High Potential (2024)

High Potential is an American crime comedy drama television series created by Drew Goddard for ABC. It is based on the 2021 Franco-Belgian television series HPI. The series stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory, an intellectually gifted cleaning woman who becomes a police consultant. Also starring are Daniel Sunjata as Morgan's partner Adam Karadec and Judy Reyes as Selena Soto, the head of their unit. The series premiered on September 17, 2024. In January 2025, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on September 16, 2025. In March 2026, the series was renewed for a third season.

Premise

The series follows Morgan Gillory, a single mother of three who works as a cleaner at the Los Angeles Police Department. Morgan has an IQ of 160, classifying her as a high-potential intellectual (HPI). When she unexpectedly solves a complex case using her unorthodox thinking and keen observational skills, she is recruited as a civilian consultant for the LAPD's Major Crimes Division. There, she is partnered with Detective Adam Karadec, a disciplined and methodical investigator whose by-the-book approach often clashes with Morgan's intuitive and unconventional methods.

A subplot follows Morgan's use of LAPD resources to investigate the 15-year-old disappearance of Roman, the father of her daughter Ava.

Cast and characters

Main

Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory, a single mother with three children, an IQ of 160, and a wide range of knowledge. Morgan works as a cleaner for the LAPD until Selena offers her a consultant position.

Daniel Sunjata as Adam Karadec, a detective who is initially skeptical about Morgan being an asset to the LAPD but later becomes her dedicated partner

Javicia Leslie as Daphne Forrester, Major Crimes investigator and Oz's partner

Deniz Akdeniz as Lev "Oz" Özdil, Major Crimes investigator and Daphne's partner

Amirah J as Ava Gillory, Morgan's rebellious teenage daughter whose father, Roman, disappeared 16 years before the series begins

Matthew Lamb as Elliot Radovic, Morgan's son with her second ex-partner, Ludo, who seems to have inherited his mother's high-potential intellect

Judy Reyes as Selena Soto, The Major Crimes' Lieutenant and head of the Major Crimes Division, where Morgan serves as a consultant.

Steve Howey as Nick Wagner (season 2), the new captain of the station

Recurring

Taran Killam as Ludo Radovic, Morgan's ex-partner, Ava's ex-stepfather and Elliot and Chloe's father, who is a driving instructor. Despite their split, he and Morgan are on friendly terms, and he takes care of all three of the children as a "manny" salaried by the LAPD.

Garret Dillahunt as Lieutenant Melon (season 1), the head of the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division

JD Pardo as Tom (season 1), a janitor in the LAPD who is in nursing school and later takes a job in a hospital

David Giuntoli as the Game Maker / Matthew Clark

Mekhi Phifer as Arthur Ellis (season 2), a man who claims to be Roman's "friend" and looks after Morgan and Ava, seemingly at Roman's request

John Pyper-Ferguson as Eric Hayworth (season 2), a man who is involved with Roman's disappearance

Susan Kelechi Watson as Lucia (season 2), Karadec's ex-fiancée who he briefly reconnects with

Special guest star

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Willa Quinn (season 2), a fixer for the powerful and wealthy people based in New York who has ties with Roman's disappearance

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2024–25)

Season 2 (2025–26)

Production

Development

On September 20, 2022, High Potential was given a pilot order by ABC. The pilot was written by Drew Goddard. It is based on the 2021 Franco-Belgian television series HPI : Haut potentiel intellectuel. On May 16, 2023, High Potential was picked to series by ABC. The series was created by Goddard who was expected to executive produce alongside Sarah Esberg, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, Pierre Laugier, Anthony Lancret, Jean Nainchrik, and Alethea Jones. Jones also directed the pilot. Thomas also was expected to serve as the showrunner. Kaitlin Olson was expected to serve as producer. Production companies involved with the series are Goddard Textiles, Spondoolie Productions, Itinéraire Productions, Septembre Productions, and ABC Signature. On June 5, 2024, Thomas exited as the showrunner for the series. On June 21, 2024, Todd Harthan was announced as the new showrunner who would also serve as an executive producer, replacing Thomas. High Potential is the last series from ABC Signature before the division was folded into 20th Television on October 1, 2024.

On January 21, 2025, ABC renewed the series for a second season. Five months later, Olson was promoted from producer to executive producer for the second season. On March 5, 2026, ABC renewed the series for a third season, with Harthan stepping down as the showrunner. On May 6, 2026, Nora Zuckerman and her sister Lilla Zuckerman were named as the new showrunners for the third season. Filming for season 3 began on June 29th, 2026.

