High Potential Episode 8 digs deep into another unusual murder case while the series adds new guest stars Charlie McElveen, Paul James Jordan, and Robert Arce.
The latest episode of ABC's crime drama series, "Obsessed," revolves around a woman who was attacked in cold blood in the middle of the beach. As Morgan and Detective Karadec's investigation goes deeper, they find out that the suspect could be tied to a murder case that remains unsolved for two years.
High Potential Episode 8 premiered on ABC on January 8.
High Potential Episode 8 Cast: Every Main Guest Star
Nona Parker Johnson - Penny Hall
At the center of the case in High Potential Episode 8 is Nona Parker Johnson as Penny Hall.
Penny used an alias (Heather Wallace) to go off the grid since she is trying to find the suspect who killed her boyfriend, Lucas, two years ago after the case had gone cold.
However, she was presumed dead after being found unconscious on the beach. Thankfully, Morgan found out that she is still alive.
Johnson is known for her roles in Law & Order: Organized Crime, Fear the Walking Dead, and Mayor of Kingstown.
Christopher Phi - Lucas Phillips
Christopher Phi stars as Lucas Phillips. The character is Penny's late boyfriend who was brutally killed by the suspect after threatening to expose his brother's corrupt practices.
High Potential is Phi's first major on-screen acting credit. He also worked in the stunts department of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Charlie McElveen - Edward
Charlie McElveen guest stars as Edward, the grandson of the owner of the Marina Azul Beach Club, who is later revealed to be the suspect behind killing Lucas since he only wanted to protect his brother's reputation.
McElveen previously portrayed JJ Redick (current Los Angeles Lakers coach) in Clipped. The actor can also be seen in The Creator, Evil, and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Dana Ashbrook - Morris
Dana Ashbrook joins the cast of High Potential Episode 8 as Morris, Penny's new boyfriend whom she believes is a potential suspect. This is why she decides to become close to him to check whether or not he is the one who killed Lucas.
Ashbrook has credits in Twin Peaks, Insatiable, and Rosewood.
David Gridley - Blaine
David Gridley plays Blaine, Edward's brother and the head of guest services at the Marina Azul Beach Club. Blaine has a shady secret that Lucas ends up finding out, and this causes Edward to kill Lucas to protect his brother.
Gridley's notable credits include Criminal Minds, The Duff, and Rhino.
Paul James Jordan - Cameron Swift
Paul James Jordan guest stars as Cameron Swift, a shady guy who assaulted the concierge in the beach club. He was initially at the top of Penny's suspect list.
Jordan also starred in Piranha 3DD, Bunheads, and Badsville.
Robert Arce - Landlord
Robert Arce appears as Penny's landlord who informs Morgan and Karadec about her late boyfriend and how she is his favorite tenant.
Arce's past credits include Shining Vale (read more about a potential Season 3 of the Starz series), St. Denis Medical, and The Patient.
Adrian Bustamante - Valet
Adrian Bustamante stars as the valet personnel in the beach club who encounters Morgan and Karadec in the early half of the episode.
Bustamante has credits in Bosch: Legacy, General Hospital, and 9-1-1.
Monica Young - Shelby
Monica Young portrays Shelby, a beach club member who had an affair with Blaine that Edward tried to cover up.
Young is known for her roles in The Baxters, Community, and UDrive Me.
JD Pardo - Tom
After making a prominent appearance as part of the cast of High Potential Episode 7, JD Pardo returns as Tom, Morgan's new love interest who spends as much time as he can during their date in the episode because he is aware that she is an on-call consultant.
Pardo is best known for playing Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes in Mayans M.C. The actor also starred in Revolution, The Terminal List, and Road House.
Here are the main actors who appeared in High Potential Episode 8:
- Kaitlin Olson - Morgan
- Daniel Sunjata - Adam Karadec
- Javicia Leslie - Daphne
- Deniz Akdeniz - Lev “Oz” Osman
- Judy Reyes - Captain Selena
High Potential Episode 8 Plot Recap & Ending Explained
Morgan & Karadec Investigates a Presumed Dead Woman
High Potential Episode 8, "Obsessed," begins with a woman screaming for help after finding the unconscious body of a woman on the beach.
The scene then shifts to Morgan and her new love interest, Tom, finally having some alone time in a restaurant after the stressful hostage fiasco that transpired in Episode 7. However, their romantic breakfast is cut short after she gets called in by the LAPD for another job.
Detective Oz Osman tells Morgan and Detective Karadec details about the victim, noting that the EMTs declared her dead after suffering from blunt force trauma to her head.
However, Morgan notices that she is still alive after holding Karadec's watch to the woman's nose which fogs up. The EMTs return and they manage to revive her.
Back at the station, Morgan explains to Oz that the woman experienced a Lazarus Effect - a spontaneous return of circulation after failed attempts of resuscitation.
