Summary
High Potential begins to blur the lines between the case of the week and the overarching plot more than ever in Episode 9.
In its solid midseason premiere, High Potential finally made some progress in the Roman subplot which has been threaded throughout the season. It was about time, and Episode 9, “The RAMs”, is smart not to let the issue stray too far from our minds. In fact, there’s even a case to be made that the latest crime, the murder of a high-profile sportscaster, suffers a little by being less engaging than the mysterious fate of Morgan’s ex-husband.
Of all the problems this show could have, this is probably the best one. Many episodes in Season 1 have forgotten about Roman altogether, so I like that the plot is moving now, even if it runs the risk of making the back half of the season more serialized and less procedural.
A cool thing that’s also happening here is the characters are becoming much more bedded in. The development in previous episodes is starting to stick. I liked Karadec competing with Morgan in the deduction arena, and I also liked that the death of Marvin Price has a more personal effect on him; he and his father listened to him together. This theme of fatherhood becomes important, because Marvin’s own son, Dexter, becomes a crucial component of the case. Both men have lost their fathers, but while Karadec got to say goodbye to his, Dexter did not.
Morgan’s relationship with Tom is also picked back up, though admittedly things aren’t going especially well here. After Tom was so reasonable about Morgan constantly being pulled away by work and cancelling their dates in the previous episode, he has clearly gotten a little sick of it in the time that has elapsed between instalments. In fact, he shows up at the station just to tell Morgan that he “got the hint”, even though it’s obvious from her expression that she wasn’t giving him one.
Tom has graduated from nursing school, which is good, but has also accepted a job in San Diego, which is bad, at least as far as he and Morgan are concerned. He does remind her that San Diego isn’t that far away, but if she can’t even make it to his apartment without getting distracted, it’s probably a safe bet to assume she wouldn’t see much of him. I do hope this isn’t the last we see of Tom, since he offers a different lens through which to view Morgan’s character, but it does seem like he’ll be out of the picture for a while at least.
But I’m okay with that. I actually like that it “punishes” Morgan, so to speak, in a way that the cases often don’t. She’s never wrong when it comes to her deductive reasoning or even her hunches, but it’s helpful to highlight how her talents don’t always necessarily benefit her. That single-minded focus on work and obscure esoterica isn’t good for maintaining relationships.
As mentioned, High Potential Episode 9 also weaves the Roman subplot right through it instead of confining it to the margins, which means Morgan takes a break from investigating Marvin’s death to accompany Selena to a meeting with Gio, the elusive criminal concierge that Roman was somehow connected to. He’s played by a guest-starring Domenick Lombardozzi (Tulsa King, Cold Pursuit) and is only willing to share what he knows if his 16-year-old nephew is let off a few misdemeanour charges.
Morgan takes this part of the investigation home, in a sense. When she looks through a box of Roman’s stuff she realizes that some items are missing and that Ava has been rooting through after overhearing Selena talk about her father in a previous episode. Ava is now with Morgan in believing that Roman didn’t just up and leave them, so she’s invested in the investigation into his disappearance.
It isn’t until the end of the episode that this all comes together a bit more. Gio is waiting for Morgan outside a restaurant and asks for a ride. It’s a short trip, but during it, he confirms he did know Roman, and he thought he was a nice guy. By way of proof, he offers up the episode’s title, “RAMs” – an acronym standing for Roman, Ava, Morgan. Something only Roman could have told him.
Gio tells Morgan he’s going away for a while and he’ll contact her when he’s back with some information, which likely means we won’t be picking this thread up again for a while. But I persist that its inclusion here lends the episode something a little bit extra.
