TV Recap: "High Potential" Halloween - A Haunted Hollywood Mansion Complete with a Ghost Bride!

High Potential goes full spooky-season in its first Halloween episode, “Chasing Ghosts," serving vintage-Hollywood chills, a ghost bride, and a mansion with secrets in the walls. Plus, Teen Witch herself, Robyn Lively, guest stars in this episode, so “Top That!" But the real haunt is at home: Morgan secretly possesses Roman’s mysterious backpack after it landed on her doorstep last week, and the fallout from Ava tracking her to that diner — and getting grounded for it — hasn’t cooled. With mother–daughter tensions simmering and a spectral killer allegedly on the loose, Morgan and Karadec step into a case where smoke, mirrors, and moonlight might hide a very human motive.

Season 2, Episode 6: “Chasing Ghosts" - Written by Rebecca Kirsch & Jordan Rosenberg

On All Hallows Eve, three teens sneak onto the grounds of a gothic Hollywood mansion as part of a dare, dressed in costumes as a witch (Zoë Kate Thompson), Black Panther (Micah Howard), and Chappell Roan (Eric Grooms). They creep up to the porch to leave a pumpkin and freeze when a scream echoes inside. Through the glass, they glimpse a man collapsing to the floor — and a ghostly bride hovering over him. When the spirit hears their shocked cries and turns toward them, the teens flee into the night.

At the same hour, Morgan’s asleep, clutching Roman’s mysterious backpack. She wakes to find Elliot (Matthew Lamb) showing off his Halloween costume — Copernicus, complete with orbiting planets. When he asks about the backpack, Morgan deflects. “Let’s just say it’s the reason your sister and I aren’t exactly talking right now." She tells him to head back to bed, glancing at a work alert on her phone.

At the mansion, flashing lights paint the decaying estate. The victim is identified as Danny Sternblatt (Matt Kaminsky), a divorce lawyer for Los Angeles’ elite — including the mayor. To Morgan’s delight, it’s her “first Halloween on the job" with Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata). He’s less enthused. The scene is eerie: toppled furniture, a smashed lamp, and a taxidermy raven perched on a cuckoo clock.

Karadec notes that Sternblatt appears to have died of a heart attack. Morgan’s skeptical. There are claw marks on the wall, bruises on his arms, dark circles under his eyes, and clumps of hair torn out. Blisters on his hands suggest he’d been scratching through plaster. They find his pill bottles — benzodiazepines for sleep and nitroglycerin for heart issues — in a bathroom cupboard, not the direction he seemed to be going when he collapsed. A notepad sits on the table, handwriting barely legible. Morgan questions why he collapsed near the chair, which has a black beaded bracelet draped over the armrest, possibly obsidian or black tourmaline. Karadec assumes it belonged to his estranged wife, Lorraine Sternblatt, who’s on her way back from a work trip to London.

Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Dennis Akdeniz) arrive, and Daphne connects the dots: this mansion once belonged to 1940s film stars Maddie St. Croix and Dash Spencer — best known for their Dash and Maddie pictures. Maddie took her own life, and months later, Dash fell from the balcony in the exact spot Danny died. The urban legend claims Dash was pushed by his wife’s ghost. Soto sends over a sketch based on the teens’ description of the apparition — an uncanny match to Maddie’s wedding photo.

Oz dismisses the haunting as hysteria. While examining the living room, he notices salt sprinkled along the baseboards. Morgan initially assumed plaster dust until she follows the trail to a salt pentacle marked by five stones. Sternblatt clearly thought his ghost problem was real, Morgan deduces. Oz finds invoices from electricians and plasterers — all hired to “investigate disturbances." One business card stands out: Calliope, a psychic.

At Calliope’s home, the self-styled clairvoyant (Marié Botha) insists she was Danny’s “spiritual advisor," helping him through professional crossroads. “The energy in that place is very off," she warns about the house. Morgan scoffs at the price she charged Sternblatt for cleansings — $5,000 per session. Calliope tries to soften Morgan’s tone by offering verbena oil for calming, but Morgan calls Calliope a charlatan for having a calendar to track the lunar cycle and for having a lit prosperity candle outside of its proper time. Calliope remains calm as she asks them to leave.

Back at the mansion, Morgan pokes around the main floor while Karadec searches the basement. Talking over speakerphone, she thinks she hears spooky sounds that turn out to be a rat in the cupboard. But she gets an idea inspired by her kids, who used to talk to each other through air vents. She gets on a step ladder and opens the vent, finding a black bag inside just as Karadec calls for help.

In the basement, Karadec comes face-to-face with… the ghost bride! “LAPD," he announces, drawing his gun as the bride bolts, running upstairs and crashing into Morgan. They unmask her: a terrified young woman named Shauna Khurmi (Allyson Cristofaro). Inside the bag from the vent: iPads, microphones, and SFX gear. They take her into the station.

