ABC’s High Potential season two, episode seven—the midseason finale—has the team investigating the case of an art heist. Which is an unintentionally timely storyline, given the recent theft at the Louvre.
(The following recap of season two episode seven contains spoilers!)
Arthur (Mekhi Phifer) calls Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), worried that someone’s been tailing him. He believes it is somehow connected to Roman and the backpack. Morgan claims she hasn’t really learned anything from the backpack, and Arthur suggests that she should hide it. He warns her to be careful.
Morgan’s already looked through the backpack but has Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) and Lt. Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) do a thorough examination. Nothing looked familiar to her. Captain Nick Wagner (Steve Howey) interrupts with news that Adam and Morgan need to head out on a high-profile case, so Selena’s on her own examining the backpack. (Nick looks curious, but they don’t tell him anything.)
Morgan and Adam learn the stolen painting is “Young Girl Leaning on a Windowsill” by Rembrandt. Adam wants info on museum employees, and the museum director reveals it’s on loan from Greg and Linda Foster. They purchased it for $20 million. Morgan’s eyes nearly pop out of her head.
Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) confirms one guard was knocked out and the other couldn’t see anything because the thief deployed a smoke canister. Daphne (Javicia Leslie) adds that the material on the floor’s been sent for testing. The point of entry/exit was a skylight. The rope that was used is still dangling from the roof.
Morgan wonders why the thief entered so far away from the stolen painting, passing by paintings worth much more. One was valued at $150,000,000, so why didn’t the thief steal it? The thief wanted that specific Rembrandt and removed it with precision. It wasn’t about the money; they wanted “Young Girl Leaning on a Windowsill.”
Back at the station, they fill Nick in on Morgan’s theory that this was personal. The Fosters’ insurance company hired art recovery specialist Rhys Eastman (Aiden Turner), and Morgan’s not thrilled he’s joining the investigation. Rhys disagrees with Morgan; he’s certain it was stolen for money, like every other art theft. Of course, Morgan doesn’t back down, insisting this time it was personal.
Neither Adam nor Morgan is happy that Rhys accompanies them to the Fosters’ house. The Fosters say they fell in love with the painting at auction and think of the girl in the painting as their daughter. (They don’t have children.) Which leads Morgan to point out they loaned their child to a museum.
Rhys believes he’ll learn the thief’s whereabouts when they talk to someone about selling the painting. The investigation gets sidetracked by Morgan and Rhys’s argument over whether the girl in the painting is a servant or a prostitute, and Adam gets it back on track.
Mr. Foster turns over a folder with all the past owners of the painting, and Morgan looks through it back at the station. She summarizes the key points for Adam and confesses she really doesn’t care about keeping an insurance company from paying a check to people who definitely don’t need more money.
The material on the museum’s floor had aluminum oxide, which melts glass. That’s why there weren’t any glass shards from the skylight on the floor. Oz learned the same MO was used in a heist two years ago involving a Matisse in Rotterdam.
Daphne does additional research and discovers 19 heists matching their case. In each of the cases, the paintings were worth $10-30 million. The first painting stolen was “A White Duck” by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, taken 12 years ago. More research shows the thief, commonly referred to as “Jean-Baptiste,” was shot in the shoulder five years ago while trying to steal a Picasso in Madrid. Morgan wonders why he hasn’t been caught, and Rhys suggests it could even be 10 different thieves using the same MO.
Daphne discovers Ari Weissman sued for the Rembrandt, but the court ruled against him. Selena pulls Oz and Daphne briefly off the case to help with the Roman investigation, while Morgan, Adam, and Rhys head to Ari’s place.
Ari’s grandmother explains her dad bought the painting in 1932 and hung it on the wall in their home in Krakow. She was the only one in her family who survived the war. The Nazis took their possessions, including that painting. Since then, they’ve kept an eye on auction catalogs until they found it up for sale. The owners offered to sell it to them for $20 million, but they’re middle class and don’t have that kind of money. And the courts ruled against them because they couldn’t prove it was theirs.
Adam notices a framed photo showing Ari is—or was—a gymnast. (The thief went up and down a long rope.) Adam doesn’t mention it but asks for Ari’s alibi. Morgan reveals she saw Ari’s name on the museum’s visitor logs and Ari says he went there to take a photo to show his grandmother.
Back at the station, Selena, Oz, and Daphne bag up and photograph everything in Roman’s backpack. She wants everything tested by forensics, including data extraction on the BlackBerry. The photos in the backpack will go through facial recognition. Selena advises them that if the captain asks about the case, they should refer him to her.
Meanwhile, Morgan’s rejected all babysitter applicants and has hired Ava (Amirah J) to take care of Elliot and Chloe. Ava asks if the cops have found anything about the bag, and Morgan promises to tell her as soon as they do.
