High Potential Episode 11 ending explained: The Donovan family's darkest secret revealed

High Potential Episode 11, titled The Sauna at the End of the Stairs, brings a gripping twist to a cold murder case that had remained unsolved for over a decade. Released on January 28, the episode begins with what appears to be a confession from George Donovan, a dying man who claims responsibility for the murder of his son-in-law, Barry Johnson.

This confession appears to close a long affair, yet Lieutenant Selena Soto is not on board. With Morgan's support, she rules open the case, feeling that there must be more to the confession than George's words. Indeed, as they dig into the Donovan family's past, long-buried secrets start to unravel, with surprising twists about the killer and the family's dark past.

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Reopening the Cold Case in High Potential Episode 11: A Confession That Raises Doubts

In High Potential Episode 11, when George Donovan confesses to the murder of Barry Johnson, it is an open-and-shut case at first glance. George, who is on his deathbed, claims that he killed Barry and is now coming clean. However, Soto, a seasoned investigator, suddenly recognizes some inconsistencies in his story and realizes something does not add up.

Morgan and Soto decide to reexamine the case and go through the old police reports, forensic evidence, and testimonies from the original investigation. One important fact stands out: Barry's body was found in the basement sauna, and it was ruled out as an accidental death.

But Morgan's detailed examination takes her in another direction: Barry wasn’t pushed down the stairs; instead, he was electrocuted in the bathroom upstairs. She figures that an old hairdryer was hurled into the shower, leading to Barry's tragic demise. To hide the crime, the culprit then dumped Barry's body down the laundry chute, which caused his neck to break, and afterward, they put him in the sauna to trick investigators into believing it was a freak accident.

What would happen, for instance, if Barry was electrocuted in that manner? This makes Soto all the more determined to uncover the truth.

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Family secrets: Motives and lies

Further on in High Potential Episode 11, Soto and Morgan begin to find that the Donovan family has been harboring secrets for decades. The case was not ordinary; it involved a more complicated past concerning Barry's wife, Heather Donovan, who happened to be George's daughter.

According to the family members, Barry was abusive towards Heather. Many accounts suggest that he had a history of violent behavior, yet Heather never officially reported it. This raises a critical question: Did someone in the family kill Barry to protect Heather?

On the night of Barry's death, the Donovan household was in rages. A family gathering turned out to be a fierce confrontation with several family members confronting Barry about his abusive nature and financial situation. Witnesses recall hearing loud voices and reported even seeing Barry storm off angrily before his death.

With multiple family members having a possible motive, Soto and Morgan suspect that George may have taken the blame to shield someone else.

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The real killer: A jaw-dropping revelation in High Potential Episode 11

Through diligent investigation in High Potential Episode 11, The turning point occurs when Morgan realizes that Barry's son, Cody—a gifted young talent—had both the means and the motive to carry out the crime. Cody had grown up seeing his father abuse his mother.

On the night everything happened, after a tense argument within the family, Barry went upstairs to take a shower. Seizing the moment, Cody grabbed an old hairdryer from the bathroom counter and, while Barry was in the shower, tossed it into the water. This horrifying act resulted in Barry's electrocution, leading to his immediate death.

The electric shock left scorch marks on the outlet, and to cover his tracks, Cody swapped out the burned outlet cover with a clean one from another room.

To further disguise what happened, Cody moved Barry's body to the nearby laundry chute, propping it up headfirst. The fall into the basement laundry area caused Barry’s neck to break, which made it consistent with an accidental fall.

This maneuver also accounted for the blood found on George Donovan's shirt, as that shirt was located at the bottom of the chute.

In his attempts to make the death look like a mishap, Cody then took Barry’s body into the basement sauna. He even placed a bottle of wine nearby to hint that Barry might have been drinking, which could explain a supposed accident inside the sauna.

To support the illusion that Barry was still alive during the family’s game of Monopoly, Cody used a remote to change the channels on Barry's bedroom TV from a different room, making it seem like Barry was controlling it himself.

All these carefully planned steps led investigators to initially believe that Barry's death was just a tragic accident.

Cody confesses, admitting that he took his father's life to shield his mother from continuous abuse. He set up the scene to look like an accident and tweaked evidence to establish alibis. George’s earlier confession was his way of trying to protect his grandson from facing legal trouble.

As the episode wraps up, Cody gets arrested. It’s mentioned that, since he was a minor when the crime occurred, he’ll likely be tried in juvenile court, which means he could end up with a lighter sentence. This resolution finally gives some closure to a case that weighed heavily on Lieutenant Soto, shedding light on the intricacies of the family’s struggles.

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High Potential Episode 11 is available to watch on Hulu.