Casting

Upon the series pickup announcement, Olson, Daniel Sunjata, Javicia Leslie, Deniz Akdeniz, Amirah J, Matthew Lamb, and Judy Reyes were cast in starring roles. On July 1, 2024, Garret Dillahunt joined cast in a recurring capacity. On August 21, 2024, Taran Killam was cast in a recurring role. On June 26, 2025, Steve Howey joined the cast as a new series regular for the second season. On July 14, 2025, Mekhi Phifer was cast in an unnamed recurring role for the second season. On August 23, 2025, it was reported that David Giuntoli who appeared on the first season finale episode is set to recur for the second season. On January 15, 2026, Susan Kelechi Watson joined the cast in a recurring role for the second season.

Release

High Potential premiered on ABC on September 17, 2024. The series was later made available to stream on Hulu. Due to the show's initial atypical production schedule and Kaitlin Olson's commitment to her other television role on FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, ABC only ordered 13 episodes for the first season instead of a longer 20-episode season. The 18 episode second season premiered on September 16, 2025.

Reception

Critical response

The series' first season holds a 96% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With the ineffable Kaitlin Olson on hand to inject some spiky personality into a familiar formula, High Potential is a solid procedural with plenty of upside." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable".

Aramide Tinubu of Variety asserted that High Potential is a solid police procedural, praised Kaitlin Olson's performance, noting her ability to bring quirky charm to the role. Tinubu found the show's premise to be engaging, with Morgan's genius-level IQ and eccentricities offering a unique spin on the crime genre. Tinubu stated that while High Potential does not break new ground in the genre, it remains a perfectly adequate and formulaic watch. Tinubu appreciated the supporting cast, especially the chemistry between Olson and her co-stars, and highlighted the intriguing dynamic between Morgan and Detective Karadec.

Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter said that High Potential is a show with a promising star but a shaky premise, praising Olson for her strong performance as Morgan. Fienberg found the exposition in the pilot, particularly Morgan's unsolicited revelation of her IQ, to be off-putting and distracting, noting it undermines the character's likability. He stated that the show struggles with its central premise, particularly around the question of how much Morgan's "high potential" actually contributes to solving cases, which leaves other characters feeling superfluous. Fienberg appreciated Olson's ability to ground the show and make the absurd moments enjoyable, but noted that the series as a whole is still finding its balance, with the chemistry between Olson and her co-stars, especially Daniel Sunjata, still developing. He concluded that while Olson represents the series' "high potential," the rest of the show needs to catch up.

The series' second season has a 100% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 6 critic reviews. On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 75 out of 100 based on 6 critics, signifying "generally favorable".

Ratings

The premiere of High Potential saw a 220% increase in viewership, reaching 11.5 million viewers across platforms (including Hulu and Hulu on Disney+) within three days, from an initial 3.6 million on ABC alone. In the key 18-49 demographic, the rating rose by 354% (from 0.35 to 1.59) after 3 days of additional viewing across multiple streaming platforms. On Hulu, the series ranked in the Top 15 and held the No. 1 spot for three consecutive days starting September 22.

High Potential later became the most-watched new series on ABC in six years, surpassing The Conners' record from the 2018-2019 season. The October 22 episode was watched by 6.83 million viewers in Live + 7 Days metric, marking ABC's top spot in the Tuesday night scripted lineup for the first time in four years. After including streaming data from Hulu and Disney+, the episode's viewership rose to 10.49 million viewers - a 191% increase from its Live + Same Day ratings of 3.6 million, with steady viewership retention since the pilot.

Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, revealed that High Potential ranked as the No. 12 show of the fall among adults 18–49 in Nielsen live+7 ratings, with a 0.57 rating. Including seven days of streaming, the show rose to No. 1 in the demographic with a 2.33 rating, reflecting a 309% increase driven by its performance on Hulu. It also became the most-streamed broadcast entertainment series of the fall, with 4.3 million streaming viewers, which boosted its total viewership from 6.5 million in live+7 to 10.8 million across platforms, making it the third most-watched show in total viewers.

The January 14, 2025, episode of High Potential set a series high with 13.19 million cross-platform viewers over seven days and a 2.44 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic (about 3.27 million viewers). The episode also drew 9.14 million viewers in Nielsen's seven-day linear ratings. Streaming accounted for about 31% of the audience, with 4.05 million viewers, particularly skewing younger, with more than two-thirds of the 18-49 viewers (about 2.22 million people) watching via streaming. This performance marked the largest audience for an ABC drama in over four years, since Grey's Anatomy episodes in fall 2020. High Potential was the most-watched premiere on ABC's fall 2025 lineup, attracting 11.9 million multi-platform viewers within seven days of its debut. Including encore broadcasts, the total audience reached 15.9 million viewers, representing a 28% increase over the series' previous fall debut, which drew 9.3 million viewers during the same period.

Overall

Season 1

Season 2

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

Official website

High Potential at IMDb