TV Recap: The Game Maker Takes Control in High Potential’s “Checkmate”

High Potential wastes no time raising the stakes in its second episode of the season. With Derek Price on the run, Maya Price still missing, and the Game Maker brazenly walking into the precinct, Morgan and the LAPD find themselves caught in an elaborate chess match where every move feels like part of a bigger trap. As the case unravels, Morgan juggles protecting her family, following cryptic clues, and confronting an adversary who seems to know her every step.

Season 2, Episode 2: “Checkmate" - Written by Marc Halsey

Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) races through LA streets in hot pursuit of Derek Price (Shaun Sipos), Maya’s distraught ex. Derek flees through the city with a gun riding shotgun, only to evade Karadec in a parking garage, abandoning his vehicle but taking the weapon. Karadec calls Lieutenant Soto (Judy Reyes) and Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) with an update — Derek has slipped away. But they have bigger news for him: the Game Maker himself just walked into the precinct.

Identified as Matthew Clark (David Giuntoli), he has no criminal record, lives downtown, and scrapes by on cash jobs. Morgan itches to confront him, but Soto insists only Karadec can do the talking.

Meanwhile, Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Dennis Akdeniz) chase the Roman Cinquerra thread at a Nevada motel. The front desk confirms that Roman checked in the previous week but never officially checked out. Their knock was unanswered, but waiting in the parking lot, they see a man (Mekhi Phifer) in a Dodgers jacket exit and start following him.

Karadec enters Matthew’s interrogation room, who claims he saw his face on the news and came by to find out why. He’s shown photos of Spencer Wallace, Sierra Shuman, and Oz himself — all abducted in the Season 1 finale, all members of the same Echo Park grief group Matthew attends. Watching through the glass, Morgan fumes that Karadec is going soft; Soto reminds her that Matthew came in voluntarily.

When pressed about Maya Price, Matthew coolly claims ignorance. Morgan texts questions for Karadec to ask, but he doesn’t always follow them. Matthew tries to get under Karadec’s skin, presuming he’s getting messages from his wife, or implying he’s caught in a love triangle. Karadec sticks to the case, and Matthew provides an alibi for where he was during the party — at home reading, but Karadec points out that his partner saw him at a party. “Did she?" Matthew retorts, without Karadec having given him any information about his partner. Morgan believes Matthew’s presumption of her gender is proof that he knows who she is. Karadec turns up the heat, demanding to know if he enjoys playing these games. Matthew shrugs it off, requests a snack: a Pillsbury cookie.

Stepping out, Karadec and Morgan clash over strategy. Morgan connects “Pillsbury Variation" to a complex chess gambit: you decline the sacrifice. She thinks they must release Jason Howard to play along. Soto agrees they can’t hold Jason much longer.

Jason (Nick Weschler), flanked by his lawyer (Elena Verela), denies knowing Matthew Clark. LAPD offers him protective detail, either cops at his home or a stay in protective custody. Jason bristles, but they warn him: Maya may only be a pawn in a larger game designed to end with his murder.

Morgan gets a call from home. Elliot (Matthew Lamb) is desperate to join his school's talent show, despite the stalker still being at large. Morgan suggests bringing Officer Chester for security, but Ava (Amirah J) thinks it’s reckless. Ludo (Taran Killam) gets on the phone, promising to help Elliot prepare. Morgan shares her concerns that Elliot already has a bullying problem at school, and that this could exacerbate the situation.

Morgan’s conversation ends as Matthew knocks on the mirror in the interrogation room. It’s as if he’s looking right at her as he talks about getting in trouble once as a kid while playing a game of chicken. “Don’t blink, he says. “You swerve, you lose." Soto breaks the tension with some distressing news — a bomb threat on a metro bus, and Matthew is the lead suspect.

Morgan and Karadec rush to the scene of the metro bus threat. Taped to the back of a seat is a bag with a timer and a thumb drive attached. When they open the drive, they find a video of Maya Price (Kate Miner) singing New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle." Morgan is shaken — this is clearly the Game Maker’s handiwork. Karadec points out that Matthew had referenced a “love triangle" during interrogation, indicating that he had planted the clue directly.

The bag tests positive for ammonium nitrate, despite no bomb being found on the bus. Morgan notices something odd about the brand name stitched on the fabric — “Helen of Monaco." Tugging on a loose thread in the “E," letters begin disappearing until they reveal a hidden message: Hello Mor gan. The timer shows less than two hours until detonation. Finding the bomb feels like a new game. Karadec realizes the bigger implication: if the bus route started after Matthew turned himself in, then he’s engineered the perfect alibi.

Back in Nevada, Daphne and Oz pull alongside the man they believed was Roman. He ducks into a building, refusing to talk. When they finally catch him outside again, they mention that Morgan sent them. The man simply shakes his head: “Sorry, never heard of him."