Back at HQ, Captain Wagner (Steve Howey) insists on handling the interrogation himself — claiming the mayor, Danny’s client, wants discretion. Soto bristles, already annoyed that a press release about the case appeared without her approval. Through the one-way glass, Oz watches as Wagner questions Shauna, who admits she’s a special-effects artist from CalArts. She insists she was hired to stage the haunting but panicked when Danny collapsed. When Wagner accuses her of murder, she points out that Lorraine never told her about his heart condition. Soto notices a handwritten note on Wagner’s press release as he angles it toward the mirror: “Sry, no time to explain. Was playing her." Wagner’s stunt worked, but Soto’s unimpressed.

Morgan and Karadec arrive at Lorraine’s office to try to apprehend her, but overhear an argument behind her door. “You always loved the house more than you loved my dad," they hear a young woman say, who storms out. She introduces herself as Danny Sternblatt’s daughter, Paloma Nichols (Paloma Esparza Rabinov).

Inside the office, they meet Lorraine (Robyn Lively), who admits to hiring Shauna. “I never wanted to kill him, I just wanted the house," she says, describing her marriage as amazing before Danny cheated on her. He became cruel when she decided to leave, and his will had the house go to Paloma, not her. Lorraine opens a keepsake box of love letters from Danny during happier times, with much neater handwriting than Morgan observed in the house. Morgan realizes Danny’s pills may have been tampered with.

Toxicology confirms it: potassium chloride poisoning induced the heart attack. Someone exploited Lorraine’s scare tactics as cover. Morgan suspects whoever helped Danny set up the pentacle is the killer. Soto wonders if Danny had any enemies at his law firm or maybe an upset client who would want him dead.

Karadec and Oz visit Danny’s firm and meet his partner (Dan Donohue). Danny had been primarily working from home while dealing with his own divorce, but everyone at the firm had heard Danny talking about his haunted home. His partner leads him to his office, where he had been looking into the mansion to try and help his friend. Karadec and Oz notice something strange — the appraisal lists the mansion as 300 square feet smaller than it was in the 1940s. With Morgan on speakerphone, she realizes, “We’re missing a room."

The team reenacts an old detective trick — placing cards in each window to locate the blind spot. Morgan finds it on the top floor, inspecting Lorraine’s craft room. She tugs a mismatched panel on a shelf, revealing a hidden latch. The wall swings open to a long-sealed boudoir belonging to Maddie St. Croix. Inside a vanity drawer, they find what appears to be a very expensive diamond necklace, a missing piece in the mystery of the star’s death.

Back at the precinct, waiting for gem verification, Wagner brings Morgan a root beer and talks about how he was a fan of Dash and Maddie films, but the realities of their deaths have bummed him out. “This case wasn’t a ringing endorsement for marriage," Morgan muses, prompting him to ask if she’s ever tied the knot. Morgan becomes agitated as she reveals that she hasn’t been married before. “My brain has a way of making relationships not last very long," she admits before asking about his relationship history. He shows her a picture of his strongest relationship… with his dog Ingrid. He then reveals he was once engaged, but she passed away a few years ago.

Karadec learns that the necklace is authentic, designed in Paris in 1946. Its base value is estimated at around $10 million, but this figure is likely to increase significantly when you factor in the Hollywood history, making it even more valuable at auction. Morgan realizes Danny likely found it during renovations and hid it until his divorce was finalized. The killer likely intended to retrieve it, but was presumably thwarted by the teens who called the cops to report a death. “Let's give them their window," Morgan says.

At a staged press conference, Wagner announces the arrest of Lorraine Sternblatt. Calliope watches online while meeting with Paloma, consoling her. Paloma mentions feeling her father’s “energy" in the house. Calliope volunteers to perform a cleansing ritual, needing two hours alone in the house.

Inside the secret room, Calliope is met with a voice behind her: “Boo." Karadec steps out of the shadows, Morgan beside him. They reveal that Calliope outed herself during their first meeting — verbena oil can be used to clean jewelry, and the necklace didn’t have any dust on it when it was inspected. She’d learned about Lorraine’s “hauntings," and when Danny hired her, she poisoned his pills to steal the necklace. When he died sooner than expected, she couldn’t retrieve it before the police arrived. Lorraine’s arrest was bait, and she took it. “Happy Halloween," Karadec says. “You’re under arrest."

As they exit, Morgan glances at the cuckoo clock. The raven is gone. On the windowsill, a live one perches — then flies away.

That night, Morgan knocks on Ava’s (Amirah J) door. They finally talk. Ava admits she’s like her mom — stubborn and unwilling to wait when something matters. “You and I aren’t wired to just sit by if we want something," Ava says. Morgan agrees but insists her defiance is dangerous when it comes to Roman. They make up, with Ava promising to leave the investigating to Morgan.

Before Ava leaves for a Halloween party, no longer grounded, Morgan shows her the backpack she’s been protecting. Inside is a drawing of a young ballerina, and Ava realizes it looks just like her first-grade recital. “I think he must have been there," Morgan says softly. The mystery of Roman deepens.

Next Episode: “The One That Got Away" - Airing Tuesday, October 28th, at 10/9c on ABC

When a priceless painting is stolen in a museum heist, Morgan and Karadec team up with an art-recovery expert to unravel a tangled case and fierce ownership battle. Meanwhile, Soto is determined to uncover the secrets hidden inside Roman’s backpack.

Songs Featured in This Episode: