ABC’s High Potential Is a Slick Crime Procedural Tailored to Kaitlin Olson’s Talents

There’s a lot to respect about actress/comedian Kaitlin Olson’s career, especially her television choices. Outside of her 16 seasons of the sometimes gut-bustingly funny, ‘terrible person’ comedy as Sweet Dee Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Olson toplined the underseen gem The Mick, stole scenes on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and continues to infuse some maternal pathos to Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) emotionally chilly existence as DJ in Hacks. There’s a savvy curation underscoring her steady output which translates to audiences now trusting that, if Olson’s in it, then it’s worth giving it a try. And she doesn’t break that streak with her latest, the ABC character-centric, consultant procedural, High Potential. 

Festooned in a personal uniform of mini skirts, clashing patterns, and smoky eyes—think Erin Brockovich with less cleavage—Olson’s Morgan is also a lighting rod for your eyes. Despite the bland show title, Olson taps into her signature eccentricities, which elevates this ‘case of the week’ procedural. She, and the show’s witty, sitcom-esque technique of peppering in hyper-cut visuals to illustrate exposition moments, give High Potential its hook, with the quality of the cases and the talented ensemble sealing the entertainment factor-deal.

As a single mother of three, Morgan is set up to be a seemingly average Angelino trying to pay rent with an overnight job cleaning a downtown police precinct. And then she accidentally knocks over an evidence box, and she’s transfixed with connecting the case’s dots—to the point where she leaves a note on the murder board with who she thinks is actually responsible. If you guess that’s not appreciated by the department chief Selena (Judy Reyes) or the insulted detective, Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), you would be right. So, they ID her on the security footage and bring her in to grill her about why she took liberties to ‘case tamper’ with their investigation. This is where Morgan and title coalesce as she begrudgingly admits that she’s got an obsessive compulsion to make things line up because of her 160 IQ. Her constantly-busy brain is tirelessly collecting details and facts, which makes her talent feel like anything but a ‘gift.’ But her case assessments turn out to be right, which impresses Selena, intrigues the other team cops, Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz), and just irritates the hell out of Karadec. 

Even these cops know when a secret weapon’s fallen in their lap, so they tentatively let her shadow them on some field reconnaissance, which lapses into Morgan inserting herself into the cases. What could be very irritating in another, less-able actor’s hands is instead delightfully playful and impishly competent by Olson. It’s like Morgan is the late adolescent puppy version of Peter Falk’s Columbo. Both are dogged and beyond insightful, but Morgan’s enthusiasm and impulsiveness separates her from her peers in this storied subgenre. Part of the show’s charm in the first three episodes provided for review is watching her chase the case, and get verbally swatted on the knuckles by Karadec when her actions might jeopardize the admissibility of evidence or the safety of a crime scene. 

The chemistry between Morgan and Karadec has, as the title implies, high potential as Morgan’s more permanent consultant position in the department puts them in close proximity for cases. Their styles are oil and water, but the writers are smart enough to give them a one-step forward, two-steps back evolving appreciation for one another’s prowess. As for the rest of the team, Serena’s already forming an almost-warm bond with Morgan (fingers crossed for strong female friendship) as they chase a personal cold case set up to be the simmering serialized mystery of the series. And it’s always a plus to have Judy Reyes in your cast. 

For a procedural, High Potential is an entertaining watch. The wittiness of the dialogue and the breeziness of the cases is what you would expect when you have series executive producers the caliber of Drew Goddard (Lost), Rob Thomas, and Diane Ruggiero-Wright (Veronica Mars). All three are known for their skills in crafting snappy dialogue and building out character chemistry, and that bodes well for some of the undeveloped cops—and a, so far, very underused Taran Killam (SNL) as Morgan’s baby daddy ex. The cases are also smart and feature a plethora of eclectic fun facts on an array of subjects that Morgan has retained in her hamster wheel-head being a night owl documentary watcher and avid reader. Her hyper-brained abilities are plausibly used in the field, and even though the series does lean on her a little too much as the exposition dumper and smartest person in the room for those first two episodes, there is a concerted effort to temper that by the third. 

High Potential is a very strong series start, scratching the entertainment itch for those who love clever mysteries and quirky character pieces that make procedurals more watchable. Olson’s Morgan is a bright, infinitely charming lead who also knows how to throw out a well-placed zinger. Folding in kids and recurring neighbors smartly gives her a life outside of her talents, which means her personal life is an equal draw that gives Morgan more to do than just be Scooby-Doo every week. If the show continues at this quality, there’s plenty of potential for this to be a multi-season hit.

High Potential premieres Tuesday, September 17th at 10 pm ET on ABC, streaming next day on Hulu. 

Tara Bennett is a Los Angeles-based writer covering film, television and pop culture for publications such as SFX Magazine, NBC Insider, SYFY Wire and more. She’s also written official books on Sons of Anarchy, Outlander, Fringe, The Story of Marvel Studios, Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming The Art of Ryan Meinerding. You can follow her on Twitter @TaraDBennett or Instagram @TaraDBen

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