High Potential Season 2 Episode 12 Deepens Morgan & Karedec’s Bond and Finally Gives Oz His Due

Critic’s Rating: 4.4 / 5.0

4.4

When it comes to digging into Morgan as a character and exploring the complex layers of her dynamic with Karadec, High Potential Season 2 understands the assignment.

It has had its bumps along the way, but what’s been particularly great about the back half of the season is how much the series has learned to play to its strengths and build on what we genuinely love.

For example, just as I was gearing up to express frustration that the season seemed to be shortchanging and sidelining Oz, we get an hour that finally gives him his due.

The hour delivered one of its most intriguing cases, but admittedly, what made it so good was the personal elements it brought out in the characters.

Nevertheless, there have been so many series that have tackled the “Forever Young” thing, with health gurus trying to extend their lifespans and roping others into their vision, whether it has legs or not.

If you haven’t already, check out our The Beauty coverage.

Gabe was using gene hacking to extend his life, which was all swell and fine, until they found him with one of his kitschy doohickies planted in his chest.

It was a gnarly crime scene, but the team realizing how the impalement happened was quite the surprise. What was unsurprising was that the narcissistic guru wasn’t as great as he seemed and was self-serving.

He screwed his company and all the people who worked for him out of the vision he orchestrated to create a robot, where he could take things one step further in living forever.

Once we learned that he essentially stole Micah’s creation to create his own robot, pulled that “check is in the mail” stunt with his staff, and stopped the research on important things like how to address the BRCA gene, it was no wonder someone wanted him dead.

Oh, and we can’t forget about the fact that he opted for the cheaper elements for his so-called multi-vitamins, incorporating St John’s-wort, which notoriously clashes and can result in poor interactions with other medications.

It was hilarious when Siobhan waddled in there heavily pregnant, saying that she was suing Gabe for child support because his remedies led to her pregnancy.

Gabe set off many people, but ultimately, it was a joint venture from Renata and Micah that resulted in his death, with the arsenic poisoning that caused him to kill himself rather than remain trapped in that room dealing with the effects.

If he panicked even remotely close to how Morgan did, then one can understand why he’d want to ease the pain as quickly as possible.

One of my favorite things about the backhalf of this season is just how much we’re seeing beyond Morgan’s shiny, quirky veneer.

She’s such a rich character, and when High Potential takes the time to explore that further, the show is truly in its sweetest spot.

Watching Morgan panic in that room was utterly heartbreaking. By the time he reached the point where she was trying to practice grounding, I felt like I was hyperventilating along with her.

Morgan’s kids are her everything, and if that’s something that maybe felt more subdued in the first season, we are seeing how fiercely she loves her babies in this sophomore season.

For Morgan, her children are her purpose. We’ve learned that everything she’s most proud of about her identity ties to being a mom, and seeing flashes of each of them as she continued to freak out brought tears to my eyes.

The job has been triggering for Morgan in so many ways this season, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the human element to that and how she approaches the field as a civilian.

Technically, she never signed up or swore an oath to put her life on the line for others or for some greater good.

So, near-death experiences have a greater impact on her, and we get to see through those moments how much she has to lose.

Of course, they used that scene to deliver one of the most emotionally charged Morgan/Karadec moments to date.

For every second Morgan panicked more, Karadec was calmer — it was as if he made it HIS purpose to be her strength and solace in that moment.

Morgan and Karadec have become so incredibly close, and it’s happened in a way that sort of sneaks up on both of them and viewers. I love that.

Because somewhere along the way, they became each other’s “person.”

It’s intriguing not only to see those moments at peak fruition, but also to see what they do in the quieter moments when they realize it and don’t know what to do with that information.

Simply holding Morgan was enough to calm her down, and in that moment, you can see the recognition of her as a vulnerable person he deeply cares about.

Karadec knows Morgan well… the season has often hinted at that.

He also understands that Morgan is deceptive: she’s great at giving people the illusion that they know her, but she doesn’t allow herself to be truly vulnerable with anyone.

Karadec gets that, so he doesn’t take those pieces of herself she gives to him lightly.

I loved that, later on, he reminded her that she’s human and that there’s nothing to apologize for or be embarrassed by.

But it wasn’t their only impactful moment as a partnership. Sure, it was hilarious that she popped up at his apartment, realized Lucia was there, and was excited to hound him about things.

But what was most endearing and real was when she asked him how it felt. Because she, too, gets Karadec, he doesn’t let people in easily or just succumb to things without overanalyzing the hell out of them.

The way she asks him if he’s happy, as if there’s nothing else in the world she wants for him than that, made me smile. You can tell he heard the sincerity, and it caught him off guard.

It’s exactly what he needed.

The hour delivers on exploring the dynamic between Morgan and Karadec, but, romantically, we’re currently seeing Karadec and Lucia, and I love the chemistry between Sunjata and Watson. They feel so lived in.

You can feel the history between them, the pain, but also the love there. It’s evident that the two of them falling apart wasn’t just about him working too much.

Karadec can be emotionally inaccessible.

He’s a guy you may not know where you stand with because he doesn’t always show how he feels. Even when you think about where Karadec was when we first met him versus now, there’s genuine growth there.

And Lucia sees that now. There’s a pathway for their reconnection to be something with legs. It’s just hard to say because it also feels like we’re waiting for a shoe to drop.

Because Karadec can be enigmatic and a tough read sometimes, it makes it harder to figure out how he really feels: happy, conflicted, wary…

The hour was heavy on feelings. And to my delight, we got some much-needed Oz focus.

We knew his father died, and he also had that traumatic experience of nearly dying himself, but it has felt like High Potential moved on.

One of the series’ flaws is how it sidelines Oz and Daphne. But they finally gave us some quality Oz content.

The funeral home ripping his mother off for $20K for a freaking headstone was madness! And my favorite thing about Oz is that he wants all the smoke when it comes to his loved ones.

His temper and protective streak come out in moments involving his people, so threatening folks over that headstone and taking advantage of his mother was so on-brand. And I loved every second of it.

Namely, he struggled with the fact that he felt guilty leaving his mother to deal with the funeral arrangements and memorial stuff because he was too buried in his own grief.

Also, it seemed his father was always the person who handled everything. It’s hard to lose the person who does it all.

It’s been such a great season for Soto. She’s emerged as not just the fearless leader for the squad but a bit of a Den Mother or older sister. We’ve seen the nurturing side of her and why she’s such a great confidant.

Soto speaks wisdom and life into everyone around her.

Healing only happens when you stop inflicting yourself with new wounds – Soto

Of course, her ability to empathize with Oz and draw on her own experiences made for one of the series’ best moments.

I’m a Daphne/Oz fangirl, so the obvious bet would’ve been his partner being the only person to really get through to him.

Hell, his mother was certainly counting on that. It made me smile to hear that she reached out to Daphne because she was worried.

It speaks to how close those two are. But Soto offered a chance to approach things from a different angle and to touch on an unexplored dynamic.

High Potential is at its best when it peels back the layers of these characters, and we connect with them most when they feel so human.

Everyone showing up for Oz, being his family — goodness, it sparked all the FEELS. The entire hour did.

But enough about me discussing, I’m turning it over to you.

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