At LAPD headquarters, Morgan can’t stop replaying the Maya video. Every detail feels like a breadcrumb. Oz calls in from Nevada with a photo of the man they confronted, but Morgan instantly knows: “That’s not Roman." Whoever he is, he’s impersonating someone Morgan desperately wants to find.

Back in the interrogation room, Soto pushes Matthew harder. He consents to a warrantless search of his apartment, claiming he has “nothing to hide." Morgan disagrees — if he invited them in, there’s definitely something he wants them to find.

Inside Matthew’s apartment, Morgan makes a note of a framed photo of a specific monkey. They find volunteer badges from a local hospital, and a framed photo of a woman and a boy at graduation. Morgan inspects the bookshelf, where one book is upside down: "The Man Who Saved the World," about Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov, who averted nuclear war by refusing to escalate a false alarm. Morgan interprets the placement as Matthew sending them a message: this is war, a game of chicken, and “unless one of us blinks," catastrophe will follow.

Karadec watches Maya’s video again and notices her blinking isn’t random. Morgan recalls a Vietnam War hostage video where the soldier blinked in Morse code to get a secret message back home. What they get out of it is 2492 Bluejay Way, Jason Howard’s address. Morgan thinks the message is actually from Matthew, who was likely out of frame, tapping Maya’s fingers to cue her blinks.

Morgan and Karadec sprint to the elevator, passing Matthew in the hallway, who is waiting to be released. He flashes his trademark grin. “I hope you find what you’re looking for," he says as the elevator doors close.

Back at Jason’s house, Morgan and Karadec argue for him to let them search despite not having a warrant. Time is running out, and Karadec points to the ticking clock as proof they can’t afford to wait. Suddenly, an explosion rattles the street outside — Karadec’s car erupts in flames.

Jason is livid as officers rush him back into the LAPD. He insists he’s finished cooperating and announces that he’ll be hiring his own private security. Storming out with his lawyer, he leaves the LAPD in his rearview.

Reyes demands to know how this happened. Morgan connects the dots: the bomb wasn’t about the house search at all — it was planted earlier, likely at the party. The real message was for Jason, meant to scare him away from police protection. Karadec realizes Matthew is manipulating Jason into cutting ties with the LAPD, isolating him for Derek to find. Seeing how rattled Morgan is, Reyes orders her to go home and check on her family until the team develops stronger leads.

At home that night, Ava rummages through the pantry for chips and admits she tried to talk Elliot out of performing in the talent show. She has no idea what his act even is, but she’s worried he’ll embarrass himself, and her by extension. Morgan reminds her they’ll all find out together tomorrow and insists the whole family will be there to support him. Ava pouts, saying she doesn’t want to go, but Morgan shuts her down. It’s not optional.

Morgan checks in on Elliot.. He hurriedly shuts his laptop, not wanting her to see what he and Ludo have been working on. Elliot admits he’s nervous, that being different already makes him a target at school, and the talent show could just add more fuel for the bullies. “I’m actually dealing with a bully myself at work right now," Morgan tells him, adding that sometimes, being different means people will come after you, but that doesn’t mean you should hide who you are. She encourages him to get up on stage, have fun, and not worry about what anyone else thinks. “Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war," he responds. The words strike Morgan like a thunderclap. She realizes he’s echoing the lesson of Stanislav Petrov. “Maybe I’m not supposed to win," she whispers to herself. It clicks. The only way to beat Matthew at his own game is to “swerve" — to let him believe she’s conceding. Morgan steels herself, knowing she has to play her own game of chicken, and heads out the door.

Morgan returns to Matthew Clark’s apartment alone. When Matthew opens the door, he greets her with a grin that suggests he’s been expecting this. He accuses her of enjoying their twisted game as much as he does. Morgan doesn’t flinch. She tells him flatly that she’s not there to play, she’s there to quit. “I swerve." He studies her closely, convinced she’s bluffing. Morgan reminds him that he’s already proven he can reach her and her children. “Can you imagine being a little kid and losing your mom?" she says, watching Matthew glance at the framed picture of his Kindergarten graduation with his mom. She asks him to just tell her where Maya is. Matthew claims not to know where she is. “I really do hope you find her," he taunts. As Morgan turns to leave, he suggests with a sly smile that she take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Jason relocates to a luxury hotel, flanked by the private security team he personally hired after cutting ties with LAPD. Soto gets a tip from Derek’s credit card that he’s staying at the hotel, so Karadec races there. On the way, he calls Morgan, who heard “Bizarre Love Triangle" blasting from a locked apartment door. She’s called for the superintendent to help open the door.

