The twisted mystery of Roman Sinquerra’s disappearance got even twistier on the March 24 episode of “High Potential,” which ended with the bombshell reveal that Willa Quinn — the high-powered fixer who allegedly hired Eric Hayworth to kidnap Roman — is in bed with Captain Wagner’s father! (Not literally in bed, but honestly, we wouldn’t that rule out just yet.)
The LAPD had all eyes on Willa, who followed Soto back to Los Angeles after their shade-fest in New York City, but Willa did their work for them by sauntering into the precinct for a chat with her new bestie. Unfortunately, Willa remained unwilling to acknowledge her connection to Hayworth, instead offering Soto an opportunity to work “with” her on the case. Soto, of course, saw right through this; Willa was clearly afraid that Hayworth would talk before she had a chance to make him disappear… for good.
As far as Soto was concerned, she had Willa right where she wanted her, complete with a series of incriminating messages sent between Willa and Hayworth on the night Roman disappeared. But Willa had yet another trick up her sleeve: she tipped off the FBI that Hayworth is also connected to the death of FBI agent Lila Flynn, and they took him into their custody — where Soto can no longer get to him. Well played, Willa. Well played.
Then came the moment we’ll be thinking about all week: Willa sauntered into a fancy hotel for a meeting with none other than Wagner’s father (played by guest star Clancy Brown). Earlier in the episode, he asked his son to suss out whether Morgan might be interested in a well-paying job on his congressional campaign. (She said no, of course.) Apparently Willa was the one who asked Wagner’s father to recruit Morgan in the first place.
It would seem that Willa is making it her mission to get Morgan out of Major Crimes, and she’ll continue using Wagner’s father do it. “Do I need to remind you that we’re in this together?” she asked him. “I know where all of your bodies are buried. If I go down, you’re coming with me. And you are right, we are going to have to figure out another way.”
There you have it, folks. We’ve been wondering about Wagner’s true purpose on this show all season, and now we know. The involvement of his father is a fun twist, we’ll give them that, but we’re still ready for this Roman mystery to be wrapped up. (But hey, if we must be patient, at least we have Jennifer Jason Leigh’s phenomenally campy performance to make the wait more pleasurable.)