Did you really think I’d only address this scene in our High Potential Season 2, Episode 4 highlights and be done with it? I sure hope not, because that would mean I haven’t made it obvious how big a deal Morgan and Karadec are as a slow burn relationship. On any other show that isn’t marketed explicitly as a romance, I’d be hesitant to deconstruct scenes like this through a romantic lens. I’d wait a while. But it’s too obvious on High Potential to brush it aside, and when Karadec tells Morgan he knows her silences, he also tells us a great deal about how profoundly he already cares for her.
You don’t get to know someone’s smiles or, more specifically, their silences when you don’t care about them deeply. You pay attention, sure, but these are so specific that on TV, especially, they always mean more than meets the eye. This scene isn’t just a reflection of two partners learning each other’s tells to strengthen the way they work together. No, it’s one person recognizing how important his partner is to him, that every time she’s stayed silent, he’s taken the time to understand exactly what she’s thinking.
And again, this is a slow, slow burn relationship. We aren’t rushing into anything here, and I’m not saying that Karadec is in love with Morgan. What I am saying is that he cares about her in a way he hasn’t cared about any of his other partners. We don’t have to see parts of Karadec’s past to understand this detail about him. She brings a brightness into his life that’s been missing. It’s why her silences matter. It’s why it’s important that he tells her that he knows, so she, too, can feel comfortable around him.
As I said in our highlights: Partners should know each other in ways no one else does, so it makes their jobs more effective, but with the two of them, it’s about what they both don’t have off-field, either—someone to look out for them at the end of the day. Someone who’ll be their strength when their bones are weary and their minds won’t let up. […] “It’s not always what he says but how he says it, and Daniel Sunjata continues to floor me with small moments that feel monumental because of how he uses his voice.”
But interestingly, there’s also something about the location where Karadec tells Morgan he knows her silences that matters—a car ride where it’s just the two of them. An enclosed space. It’s a familiar place for the two of them to be in consistently, and that’s exactly what contributes to making the moment more intimate. He’s choosing to acknowledge this incredibly important detail in a moving vehicle that’s also synonymous with getting from point A to B. It’s a decision on his part also to ensure that their partnership continues moving forward.
It’s also worth noting that he didn’t have to say it aloud to her. He could’ve kept his observations to himself, but Karadec’s transparency with Morgan continues to be one of the most important details about their partnership. His openness and sincerity around her is exactly what makes the banter hit twice as hard, and it’s going to make every emotion that follows that much more profound.
It’s honest, achingly sincere, and unsurprisingly full of the banter that they continue to uphold because it makes their bond that much stronger. It’s a real, unmistakable sign of how often he pays attention to her and how he cares to tell her. It’s a foreshadowing of the fact that when they do someday get together, their relationship will last because he’ll know exactly how to respect her feelings—her silences and her smiles.
What are your thoughts on the scene where Karadec tells Morgan he knows her silences? Let us know in the comments below.
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