TV Recap: “High Potential” — “NPC” Turns a Digital Rivalry Into a Real-World Murder Case
High Potential dives into gamer culture, parental pressure, and the blurred line between fantasy and reality in Season 2, Episode 11, “NPC.” What begins as a bizarre hit-and-run involving a terrified young man quickly unravels into a psychologically layered case: a poisoned E-sports athlete, a digital grudge with real-world consequences, and a family secret that even Morgan Gillory can’t quite believe at first. As the investigation pulls Morgan, Karadec, and the LAPD deeper into a virtual battlefield, the hour also tests Karadec’s personal resolve when someone from his past suddenly returns.
Season 2, Episode 11: “NPC” - Written by Eric I. Lu
In the early hours, before sunrise, a terrified young man (Kyle Butenhoff) sprints down a dark street, convinced he’s being chased by a horned, glowing-eyed monster. In reality, it’s only two concerned joggers (Zinnett Hendrix and Quinn McPherson) trying to check on him. Panicked, he races into traffic and is struck by an oncoming car, killed instantly.
Across town, Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) leaves his apartment and unexpectedly bumps into Lucia (Susan Kelechi Watson), his ex-fiancée. She’s just moved back from Santa Fe after a breakup. She asks to catch up, and he decides to be late to work.
At the crime scene, Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) is already there — and immediately grills Karadec on his tardiness. He won’t say why. Oz (Dennis Akdeniz) and Daphne (Javicia Leslie) summarize: the victim had no wallet, no ID, and no shoes. Joggers reported he seemed drunk and terrified. Karadec suspects hallucinations. But Morgan spots telltale black vomit on the sidewalk and on his shirt. Activated charcoal. “He was poisoned.”
A trail of bloody footprints leads them to a nearby apartment with a shattered sliding door. Inside, they find a wallet: Declan Harker, age 31, a professional E-sports gamer. The front door unlocks. Aditi Shaw (Sahana Srinivasan), Declan’s ex-girlfriend, steps in — and hears the news that he’s dead. Through tears, she plays the voicemail Declan left her hours earlier: “It’s all my fault. I killed him so many times… and now he’s trying to kill me.”
At LAPD, Soto (Judy Reyes) questions the ominous message. Karadec thinks it refers to a game — Battle Dynasty. Daphne reports traces of blood on a stapled receipt from one of Declan’s food containers. Not Declan’s blood. The delivery happened an hour before he died.
Meanwhile, Aditi tells Daphne that she and Declan met inside Battle Dynasty before dating in real life. A year ago, he abruptly ghosted her. But last month he reappeared in the game, apologized, and said he’d changed. They planned to reconnect. Declan had ditched his high-end gaming rig when he tried to quit, but Aditi says he still had an old laptop — and they shared a linked “Find My Tech” account.
The signal leads Morgan, Karadec, and Daphne to a parking lot. Karadec receives a text that makes him smile. Morgan teases him about Lucia. He tries to deflect. Daphne soon finds a car with tires coated in fresh asphalt — the same asphalt used on Declan’s street.
Morgan triggers the alarm while trying the door. A nervous man bursts out of Jubilee Games and lies about the car belonging to him. Once confronted, he unlocks the trunk… revealing Declan’s laptop. He asks to speak to them inside.
Inside Jubilee Games, the man identifies himself as a senior game developer focused on player tactics (David Magidoff). He claims he took Declan’s laptop to help him. Declan, he says, was deeply addicted to Battle Dynasty. He’d even helped him get into Gamers Anonymous.
Footage from Declan’s final game session plays for the LAPD team: Declan repeatedly killing the same orc avatar — Drednog — over and over. The Drednog player threatened to kill Declan with a gun.
Late that night, Karadec updates Soto: the Drednog account used fake info and logged in from cyber cafés. Soto softly suggests he “be late tomorrow” — she wants him to see Lucia again. He admits the same problems that once broke them up would likely resurface. Soto urges him to reconsider. She made the same mistake with her ex-husband, Hector, and she correctly points out that Karadec has changed in their time apart.
At home, Morgan hears Battle Dynasty sounds from Elliot’s (Matthew Lamb) room. He admits he sneaks in a round before bed as a “palette cleanse.” Morgan warns that their brains are wired for pattern-seeking — obsessive games can be dangerous. In chat, a player had threatened to “plant” him. Elliot explains that the word likely meant “farm.” Auto-translation mistakes are common in the game. Morgan freezes. The gun threat to Declan may also have been mistranslated.
