High Potential Season 2, Episode 1, “Pawns” Spoilers Ahead
High Potential is back, and it’s already better than ever. Procedurals like it generally don’t fall victim to the sophomore slump, and while it’s certainly too early to deem that it won’t, there’s hope with the writing and performances. There’s hope that with the cases leading us closer to potentially finding Roman and having secrets out in the open, it can continue placing characters in the driver’s seat.
More than anything, High Potential Season 2, Episode 1, “Pawns,” is full of incredible points that allow the characters to have touching moments of depth where we can clearly see that they all care about each other and would go to great lengths to protect one another. Since we’re picking up right as Season 1 ended, and the game is still at large, plus it’ll clearly bleed into Episode 2, then what we’re getting is mostly in-house. At the same time, as one of the harder cases to guess, it makes the season premiere a thrilling episode all around.
Selena and Morgan’s House Visit – The Team Missing Her
An unconventional found family will always make a series better, and that’s a large part of the charm in High Potential. When Morgan stepped into this role, Selena was the first to see her true potential. She was the first to not only understand it but to welcome it. So, it’s lovely that we get this moment outside of the precinct in the opening episode, where she gets to check in because it allows us to see just how much more she’s grown to care.
In addition, there’s something really sincere in the performances both Kaitlin Olson and Judy Reyes deliver. We’re watching two women who not only care about each other but who’ll acknowledge the other’s importance, and that’s exactly what happens when Selena says that they miss her. That he (meaning Karadec) misses her. The transparency between them and honoring the promises that they’ve once made adds layers to the show’s heart, making it that much more riveting than a simple procedural with intriguing cases. It’s the actions in this episode, specifically in this moment, that kickstart the episode’s overall tone.
“There’s my grumpy guy” – Morgan and Karadec’s Phone Call
If you heard a high-pitched scream, it was me, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic lover losing her mind over the bold declaration and every little beat that followed afterward. It’s no surprise that we ship Moradec (Karadec and Morgan). Anyone who’s ever watched a slow burn relationship come to fruition can see all the seeds planted, but now we’re officially entering a different era. The—we’re just friends who care about each other a lot—era. The point where words are accidentally spilled and every gaze becomes something bigger, where a single breath isn’t just a sign of life, but a concern, a fear, a want.
I’ve always been a fan of phone calls on TV because there’s something so intimate about watching two people on the other end of the line, not realizing the full extent of someone else’s feelings. There’s a moment where Karadec sighs, and Daniel Sunjata packs so much into that single moment that we can see and feel the weight of his concerns for Morgan. He’s working late because of her. For her. He’s refusing to go home until two in the morning because he not only misses her, but he can’t grapple with the fact that her life is in danger.
There’s also something about the way that Karadec carries himself in High Potential Season 2, Episode 1, “Pawns.” He’s on edge in a way we haven’t seen before. Internally, he’s combating something that we aren’t fully seeing, but we’re getting pieces of in his physicality. He’s on high alert. And there’s something about the denial that’s still straddled between them. Neither of them realizes it yet. They aren’t going to realize it for a while. But the line they’re toeing with the few brief moments is nothing short of exciting to watch.
“Be safe” – The Phone Call With Ludo
What continues to make High Potential so thrilling is that in the same episode, we get a glimpse of something that’s so purely platonic, it’s incredible to dissect. There’s zero chemistry between Morgan and Ludo because their relationship is over. They’re probably the healthiest depiction of exes we’ll ever see on TV, but that’s what also makes the will they/won’t they with Karadec so thrilling. The differences are clear in every way.
Still, credit where it’s due, Olson and Taran Killam are phenomenal at showing how much they care about each other. The co-parenting continues to floor me as an inclusion in a show where we can trust very little. But we can trust Ludo. Fully. There’s so much warmth packed into the words, “be safe.” The concern is enormous for Ludo—not just for the kids, but for him, too. He cares deeply about Morgan, even when they’re no longer together, and having moments like this in an episode that’s so action-packed and full of twists that make the characters question reality works to showcase the love surrounding them. It’s wholesome in a way that thoroughly sticks the landing.
Now streaming on Hulu: What are your thoughts on the High Potential Season 2, Episode 1, “Pawns?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: (Disney/Jessica Perez)