Captain Selena Soto asks about the victim's status to which Daphne reveals that she suffered from a skull fracture and is currently in surgery.
Karadec learns that the victim's name is Heather Wallace, 27, and a graduate student at UCLA who has a much older boyfriend named Morris.
The Victim Has a Double Identity
The team brings Heather's boyfriend, Morris, in for questioning, but his alibi checks out since he was in his home checking tiles for his new pool the night the victim was assaulted.
Oz comes in to inform Morgan and Soto that Heather is not her real name. Instead, she is actually Penny Hall.
Upon doing some digging in her old apartment, Morgan and Karadec find out that Penny's ex-boyfriend, Lucas, was murdered in cold blood. Karadec points out that Penny could've used a fake alias to hide from the suspect since, apparently, he or she is still out there.
Morgan ends up finding the truth as to why Penny decides to be romantically involved with an older guy like Morris: she has her own murder board and she thinks Morris is one of the suspects tied to Lucas' death.
The team then investigates Lucas' case and they find out that he was killed by blunt force trauma and in the same manner as Penny.
Morgan points out that Penny's murder board shows that she considers most of the members of the Marina Azul Beach Club (Lucas' workplace) as potential suspects who killed her boyfriend.
While it doesn't make sense at first since the initial investigators already cleared the club members, Morgan tells the team that it is worth checking out.
Enter the Beach Club of Secrets
At the Marina Azul Beach Club, Morgan and Karadec ask questions about Lucas, and they end up meeting the club owner Edward, and his brother, Blaine, who inform them that Lucas is a popular tennis instructor who worked for them in the past.
While the two high-profile brothers are neither helpful to the case, Morgan notices that the valet of the club has a black eye, and he tells her that he had a run-in with a man selling illegal goods on the beach the other night.
The pair brings in the guy in question for questioning and they later find out that his name is Cameron Swift. While he did admit that he once told Penny to stop accusing him that he killed Lucas, he remains innocent after his alibi checks out.
Thankfully, Penny wakes up after hours of surgery and she tells Morgan what happened the night she was attacked.
It turns out that she was about to meet with someone who appeared to have information about Lucas' killer. However, when she got there, she was attacked and she never saw the suspect's face.
After telling Penny that they reopened Lucas' case, Morgan asks her if her late boyfriend has enemies in the club, and she mentions that he had run-ins with Blaine after threatening that he would fire him for unknown reasons.
So Who Killed Lucas?
Back at the beach club, Morgan and Karadec discover that Blaine is nowhere to be found, which is why they confront Edward to see if his brother has something to do with Lucas' death. However, he insists his brother is innocent.
Morgan later notices a woman named Shelby who has a diamond necklace similar to Penny and she realizes that there is a connection.
It turns out that what Shelby wearing is fake and she gave the real one to Lucas for him to stay mum about her affair with Blaine.
Still, Morgan and Karadec can't find concrete evidence that Blaine did it. After spending an all-nighter at Karadec's house, Morgan realizes who the real killer is before going home.
While on their way to arrest the killer, Morgan explains that Lucas is killed after being hit by a snow globe on his head, considering that there are traces of rice and antifreeze in his system.
It is later revealed that Edward killed Lucas. But why and how?
Earlier, the pair noticed that Edward's shelves had tons of souvenirs from the countries he visited with Blaine while he also talked about visiting countries like Italy, France, Spain, and Greece.
However, there were souvenirs on the shelf from all the countries mentioned but Greece.
Morgan thinks that Lucas went to Edward's office to blackmail him into firing Blaine because he was fed up with his collection of bad behavior.
Edward, who only wants to protect his brother, smashed Lucas' head with a snow globe to keep him quiet. He was also the one who attacked Penny the other night.
If they can't get Edward to confess, they will not be able to arrest him. Still, upon learning the cops are coming after him, Edward makes a run for it and he even tries to jump off a cliff to escape the consequences of his actions.
This is more than enough reason for the cops to arrest him since he is guilty of what he did.
Episode 8's Ending Teases Revelations about Morgan's Missing Husband
After a case yet solved again by the competent Morgan, she spends her night with a lovely dinner with Tom, and the pair share their honest thoughts about each other.
Morgan's night is cut short after being called into Captain Selena's office.
Selena tells her that she has been investigating Roman's case off the books as a way to fulfill her promise to Morgan.
She ends up discovering that Roman is linked to a man named Gio Conforth, a concierge whose job involves procuring items for shady people. Selena theorizes that this certain Gio has something to do with Roman's disappearance.
The episode ends with Selena telling Morgan that she already found Gio and bringing him in for questioning could be the final piece in the puzzle that they need in order to find out what happened to Roman (read more about the prospects of seeing High Potential Season 2 here).
The next episode of High Potential will premiere on ABC on Tuesday, January 14, at 9 p.m. ET. It can be streamed on Hulu the next day.
