High Potential Season 2 Episode 7's Fall Finale Frustrates

Critic’s Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

3.8

OK, High Potential, what are we doing here?

I love the series as much as the next fan, and there was so much great content in High Potential Season 2 Episode 7, but there’s also this overwhelming frustration that the season is spinning on its wheels, as we have not made any real progress with the Roman arc.

The Fall finale put a girl in some Morgan/Karadec feels, delivered a fairly predictable “plot twist” regarding Rhys, and made me despise Wagner, but as far as cliffhangers go — it was meh.

When Will Daphne and Oz Get to Shine?

Since we’re closing in on halfway through the season, I feel comfortable delving into one of my biggest frustrations thus far: High Potential’s underuse of Daphne and Oz.

During High Potential Season 1, it was easy to cut the series some slack on this front as we had to really establish what the show would be and make some headway. But over a quarter into the sophomore season, it feels like they’ve sidelined two of the most interesting characters on the series.

Aside from the fact that I’ve notably pushed the Daphne/Oz agenda, one of the most fascinating things to emerge from the Game Maker arc, primarily Oz serving as a victim of his, was that it felt as if we’d use that to delve a bit more into the character.

Oz nearly drowned.

Most people, not even cops, bounce back from a near-death experience like that unscathed, and yet, aside from Oz getting to cuff the Game Maker himself and the brief moment during the High Potential premiere where Morgan checked in with him, we haven’t gotten anything about his headspace or anything else since then.

Similarly, Daphne was visibly distraught over nearly losing her partner. Yet, instead of using that as a building block to delve deeper into their partnership, the season hasn’t given us anything on that front or any other front with these two.

They’re the B-Team, but they often get D-Level plots that seem to fall to the background while other things take precedence, and I’m just eager to learn more about these two as individuals and partners, something.

The Roman Plot Just. Keeps. Spinning.

Of course, part of the issue is their attachment to primarily the Roman plot, which is mostly spinning on its wheels, as if High Potential is trying to drag this whole thing out until the season’s end.

We still don’t know much of anything about Roman and the full extent of why he’s on the run and who he’s running from. There’s a hint of danger, but it’s hard to really feel it ourselves when we don’t have more pieces of the story.

There are compelling aspects of it. Every bit of Ava wanting to know more about her father is genuinely moving, and you can relate to her longing and sympathize with her. The moments when she’s desperate for something are interesting.

Her scene of reaching out to Arthur to learn more about Roman was such a great moment, and that phone call nearly got me teary-eyed.

Any little bit of information he gives her, and the fondness with which he speaks to her, is so endearing, and you can believe how much he cares about Roman, of course, but Ava in extension.

But there’s so little to work with here, even as Soto makes this discovery about the mysterious man whom we now know was tailing Arthur and may have placed him in danger.

What’s in the Backpack?

What’s in this freaking backpack that is driving people mad? I’m dying to know. And what risk does Morgan’s giving it to the police pose to poor Arthur, or even Roman?

We’re left with this cliffhanger that doesn’t have the emotional punch that I would’ve liked, but I do hope Arthur emerges from this unscathed.

Interestingly, Wagner still seems connected to all of this. He was curious about the cold case everyone was working on, and he asked Karadec outright about Roman when they were out together. He may be some red herring in all of this, and maybe he’s on the right side of things or not even connected to it at all.

But it feels like he is, and I’m not straying from that anytime soon, especially seeing his behavior in the bullpen and out in the field.

Wagner has some serious demons, and he needs to make peace with them because they are clearly impacting how he pursues this job.

The way he laid into Morgan in the bullpen in front of everyone was NOT okay. It was shocking how he spoke to her, and it wasn’t just that he reprimanded her — because that is fair game — but the extent to which he did it: publicly, aggressively, and so demeaning, too.

The Morgan/Karadec Crumbs Are Delicious!

It felt … personal. The way he snapped at her felt much deeper than just a boss upset that his employee was insubordinate. It physically made me squirm and uncomfortable, and I was shocked that no one –particularly Karadec — jumped in to intervene sooner.

