Fans of ABC’s High Potential have been waiting almost two entire seasons for one answer: Where is Roman Sinquerra? And will he ever come home? In Episode 17 of Season 2, High Potential doesn’t give up a Roman face-to-face, but it gives us the next best thing. Now with one episode remaining in the season, the puzzle of his disappearance is truly coming together in such a fashion that his return seems more inevitable than speculative.
The episode doesn’t even bring Roman up on screen, but it does something arguably more significant. It points to the characters who are to blame for what happened to him all those years ago. And one of those characters is clearly someone Morgan has been standing next to all season long. The finale thus promises to be a major payoff. Even if the show doesn’t have Roman return for the second season finale, it should feel like a very natural next step.
High Potential – What we know about Roman Sinquerra so far
Roman has been the ghost in High Potential from its very first episode. He is Morgan’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her oldest daughter, Ava. One morning in 2009, he went out to buy diapers and never returned. The police assumed he had run out on his family. Morgan didn’t, and she was right.
Season 1 confirmed that Roman is alive. We learned he was an informant for the FBI before he disappeared. The link to Lila Flynn’s murder, the agent Roman was working for, was also made. Contrary to what Morgan believed for a while, Roman didn’t leave her.
In High Potential Season 2, it was even made clear that Roman was physically abducted by a man called Eric Hayworth, who was hired by a big-time fixer, Willa Quinn.
High Potential Season 2 Episode 17 drops the biggest bombshell yet
High Potential Season 2 Episode 17 is admittedly a case-of-the-week episode. Morgan and Major Crimes are working across a series of vault breakins and the case dredges up painful history for Captain Wagner. But apart from the main plotline, the Roman investigation continues to advance quickly.
Eric Hayworth, the man who abducted Roman, was scheduled to be interviewed by Major Crimes the morning after High Potential Season 2 Episode 17. He never made it. However, Hayworth was found dead in his cell. The authorities call it suicide. Selena and Karadec refuse to believe it for a second.
And then comes the gutpunch of all time. Selena pulls Karadec aside and takes out the surveillance photos. Willa Quinn with Nick Wagner Sr., Captain Wagner’s father. Without any doubt, they know each other. They may have had something to do with what happened to Roman.
Is Captain Wagner involved in Roman’s disappearance?
That’s the burning question viewers will be left with until the finale. Wagner has been a mystery all season. He inserted himself into the Roman investigation from the beginning. He manipulated Morgan in ways that never seemed logical. There was even speculation among fans on the internet that Roman may be hiding in order to cover up something Wagner did.
Now the show has confirmed that Wagner’s father is dirty. He has connections to Willa Quinn. And he also apparently tried to use his son as a bargaining chip, offering Morgan a new position to keep her from working on the Roman case. She refused it.
What hurts most is the timing. In Episode 17, Morgan and Wagner are bonding more than they ever did all season. They share a moment. They share a kiss. Morgan was finally building his confidence in him. And now Selena and Karadec are sitting on evidence that can blow all that.
Most of the viewers think that Wagner himself is unaware of the true dimensions of his father’s atrocities. His desire to help Morgan may be motivated by sincere compassion. He lost his fiancée to gun violence and understands grief in a way most people don’t. But it may make no difference whether or not he is innocent when Morgan learns who his father is. That knowledge will surely complicate things.
What the High Potential Season 2 finale needs to deliver
Nearly two seasons of the show have led up to the finale. Roman’s situation has been firing for the last two seasons. Everything is in place: Willa Quinn is cornered; Hayworth is dead; Wagner Sr. is in the spotlight, and the only missing piece is Roman.
Whether he shows up in the finale or he becomes the main tease for a third season remains to be seen. High Potential has already been renewed, which gives the writers the luxury of letting the mystery linger for a little bit longer. But after Episode 17, a season-ending shot of Roman would be a missed opportunity. Ava deserves answers. Morgan deserves closure. And, after two seasons of patience, so do we.
High Potential airs Tuesdays at 9 PM ET on ABC.
Edited by Sahiba Tahleel