High Potential fans who are holding out hope for a romance between Morgan and Karadec are about to find out she has more options — courtesy of newcomer Steve Howey.
Ahead of his series debut on Tuesday, October 7, Howey teased how his character Nick Wagner could come between fan-favorite couple Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) before they even get together.
“Obviously in season 1 they have this little flirtation, but I’m taller so that goes a long way,” he quipped during Us Weekly‘s set visit to Fox Studios in Los Angeles. “It’s so easy to work with Kaitlin. She’s so smart and funny that you really just need to say your lines. It’s easy. She’s a joy to work with because she brings different things [to the table] and she adds her ideas and I am a huge fan. She definitely keeps me on my toes.”
Howey is excited for viewers to see how that translates onto the screen. While it remains to be seen whether Morgan will be interested in Wagner, Sunjata recently told Us what to expect in season 2.
“I’m not surprised that people jumped on board with [Morgan and Karadec] because it’s between the lines and almost implied,” Sunjata told Us. “But Morgan meets a lot of people as she moves around.”
Karadec won’t be the only man Morgan will be spending time with in season 2. “She’s got options,” he added. “Karadec probably has a few options too. We’ll see what happens.”
Speaking of new people to consider, Wagner will have his hands full not only when it comes to his relationship with Morgan — but the rest of the precinct too. After beating out Soto (Judy Reyes) for the position of captain, Wagner won’t be everyone’s favorite in Major Crimes.
“Nick comes in and does ruffle some feathers. But his motives and his intentions are not to do that. He wants to help and we start seeing that in different episodes,” Howey explained. “That was my fear and my concern. When you have such a lightning in the bottle strong dynamic of these characters, throwing in another character can potentially thrown that off. I’m still working on not doing that.”
He continued: “This is going to evolve into something really cool. We don’t know about the chemistry with Nick and Morgan. Obviously there is [something]. But as he’s incrementally gaining more trust with the department, hopefully it gets better and better.”
Howey, for his part, was thrilled at the chance to join one of his favorite shows.
“The first season was amazing. It is not your usual procedure. I love the insert shots and I love their style. But I have friends in real life that are police officers and are part of the sheriff’s department. So I talked to them and they definitely made fun of me because that’s what they do,” he told Us. “I’m taking my own leeway a little bit about who this guy is and that comes from the writers about who his family is and how they were in law enforcement and now in politics. So he has something to prove to the department and to himself. So it’s fun to work on it and see what comes out of it.”
When asked about the best part of getting to play Nick Wagner, Howey joked, “The badge. I was like, ‘Does he get a badge?’ So I’m walking around like a little boy that has a new fireman’s hat on. I have the badge on my hip and I am flipping up my jacket. I’m in the mirror showing off for myself.”
High Potential airs on ABC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.