Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the latest episode of High Potential on ABC or via Hulu subscription, so be warned!
With its Game Master storyline currently sorta-settled after David Giuntoli’s character bizarrely turned himself in, and the hunt for Morgan’s missing hubby limited to what can be gleaned from Mekhi Phifer’s sporadic appearances, High Potential’s weekly drama can now be more formally focused on the precinct’s new captain, as portrayed by Shameless vet Steve Howey. The smugness displayed upon his arrival provided all the awkward punctuation to Soto’s (and others’) disappointment that she didn’t get promoted.
Co-star Judy Reyes addressed that disappointing turnout for her character in an interview with TVLine, and she also offered up some interesting teases for what fans can expect to see in the coming weeks for Soto and beyond.
Mental Justice For Soto
Any fans paying attention to casting news and cast interviews in the weeks and months ahead of Season 2 were already aware that Soto's hopes and dreams of achieving the Captain's rank would be squashed, at least early on, when Steve Howey's Nick Wagner entered the picture. So it wasn't exactly shocking to see her deliver the disappointing news to the rest of her squad.
Fans can no doubt expect to see Morgan putting all kinds of pressure on the new boss to make sure he's up to snuff, but Reyes shared a personal hope that I have to think will get addressed on the show in the near future. As she put it:
I’m hopeful that she gets to know why she was passed up. Sometimes, even though you know the reason, it doesn’t really land well until you figure it out for yourself. Sometimes you feel like you’re going crazy.
That's an interesting point to make, given that audiences are more or less led to blindly believe that Soto is not only qualified for the job, but that she fully deserves it. So perhaps in time, we'll learn more details about the character's personal and professional life that perhaps indicate there were reasons for her higher-ups to give the job to someone else.
Karadec And The New Captain
When it comes to the new captain's realtionships with his not-exactly-pleased new employees and colleagues, it sounds like much will be desired, at least for some. I don't expect we'll see Wagner and Soto co-hosting any all-night karaoke parties, and one can only assume that he'll have to jump through all manner of behavioral hoops to stay on Morgan's good side. Or, if not her good side, her not-as-obsessed-with-destroying-others side.
But wait, is Judy Reyes hinting at a legitimate bond forming between Wagner and....Karadec?!? In her words:
He and Karadec develop a powerful working relationship, and of course he and Morgan are going to clash. She’s going to be a huge challenge to him in terms of why she’s there and how she’s there.
Okay, so there is more than one way to read into "powerful working relationship" that doesn't necessarily point to Karadec selling out on his friends for the new captain. Not that I'm taking this personally or anything...
But really, it would be very interesting indeed if Daniel Sunjata's by-the-books detective did bond with Cpt. Wagner on a purely professional level, since that would no doubt get under Morgan's skin like few other things. Obviously she's going to have friction with him, and he pretty much deserves it for the creepy, leery way he introduced himself. If he really did hear all about her, he should have also heard about her experiences with strange men who know too much.
It's perhaps worth bringing up again that High Potential's showrunner teased the possibility of a love triangle happening after the new captain's arrival, but I'm going to just continue assuming that was a hilarious joke for the time being.
High Potential's Season 2 will continue its run on the 2025 TV schedule, with new episodes airing every Tuesday night on ABC at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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