Adam questions the museum staff and one employee remembers a guy hanging out by the Rembrandt a few times. She recognizes the photo of Ari that Adam shows her.
Morgan places Ari and his grandmother’s photos on the Suspect side of the crime board and Morgan moves them to the Victims side. She adds a new column to the board and labels it 1939, when the painting was stolen by the Nazis. If they find the painting, Morgan wants it returned to Miriam Weissman, not the Fosters.
Adam tries to explain that’s not how any of this works, but Morgan’s not having it. Rhys takes a phone call and tries to leave, but Morgan stops him. He reluctantly admits someone called and thinks they know the whereabouts of the painting. Morgan insists on going with him.
They wait for the guy outside the museum and he’s late, which gives Rhys time to explain that he’s the only person who does what he does. Since they have time, they head to the museum’s roof to see how the thief got in. Morgan’s just pointing out the glass has a reflective covering when the museum director delivers an envelope addressed to Rhys. Inside is a Polaroid of the painting with a current newspaper to date it. Instructions on the back tell Rhys to bring $500,000 to Woodley Park at 1pm.
Selena’s in a rotten mood even before Daphne reports that forensics is backed up. Oz has better news; one of the photos came back to a man who has a criminal record.
Nick’s angry that Morgan and Rhys went to the crime scene at the museum without a police escort. He thinks she’s trying to sabotage the investigation, but Morgan claims she’s not. Rhys hands over the photo and instructions, and Nick springs into action setting up a surveillance operation.
Morgan apologizes, but Nick’s really upset and calls her reckless and insubordinate. He expects her to follow his commands and takes her and Rhys off the case. “Detective Karadec and I can handle it from here. Our consultants have done enough,” says Nick.
The Fosters arrive and Karadec briefly meets with them, while Morgan grabs Rhys and says they’re going for a drink. Morgan can’t believe Nick yelled at her and kicked her off the case, and Rhys tries to change the subject to her kids. She knows what he’s doing and won’t go there, continuing to rage about Nick’s dismissive behavior.
Ava discovers Arthur’s card in her mom’s jacket and calls him to talk about her dad. Arthur thinks they should have a talk about Roman, but not right now. He suggests that he can meet her and Morgan at the diner again sometime. The only thing he’s willing to say now is that Roman always did the right thing and is a stand-up guy.
Nick and Adam have a revealing chat while driving to the meetup spot. Nick admits that he trusts Morgan but needs to know everything going on so that he can protect her. He feels that way about all the detectives in the unit. Adam sticks up for Morgan and warns Nick to find a different way to handle matters when he’s upset with Morgan. If Nick doesn’t, then he and Adam will have issues.
Nick and Adam wait for the person who sent the Polaroid to show up, and Nick confesses he’s waiting for Adam to tell him about Roman. He’s observant and knows something’s up. Suddenly, they spot a man breaking into a car and although Nick wants to ignore it, Adam can’t.He yells at the guy to get away from the car, and the man pulls out a gun. Adam and Nick both draw their weapons, and finally the man puts his down.
The person they’re there to meet speeds away and Nick speeds after him, leaving Adam behind. Adam grabs the car thief’s gun, pushes him away, and drives off after Nick. Nick and Adam argue over the phone as they chase down the person they’re supposed to meet.
The high-speed chase continues as Nick and Adam continue to fight. They wind up losing the suspect but hitting each other’s cars.
Morgan’s downing a beer and yet still won’t stop talking about how much Nick irritates her. She’s convinced it was either nepotism or the fact that Nick’s tall that got him the promotion. Rhys knows Morgan’s trying to figure him out and reveals his dad was a trash collector and his schoolmates used to make fun of him. But when he went to a museum, it didn’t matter about his social class. It’s a poignant story that Morgan misses most of because she’s still fixated on her anger at Nick. However, it’s obvious there’s a spark between them, which leads to a visit to Rhys’ hotel room.
A hot and heavy makeout session follows, but of course that’s interrupted when Morgan notices a gunshot scar on Rhys’ now bare left shoulder. (That’s where the guard shot Jean-Baptiste five years ago.) Her mind races through the clues, which now point to Rhys. Morgan’s phone buzzes so she pulls away for a moment but doesn’t let on to what she’s thinking.
The call’s from Adam telling her to get to the museum. A dead man is lying on the garage floor in a pool of blood. Adam says, “Our case just got blown wide open.”
Episode seven ends on a cliffhanger. Selena looks through everything that was removed from Roman’s backpack. She picks up the photo Oz showed her of the man they can’t ID just as Arthur gets in his car to leave a job site. He sits behind the wheel, and the unidentified man pops up in his backseat, asking about the backpack.
High Potential will return from its winter break on January 6, 2026.
- 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 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