Karadec gets to the rooftop bar just in time, finding Derek pressing his gun to the back of Jason’s head. His private security detail instantly draws their weapons. The standoff escalates as Karadec orders everyone to lower their guns. He appeals directly to Derek, trying to reason with him.

Morgan bursts through the door and finds Maya bound to a chair but alive. She puts Maya on speakerphone so Derek can hear her voice on the rooftop. Maya pleads with him, her words cutting through the noise of the standoff. She talks about the honeymoon they never took, the joy of Max’s birth, and the life they dreamed of together. Tears stream down her face as she tells Derek their son needs him and that she wants him to see Max again.

The fight drains out of Derek. He lowers the gun and surrenders. Karadec quickly secures him. Maya is hospitalized and reunited with Max (Jack Vaught) and her sister, Sarah (Jacqueline Emerson). She thanks Morgan tearfully.

Back at the precinct, Soto delivers bad news: the DA doesn’t have enough to hold Matthew. Maya never saw her abductor, and the apartment tied to his building had been vacant for weeks. Morgan remembers one of the portraits from Matthew’s walls — a tarsier monkey, an animal known for refusing captivity and even self-mutilating when caged. To her, it’s Matthew’s silent vow: he won’t be taken alive.

Daphne and Oz return from Nevada empty-handed, apologizing for failing to bring in the man posing as Roman. The frustration deepens when Maya’s medical report arrives. She had no drugs in her system, no bruises, no scratches   — nothing to suggest she was held captive. Yet the blood on her jacket matched her DNA. Morgan puts it together: “The blood didn’t leave Maya’s body within the last 48 hours."

Determined, Morgan heads back to Matthew’s apartment alone. He greets her with a smirk, inviting her in. Morgan brings up his mother, how she worked at a Bel Air hotel, was fired after a theft accusation, confessed under pressure, and died in jail. Matthew admits it was a forced confession. She remembers he volunteers at a hospital where Maya once donated blood. “Maybe your mom wasn’t a thief," she tells him, “but her son sure is." When officers checked the hospital’s footage, the proof was there: Matthew on tape, stealing Maya’s blood. Morgan taunts him: “You will end up in a cage."

Standing in front of the tarsier portrait, Matthew tips his head. “Well played." His eyes drift to another photo—his mother with him at Kindergarten graduation. He softens, insisting she was a good mom who always made time for him. He claims he never actually hurt anyone. Morgan reminds him of the terror he’s inflicted. Matthew spits back that the rich always win, while people like them always lose. “We’re just pawns to them, Morgan. Disposable." He rages that his mother was a scapegoat for fraudulent insurance claims, railroaded with the police’s help. “I believe you," Morgan replies evenly. “I just don’t care."

Matthew backs up on his balcony, keeping his eyes on Morgan as he steps over the railing and leans back, hanging on. “My mom died a prisoner, but I won’t." He lets go, falling backward into the night — only to land on an inflatable crash pad Morgan had ordered in advance, anticipating this move. For the first time, his confidence cracks. Crestfallen to still be alive, Matthew is finally taken into custody. Oz has the honor of snapping the cuffs on him.

At Elliot’s talent show, Morgan and the family watch as he sets his laptop on a podium, facing a crowd already whispering and laughing. The taunts start: “Nerd!" Elliot steels himself, calls out his stage name — “MC Squared" — and begins beatboxing into a vocoder. He loops the sound into a repeating track, then raps over it: “Give me a chance and then you’ll see / I’m like you and you’re like me." At the end, he drops the mic, startling even himself. The family leaps to their feet in applause. The rest of the audience sits in stunned silence, but Elliot beams — he did it.

Afterward, Morgan notices a man steps forward — the fake Roman! She quickly tells her family to wait outside. He introduces himself as Arthur Ellis. Roman sent him, he explains, because Morgan is the only person he trusts, though he doesn’t trust law enforcement. Arthur challenges her: why would the one person Roman trusts be working with the people he doesn’t? Morgan presses him about the backpack he carried, which she noticed in the picture Daphne and Oz sent her. She spotted an Angel’s pin on the strap, Roman’s favorite team, while Arthur had a Dodgers shirt on. Arthur admits that Roman asked him to check on Morgan and Ava, to make sure they were okay. That’s all he’ll say. He leaves her with a business card: Arthur Ellis Landscaping.

Morgan rejoins her family outside. They’re ready to celebrate with ice cream. Ava asks who the man was. Morgan slips the card into her pocket. “I don’t know yet," she answers.

Next Episode: “Eleven Minutes" - Airing Tuesday, September 30th, at 10/9c on ABC

When a man with a troubled past is killed under mysterious circumstances, Morgan and the LAPD uncover a tragic motive behind his death. Meanwhile, Morgan opens up to Ava about her father, forcing Ava to confront truths she isn’t ready to face.

Songs Featured in This Episode: