High Potential Went All Sexy, Drunk Wagner On Morgan, And Now I'm Worried About The Finale

Spoilers below for the latest episode of High Potential, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on ABC or via Hulu subscription (or Disney+ subscription).

Welp to the welp welp, High Potential went and did it. The show made legitimate, visible-from-space sparks fly between Morgan and Wagner after weeks of simmering tension, and it’s a total 180 from the duo’s awkward exchanges earlier in the season. Wagner’s motivations have always seemed slightly off, and I honestly wasn’t 100% sure whether he frequent glances at Morgan were sourced more in romantic longing or suspicion. That seems clear now, though it makes me that much more worried for the Season 2 finale.

Showrunner Todd Harthan teased a love triangle playing out for Morgan in Season 2, but I thought that ship had sailed long ago once she sorta hooked up with that justice-minded art thief, and once Karadec reconnected with Lucia. However, “Second Sunday” proved that assumption wrong, though only after a drunken would-be disaster. Let’s talk that out before laying out my worries going into the final episode, titled “Family Tree.”

Nick Wagner's Downward Spiral Ended Right At Morgan's Lips (Twice)

On the one hand, I kinda hate Nick Wagner for being a daddy's boy whose accomplishments have largely been granted instead of solely earned. But now I'm thinking what previously appeared to be ego-driven confidence was more of an act than anything else, and that he would do nearly anything to escape from beneath his father's thumb. So it only makes sense that, in all his drunken self-pity, he would try to kiss Morgan.

That attempt wasn't successful, however, as Morgan took the high road and pushed him back, though she did stare at his lips with enough heat to melt steel. Which is possibly what gave him the nerve to try it again later on without any alcohol involved.

By the end of the episode, both Morgan and Wagner had survived a hectic situation that Kaitlin Olson's character should have never been privy to. She followed the rest of the LAPD to a hideout that quickly turned into a deadly standoff, and Morgan found herself in the crosshairs. Facing that level of danger after so many months of relatively safe investigations shook the character to her core, and she was an emotional pinball in the final sequences.

But not so emotional that she turned Wagner's advances away for a second time. She seemed only too eager to finally lock lips with him, despite their professional pecking order. (That stance has certainly been helped along by Karadec waxing happily about his relationship with Lucia.) The episode capped off positively enough, but that just makes me more worried about what'll go down in the finale next week.

I'm Worried About How High Potential's Finale Will Play Out Wagner's Story

Truth be told, the conspiracy theory side of my brain started worrying about the LAPD captain the second the episode started with a shirtless Steve Howey. The second any show makes a hard play for viewers to thirst after a previously non-thirst-worthy character, it's usually a sign that something terrible is going to happen to them. Granted, getting turned away by Morgan may be the most terrible thing that could happen to anyone in this show — yes, I'm counting the murder victims — but it doesn't read quite as harrowing on paper.

High Potential better evolved Wagner’s story in recent episodes, revealing Clancy Brown as his highly public politician father, which likely plays into how he got the Captain job over Soto. And Wagner Sr.'s connections with Jennifer Jason Leigh's Willa also tie him to the long-missing Roman, giving Howey's character an in-road to gaining new evidence. Or trying to, anyway, as I'm not entirely sure his dear ol' dad will be very helpful.

Beyond that, Morgan formally showing signs of affection (and maybe some lust) for Wagner is another which hasn't exactly boded well for other characters. We still don’t fully know why Morgan and Ludo split up, but we do know she botched her shot with JD Pardo's Tom (a character I'm still hoping returns down the road), and that she wasn't pleased with herself for making out with the art thief. Throw her mixed-message attraction to Karadec in the mix, and it's like every relationship she enters into is fated for doom.

Certainly I'm going into the Season 2 finale hoping that Morgan keeps her head on straight with whatever happens regarding Roman's case, since there have to be answers coming on that front. And I'm also hoping that she and Wagner...well, I don't really know what I want on that front. I guess the simplest hope there would be that he lives through the episode to possibly get something more serious going when Season 3 arrives later in the 2026 TV schedule.

Sadly, we only have one more episode to go before a long and winding summer hiatus, so be sure to check out High Potential's Season 2 finale airing on ABC on Tuesday, April 7, at 9:00 p.m. ET.