Survival Mode – Episode 4 begins in the middle of the night with a lone vehicle driving along an isolated road. The vehicle eventually stops and the unidentified driver opens the trunk to reveal a frightened Ellie (Charlotte Ann Tucker) and Page Ashford (Pippa Blaylock).

Elsewhere, Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) tosses and turns, practically counting down the passing seconds on the alarm. Despite the sleepless night, Morgan arrives at the station more excited than ever to receive her ID badge. There is a bit of joking and teasing before Robert/Bob (Thomas Bell) delivers the badge. Morgan’s first stop is by the ladies’ room to snap selfies when she encounters a distraught Mia Ashford (Madeline Zima). Although Mia has made plans to speak to the detectives about her situation, Morgan takes it upon herself to hasten the process.

It’s only seconds later that Mia and her father, John Ashford (Christopher Cousins), are in Selena Soto’s (Judy Reyes) office, explaining their situation with, Wendell Dunn (Scott Kuza). It would appear that within the previous year, Ellie and Page’s father developed an unhealthy obsession with living off the grid. So much so that he bought a remote cabin in Upland and made plans to relocate the family there. Despite the split and her earlier hysteria, Mia remains composed and occasionally defends Wendell, whereas John throws Wendell under the bus every chance he gets.

Morgan senses trouble the minute she and Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) pull into Wendell’s driveway and find Ellie’s stuffed animal carelessly left on the front lawn. A brief search leads them to a greenhouse where Morgan is stunned to learn that Wendell has planted the cucumbers next to the tomatoes. Given Wendell’s attention to detail regarding other aspects of his life, Morgan realizes the mistake was a hasty attempt to cover something up.

It isn’t long before the property is teeming with police personnel and Karadec is sharing what he knows with Soto. Things begin to look even more promising when Lev ‘Oz’ Osman (Deniz Akdeniz) tells them about a local café owner seeing Wendell arguing with a 30-year-old redhead just yesterday. Karadec and Morgan visit the Ashfords in hopes of putting a name to the description but come up empty. What they do learn is that the Ashfords are extremely wealthy. According to the Maid (Tiffany Bank), Wendell was a loving and attentive father but was poking around John’s office during a previous visit.

Although the case eventually hits a brief lull, Morgan makes a major discovery after reading the CPS reports filed against Wendell. A short visit to Sarah Keller’s (Amy Davidson) apartment not only reveals her as the redhead that Wendell was arguing with but the fact that John bribed her to falsify the reports. As it turns out, John bribed quite a few people and Wendell was threatening to turn him in.

Once John shows up at the station with his attorney, Matthew Wilson (Moneer Yaqubi), it doesn’t take Karadec long to convince him to admit that he hired Eddie Malone (Spencer Rich) to keep Wendell quiet. Despite admitting this, he swears that he would never intentionally tell someone to hurt Wendell. Eddie admits as much when he is picked up later that evening, but claims he never confronted him because he was already arguing with Mia, something that she didn’t share with the detectives.

Even though Eddie is being held overnight, more and more evidence comes in indicating that Mia is the likely killer. At the very least, she’s a suspect. The discovery frustrates Morgan and at one point leads to an argument with both Karadec and Soto. Although Morgan carries the frustration home with her that evening, she makes sure to cherish a few minutes with Ava (Amirah J) and Elliot Radovic (Matthew Lamb) before their bedtime. Ludo Radovic (Taran Killam)

Morgan is in the process of discussing her frustration with Ludo Radovic (Taran Killam) when a news update regarding the case provides an unexpected lead. A few Internet searches later and Morgan surprises Mia at a Chinese Antiques Dealer (Jay Charan). It doesn’t take Morgan long to get Mia to admit to replacing the Ming Statue at her parent’s house in an attempt to raise the money for a ransom demand.

Although Morgan agrees not to involve the police, she immediately calls Karadec. This doesn’t sit well with Mia or Karadec but they don’t have the opportunity to debate it thanks to the kidnapper’s call. Karadec not only pairs Morgan’s phone with Mia’s but he also puts a tracker in the money that ultimately reveals the identity of the kidnapper as Curtis (Mark Dancewicz), John’s driver.

As it turns out, Curtis was in love with Mia and wanted to use the kidnapping to not only be the hero but to fund their new life together. Once he’s arrested he admits to taking the girls to the San Gabriel Mountains but claims they ran away. A search and rescue team is assembled but it is Morgan who eventually finds the girls by using the survival book she found at Wendell’s home earlier.

Before Morgan returns home that evening to settle in with her kids, she and Karadec briefly bond at the station by thanking each other. She thanks him for not freeing out about the whole ransom situation while he thanks her for trusting him enough to call him.

 

High Potential Review

Not a great episode, not a horrible episode. Practically, what you would expect from the series. I did appreciate the emphasis that was put on family without it involving a bunch of sappy bonding and emotions. The case itself wasn’t really all that interesting and I didn’t care for the way Wendell was spun as whacko because he wanted to escape civilization, but it was nice to see Morgan rubbing off on Karadec. I’d give the episode a 5 out of 10.

Get more High Potential recaps here. Join our newly established forum to see what others are saying. Support our site by donating. Learn about our advertising packages here.