How The CW’s ‘Wild Cards’ is a Win for Women of Color

For Wild Cards showrunner Michael Konyves, he wanted to bring a fun procedural series using the formula of a good cop and a petty criminal (with a heart of gold) to solve cases together. That’s how his new series Wild Card came about.

He wanted something fresh and fun so that people would just fall in love with the characters and their cases. Sound familiar?

White Collar.
Lucifer.
Suits.
Castle.
Psych*.
Blindspot.
The Mentalist.
Chuck.
The Blacklist.

All these shows feature a criminal or non-official officer partnering up with an official cop, detective, or lawyer to solve crimes or cases. They all also have something else in common — they’re all white.

In the new CW series, Wild Cards, demoted-cop Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) arrests a cunning con woman, Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan). While in custody, she partners with him on a case that his precinct seems to have trouble solving. With his book smarts and her street smarts, they become a great team — one that the higher ups cannot ignore and allow them to continue working together in order for Ellis to get his detective badge back and for Max to stay out of prison.

Wild Cards — “The Infinity Thief” — Pictured (L-R) : Vanessa Morgan as Max and Giacomo Gianniotti as Ellis — Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

When it came down to the casting, Konyves knew he wanted the series to be inclusive and reflect society — people of color exist.

“There are hardly any women of color doing a role like this — a leading role like this on a broadcast network show,” Konyves tells The Nerds of Color. “[A show] where they’re allowed to be funny and clever and lead the whole thing – and that makes me very happy.”

After searching extensively for their leading lady — Max, they found her in Riverdale’s Vanessa Morgan. Morgan, who is biracial Black and white, was really excited to play this character with such a rich backstory and just why she became the way she is. When it came down to Max’s family life, she noticed that it reflected her own biracial background.

“I didn’t even have to have that talk,” Morgan tells The Nerds of Color. “Our showrunner Michael Konyves was so great [and just did it].”

Morgan has played so many roles, but never fully had her character’s background reflect her own biracial background – until Wild Cards. She hopes kids like her will see her character and their family dynamic and feel seen.

“As a kid growing up, Halle Berry was the only role model I saw that was like my ethnicity or looked like me,” Morgan shares. “It’s just really nice seeing more and more of that on TV.”

Despite the series following a familiar formula of the con person partnering with the cop, actor Giacomo Gianniotti says the characters have flipped the switch for what has been seen before, especially with Max’s fun, laid-back personality mixed with Ellis’ sharpness and “by the book” persona. This duo is also fresh with their witty jokes, adding some pop culture references in the conversation.

“I think what sets Max and an Ellis apart is that we start with this very odd couple concept that they’re completely different on their exteriors, but – in actuality, their interiors are much more similar than they think,” Gianniotti explains. “That’s sort of the journey of the first season that we’ll see. If the audience watches the full season, they’ll be able to see that they are a yin and yang. But, by the end of the season — and as we keep going with other seasons, their similarities are really going to be what draws them together.”

Morgan agrees, “[You see] how much fun Max has and how she really pulls that out of Ellis. It’s a really fun dynamic.”

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this sort of relationship between the carefree woman and the stern man. It reminds me of the days of the ’90s with The Nanny and Dharma and Greg. Then a shift seemed to have happened where the con/non-officiant was the laid-back guy working with the stringent woman cop. Konyves and Morgan are switching it back and having so much fun while doing it.

“Obviously, she’s a con artist,” Morgan explains. “But the way that she just flows through life and brings that to Ellis — I think that is what makes [this series] different.”

Wild Cards premieres tonight, January 17, at 8pm on The CW.