Although Morgan did blow him off when he started to speak, he more than made up for it because, naturally, he handled things in that quiet, commanding, but obvious Karadec way with Wagner one-on-one (as Wagner’s reprimand should have been with Morgan in the first place).

I’ve been on record as not being a Morgan/Karadec shipper, but I’ll admit this second season has been challenging that frequently. And Karadec’s unmistakable warning, no, threat, to Wagner about Morgan certainly put ME in some feelings, so I know shippers are going to be clinging to this with all of their might.

Karadec won’t let ANYONE come at Morgan sideways, even his boss, and he made that abundantly clear — something that seemed to amuse Wagner based on his expression.

But Wagner, for his disturbing and questionable behavior, does seem genuine in not wanting to see harm come to anyone. Yes, it was directed at Morgan, but we also saw it with Karadec, too, which makes me curious about his background and how many people he lost and in what capacity.

Is Wagner a Red Herring, a Loose Cannon, an Ally, or an Enemy?

His behavior in the field, trying to catch their perpetrator, was as reckless as he accused Morgan of being, and it’s very clear he’s a wild card out in the field, which may be how he scored this administrative gig after all.

The entire car chase bit was a crapshow, but seeing Karadec steal a car — oops, I mean commandeer it — was amusing.

He and Wagner’s antics felt like something out of the early parts of Lethal Weapon, when you have two partners who don’t necessarily get along just yet, being complete opposites and flubbing a case because they can’t listen to each other.

Or maybe it’s the trust thing. Wagner claims he trusts Morgan — all of them. He’s so firm in that it almost feels suspicious, but perhaps it’s that he knows some shady things are going on in the department, and he feels like Morgan, Karadec, and the team are the only people he can trust.

Wagner may be more of an unknown ally than an adversary, but we’ll have to see in the second half of the season.

Art Heists, Nazis, and Reckonings

Meanwhile, we know precisely who Rhys is.

The case itself was interesting enough only because it really brought out Morgan’s moral side, and she wouldn’t let up. I loved her for that!

Also, it was reminding me so much of Leverage’s “Two Live Crew Job” episode, and I’m a sucker for all things Leverage. I need a crossover yesteday!

As soon as they started bringing up that the stolen painting was one of sentimental value rather than for money, I pretty much already suspected where it was going, and I was right.

It’s common with heists and art that it often comes down to who the art truly belongs to in the end. Whether it’s obscenely wealthy people who get their hands on something that should have gone to a family, or it goes back to how the Nazis stole so much art and other things and circulated it around.

My heart broke for Ari’s grandmother — a Holocaust survivor — recalling the sentimental value of this Rembrandt and her experience as the lone survivor in her family.

It’s no wonder Morgan was livid about the fact that they were working this case solely to return this painting to the weird rich people who kept claiming this art piece was the equivalent of their child.

It wasn’t surprising that Rhys was the thief.

That was a pretty outright theory from the second he strolled into the bullpen. And every moment he and Morgan bickered, only confirmed it. He also acted way too cagey about the legendary thief Jean Baptiste.

The Morgan/Rhys Saga: Interesting, Predictable, or Too OOC?

Nevertheless, Morgan and Rhys had intriguing enough chemistry, although it felt like a bit of a stretch that Wagner would get her so riled up that she’d invite Rhys, a guy she appeared to loathe, out to drinks and eventually head up to his hotel room.

Obviously, he’s hot. But, like, that felt so bizarre and happened way too quickly.

I was genuinely wondering if she planned it the whole time — figured out who he was and used herself as a honeypot to get him where she wanted him so they could capture him.

But Karadec calling her from a crime scene dispelled that thought. Surprisingly, Morgan opted to blow off some steam with a stranger so abruptly. It also makes me question why Wagner was able to get under her skin so much and bring out this side of her.

Could it be that she’s feeling something stronger for him than we thought?

Now, we have to wonder: if Rhys really is the thief, is he working with someone else? And who killed that person in the parking garage?

These are just a few of the questions we get to mull over until the season returns after the holidays. Ugh. I hate breaks, don’t you?

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