High Potential – Season 2, Episode 10 “Grounded” Review
- Lance
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
“Grounded” might be one of High Potential’s strongest episodes yet, mixing a clever mystery with real emotional stakes for Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson). The episode opens with a skydiving crew enjoying the thrill of freefall until one jumper, Alonzo Padia, mysteriously dies midair. It’s an instantly gripping setup and a great way to pull viewers in.
Morgan is excited about the case, while Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) tries to keep her from getting ahead of herself. A threatening note found on Padia sparks debate, but Morgan quickly figures out it’s old, not a fresh warning. The real twist comes when the cause of death is revealed: hypoxia. Padia didn’t fall, he was slowly suffocated.
Things get complicated fast when Internal Affairs steps in and Morgan is forced into detective training or faces being fired. Watching Morgan struggle to stay quiet in class is both frustrating and entertaining, especially thanks to her fun back-and-forth with Dottie (Michael Hyatt), the instructor who can actually keep up with her. These scenes do a great job showing Morgan’s growth, even when she doesn’t want to admit it.
Captain Wagner (Steve Howey) adds a lot of tension this episode, especially in his clashes with Lt. Soto (Judy Reyes). Their power struggle feels long overdue and gives the episode some much-needed edge. Meanwhile, Karadec risking Morgan’s career by secretly feeding her information on the case in order to get her help proves just how strong their partnership has become. At the same time, Captain Wagner also reaches out more than he should even when karadec advises against it. Morgan helping put her at risk to be fired, but that was a risk the captain was willing to take in order to solve this case. Morgan has a gift and every one knows it.
The case itself ends up being bigger than expected: a military cover-up involving faulty jet life-support systems, with Mike Wheeler’s dad at the helm. Joe Chrest guest stars as Ramsey Pike. Even after being fired, Morgan refuses to walk away and of course, she solves the case anyway.
The one issue I have with the season as a whole is the way that Det. Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie) and Det. Lev Osman (Deniz Akdeniz) are being handled. I personally feel like they are being put on the back burner to give more screen time to Steve Howey’s character. That is just my feelings towards it though, and I could be way off base.
The MVP here is Lt. Soto, who steps up in a huge way and saves Morgan’s job. “Grounded” is smart, emotional, and confident, reminding us why High Potential continues to stand out as one of the most enjoyable shows on TV right now.
What did you think?
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So/So