Croaked
Episode 5 of High Potential begins with a vet arriving at the clinic for his night shift, only to find the doctor dead with the word “murder” printed on a piece of paper. Morgan and her team arrive the next day, and after observing the scene, just as Karadec is about to wash his hands, Morgan stops him, shooting a tranquilizer to save his life.
She later explains that the victim had an allergic reaction on her palms, with a paper towel beside her. The vet keeps exotic animals, and Morgan had noticed a poisonous dart frog missing. She deduces that the frog is in the soap dispenser, which is why the doctor was paralyzed while drying her hands with the paper towel. Just before dying, the doctor managed to order the printer to print the word “murder.” Sure enough, the team finds a dead frog inside the dispenser.
Morgan and Karadec visit Bethany, who had called the police to report the doctor, Monica, missing. Although Bethany doesn’t know much, her son claims that a man had yelled at Monica the other day.
The man turns out to be her ex-boyfriend, Shane, who went to jail for armed robbery when Monica was 16. Shane is brought in for questioning, but since he’s had an ankle monitor since his release a month ago, he’s removed from the list of possible suspects. Meanwhile, Morgan finds pills that look like birth control in Ava’s room but decides to delay questioning her on her former partner’s advice.
Later, the team questions one of Monica’s online haters, who claims that Monica incinerated his pet spider without consulting him, saying it was infectious. He admits he threatened Monica at her Hollywood address. At the same time, Morgan recalls seeing a Hollywood address on a food delivery receipt in the trash at Monica’s apartment. The team visits the address and discovers more exotic species, revealing that Monica was also an illegal trafficker of exotic animals.
Morgan finds a picture of Bethany and her son in the office. They also discover that Monica needed money to buy a house. They meet with the realtor, who tells them Monica had a partner and wanted to live close to them. It turns out that Monica wanted to buy a house for the woman she loved—Bethany—who had a husband and a son. Bethany confesses that her husband knew she was planning to leave him for Monica.
Nathan, Bethany’s husband, is called in for questioning. The team also finds a book on frogs with a coffee stain on the page about poisonous dart frogs. Nathan eventually confesses to killing Monica, but Morgan feels unsure about his confession.
Morgan later visits Shane at the beach, where he works as a gym instructor. She notices his ear dimples, which match Bethany’s son’s. She then interrupts Karadec’s date to inform him that Bethany’s son is adopted, and he’s actually Shane and Monica’s biological child.
Having both ear dimples is a sign of biological inheritance. Monica’s teenage pregnancy was also the reason Shane hadn’t disclosed her involvement in the robbery, and this is why Monica had been estranged from her parents, with her father particularly ashamed.
Morgan deduces that Bethany learned the truth about Monica and her adopted son Gavin’s relationship and discovered that it was Gavin, not Bethany, whom Monica wanted in her life. Bethany confesses to murdering Monica out of anger, realizing that their relationship had been a lie. She overheard Shane and Monica arguing about sending their son for adoption. Nathan had confessed to the crime to protect Gavin, and he is later released. Elsewhere, Monica’s mother learns that Gavin is her grandson.
On the personal front, Morgan talks to Ava about the birth control pills and is surprised to discover she’s been taking them to reduce her acne breakouts!
The Episode Review
This episode was quite fun. The veterinary angle to the murder mystery was refreshing, with some moments of comic relief, like a man calling his spider his best friend! The team even returns the spider that Monica had taken, proving that happy endings do exist!
The structure of High Potential has remained consistent, with each episode starting with a crime in a classic whodunnit manner. The only difference is the new cases that Morgan continues to add to her collection. In her personal life, it’s touching to see how her relationship with her children is influenced by the crimes she solves.
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