TV Recap: High Potential’s “Content Warning” Turns a Viral Prank Into a Murder Investigation

After last week’s tense standoff with new captain Nick Wagner and the first hints of friction between his rigid authority and Morgan Gillory’s defiant independence, High Potential dives deeper into both professional and personal turf wars. Morgan’s pursuit of answers about her missing ex, Roman, has now pulled in Arthur Ellis, who’s withholding a mysterious backpack that could finally explain Roman’s disappearance. But as Morgan pushes for the truth, a shocking discovery in a sunken car sends her and Karadec down a different rabbit hole: the murder of a vanished journalist whose double life as an influencer exposes a darker side of online fame.

Season 2, Episode 5: “Content Warning" - Written by Katie McElhenney

A drone buzzes over Shay Ranch Pond as a group of teenagers fight for control of the remote. The craft dips, crashes into the water, and sinks. On the drone’s camera feed, the boys watch in horror as a submerged car comes into focus — with a woman’s lifeless body behind the wheel.

Across town, Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) ambushes Arthur Ellis (Mekhi Phifer) at work. He’s been ignoring her calls, and she wants answers about Roman. Arthur insists his “job is done" and that he and Roman haven’t spoken in fifteen years. Pressed on why he’d travel to Nevada, grab a backpack, and then start spying on Morgan and her daughter on Roman’s behalf, he admits Roman called from a burner phone but denies seeing him in Las Vegas. When Morgan demands the backpack, Arthur tells her to ask her “cop friends." She hints that the LAPD’s Financial Crimes Division would love a closer look at his landscaping business, which gets him to agree to meet again later.

At the precinct, Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) introduces the squad to their new captain, Nick Wagner (Steve Howey). “I’m not here to step on any toes," he announces. Morgan arrives midway through his speech and he locks eyes with her as he says he looks forward to getting to know them. He’ll be holding individual meetings in Soto’s office to avoid changing floors. Lev “Oz" Osman (Dennis Akdeniz) gets called in first.

Morgan quietly asks Soto if she’s fine with all this. Soto admits it’ll be bumpy, but she’ll adapt. Morgan checks with Daphne (Javicia Leslie), who hasn’t heard much about the new captain. Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) fills in the blanks — the Wagners are an LAPD dynasty, and every one of them has made captain. Nick’s father went into politics a decade ago. Before the gossip can deepen, Soto dispatches Morgan and Karadec to Shay Ranch Pond.

At the scene, the car’s pulled from the water. The driver’s been shot in the chest, but the ID doesn’t match the registered owner, Tori Nolan (Monette Moio). Morgan notices telltale cosmetic work — the victim is Tori herself, disguised. Karadec estimates the gunshot came from a .380 caliber weapon. Steam burns on her neck, chemical stains on her arms, and red coloring on her dress suggest exposure to some kind of dye. The car’s windows are all broken, and the keys have a storage unit keychain. Inside a hidden compartment, Morgan finds a handgun and a novelty Hula Hound keychain — a bar she knows from trivia nights.

The Hula Hound sits across from a storage facility. Karadec checked with Tori’s landlord, who says she hasn’t lived at her Koreatown address in years. Inside her unit, Morgan and Karadec find filing cabinets, a desk, and a laptop charger, but no laptop. A small lockbox holds several passports under different names, each linked to cities and dates tied to public scandals. Morgan realizes Tori wasn’t a criminal or a fugitive; she was an investigative journalist working undercover.

Back at LAPD, Daphne notices Oz acting unusually confident after his meeting with Captain Wagner. She teases that maybe he’s being groomed for promotion. A call from Karadec interrupts — Daphne’s confirmed that Tori wrote under aliases after being doxxed in college. Her former editor didn’t know what her current story was, which fit her usual M.O. A recent proof-of-life photo Tori sent shows nail polish matching her time of death. Morgan studies the image and spots poodle-dog bush, a plant that only grows in fire-damaged areas.

Following that lead, Morgan and Karadec head to a recently burned hillside, finding the exact spot from Tori’s photo. Ignoring a “No Trespassing" sign, Morgan pushes ahead. Beyond it, they find a “content house" — a mansion full of influencers shooting endless videos for social media. Morgan shows Tori’s photo to a guy named Omar (K. Zedric Acruz), who knows her as “Darla," saying she lived there. Raquel (Nicole Bruner) nosily inserts herself into the conversation, shocked to learn that she’s dead.

