How High Potential Season 2 just wasted the promising Game Maker plot with Clark making atypical mistakes

High Potential season 2 promised a dangerous new arc with the Game Maker, introduced as Matthew Clark, but the follow-through left viewers frustrated. Clark was built up in the season 1 finale and premiere as Morgan Gillory’s intellectual equal, someone who could push her past her comfort zone.

Instead, the storyline collapsed because Clark made mistakes that felt forced and out of character. The most glaring issue came when he deliberately directed Morgan past the room where Maya was being held.

In High Potential season 2, that decision immediately undercut his plan to manipulate Derek into killing Howard, even though he was minutes away from pulling it off. It wasn’t Morgan’s deduction that brought him down but Clark essentially tripping over his own setup.

The hospital sequence only made things worse. A criminal this sharp would never overlook basic security cameras in a building where he regularly volunteered. Yet that oversight is what allowed the team to tie him to stolen blood.

In High Potential season 2, even Morgan’s realization that Maya’s supposed injuries didn’t match the crime scene evidence felt like a shortcut. Instead of delivering a tense chess match between two equal minds, the writers wrapped the arc in rushed contrivances, wasting what should have been a season-defining storyline.

How High Potential Season 2 threw away the Game Maker Arc

The biggest issue with how High Potential season 2 handled the Game Maker storyline is how quickly it abandoned its own setup. Clark was introduced as the kind of adversary who could destabilize Morgan’s usual confidence. The writers made it clear in season 1 that this man wasn’t just another criminal of the week but someone who operated on her level.

That’s why his downfall, being tied to careless slip-ups, felt like a betrayal of the groundwork already laid. His backstory, seeking revenge on wealthy people after his mother’s wrongful imprisonment and death, was compelling enough to justify a long arc. Instead, it was wrapped up within two episodes, cutting off any chance of real tension.

Clark’s decisions didn’t just feel out of character, they also robbed Morgan of the chance to prove herself. A major flaw of the episode is that Morgan doesn’t outthink Clark so much as stumble into the gaps he leaves open. For example, his plan to frame Derek for Howard’s murder was clever and nearly complete.

There was no logic in him tipping Morgan off before the outcome. Viewers expecting a prolonged mental battle between the two were left with a shortcut resolution. It undermined both characters, Clark looked careless, and Morgan never had to earn the win.

The hospital scenes only pushed the implausibility further. Clark volunteering there regularly would have meant he knew every corner of the place, especially the presence of security cameras. To suddenly forget that basic reality was insulting to the intelligence the show had spent time attributing to him.

Even the forensic details, like Maya’s supposed injuries not matching her actual condition, should have been a chance for Morgan to dig deeper into his deception. Instead, the script treated it like an oversight Clark accidentally left behind, even though it was the kind of mistake he never would have made earlier.

The end result was a resolution that felt like the writers clearing the board to move on to Roman’s mystery. Clark, who could have been positioned as Morgan’s long-term Moriarty-style foil, was reduced to a disposable obstacle.

Network procedurals often rush through arcs to reset the format, but here it cost the show an opportunity to elevate Morgan’s story. What could have been a season-long exploration of her battling an equal ended in a rushed exit that left audiences unsatisfied.

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