How on Earth are we going to make it through months without High Potential?
After High Potential Season 2 Episode 18, there’s a lot to chew on: we discover that Roman may not be who we think he is, Karadec takes a colossal blow, and it may be curtains for Nick Wagner.
My heart is racing, and I don’t know what to do with myself after this finale.
Let’s get into the case. From the moment they pulled up at that hotel, the drama was on. Lucia definitely looked worried about a dead body at her hotel.
The promo hinted at her possible involvement in everything, and it’s one of those cases where I wish they hadn’t. There were no red herrings or false flags regarding Lucia and her connection to this case.
We could surmise that she likely didn’t kill anyone, but her helping Charles aligned well enough with what many of us could theorize from the promo.
I wish we had gone into that element of the finale blind. It would’ve made the emotional impact of Karadec’s heart breaking right before our eyes feel much stronger, more devastating.
The death was an interesting one. Vera and Frank felt loosely inspired by one of the popular HGN couples who divorced.
Their entire image and professional career revolved around their ability to sell a happy marriage to the whole country, so when we saw that Frank was the sort to have fun without his wife, it was perfect blackmail material.
Between Lucia and Wagner, we knew that somebody in Morgan and Kardec’s life would have something shady to them. Most of High Potential Season 2 was setting up Wagner, but as time went on, that was too obvious.
Lucia, however, made for a nice twist. And again, it would’ve been nice if the promo hadn’t teased it, and we just sat with the shock of it all.
Lucia knew Charles from before she returned to LA and reunited with Karadec. It was frustrating that she lied about it rather than being more upfront, but it was worse that she got as defensive as she did when Karadec begrudgingly interrogated her.
It was great to see How To Get Away With Murder‘s Billy Brown again, even if he was playing a baddie who killed a woman to shut her up. But it was awful that it seemed like he and Lucia were both stuck between a rock and a hard place for various reasons.
Lucia clearly got in over her head with Charles, and my heart actually did ache for her watching the life she thought she had with Karadec slipping between her fingers so quickly.
Here I thought what would break them up was her inability to deal with his job, not her being charged as an accessory to murder and facing repercussions from Charles’ other heists!
As a sidenote, I adore Susan Kelechi Watson. I need my girl in a project with some longevity where they don’t put her character through the wringer, and then she disappears! She’s leading woman material and felt underused here!
The entire situation with this case was mostly a stepping stone in deepening the bond between Morgan and Karadec, but only after they butted heads and things got uncomfortable.
Morgan has been so happy for Karadec because he’s been happy, even if he’s been moving too fast with Lucia. She even withheld what she initially saw with Charles because she didn’t want to hurt Karadec.
Karadec didn’t explicitly say he felt Morgan was sabotaging his relationship for an ulterior motive, but it hung heavy in the air.
I was right there with Daphne and Oz, taking in all that tension as a notoriously cool, calm, and level-headed Karadec lost his temper with Morgan.
He simply didn’t want to hear the truth because it hurt too much, and Morgan, being the one to tell him, made it ten times worse for reasons he couldn’t even put into words.
I loved seeing this side of their relationship.
It can’t always be rosy, but t their dispute here is so delicious because it’s exactly the type of fighting that happens when you genuinely care about someone. It was messy fighting rooted in love. And that puts their relationship into perspective.
Karadec: I don’t need you managing me. I am not one of your kids, Morgan, so stop treating me like one.
And their making up with each other was sweeter, or more heartbreaking. Karadec was completely shattered, and yet there he was on Morgan’s doorstep because, sometime along the way, she had become his person, and he had to make things right.
It’s the vulnerability they share in that scene that was so great to watch and certainly warrants a rewatch. I love that Karadec no longer holds back with Morgan and isn’t afraid to show his whole self with her.
And Morgan lets him be open and raw with her, and the true depth of her care and compassion is that she cried right along with him.
Also, this season they’ve broken the physical barrier between them as physical touch has become one of their unspoken love languages, and it’s so endearing.
When he cupped her face and wiped away her tears, my heart warmed. That was shipper catnip, and they were so close to a kiss! I love everything that they’ve evolved into as a pairing.
Heading into the third season, we know for a fact that there isn’t anything they wouldn’t do to protect each other.
Interestingly, Morgan withheld her initial thoughts about Lucia, even after Karadec shared what he learned about Wagner. I love that Morgan took it in and then went directly to Wagner to see for herself.
It wasn’t the least bit surprising that Wagner wasn’t involved in all of this. Earlier in the season, there was a strong possibility that he had to be in this for something.
But as we got later in the season, it became clear that he’s a man who doesn’t want anything to do with his father’s shady past, and he’s worked to distance himself from that image.
Have they executed that as well as they should have? It’s debatable for many of us, as Wagner’s absence for a chunk of the season stalled some things and then forced them to go into turbo mode when he returned.
Morgan saw right through Willa’s threatening phone call. She wanted to make it seem like Wagner Jr. was in on things because she’s been working with his father. And she thought she could get into Morgan’s head.
Willa: There’s no way to catch up when the people who are helping you are helping me, too.
But Willa didn’t anticipate that Wagner cared about Morgan, and he was willing to expose his own father to protect her. I think that was a crucial moment leading to our shocking finale cliffhanger.
It’s been evident that Wagner and his father aren’t close. He’s stated it multiple times: every interaction with them is strained, and when we saw his phone screen, it was clear they don’t communicate often.
Before sending him the park address, Wagner and his father hadn’t texted for two or so months, when his father asked him about the job.