Inside the house, Morgan and Karadec question a trio of creators while gawking at the chaos: ring lights, slime setups, and a pool full of Jell-O for a stunt video. Morgan observes that the influencers work under grueling conditions. In one room, she spots the same red dye found on Tori’s dress in a beaker. Raquel and Prénkz (Phinehas Yoon) get nervous when they see Morgan with the vial, and she realizes what it is as she sets it down, diving away when she sees the activator fall in. Karadec isn’t so lucky, as the chemical reaction causes the red liquid to expand into foam and shoot all over him. Confronted, the group confesses to accidentally killing “Darla," thinking she died in a prank gone wrong — until Morgan reveals she was shot.

They show Morgan a video of the prank gone wrong, dubbed The Devil’s Toothpaste Challenge. They had placed several vials in Darla’s car and recorded her driving away. Raquel can be heard saying this is payback as the car started driving and the vials were activated. The pressure from the massive amount of foam blew out all of the windows. The car kept rolling down the driveway. The kids insist Phineas Dougherty, the owner of the content house, told them Tori was fine afterward. Morgan deduces the explosion left Tori concussed and covered in peroxide burns — the source of her skin injuries and stains on her dress. [Bill Nye hosts a short scientific explanation of the chemical reaction.]

Morgan asks Raquel what she meant when she called the prank “payback." Raquel reveals that she had secured an exclusive early trial of a protein powder drink called Live Laugh Lift. Darla stole it from her, presumably to try to boost her low numbers on social platforms.

While walking the property, Morgan and Karadec find red dye stains and tire tracks leading to the road — just as Phineas Dougherty (Jake Short) rolls up in a bright orange sports car, sees them, and speeds away. Karadec issues a BOLO.

That night, Morgan returns home, where Ava (Amirah J) and Elliot (Matthew Lamb) are eating peanut butter cookie sandwiches to her dismay. She updates Ava on Arthur and promises they’ll get Roman’s backpack soon. Ava wants to come along, but Morgan refuses, insisting she’s keeping her safe.

Phineas is soon brought in for questioning. He’s smug and uncooperative. Captain Wagner watches through the glass with Soto and Daphne, asserting his influence by offering Daphne insider tips for the sergeant’s exam, a position she once considered but isn’t currently interested in. Morgan arrives just as the interrogation begins. Wagner wants to pull her for a meeting, but she insists this needs her focus. He watches as she calls in for a close-up of Phineas’s wristwatch, spotting titanium corrosion, consistent with prolonged contact with concentrated peroxide. The chemical evidence breaks him. Phineas confesses to moving Tori’s body to avoid losing his content-house lease, but swears she was already dead from a gunshot. He has a good alibi, including paying bots to boost Darla’s numbers before her death, something that wouldn’t make sense if he were planning to kill her.

Booked for evidence tampering, Phineas hands over Tori’s missing laptop in exchange for leniency. Oz notes the cutting-edge encryption. Inside her bag, they also find the same protein powder. On the back of the jug, Morgan recognizes the brand’s founder: Tori’s college doxxer, Robert “Bobby" Romano (Johnno Wilson).

At the Live Laugh Lift warehouse, Bobby boasts that his company is revolutionizing fitness supplements. Morgan points out that his employees are just repackaging imported powder with new labels. His operations manager, Lemar Vulpis (DeRon J. Powell), looks uneasy. Bobby confidently tours Karadec and Morgan around, leading them to his office. When Bobby learns Tori is dead, his bravado cracks. He admits she called last week, threatening to expose him again. He swears he hung up and can prove he was at a gym across town during the shooting. Morgan snatches his phone, using facial recognition to unlock it. His alibi checks out — for now.

Karadec wants to double-check security footage from the gym, convinced that Bobby might have hired someone to do the killing for him. Meanwhile, Morgan digs into his movements and discovers that he’s been visiting Serenity Arms every week — a halfway house for former inmates run by Gavin Tilman. Before they can move further, Karadec gets summoned to his one-on-one meeting with Captain Wagner.

Inside Soto’s office, now temporarily occupied by Wagner, Karadec braces for a performance review. But the new captain doesn’t bother opening his file. “I know your reputation," Wagner says, skipping the formalities. Instead, he asks about Morgan. “She doesn’t strike me as someone who stays in her lane." Karadec’s jaw tightens. Wagner notes that their case-closure rate has jumped since they partnered. “You were smart to claim her as your partner," he adds. Karadec shoots back, “You don’t know Morgan if you think anyone can claim her."

