Warning: SPOILERS for High Potential season 2, episode 1, “Pawns.”
The Game Maker makes an intense return to High Potential in the hit series’ second season, but Morgan’s deadliest foe could threaten a key component of the show’s identity. It appears by the end of the High Potential season 2 premiere that Morgan’s nemesis has big plans for the LAPD, and how his scheme unfolds could affect the entire series.
ABC’s highly lauded procedural opens its sophomore season just a week after the High Potential season 1 finale, meaning the Game Maker’s threats against Morgan and his attack on Oz are still recent events for the team. Unsurprisingly, choosing to begin the action so close to where things left off has a significant impact on High Potential season 2’s story.
High Potential Season 2, Episode 1 Establishes A Bigger Game Maker Arc Than Expected
Procedural Villains Don’t Always Get This Much Spotlight So Early On
Threatening note in High Potential episode 13
Anyone who forgot about Game Maker’s ominous message to Morgan at the end of the High Potential season 1 finale would be hard-pressed to forget about it after the season 2 premiere, as Morgan flashes back to it multiple times. It’s clear Morgan is unraveling as a result of the villain’s games, and her nerves are continuously getting worse.
It was always clear that Game Maker would be a major player in season 2’s overarching story, but it wasn’t necessarily obvious the series would pit Kaitlin Olson’s typically high-spirited character directly against her most intellectually comparable adversary this early in the fall. Nonetheless, Game Maker will have appeared in three episodes in a row after season 2, episode 2.
This means that, outside of the background mystery of Roman’s disappearance, Game Maker’s villain plot is the longest-running story of the series thus far. Some procedural villains are lucky to appear in person three times total, let alone consecutively, as evidenced by The Rookie’s Monica Stevens appearing only twice in season 7 despite being the linchpin of a major plotline.
Of course, the problem with High Potential’s Game Maker plot gaining speed so quickly is that the series’ most interesting storyline to date could be over within the season’s first two episodes. Yet there’s also a flipside to that possibility, a problem of a seemingly polar opposite nature that’s equally as problematic for its own rather specific set of reasons.
High Potential Season 2’s Game Maker Plot Could Cut Down On Standalone Episodes
Morgan’s Attention Is Laser-Focused On Game Maker Right Now
Morgan Gillory looking through paperwork on High Potential
After waiting all summer for Game Maker’s plan in High Potential to finally be revealed, it would be disappointing for fans to watch that arc concluded early on. However, prolonging Game Master’s arc for too long could also stand in the way of “case-of-the-week” mysteries. And, like many procedural dramas, Olson’s show wouldn’t be the same without the occasional standalone.
As interesting as an overarching story like Game Master’s scheme or Roman’s disappearance can be, case-of-the-week episodes are where some of High Potential season 2’s best possible storylines would thrive. Subplots involving supporting characters like Ludo or a possible romance between Morgan and Karadec are B-plot material of a nature that works best when the A-story doesn’t demand extraordinary urgency.
On the bright side, it’s already known that Game Master won’t usurp the entire season. Episode 3’s title, “Eleven Minutes,” breaks the chess theme of the season’s first two episode titles, “Pawns” and “Checkmate.” This suggests that, even if he isn’t caught, viewers will receive at least a short reprieve from Game Master after his second appearance of the season.
It’s simply a matter of how long that break will last. Even with its expanded 18-episode order, High Potential can’t give up too many episodes to Game Master without short-changing its smaller storylines. And season 1 already demonstrated that the series’ episodic mysteries and their B-plots are important to the show’s identity for more than simply developing the characters’ relationships.
Why High Potential Season 2 Needs Standalone Cases To Maintain Its Identity
The Show’s B-Plots Are At The Heart Of Its Most Important Themes
One thing that might be obvious to fans of the first season that wouldn’t be so clear to newcomers is that High Potential’s season 2 premiere undercuts the general humor of the series. Because Morgan is unraveling at the thought her family has been threatened, there isn’t much room for the levity that helped forge the ABC procedural’s core persona.
But that was predictable in season 1, after High Potential episode 11. That was another instance of an episode that forgot to include a B-story because the A-plot was too heavy, and the result was that Morgan spends so much of the episode confused by a difficult mystery that she loses focus. When High Potential goes full-A-plot, the show flounders.
Episode 11 is the mansion mystery in which Morgan solves a case involving so much family drama that she needs it explained at least three times before she and the audience can parse anything together.
This alone might not lead to High Potential’s downfall, but it’s worrisome. The series didn’t just succeed because it’s a good procedural or because Morgan and Karadec have enticing chemistry. The series works because of how its separate genres combine, and there isn’t much room for that if the show can’t lead into new storylines without referencing the Game Master.
For instance, Morgan’s children in High Potential were her primary motivation for taking the consultant job. If we stay on Game Master too long, Ava’s vital contributions to Roman’s plotline could become buried by a newer story. They won’t be focal points anymore, which hurts the series’ true overarching mystery. By extension, it also hurts the series’ themes about family.
Morgan taking this job for the sake of her children was always the series’ strongest hook. Plenty of other shows revolve around superhumanly gifted consultants (think Monk), but High Potential really brought the family members themselves into the story. If Game Master cuts into B-plots in a way that sacrifices that, perhaps he isn’t the A-plus villain we’d hoped.
Enjoy ScreenRant’s primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check “Network TV” in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.
0 Comments