The fifth episode of ABC's "High Potential" season two kicks off with a scene of two kids bickering over the control of a drone, resulting in an accidental crash into Shea Ranch Pond. As the drone plunges into the water, the kids are horrified to discover a dead body inside a car submerged beneath the surface.
Morgan (played by Kaitlin Olson), dressed in adorable boots, surprises Arthur (Mekhi Phifer) as he wraps up his landscape work. After checking on Morgan and the kids for Roman, who has been ghosting him for 15 years, Arthur is reluctant to hand over Roman's backpack when confronted by Morgan. She threatens to have his business investigated, and he has no choice but to agree to meet up again.
Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) addresses her unit, commending them for their tenacity, and introduces Captain Nick Wagner (Steve Howey), also described as tenacious. Nick is there to support the team and looks forward to getting to know each of them. He starts one-on-one chats, takes over Selena's office with her permission, and begins with Oz (Deniz Akdeniz).
Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Adam (Daniel Sunjata) fill Morgan in on Nick's background, describing him as part of a family dynasty that has all made captain. Before heading to the Shea Ranch Pond crime scene with Adam, Morgan concludes that the driver's license doesn't match the victim but assumes they are one and the same, likely due to recent plastic surgery for Tori Nolan. The 31-year-old victim has two bullet holes in her chest along with steam or chemical burns and red dye.
As they examine Tori's car, Morgan finds a gun and a key to a storage unit. The Hula Hound fob on Tori's keychain leads them to believe she used the storage company next door. Inside the unit, they discover file cabinets and a workstation setup but the laptop is missing. The labels on the filing cabinets match the fake passports with different identities that Adam finds on the desk. Morgan realizes that each of the locations was the site of a big scandal, and Tori was an investigative journalist. It's possible whatever she was recently investigating got her killed.
Later, Daphne and Oz investigate Tori's financials and confirm that she worked for Takedown Magazine. Oz confirms that she wrote under pseudonyms and would go off the grid when working on a story. Her outlet always had her check in to ensure her safety, and Daphne forwards a recent photo Tori sent them. Morgan spots poodle dog plants in the background, hinting at Tori's undercover work.
Morgan sends Adam to the site of a recent fire in the hills, where bushes sprout after fires. Based on the size of the plant, this area fits the timeline perfectly. Morgan is right, and they find the exact spot where Tori took her recent proof-of-life photo. There's a "no trespassing" sign on the hill, and above it is an impressive house—a "content house" where influencers shoot videos. Tori must have gone undercover as an influencer, and one of the influencers recognizes Tori's photo but calls her Darla.
Morgan's gaze roams around as Adam learns that her last visit home was likely at least a day ago. She believes that the influencers are under immense pressure to create content that rakes in views, and Phineas, the man in charge of the house, is running it like a sweatshop.
As Morgan examines a dye, two influencers burst in, confessing to have killed her—but retract their words when they discover she was shot. It turns out that Raquel and Pranks had set up the "devil's toothpaste" prank in the backseat of Tori's car. Just as Tori got into her car, the dye exploded, shattering all her windows. They promptly informed Phineas of the incident, who claimed he had spoken with Tori. She was fine but angry and was going for a drive to cool off. Adam disagrees, stating that Tori must have been concussed and unable to drive anywhere.
The explosive ingredients were dye, soap, peroxide, and yeast. Morgan realizes Tori's steam burns were from the peroxide. Moreover, the peroxide would have cleaned up the blood from the gunshot wounds that should have been in the car. Raquel confesses that they pulled the prank because Tori stole her L3 protein powder, which was supposed to be used for an exclusive video shoot.
Morgan and Adam search the nearby hillside and find red dye and tire tracks—probable evidence of where Tori was shot. Phineas drives up, spots them, and races off, with Adam's instinctive chase giving Morgan the much-needed laugh.
Morgan arrives home early for once and sends Elliot out of the room to check on the baby so she can tell Ava (Amirah J) that she has tracked down Arthur. Ava wants to accompany her mom to get the backpack, but Morgan refuses, fearing it might be dangerous.
Back at the station, Oz and Adam let Phineas stew before interrogating him. Captain Wagner speaks with Daphne and Selena, suggesting that Daphne should take the sergeant test. Her work has impressed him, and he's even willing to set up the test for her if she agrees.
Morgan joined the group, and Nick seized the opportunity for a private chat. She preferred to defer, eager to listen in on Adam and Oz's interrogation of Phineas. Adam pressed Phineas on why he had shot a reporter who was embedded in his home, but Phineas claimed total ignorance. Oz produced Phineas' financial records, suggesting he was skimming from the creators. He noted that Phineas was charging them $50,000 a month each, and Morgan used the microphone to ask Adam to show her his watch. As Adam held it up to the two-way mirror, Morgan pointed out the obvious signs of corrosion from contact with peroxide.
Oz and Adam believed Phineas had been in Tori's car after the shooting and had gotten the peroxide on him when he moved her body from the driver's seat to the pond. Phineas confessed to moving the body but didn't realize she was shot until he reached the pond. He moved her to keep his landlord from finding out and evicting them.