Morgan meets Arthur at a diner. He shows up without Roman’s backpack, saying he just wants to talk. Arthur insists that whatever’s inside will only lead to more questions. “I know Roman — the dude’s solid. He wouldn’t just vanish unless something really bad went down." Before Morgan can press further, Ava storms in, having tracked her mother’s phone location. Morgan is furious that Ava disobeyed her, and as they argue, Arthur tells Ava she resembles her father. When Ava insists that if anyone can make sense of the backpack, it’s her mom, Arthur finally agrees to retrieve it and be in touch.

Later that day, Karadec and Oz visit Serenity Arms. Gavin Tilman (Brian Howe) welcomes them with the poise of a polished counselor. When they ask about Bobby Romano, he praises the man’s progress and applauds his quest to make the world a better place through fitness. But when Karadec mentions Tori Nolan’s murder, Gavin’s tone shifts. He insists Bobby wasn’t angry at Tori for exposing his old scams, but admits she’d recently confronted him at his warehouse, threatening to send him back to prison. He recalls Bobby missing his group session that morning, panicked and muttering, “I should’ve taken care of this ten years ago."

When Karadec and Oz arrive at Bobby’s warehouse to make an arrest, the place is empty and Bobby’s office door is locked. They force the door open and find Bobby dead behind his desk — an apparent overdose. His employees were sent home early, the office locked from the inside. A .380 pistol sits beside a line of pink capsules labeled “Dazzle Kitty," a designer drug more potent than ecstasy. Karadec immediately recognizes the gun caliber from Tori’s autopsy.

Morgan joins them at the scene, scanning the details. She opened Bobby’s mouth and smelled his breath — beef and barley soup, which matches a stain on his shirt. “He didn’t swallow the pills," she notes, examining the sink’s drain and finding a carrot and a broken pill capsule. His food was drugged, his death was staged.

Their focus returns to Serenity Arms. Morgan and Karadec confront Gavin Tilman, revealing that they initially suspected Lemar, Bobby’s operations manager. However, upon learning that Bobby met Lemar at Serenity Arms, they realized there was a higher-up criminal mastermind. Gavin was having Lemar smuggle Dazzle Kitty through the protein powder supply chain without Bobby’s knowledge. Lemar tipped Gavin off that Tori was snooping around, which cost the reporter her life. Then, when Bobby got wise to what was going on, Gavin silenced him, too. Gavin is arrested for the murders of both Bobby Romano and Tori Nolan.

In the aftermath, Takedown Magazine publishes Tori’s final exposé along with a tribute issue honoring her career. At the precinct, Morgan decides to skip her scheduled meeting with Captain Wagner. Karadec warns her she can’t avoid it forever.

In the parking lot, Morgan tops off her car’s coolant when Warnger approaches, asking why she didn’t stop by. “I was busy doing my job," she fires back. He tells her he’s heard she doesn’t respond positively to authority. Morgan doesn’t miss a beat: “I don’t respond positively to authority that abuses their power." He studies her, intrigued, and asks if that’s how she sees him. She acknowledges his legacy family, calling it admirable that he hasn’t taken the easy road and clearly misses being in the field. “You like to keep people wondering if your interest in them is real, or just how you get what you want," she says. Nick smirks. “You got two of the three right." As he climbs into his car, he adds, “You give Morgan Gillory a puzzle, she won’t stop thinking about it until it’s solved." He drives off, leaving her staring after him — uncertain whether she’s been warned or challenged.

At home, Ava sits at the table doing homework. Morgan is still angry as Ava defends her decision to track her. Morgan shuts it down. “If I say no to you, I expect you to listen," she says firmly. Ava retorts that Morgan never listens when people disagree with her. Morgan insists there’s a difference — she’s the adult. As punishment, Morgan says Ava has lost her trust when it comes to discussing the search for her father. Ava storms off to her room, upset.

The doorbell rings. Morgan answers — but no one’s there. Just the backpack, sitting on the porch. She picks it up and takes it inside.

Next Episode: “Chasing Ghosts" - Airing Tuesday, October 21st, at 10/9c on ABC

It’s almost Halloween, and the team investigates a spooky case where a wealthy lawyer is found dead in his haunted Victorian mansion, while Captain Wagner surprises everyone with his skills. At home, Eliott plays mediator between Morgan and Ava.

Songs Featured in This Episode: