I Have Theories About High Potential's Game Master Villain, And A Few Of Them Are Wilder Than Others

Spoilers below for those who still haven’t yet watched High Potential’s Season 1 finale on ABC or with a Hulu subscription.

After a relatively calm season — as calm as a season full of mysterious murders can be, at least — Kaitlin Olson’s freshman dramedy High Potential pulled off a triple-cliffhanger finale that gives every other show on the 2025 TV schedule a run for its money. Not only did JD Pardo's Tom return (only to get left behind again), but there was there a major positive update about Roman, as well as the introduction of a Morgan-thwarting killer.

As portrayed by Grimm and A Million Little Things co-star David Giuntoli, High Potential’s final Season 1 antagonist is unlike any who popped up previously. He has a penchant for games, a IQ somewhere in the vicinity of Morgan’s, and a lofty enough sense of confidence to directly antagonize the the LAPD. The fact that he wasn’t taken down by the end of the episode bodes ill for Kaitlin Olson’s brainy consultant.

But that turmoil could go down in a variety of different ways when the already-renewed-for-Season-2 series returns, depending on whether or not the Game Master’s true identity will be a reveal in and of itself. Assuming that will be the case, I’ve pulled together several different theories, with some falling on the side of “realistic and believable,” while a couple of others are fueled purely by conspiracy theorist vibes.

He's Morgan's Biological Brother Whose Existence She'd Repressed

Nothing indicates a juicy TV drama like a surprise sibling reveal, and High Potential does seem to have guided viewers down this very narrative path with its Game Master killer. Even beyond the deadly trickster showing off his impressive intellect, Morgan addressed a negative memory about her father, and her mood hinted that it may be one of the only times she shares any info about his impact on her childhood.

Morgan's story was about her dad, who own HPI made him judgmental of his daughter and her potential second-grade chums for playing jacks, a game for simpletons, instead of a more challenging game like chess or shogi. I assume that story is indicative of other incidents from that era, and that he would have been just as strict and harsh for any siblings that Morgan might have.

Given that Morgan has a photographic memory and essentially remembers everything that's ever happened to her — which is sometimes to the detriment of the series — it would be especially twisty to learn that the Game Master is either an older or younger sibling whom Morgan purposefully repressed and willingly pushed out of her memories for whatever reason. Maybe he pulled a similar stunt in their youth that led to him being taken away by authorities or child services.

He's Morgan's Biological Brother That She Never Knew Existed

I'll admit even I think it's tapping into unbelievable territories to think that Morgan would forget someone as important and ever-present as a biological sibling. But what if that sibling was actually a love child that her father conceived with a woman who wasn't Morgan's mom?

Maybe this is a case where the Game Master's childhood was such a wreck that he felt the need to find out who his real father is, and aims to destroy everything else that his father created, including the sister that he wasn't previously aware of. Maybe all the stunt-y kills were just tests to confirm that Morgan is indeed as smart as he suspected his own sister would be.

He's Morgan's Secret Admirer Trying To Impress Her

If his kill weren't all in service of cementing familial bloodlines, then perhaps David Giuntoli's character has a different set of ulterior motives on the brain. Maybe instead of a sibling-based interest, the Game Master is instead feeling a bit amorous about Morgan and is trying to get her attention in the only way he knows how: by nearly drowning her work colleague.

I didn't say he was any GOOD at trying to impress her. It could very well be a worst case scenario approach to love, with this version of Cupid wearing a Billy the Puppet mask from the Saw franchise.

He's A Friend That Tom Hired To Stalk Morgan For Jilting Him

Hear me out on this one. JD Pardo's Tom was entirely smitten by Morgan, thus his frequent attempts to take her out and spend time with her. And she was always very reciprocating, even with the caveat that she would always put her family and her new consultant job first. But even though he seemed to understand, he still tried to woo her, only to get left stranded at every turn.

And so what better way to get revenge for all the jilting than by working with a devious killer whose skillset seems directly applicable to all of Morgan's intelligence quirks? Granted, Tom doesn't come across as a hyper-immature piece of shit who can't take "no" for an answer, and is probably capable of attracting plenty of other women without the need for a body count. But who better to avoid suspicion?

He's Actually Morgan's Missing Ex Roman

What if a pair of the biggest mysteries in Morgan's life right now are actually just two parts of the same mystery? What if Giuntoli's Game Master is actually the long-missing Roman, whose post-informant life spun completely haywire to the point where he went mental and turned into a methodical killer?

Obviously Olson's character would recognize the father of her first-born child, so Roman clearly would have had to change his appearance in major ways, with lots of plastic surgery being utilized. Of course, the man that helped Morgan in that parking lot is a lot...whiter than what the name Roman Sinquerra connotes, so this may be entirely too problematic a route for High Potential's creative team to take.

He's Someone From Karadec's Past With A Score To Settle

For all the attention pointed at Morgan in the above choices, it stands to reason that she isn't the actual endgame target here, especially given the short amount of time she's actually been active within the LAPD. What if the Game Master is actually someone whose past crimes put them in Karadec's crosshairs, and now aims to get revenge on the detective who put them away?

Sure, it's less likely considering Morgan is the main character here, but I think it'd be an interesting tactic to have everyone focused on figuring out how Morgan is connected to the killer, only to learn too late that they were all barking up the wrong tree. Audiences learned more and more about Karadec's past as Season 1 went on, and I could easily see the show using one or more of his past cases to inform current narratives.

He's A Total Stranger With Zero Connections To Main Characters

Perhaps the most unbelievable option of all: the Game Master villain didn't know Morgan, her family, or anyone specific at the LAPD before this batch of murder plots. His motivations are entirely unconnected to any events from Morgan and Roman's respective pasts, and are both selfish and random in nature.

Pffffft. Yeah, right. If David Giuntoli's character ends up being entirely unrelated to any other characters, I'll send in my resume to become an LAPD detective. Or at least a custodian.

High Potential is currently setting the stage for Season 2, where we likely won't learn immediately what's truly happening with David Giuntoli's antagonist, so that the mystery can stretch throughout the season. In the meantime, anybody up for a round of jacks?