At LAPD, Morgan explains: the Japanese word “teppo” can mean both gun and pufferfish toxin — known for causing hallucinations and paralysis. She had already asked the lab to test Declan’s blood for pufferfish toxin. It hits. Declan was poisoned. Only licensed fugu chefs can legally prep pufferfish in the U.S. There are exactly 12, and three of them happen to work at a single sushi restaurant in Los Angeles.
Morgan and Karadec visit the restaurant. The head chef, Yasuda (Eijiro Ozaki), insists that toxic parts are locked up and only he has the key. The apprentice mixing rice — Jin (Kota Horiuchi) — looks familiar. Morgan recognizes him from a Jubilee Games poster. But Chef insists Ryo, not Jin, is the gamer.
He shows them a family album. Two sons. Twins. Jin is the hardworking apprentice. Ryo is the rebellious gamer. But something about the album feels off to Karadec. Then Soto texts: something was found on Declan’s laptop. Daphne and Oz are tasked with locating Ryo.
Daphne and Oz storm into Clutch, a gaming café filled with teens skipping school. They instantly spot Ryo (also Kota Horiuchi) — headphones on, fully immersed. They show him the Drednog footage. He claims not to know Declan in real life.
Ryo and Yasuda sit together in the interrogation room. Ryo has a fresh cut on his finger. A court order for a blood sample is already approved. Soto reveals $100,000 in crypto moved from Yasuda to Declan’s, implying that Declan was paid to kill Ryo repeatedly in the game to discourage him from playing. Yasuda, defeated, confesses he met Declan through Gamers Anonymous. He tried everything to save his son from addiction. Ryo erupts, accusing Declan of humiliating him in the game.
Then the twist: Ryo is eliminated as the poisoner. His DNA doesn’t match. But it’s close. Very close. Twin-level close.
BOLOs go out for Jin, now missing. Ryo receives a call from him, which he plays on speakerphone for the detectives. It’s a panicked apology. Before Soto can negotiate, Jin hangs up. Ryo reveals Jin’s favorite place: the Hollywood Reservoir.
As the team mobilizes, Ryo tries to buy candy from a vending machine. It jams. Morgan helps. It’s Jin’s favorite candy. Morgan takes Ryo to the LAPD kitchen for food. He spills almond milk, panics, and removes his hoodie. Morgan sees it: a patch of differently pigmented skin — a birthmark.
Soto calls Morgan into her office as Karadec calls. Jin’s bike was found, but he’s nowhere to be found. A dive team is about to begin searching the reservoir. Morgan has an epiphany: Ryo isn’t a twin, he’s a chimera — born with two sets of DNA after absorbing a fraternal twin embryo in utero. Blood tests, saliva, skin pigmentation — all can yield conflicting results. The photo album? Doctored. Yasuda’s story? Constructed. Jin? Was never born.
Morgan and Karadec confront Yasuda. The sous chef (Masayuki Yonezawa) confessed to staging the bike at the reservoir. They spoke to his ex-wife in Osaka, who confirmed that they were expecting twins, but only ended up with one baby, which upset Yasuda to the point that it destroyed their marriage. Ryo, growing up, reminded him too much of the loss, so he invented a “good” twin to model him after. Yasuda found evidence of the toxin being used, ran to Declan with charcoal to save him, but the hallucinating gamer attacked and ran, breaking through his glass window. Declan fled into traffic before Yasuda could stop him. To protect Ryo, Yasuda staged everything. Ryo recorded Jin’s phone call and changed Yasuda’s name on his phone so that it seemed like Jin was calling to say goodbye.
Karadec and Morgan persuade Yasuda to comply, saying that since Ryo is underage, cooperation will help ensure he has a life after this. When Ryo is brought in in cuffs, father and son collapse into each other, sobbing.
Aditi holds a virtual memorial in Battle Dynasty for Declan. Morgan and Karadec watch quietly. Karadec asks if she’s okay. She smiles, ready to go home to her kids.
Across the hall, Karadec spots Lucia waiting in Soto’s office. He chooses to give their relationship another shot. Morgan wishes him a good time and is genuinely happy for him.
Next Episode: “The Faust and the Furious” - Airing Tuesday, February 3rd, at 9/8c on ABC.
A single mom's unconventional knack for solving crime leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book, seasoned detective.
Songs Featured in This Episode:
- “Can’t Get Enough” by Bad Graphics
- “Look What It Made Me Do” by Chrissy