Sumith Prasad
The eleventh episode of ABC’s crime drama series ‘High Potential,’ titled ‘The Sauna at the End of the Stairs,’ revolves around a cold case that has caused several sleepless nights in the life of Selena Soto, the head of the Major Crimes Division and the boss of Morgan Gillory. When an unexpected deathbed confession closes the case after more than a decade, the LAPD celebrates the occasion with the officer, who is not satisfied with the recent developments. She then teams up with the most precious weapon in her arsenal, Morgan, to unravel the mystery behind the crime! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Selena Soto Recollects the Haunting Murder of Barry Johnson
‘The Sauna at the End of the Stairs’ begins with George Donovan, a prominent figure in the business scene of Los Angeles, confessing to killing Barry Johnson, the husband of his daughter, Heather Donovan. The old man asks his children and wife, Lenore, to shoot the confession and hand over the same to the authorities, who celebrate the conclusion of a case that has unsettled them for years. While her superiors and colleagues partake in the celebration with champagne, Selena appears to be unsettled by the updates in the case, sparking curiosity in Morgan, Adam Karadec, Daphne Forrester, and Lev “Oz” Ozdil.
For their sake, Selena reveals the specifics of the case concerning Barry’s murder. The middle-aged man was found dead in a sauna in the basement of the Donovan mansion more than a decade ago. A drop of his blood was found in a cloth that belonged to George, raising suspicion. However, nobody could prove how and why the old man would have committed the crime, which explains why she cannot accept the recent confession like her colleagues. After recollecting the details of the case, which continues to haunt her, she gives the files to Morgan in case the consultant can find something either she or other officers missed at the time of the original investigation.
Morgan spends a night going through the case files and realizes that George did not kill Barry as the officers believe. According to her observations, the victim was not even killed downstairs but when he was upstairs, specifically when he was taking a shower. The consultant adds that the cause of Barry’s death is electrocution, which can present itself as a heart attack, diverting the authorities to a different track. Morgan reaches this conclusion after observing the discrepancy she notices on an electric socket, which does not align with the wallpaper in the same room. Since the hairdryer in the same bathroom was manufactured before safety regulations were implemented in the industry, her theory appears to be legitimate to her colleagues.
The Donovan Family Drama Unravels Itself Before Morgan
After explaining how Barry was killed, Morgan disproves the understanding of the authorities concerning the death of the victim to her colleagues. She explains that the killer dumped the body in the laundry chute, only for it to end up in a big container in the basement, revealing how the killer was able to leave the victim in the sauna after murdering him upstairs without getting caught. Even though she is not supposed to meddle with a closed case without the approval of her superiors, Selena sets out to reopen the investigation unofficially with Morgan and Karadec’s assistance. The trio arrives at the Donovan mansion and confirms the validity of the consultant’s theory by checking the electric sockets in the house and using a dummy named Ida Perp.
While Morgan, Selena, and Karadec continue their investigation, the Donovans return to the mansion. They explain how the case has affected them, mainly by causing ill reputation in the society. Heather and Barry’s son, Cody, lost an opportunity to attend MIT while the young protégé’s uncle, Matty, separated from his wife, Nedda. Interestingly, the latter shows up before Daphne and Oz with a film crew to shoot the documentary ‘The Sauna at the End of the Stairs,’ exploring Barry’s murder in detail. While she offers her two cents about the crime to the two officers, the trio in the mansion learns more about Barry and the night he was killed.
From the Donovans, Morgan, Selena, and Karadec learn that George and Barry didn’t get along. The night the latter was killed, the patriarch was critical of his son-in-law, especially since he was a good-for-nothing father and husband. The conflict escalated when the family learned that Barry used to hit Heather, which is something the officials were never made aware of. The particular detail reaches Morgan’s ears because of Nedda’s revelation about her former family.
Morgan Finds the Killer Beyond Blame
Morgan further learns that the Donovans sat together to play ‘Monopoly’ after the dinner, which didn’t end well. While Barry remained in his room, the others joined for the game, only to believe that the former was watching porn. Matty and Clark went to his room to bang on the door and went to the attic after the video stopped playing or was muted, making them suspects in the eyes of the consultant. That’s when she learns another detail: Matty used to immerse himself in drugs, and he was meeting a drug dealer at the time of the murder, which clears his name.
While Morgan tries her best to solve the case, Captain Pacheco arrives at the mansion to apologize to the Donovans on behalf of his subordinate, Selena, who shouldn’t have gone rogue. He also criticizes her experiment with the “cleaning lady,” whose attention turns toward a type of remote she also found in the victim’s room. The sight answers several questions she has harbored in her mind concerning the case, and then she identifies Cody, Barry and Heather’s son, as the killer. Morgan connects the dots and realizes that the murderer knew about his father’s abusive nature beforehand, which made him fear that it would cause unpredictable harm to his mother.
When this fear conquered Cody’s senses, the “protégé” used a hairdryer to kill Barry and sent his body to the basement using the laundry chute. He then controlled the television in his father’s room using a remote control that uses radio frequencies rather than infrared light from downstairs. With the help of this remote, he convinced others that Barry was alive at the time. He then wore his father’s robe to go to the basement and left the dead body in the sauna, explaining why Lenore had been convinced that she saw Barry after the ‘Monopoly’ game ended. After Morgan explains her theory, Cody confesses to committing the murder, only to be potentially tried as a juvenile and sentenced to around three years in prison.
Cody confesses to the murder since he hasn’t been able to have a good night’s sleep after becoming a killer. He wanted to reveal the truth to the world before Morgan identified him as the murderer. However, George confessed to a crime he never committed to protect his grandson. Cody’s confession not only clears his grandfather’s name but also promises Selena more nights of fulfilling sleep.
Read More: High Potential: Is the ABC Show Inspired By a True Story?
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