'High Potential' Season 2 Episode 11 Recap: Karadec's Ex Returns and Creates a Love Triangle

Last week's episode of High Potential was an intense and high-stakes installment that saw Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) get fired for failing to properly focus on her detective training class. This didn't last long, though, because Selena (Judy Reyes) got her back by blackmailing the head of Internal Affairs (Jesse Bradford). I was excited to see the fallout of this decision and Morgan's firing, and we likely will in the future, but High Potential's latest episode doesn't even mention these events.

Season 2, Episode 1, "NPC" is primarily focused on the case at hand: the murder of a former professional gamer named Declan Harper. The episode's subplot sees Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) reconnecting with his ex-fiancée, Lucia (Susan Kelechi Watson), after bumping into her before work that morning. This subplot is a compelling one that sadly doesn't get enough focus this episode, as the majority of "NPC" is dedicated to the case.

In 'High Potential' Season 2, Episode 11, Major Crimes Investigates the Poisoning of a Video Game Pro

The episode opens with Declan running down the street, being chased by a monster that nobody else can see, before running out in front of a car and getting killed. When Morgan and Karadec later investigate the case, Morgan realizes that Declan was poisoned. His home has a broken glass wall, and his computer is missing. Declan's ex-girlfriend, Aditi, shows up looking for him and tells Morgan and Karadec that he called her that morning to say that he kept killing someone over and over again, who had now come to kill him. They realize he's talking about his character in the game Battle Dynasty, which Declan was really good at, until he suddenly quit gaming a year ago. They track Declan's laptop to a game developer who reveals that he'd been trying to help Declan quit his gaming addiction. Declan quit for a year, but a month ago, he suddenly started playing again.

This is where the case really gets interesting. Declan had $100,000 in crypto, and he had been intentionally and consistently killing the same player in Battle Dynasty over and over. This player had, in turn, threatened to kill him in real life with puffer fish poison that they could get from their dad. This brings the Major Crimes team to a local sushi chef who serves puffer fish, and whose teenage twin sons, Jin and Ryo, are the most likely suspects. Jin works at the restaurant and does well in school, while Ryo has only ever cared about video games. As a result, their father has been tough on Ryo, and he's been made to feel like he doesn't belong. Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) find Ryo and bring him in, and he he seems like the killer at first. His father had been worried that Ryo was addicted to the game, so he hired Declan to keep killing him, thus taking Ryo's only safe place away from him.

The DNA test for some blood found at Declan's house is only a 90% match, so the Major Crimes team comes to the conclusion that Jin killed Declan to protect Ryo. Jin goes to a local reservoir to end his life before being arrested, and Major Crimes doesn't get there in time to catch him, but then things take a shocking turn. After talking to Ryo, Morgan cleverly realizes that Jin never actually existed. What was initially twins was absorbed into one fetus, who was born as Ryo, in a rare case of what is called chimerism. Ryo has the DNA of both twins, which is why his blood wasn't a full match for the sample he left behind. The chef, meanwhile, had Ryo pretending to be twins, seemingly even before this case, and even made a fake photo album of the two of them. It's a bizarre and shocking twist, as it is revealed that Ryo was the one who killed Declan all along. Ryo and his father both apologize to each other after Ryo is taken to the station, and then Aditi throws a funeral for Declan in the game.

'High Potential' Season 2, Episode 11 Sees the Return of Karadec's Ex-Fiancée

Image via ABC

Last season, it was revealed that Karadec was previously engaged to his ex, Lucia. They'd broken up because he always prioritized his job over her, but he still kept a piece of art that she'd made for him in his apartment. At the start of "NPC," Karadec runs into Lucia before work, and the sparks are clearly still there. Karadec even lets himself be (barely) late to work this once, in order to catch up with her. Morgan and Selena are both excited to hear that Lucia is back, and they try to convince him to try things again with her. Selena points out that his workload is lighter now that he's working with Morgan, and she suggests that both Karadec and Lucia are different people now.

Karadec's conflict here seems to be two-fold: he's worried about making the same mistake with Lucia twice, and he has all of these complex feelings for Morgan that he hasn't properly worked through yet. I would've liked to see more of this internal struggle play out on-screen, but we never actually get to see the moment where Karadec makes the decision to rekindle things with Lucia. Instead, after pushing back every time Morgan and Selena bring this up, he ends the episode leaving for a date with Lucia. This didn't make much sense without seeing his on-screen thought process, especially because Karadec has been more intentional and communicative with Morgan these last few episodes, so much so that it seemed like he might be aware of his feelings. Interestingly, though, the episode ends with Morgan meeting with Lucia and acting very happy about this new development. After Karadec and Lucia leave, though, Morgan's face falls, spelling some exciting angst and pining for this dynamic going forward.

New episodes of High Potential air Tuesdays at 9:00 P.M. EST on ABC.

Release Date September 17, 2024

Showrunner Todd Harthan

Pros & Cons

• The episode's case is well-written, with one especially shocking twist.
• The episode sets up an exciting potential love triangle between Karadec, Morgan, and Lucia.

• The episode does not give enough focus to Karadec's storyline, and his big choice is made off-screen.