine, and Dfnkt were working together. Psyclops insists they called a truce and were being paid to tag the building where Dfnkt died. He doesn’t know who paid them via crypto, and he’s got an alibi for the time Dfnkt was murdered.

Nick tells Morgan about the job offer from the city council (not mentioning his dad) and Morgan dismisses it.

The building was owned by a consortium that went broke, and Morgan looks up the architect. His name’s Gerald Lee and articles confirm he was proud of the building and called it “an inseparable part” of his soul.

Morgan and Karadec question Gerald (Alex Quijano) and he’s shocked someone would hire taggers to deface it. Gerald reveals the graffiti lowered the building’s value, which worked out well. The price was reasonable enough for someone to buy it and finish the building. Gerald reluctantly gives them the buyer’s name.

Karadec and Morgan head to Brad Latmore’s house, and Brad’s wife assumes they’re there about the graffiti on their garage door. It’s a snake with the words “pay up” next to it, and it’s definitely Dfnkt’s work. He was probably there right before he died.

Brad (Diedrich Bader) is the head of acquisitions for the company that bought the building, and the graffiti proves he hired the taggers. Brad claims he didn’t kill Dfnkt, but he did hire the taggers using his daughter’s college plan. He’s got proof that he paid the taggers before Dfnkt was killed.

Karadec thinks Dfnkt wasn’t killed over tagging. They return to the building to look for something they missed and discover a pile of pallets. Inside it are a propane torch and multiple propane tanks. There’s a latex glove with gas hanging over it, and Morgan warns Karadec to stop touching the pile. Once the gas eats through the glove, the whole building will explode. Karadec sends Morgan out of the building, convinced there’s still time to turn off the propane tank.

Morgan runs outside and seconds later there’s an explosion. Karadec comes out, but he’s got a head injury and falls unconscious into Morgan’s lap.

Morgan wakes up, head bandaged, in the hospital and mistakes Lucia (Susan Kelechi Watson) for Morgan. Morgan walks in shortly after and she calls Karadec a moron before giving him a gallbladder from the hospital gift shop along with a chocolate chip cookie minus the chocolate chips. (Karadec is such a weirdo when it comes to food!)

The building is still standing and no one was injured, apart from Karadec.

Lucia has a heart-to-heart with Morgan and confesses that she was alone in a restaurant waiting for Karadec and thinking back to when he used to get so absorbed in his cases and stand her up. She credits Morgan with positive changes in Karadec and thanks her for being such a good friend to him.

Karadec’s out of commission for a few days so the team continues without him. One of the propane tanks was probably the murder weapon, so the arsonist is the killer. Dfnkt likely walked in on the arsonist and was killed because of what he saw. Wagner wants in on the case after he checks on Karadec, and Selena suggests Morgan take him along when she questions Brad again.

Morgan tells Wagner that she’s interested in the job offer, but Wagner warns her not to take it. She’d be working for his dad, and Wagner apologizes for not telling her that upfront. Morgan, of course, knew that already and isn’t interested in the job. She was just testing to see if he’d be honest about it.

Brad insists they didn’t want to level the building. It’s in an area that’s growing and the rents will go up. Morgan points out the model of the building he has is rotated 90 degrees in the wrong direction, and Brad reveals the original client asked for that change at the last minute.

Morgan points out that it’s incredibly hot because the side with the most sun has the most concrete. Brad says that’s a problem because it’s designed not to get hot. If it heats up, the building could collapse.

High Potential Season 2 Episode 16 Recap
Deniz Akdeniz, Judy Reyes, and Javicia Leslie in ‘High Potential’ season 2 episode 16 (Disney/Mitchell Haaseth)

Later, the team gives Karadec a hard time for calling in for an update. Morgan informs him the arson was to cover for the fact the building was going to collapse. They’ve got building plans that show a change in orientation, and when it heats up, the earthquake shock absorbers don’t work. Any earthquake bigger than a 5 will take it down. The fire was meant to damage the concrete side of the building so that that side would need to be redesigned. This all points to Lee the architect.

Lee was attempting to make the fire look like the taggers did it. He’s now fled, and they’ve got alerts out to stop him from taking public transportation. Daphne reports his last purchase was a sleeping bag and a lantern.

Lucia doesn’t fall for Karadec’s fake-sleeping and knows he called work. But Karadec’s out of the doghouse when he surprises her with a meal from the fancy restaurant where they were supposed to have a date.

“I love you, Lucia,” says Karadec. She replies, “I love you too, Adam.”

Morgan, Daphne, and Oz look through Gerald Lee’s office, and Morgan finds a piece of bendable concrete Lee used on multiple buildings. That piece is the key to where he’s hiding.

Lee’s arrested and Morgan jokes that he’s going to love the gray walls in prison. Selena wonders how the brick led to Lee’s hiding place, and Morgan explains his first time using bendable concrete was on an underground bunker. (Lee had news articles and models all over his office.)

Nicole arrives and Selena thanks her for her help. The taggers wanted Nicole to thank Morgan for finding the Dfnkt’s killer. Plus, she wanted to give Morgan a book Roman gave her on Frida Kahlo. Nicole wants her to pass it on to Ava. Morgan thinks Ava would like to talk to her and Nicole says to call her anytime.

Morgan takes the model to show Karadec just as Selena receives a call from Willa. Willa reveals the FBI took Hayworth into federal custody after receiving a tip he had info on the cold case murder of FBI Agent Lila Flynn. Willa did this to move him out of Selena’s reach and into hers.

Willa pours herself a glass of whiskey and sits for a chat with Nick Wagner’s dad. Willa’s behind the request to move Morgan from Major Crimes, which isn’t going to happen. Wagner’s dad did Willa’s “errand” and doesn’t want to be involved any further.

“Do I need to remind you that we’re in this together? I know where all the bodies are buried,” warns Willa. She threatens to take him down if she goes down.

 

 

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