High Potential episode 7 recap: bad work-life balance

Javicia Leslie, Kaitlin Olson and Amirah J in High Potential
Javicia Leslie, Kaitlin Olson and Amirah J in High Potential (Image credit: Disney/Mitch Hasseth)

High Potential episode 7 opens with a man (Jeris Dupree) out for a run. He sees some kids spray painting an RV and chases them away. He sees the door of the RV has been kicked in, so he enters to see if anyone is inside, where he finds the body of Frank Webber (Douglas Olsson).

Things pick up a week later. Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), Ludo (Taran Killam) and the kids are playing Risk at home. They make a deal that if Ava (Amirah J) wins she gets a “yes” day — a day when Morgan must agree to do anything she asks. Ava wins and the first thing on her list is to see her mom’s work.

But this take your daughter to work day scenario ends up turning into a dangerous situation. Read on for our complete recaps of High Potential episode 7, “One of Us.”

Not the day Ava planned

Arriving at the LAPD, Ava is distracted by someone with a dog waiting in reception, so first she has to pet the dog. Totally relatable. While Ava is petting the dog, Tom (JD Pardo) approaches Morgan. They engage in some cute banter, and he asks her out on a real date; she says yes.

Then Morgan takes Ava to the bullpen. She introduces her to Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and they chat with Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) before he heads out to work on a case. Ava goes to the bathroom, passing Lt. Melon (Garret Dillahunt) on the way. Melon gets into the elevator along with Brooke Kirkman (Addison Timlin).

As the elevator doors close Brooke grabs Melon’s gun. At gunpoint she takes him back into the bullpen. As the detectives go for their guns Brooke warns them that the box on a chair in the room is a bomb that she will detonate if they try anything. She has an accomplice, Jeremy Davis (Michael Trotter), who helps her gather everyone’s weapons and phones. Brooke tells Daphne to call Selena (Judy Reyes) and tell them to evacuate the building.

Brooke tells everyone in the bullpen their friend Logan Hanson (Maurice Marvel Meredith), who was recently arrested, is an innocent man. If they reinvestigate the case to find the real killer and free their friend, she and Jeremy will let everyone go. If not, everyone in the room dies.

The investigation begins

Selena and Karadec set up a mobile command outside the LAPD building. They discover that Brook and Jeremy are both soldiers and that their friend Hanson was imprisoned for the murder of Frank Webber.

Selena calls in Detective Lavolie (Merrick McCartha), who investigated Webber’s murder to find out more about the case. Meanwhile, the detectives inside go over the evidence in the Webber murder.

Frank Webber was a decorated and revered soldier who was working at a nearby joint base training new soldiers. He was shot and killed in his RV. The gun was found near the crime scene with Hanson’s prints on it. Hanson’s alibi for the evening was his girlfriend, Brooke.

As they go through the evidence, Morgan notices that one of the large blood drops in front of Frank has a perfect corner, as if a paper or something square had stopped the blood. Brooke allows her to call Karadec and tell him to check out the RV.

Jeremy sees someone behind a door, and approaches with his gun drawn. It’s Ava. Morgan runs to hug Ava and Jeremy almost shoots them both, but Tom steps in and takes Jeremy’s attention off Morgan and Ava.

Karadec calls into the bullpen and together he and Morgan go through Webber’s phone. They found out that he went to a known drug area to pick someone up and brought them to a drug treatment center. They theorize he picked up one of his soldiers and took them to get help.

But Melon is done going along with the investigation, attacking Jeremy; Tom jumps in to help. There is a scuffle and Tom gets shot in the leg. He’s bleeding badly and needs medical help.

Following up on their theory, Karadec has an idea to canvass bodegas near the treatment center to see if anyone has seen a guy with a military haircut. He knows that addicts usually will go for coffee and cigarettes every morning so their suspect may be going to a bodega near the center. The gamble pays off. They get a blurry photo of a blonde man from an ATM near one of the bodegas.

Conflict resolution

Michael Trotter and Addison Timlin in High Potential

Michael Trotter and Addison Timlin in High Potential (Image credit: Disney/Mitch Hasseth)

In the bullpen, Morgan convinces Brooke to let Tom go so he can get to a hospital. Brooke tells Ava to walk Tom out, to get her out of danger, while Morgan stays to solve the case.

Morgan points out there was no incoming call to Webber’s phone, so he had to have another way to know where to go. She remembers seeing a receipt in a crime scene photo for a GPS luggage tag. Morgan theorizes he put the luggage tag on the soldier to track him, and that’s how he knew when the soldier went to score drugs and where to get him. The luggage tag is traced through an app on Frank’s phone. They track the tag to find the killer.

They arrest Ben Spoelstra (Colton Adams) and charge him with the murder of Frank Webber. But in the bullpen, Jeremy and Brooke are still in trouble. Jeremy knocks Brooke out and threatens to kill everyone. He plans on detonating the bomb and blowing everyone up, but Morgan tells him the bomb isn’t real.

She remembers that Brooke was standing at reception with the box behind the dog that Ava went to pet. The dog didn’t react to the box, meaning there were no chemicals in the box. Brooke confirms the bomb isn’t real. Jeremy raises his gun to shoot Morgan, but Daphne kneecaps him and takes him down. Everyone is safe, and Ava has a new respect for her mom’s abilities.

Watch High Potential episodes on-demand on Hulu. The ABC crime drama returns with new episodes on January 7.

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Sonya Iryna

Sonya has been writing professionally for more than a decade and has degrees in New Media and Philosophy. Her work has appeared in a diverse array of sites including ReGen, The Washington Post, Culturess, Undead Walking and Final Girl. As a lifelong nerd she loves sci-fi, fantasy and horror TV and movies, as well as cultural documentaries. She is particularly interested in representation of marginalized groups in nerd culture and writes reviews and analysis with an intersectional POV. Some of her favorite shows include Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Sandman.