Phineas claimed he was too busy buying bots to increase Tori's channel's views when Raquel and Pranks told him about the devil's toothpaste prank. He insisted he wouldn't have bought bots if he was going to kill her.
Later, as the team examined the murder board, Oz joined them and revealed that Phineas had turned over Tori's bag in exchange for leniency (he was booked for evidence tampering). Tori's laptop was inside, but it was encrypted. Raquel's protein powder was also in the bag, along with lab results showing that it contained castoreum—beaver butt secretion used as a flavoring agent.
Tori had been investigating L3 because its leader was Bobby Romano, an old classmate who had doxed her and forced her into hiding after she wrote an exposé of his business. Morgan and Adam paid him a visit at his warehouse, and he was thrilled about his upcoming powder release. Lamar, the operations manager, joined them and asked if they had a warrant to look around. Bobby dismissed the need for a warrant, assuring them that Lamar was just being vigilant since he essentially ran the operation.
Morgan and Adam, their voices heavy with gravity, reveal to Bobby that his past ventures were nothing but elaborate deceptions, all brought to an abrupt halt by Tori Nolan's relentless investigative reporting. Bobby, visibly chagrined, confesses his regrets for outing her and compelling her to abandon her studies. "I was a foolish youth, and I acted foolishly," he laments, his words laden with sincerity.
As they make their way to his office, the news of Tori's demise falls like a leaden weight. Bobby, first shocked, then suddenly comprehending their implication, exclaims that he had no hand in her death. He admits receiving a call from her a week prior, warning him of her impending expose. He brushes off her threat, unaware of her methods. Despite his conviction in the legitimacy of L3, he invites them to peruse his office, offering himself as an open book. Morgan seizes the opportunity, snatching his phone without hesitation. His lack of concern only fuels her determination to uncover the truth.
Adam engages in a brief but pointed conversation with Nick, who reveals he barely glanced at Adam's file before dismissing it. Nick's attention then shifts to Morgan, who Adam praises for their effective partnership. The exchange ends almost as soon as it began.
Bobby's phone reveals a recurring visit to Serenity Arms, a halfway house for ex-convicts. Gavin, its head honcho, agrees to meet with Adam and Oz.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Morgan find themselves at a diner, discussing the contents of Roman's bag. Ava's unexpected arrival interrupts their conversation with a demand for inclusion. Arthur chuckles, noting Ava's resemblance to Roman when deeply engaged in a task. He confirms their long-standing friendship and their past inseparability. Ava pleads for the bag's contents, eager to uncover why Roman left her behind. Arthur, though not in touch with his old friend for 15 years, eventually relents under Ava's persistence.
As Morgan's fury boiled over, she refused to utter a word to Ava as they exited, her anger palpable. Gavin, regaling Adam and Oz with tales of Bobby's unique charm, extolled the man's unwavering belief in the protein powder and his noble mission to make the world a better place. He maintained that despite his release from prison, Bobby wasn't angered by Tori's presence; rather, it was Tori who turned up at Bobby's warehouse, threatening to send him back to prison for life. The resulting stress caused Bobby to miss a group session and implore Gavin to have dealt with "this" years ago.
When Adam and Oz returned to Bobby's warehouse, they found him slumped over his desk, a victim of a drug overdose. Selena joined them there, and Adam explained that an employee had reported Bobby's distress after his encounter with the police. He had sent everyone home and then overdosed on the party drug Dazzle Kitty, which was five times more potent than Ecstasy.
Adam confirmed that the L3 powder was a ruse to cover up the drug shipments, with bags hidden in select canisters. Oz revealed that a gun matching the wounds on Tori's chest had been found in Bobby's desk. However, Morgan noticed a telltale aroma of beef and barley soup on Bobby's t-shirt and breath, indicating he had consumed the soup before his demise. Yet, there was no soup container in the trash cans. A half-melted Dazzle Kitty capsule and a carrot were found in the drain, suggesting someone else had drugged the soup and killed Bobby. The same killer had also taken Tori's life.
The team's investigation led them to a delivery truck driven by Bobby's counselor, Gavin, who was found with drugs in his canisters. It emerged that the Serenity Arms center was at the heart of the conspiracy. While Bobby had no knowledge of the drugs, Gavin and Lamar were the masterminds behind it all, with Lamar having alibis for the time of the murders while Gavin stood accused without one.
The day concluded with Nick striking up a conversation with Morgan as she tended to her car's coolant. She confessed her uncertainty about whether he was a cop abusing his power but had determined he was smug, craved field action, and enjoyed keeping people guessing about his motives. Nick admitted she had guessed two out of three correctly and that she was better at this game than he was, knowing she would obsess over a puzzle until she solved it.
As Morgan finally made it home, her animosity towards Ava for following her to the meeting with Arthur continued to fester. They engaged in a heated argument over trust issues, with Ava branding her mother as embarrassing. The episode five ended with an unseen figure (presumably Arthur) leaving Roman's backpack at Morgan's front door.
