high potential has just led to an important development in the relationship of Karadec and Morgan — but does that mean they’re one step closer to potential romance?
During the Tuesday, January 6, midseason return of ABC’s hit series, Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) endorsed by Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) despite his boss Wagner (Steve Howey) losing confidence in his ability to help the LAPD. The episode ended with the team going out for drinks where Morgan and Wagner bonded (or possibly flirted?) at the bar while Karadec watched.
“We’re starting to unpack a little bit of that as we get further into the season. For us, our approach is, you don’t know if it’s protectiveness or jealousy,” the executive producer and showrunner. Todd Harthan explained exclusively Us Weekly. “Is he worried about Morgan getting involved in a relationship that could be dangerous or complicated in a destructive way? Or is a part of him starting to develop real feelings for her?”
Harthan continued, “It’s this fine line that we walk on the show. I don’t ever really want to tell the audience definitively how they feel, but we’re playing with a lot of that as we get deeper into the season. Because things are going to start to get a little messier.”
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When asked if Karadec knows how he feels about Morgan, Harthan noted, “They’re both still figuring it out. Even in the TV era, there hasn’t been that much time between the two of them. It’s hard when you work together and you have such an incredible partnership that keeps growing and blossoming and you’re adding to it even more.”
Harthan didn’t rule it out. “It’s still in a sort of reconciliation phase. But that’s where we are now,” he added. “It’s still not sure, and we’re trying to be honest about that in our execution within the episodes.”
There’s also the fact that Morgan has had multiple possible love interests already.
“We haven’t put a super fine point on it. But I’ve talked to Kaitlin quite a bit about it and she has a lot of other things that take priority over her involvement in another significant relationship. Her priorities are her kids and now she has this career that she’s immersed in,” he explained. “A very small piece of the pie is left over for her and her personal life. It’s not one of those things where she’s as involved as her kids and her work. But we’re looking for the moment when that blossoms, but it’s taken us a long time to get her immersed in a long-term relationship.”
The police procedural, which premiered in September 2024, follows a high-powered intellectual, Morgan, who teams up with the LAPD to help solve murders. she combines with Karadec, who is initially skeptical of Morgan’s involvement with the Major Crimes unit, but eventually comes to trust her.
“I will definitely say that I don’t really have a definitive answer on where they’re going to go. As far as the will-they-won’t they between Karadec and Morgan, that’s up to our writers’ room,” Sunjata, 54, said exclusively. we in November 2024. “I think they’re going to play the long game with this particular story.”
Sunjata made it clear that the couple’s fate it depended on the writers. “I would say there’s definitely some electricity between the two of them. There’s a reluctant mutual attraction going on,” she added. “But I don’t think we should expect to see anything crazy like that happen anytime soon.”
Harthan gave later we a promising update on their plans for fan-favorite characters.
“You never know. I don’t let my guard down about these things either. I don’t get too confident until your audience dictates a lot of the things you do. What are they so hungry for?” Harthan shared with us at the time. “I may be famous for planning slow things, but I love a slow burn. Like, selfishly, I love it.”
Harthan said the show will continue to invest in Morgan and Karadec. “We’re going to write this for a while. Even if you fall in love with someone at some point, maybe you’re also more in love with the partner and the friendship. And maybe you’re afraid enough of the risk of crossing certain lines,” he hinted. “For me, it’s really fun to play in that space before crossing certain lines. There’s a lot of life in this show, and I want to make sure we do it at a pace that doesn’t leave a good story on the table.”
high potential airs Tuesdays on ABC at 9pm ET. The show streams on Hulu.