Morgan was an absolute force when it came to Willa.
She gets delightfully unhinged when someone brings up her kids, and Willa kept making the cardinal mistake of dangling the idea that her kids would be in danger.
It seems it was also Willa behind offering Morgan that job, not Wagner Sr.
She finally gave up some information about Roman, and it introduces a new conspiracy that paints Roman in a scarier, darker light.
If we’re to trust Willa and the information that she has, then Agent Flynn was a dirty Fed who worked with Roman. And he killed her because she crossed him.
Supposedly, the reason they had to bury all of this was how scandalous it was that Flynn was working under the FBI and dabbling in all sorts of illegal activities.
Presumably, because this goes so high up, they don’t want the truth out, so Morgan digging has become a problem.
But I can’t believe it’s just that simple — that Roman is just this big, scary, bad guy all this time, and that’s why they need Morgan to back off. If they’re dragging this out for what will be THREE seasons now, I need more than just “Roman is a bad guy” for it to be worthwhile.
Similar to Karadec, facing that truth and that file is information Morgan didn’t want to believe or know. Hell, maybe she knows this feels like a stretch, too.
Nevertheless, she started this for her daughter, and now the prospect of digging into this not only leads people she cares about into harm but also destroys what Ava has of Roman.
Soto was right to tell her that there’s no backing down now. They’ve already dug into things too much, so everyone is already in some danger from that alone. If that message wasn’t clear before, potentially killing Wagner highlights it well enough.
I’ve been saying for a while now that I didn’t think that Wagner was long for this world. There’s been an uneasiness in his absence and presence.
He spent most of the season serving as the guy that people were most suspicious of, especially because of his connections.
By the time they gave us his background and those steamy moments with Morgan during High Potential Season 2 Episode 17, it practically screamed that his days were numbered.
The penultimate episode was one of the best of the season, and frankly, my heart is still in that damn elevator after that passionate waist-grab, searing kiss that has lived in my head rent-free.
What breaks my heart is the possibility that his own father set him up to die. He got the address for a meet-up from his father, whom he just openly admitted he’d expose for Morgan.
It’s possible that Wagner Sr. didn’t anticipate anything happening to his son. This could be all Willa’s doing. After all her annoyingly cryptic warnings, killing Wagner serves as the ultimate message.
The shadowy figure we’re seeing is presumably Roman, watching Ava from afar and such. And maybe we’re supposed to believe that it’s Roman who attacked Wagner, too. Was it Sr., Willa, Roman, or a new player?
I’m still reeling from this. How utterly brutal and heartbreaking.
It’s possible that Wagner could survive this, as at least help did come while she was still holding onto Wagner, but we’ve been more than lucky to have Steve Howey on the series for as long as we have this season.
Do you think he’d be extended into a third one? Maybe, hopefully, long enough to see that he’s okay.
Wagner is one of those characters who has been an asset to the team, despite his polarizing start. And he cares about Morgan.
His possible death would mark the loss of what could have been, and that’s somehow most devastating of all.
It seems tragically poetic that Morgan and Karadec will both be reeling from complicated relationships. Karadec is grieving what he almost had with Lucia, and Morgan is grieving this indefinable connection she’s had with Wagner.
We didn’t even get a conversation about that kiss!
It makes what she said about wishing Roman were dead all the more haunting. She’s more right than ever, after what she’s learning, that Roman’s death would’ve been easier than this terrifying new reality.
Meanwhile, Wagner’s death won’t be easy to accept. There’s nothing easy about losing someone you care about, especially Morgan, who has to watch this man die in front of her eyes because he helped her.
This will DESTROY her.
She wanted to back out because she’s officially afraid that people she cares about, her colleagues, and family, will be harmed. And now that reality has come to fruition. Morgan’s guilt will be out of this world, and I ache for her.
One of my favorite things about High Potential is that they can introduce a character like Nick Wagner Jr., whom I didn’t care for, and make me fall in love with the guy without realizing it, and then snatch him away. It’s shocking but effective!
The hour, called “Family Tree,” was perfect. Ava’s project was fantastic.
Her project was meaningful, given how she’s been really trying to piece together who she is through her father’s absence.
But something is chilling about the roots of her family tree being so dark. Roman’s actions may have shaped so much of their lives right now and brought so much danger.
It also worked well as a callback for the Wagners and how their family tree exemplifies a toxic situation that potentially led to Wagner’s death.
Even the fact that this season has truly leaned into what Morgan has forged with her team as a family. Soto, especially.
The major downside to all of this is that we’re headed into another season with more questions than answers regarding Roman, and we still don’t even have a face to the name.
Even with this new turn, is it enough to hook us? Sure. But is it frustrating? Absolutely.
The pacing has been all over the place this season.
I don’t even know why we sacrificed as much time as we did just to still not solve the Roman case, because in hindsight, there isn’t much to show for it (the sidelining of Daphne and Oz was more prominent than ever).
The mystery spun on its wheels all season, and there are still elements that are “off.” Like, where the hell is Arthur?
High Potential’s Achilles’ heel has been how they’ve dragged out this Roman case, and now they intend to do so even more. They shouldn’t attempt to squeeze another season out of this mystery; it’s due time to just wrap it up.
At this point, especially with these potential new revelations, I’m not sure I want to know the truth about Roman anymore.
Over to you, High Potential Fanatics.
How are we feeling about Wagner’s possible death? Did you see the Roman twist coming? Do you have some new theories? Were you surprised by the revelation about Lucia?
I’ll see you in the comments!
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