#karagan

waiting for the break to be over 😔

The amount of people I’ve seen saying “let’s not ship Morgadec… 😬” or “why can’t a man and a woman just be friends?? 🙄 romance would ruin the relationship”

…

For so many years of my life.

I have been the one pushing the platonic narrative.

I have been the one denouncing romance.

AND YOU’RE TELLING ME.

THAT THE FIRST TIME I ACTUALLY ROMANTICALLY SHIP TWO CHARACTERS. BECAUSE THEY HAVE GREAT CHEMISTRY IN AND OUT OF A RELATIONSHIP. WHO ARE BASICALLY ON THEIR WAY TO CANON ALREADY. THE FANS HAVE FINALLY DECIDED “let’s not normalize this btw”

Horrifically ironic.

The High Potential S2, Episode 18 season finale titled, “Family Tree” was chock full of good meaty stuff to chew on over the next few months. And I fear this episode analysis will be long, especially since the title alone holds a lot of symbolism and double meanings but will get to the symbolism part later in this post. First, will start with the most controversial character.

Captain Nick Wagner: I have to say, I wasn’t super surprised about what happened to Nick Wagner. In fact the moment he whispered to Morgan that they would have to talk about that ‘other thing later’ meaning the kiss, I knew he was in trouble. Had a feeling he would try to redeem himself on his way out, and he made me eat my words from my last episode review (when I called him selfish) and he finally put Morgan first by texting her the wrong meeting time on purpose. I will be the first to admit he showed exemplary growth there and I think what he did was honorable and selfless.

Now I do think that little ill-timed rendezvous at the end between Morgan and Nick, and whoever else stabbed or shot him could potentially create some complications for Morgan and Adam down the line. Why? Because Morgan didn’t tell Adam about her making a side hustle with Wagner to investigate Roman independently, since Adam will likely be coming fresh off his just ‘got played’, by Lucia, accomplice to murder. And if he finds out about Morgan and Nick kissing? Not that Morgan doesn’t have every right to kiss any person she wants, but it could put a bit of a wedge between them. I don’t think Wagner Sr. was behind that attack. I think it was Willa, as she has proven time and time again that she has connections on the inside and she was able to make Erik disappear quickly. (I only wish Soto would not have shown her hand to Willa so willingly about what information they had already obtained).

Speaking of Soto, I loved her comment to Morgan about not being afraid of Willa’s threats. Soto is a badass who has proven time and time again to have Morgan’s back. The entire A-Team (Soto, Karadec, Daphne, & Oz) have really been there for Morgan without asking for anything in return. I hope Morgan remembers that. I know she tries to support them in her own way, but there is a little transparency thing that she needs to remember must work both ways, because it really could put herself and the team in danger-when her instinct to go rogue kicks in, like she did with Nick.

And holy shit, Lucia really did a number on Adam-wow, girl really knew how to eff up her life. I have to say her actions were the most surprising for me. Of everyone, I could have sworn, it would have been Lucia who was going to be the one to cut the chord with Adam once she realized he still had feelings for Morgan. (Maybe Lucia will still make a reappearance in a future episode and we could still get this POV from her), but as it is, we only saw Lucia as mostly a one-dimensional character who was there to be Adam’s girlfriend, except at the end when it appeared even though she had his complete loyalty, she felt she had to go to the dark side to preserve what they had. Sorry Lucia, you could have played that much differently and probably still come out ahead. Honestly, I was a little disappointed in her character.

So back to Morgan. I think I understand Morgan a little better after watching this episode. It’s obvious her priority #1 is her kids. And that calls back to the title of the episode, ‘Family Tree’ and how I mentioned earlier that there was a lot of symbolism tying into the title of this episode. Like when Morgan went full “Mama Bear’ on Willa Quinn, after Willa threatened her kids. (Don’t trust Willa at all BTW-Think that woman is evil)

Even when it came to Nick, Morgan may have enjoyed herself when he kissed her, but she wasn’t looking for a relationship. They obviously didn’t discuss it at the time, and she went home and spent Mother’s Day with her children, because she’s got her priorities.  It is and will always be family first.

But just like Morgan is the rock for her children. Morgan’s rock has been and continues to be her partner, Detective Adam Karadec. And back to the theme of Family tree, early in the episode Lucia comments to Adam before she’s about to be interrogated is that ‘Adam would make a great dad.’ And then at the end of the episode Adam shows up at Morgan’s house, after he finds out that Lucia was indeed involved in the murder cover up, a broken man and Morgan embraces him and invites him to her daughter, Ava's important art show (an intimate activity that I imagine only a friend she held in very high regard and was 100% trusted could get an invite.) Adam even answers he would love to go, but must tend to Lucia first, and that’s when they have that moment where Morgan who appears to be sympathetic to his heartbreak, a single tear falls down her cheek and he reaches up to sweep it gently away with his thumb.

They aren’t there yet, but considering where they were at this time last season. Adam sees her in the pink dress and gets fumbled all about asking her if she wants him to buy her a drink. When you think about how far these two have come. In s1, Adam could barely take Morgan seriously, to her being his most trusted ally, confidant, and the reason he opened his heart. And Morgan is letting her guard down with him too and I think they both are starting to get to a place now where they can’t imagine their lives without the other person in it. Two partners who have been to hell and back together, who talk about love and relationships and being the others person in times of high duress, and still at the end on their worst day in the darkest hour, they choose to seek the other out for solace-this is the foundation for endgame.

I have to add a shout out and thank you to TPTB because at the beginning of the season I put on my wish list for a Morgan/Adam hug, and not only did we get one amazing embrace after Morgan’s panic attack, but we got two! <3

BTW, I know there are already so many ship names for these two but couldn’t help but thinking, what about Madam? (Morgan + Adam = MADAM ), since when Morgan calls Adam by his first name it’s more intimate. Anyhow, just putting that one out there into the universe. 😊

Last few observations:

Not sure about Nick Wagner coming back. I kind of think he didn’t make it. Typically, when it happens at the end of the season like that and the actor has a lot of other obligations they are likely signing off. ☹ But we will see.

I also swore I saw a man’s silhouette at the end of Ava’s art show making it appear as if someone was watching Ava from afar. Was that supposed to be Roman? Or is Ava now in danger?

On the Roman front, I don’t believe he committed cold blooded murder if he killed the dirty FBI agent. My thought is that if he did kill her, he did it to protect his family. But if he didn’t do it, it’s possible that he could have been framed too.

And last but not least, the S3 wish list:

I want to see a Selena Soto-centric episode and what her relationship is like with her ex-husband and her children, who I’m assuming are now adult children. Also, would like to see an Oz and Daphne-centric episode too where we learn more about their back stories. I’d be okay if they did theirs together. (Maybe we could see Oz working at the amusement park, teehee)

I would like an Adam backstory too, maybe one with his mom. Id like to know more about Adam’s upbringing. Morgan tends to assume a lot about him, but Id be really interested to know how much she got right or wrong.

Id also like to know about Morgan and her relationship or lack of a relationship with her father. She’s mentioned him a couple times and he seems to be a sore subject for Morgan. I want to know how he relates to her now and how he might fit into her world and her kids’ lives if at all.

Roman reveal. If they wait too long, it’s going to start to become anticlimactic and more of a running gag.

And finally, I’d like more development between the relationship of Morgan and Adam (Madam, ha-ha). Perhaps some angst, mixed with heavy pining, humor, and passion. Paired with a few death-defying brushes with baddies to inevitably bring them closer towards that love conquers all romantic endgame. <3