If you’ll indulge us, we’d like to reopen an investigation that “High Potential” severely overlooked: the case of the missing mustache.
We’re referring to Captain Nick Wagner, who reappeared clean shaven this week after rocking some polarizing facial hair for several episodes. Sure, the show briefly addressed the decision, with Morgan assuming partial blame for teasing him about it previously, but it was all a little too easy for us. Was it really because of what Morgan said, or was it simply time for the little bugger to go?
After speaking with “High Potential” showrunner Todd Harthan, TVLine can confirm that Nick made the decision independently from Morgan’s feedback. (When they first met in the elevator, she asked him, “What’s someone like you doing in a police station? Trying to get that mustache to make sense?”)
“It was time for it to go, and I don’t think it had anything to do with what Morgan said,” Harthan explains. “I think he’s probably had plenty of people in his orbit other than Morgan comment on that particular part of his aesthetic, and at some point you’re just like, ‘All right, enough is enough. This thing’s got to go.'”
But what about the behind-the-scenes of it all? If it wasn’t going to be used as some sort of character device, why did Steve Howey really shave? And for that matter, why did he have a mustache in the first place? Enter Harthan with the backstory:
“Steve Howey was doing another series at the time that required him having a beard, but we didn’t want him to have a beard in the show because … we already have a lot of beards floating around,” Harthan says. “So we thought he’d be clean shaven, but the other show was like, ‘Can we not [shave] the whole thing? Can you leave a little?’ So we said, ‘OK, we’ll leave the mustache and see how it looks.’ We looked at it and thought, ‘All right, it’s not quite Tom Selleck, but cool.”
The mustache survived for a few episodes, but after much feedback, the decision was made to shave it off. Harthan finally had to tell the other show, “Guys, we respect that you don’t want to put a full fake beard on him, but we’ve had a lot of people weigh in on this thing and the ‘stache has to go.”
Lest you think we’re making a big deal out of nothing, know this: “I think they called it Stachegate on set,” Harthan says. “I’ve had more conversations about that guy’s facial hair than I’ve had about our season finale plans.”
OK, let’s talk: Were you a fan of Nick’s short-lived mustache? Did you also believe that Morgan’s teasing had something to do with him shaving it? And how are you feeling about Howey’s character overall? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.