Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for High Potential Season 1.
High Potential has officially wrapped up its first season, and thank goodness that it has already been renewed for a second, because its finale ends on a major cliffhanger. At the start of the season, Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) was a night cleaner for the LAPD, and she is now the successful and beloved consultant of the Major Crimes unit. Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), who was once her adversary, has since become her partner. Additionally, as of this episode, Morgan finally has the answer to what happened to her missing ex, Roman Sinquerra (or, at least, part of the answer).
The finale's case is the scariest one that Morgan has worked on yet, as the Major Crimes unit investigates a serial killer who wants to play deadly games with them. This individual kidnaps people, traps them, and lures the LAPD into saving the victim's lives by making them solve riddles. As Morgan, Karadec, Selena (Judy Reyes), Daphne (Javicia Leslie), and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) work to solve this case, more answers resurface about Roman, and Morgan's personal life moves forward as well.
A Serial Killer Plays Games With the LAPD in the 'High Potential' Season 1 Finale
The Season 1 finale deals with a case unlike anything the Major Crimes unit has seen yet, as the killer seeks the team out instead of hiding from them. He sends them clues, forcing them into a game where, if they solve the clues and play correctly, they can save the lives of his victims. Oz figures out that this killer is targeting people from a grief support group that he joined after his father died last year. The man said his name was David, and that he loved playing games with his family, but that his sister's death ruined his life. After the Major Crimes unit saves two of the victims, the killer picks Oz to be his next one, and Oz nearly drowns. His coworkers save his life, but they do not catch the killer.
Later in the episode, Morgan goes to the grocery store with her kids, when a kind stranger (David Giuntoli) helps them out in the parking lot and exchanges a few friendly words with Morgan. When Morgan gets home, she finds a deck of cards in her bag of groceries, along with a note addressed to her: "YOU'RE THE ONE, MORGAN. WE SHALL PLAY AGAIN. ME AND YOU." Morgan is absolutely terrified, but she goes back through her memories to each of the crime scenes, and then to the man that she met in the parking lot. She realizes that this man is the killer and that he has a fixation with her in particular, right as her coworkers realize that this man isn't who he claimed to be in the grief support group.
'High Potential's Season 1 Finale Brings Morgan and Karadec Even Closer
Image via ABC
Morgan and Karadec's partnership, friendship, and will-they-won't-they dynamic is one of the very best parts of High Potential, and it has continued to develop with each episode. The season finale is no different, as Morgan and Karadec work to solve the case together, bringing them closer than ever. After Morgan makes a throwaway comment in front of the group about her bad relationship with her father, Karadec catches it and brings it up to her later. He asks her questions about her father, and she opens up to him about how her dad also has HPI, but that his idea of how she should act in light of her condition isolated her from her peers as a child.
At the police gala, it seems very obvious that Karadec has romantic feelings for Morgan, even though she remains oblivious. Karadec is awestruck when he sees her in her dress, and he tells her she looks stunning before then becoming flustered. Later, the two slow dance in what feels like a very romantically charged moment, and Karadec reflects on how far the two of them have come. Karadec brings up Roman's case, and expresses his concerns about Morgan meeting with Gio (Domenick Lombardozzi) in order to get answers. Morgan tells Karadec that she is supposed to meet Gio the next day, but he insists on going in her place, even though Gio made it clear that that was against his rules.
Morgan doesn't want to scare Gio away by sending Karadec in her place, but Karadec calls her "partner" and tells her to trust him. It's an important moment that shows how far they have come. Karadec is deeply protective of Morgan and doesn't think twice about putting himself in a dangerous situation in order to protect her. Meanwhile, since the start of the show, it's been clear how important Roman's case is to Morgan. This grief and the pain of not knowing has hung over her for fifteen years, and it's a major part of why she joined the LAPD. Morgan letting Karadec handle this part of Roman's case in her place is a major sign of how much she trusts him. Their dance sadly gets interrupted by Tom (JD Pardo), who is in town to attend the gala as Morgan's date.
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'High Potential's Season 1 Finale Reveals What Happened to Roman
Image via ABC
At the start of High Potential, all that Morgan knew about Roman's disappearance was that one day he went out to buy diapers for Ava (Amirah J), and then he never returned. Morgan always believed that Roman would never have left them willingly, but she couldn't prove it, and even Ava doubted this for a long time. Since Morgan started working for the LAPD Major Crimes unit, Selena and Karadec have since joined the case to help Morgan investigate what happened to Roman. This week, Gio gives Morgan a name: Lila Flynn, a woman who was working with Roman around the time he went missing.
Karadec brings this information to Ronnie (Jocko Simms) for help, and Ronnie reveals that Lila was an FBI agent who was murdered shortly before Roman went missing — and that Roman was an informant for the FBI. While Morgan is dealing with the realization that the game-obsessed killer is following her, she receives a phone call from Karadec, who has gone to meet Gio in her place. Karadec tells her that Roman is still alive and that he knows where to find him. It's a major twist, and the perfect cliffhanger on which to end the first season, as viewers are left to wonder where Roman has been for the past fifteen years, and what his return will mean for Morgan's life here on out.
High Potential is available to stream on Hulu.
English (US) ·