by Jason Mack, Contributing Writer
While it walks a well-trodden path, High Potential struts with enough confidence and charisma to be a worthwhile entry in a deep field of police procedurals featuring quirky and skilled consultants. This is a surprisingly deep genre with mixed results, including shows like Castle, The Mentalist, Monk, Psych, White Collar, Bones, Elementary, Limitless and more. Take a highly-skilled and equally eccentric civilian, find an excuse to pair them with a hard-nosed detective, toss in some quips and an overall comedic tone, and you’ve got yourself a show.
With originality being next to impossible to come by within the genre, success depends on excelling in other areas. My favorite from the long list of options is Psych, because it nailed the comedic tone and brought together a cast with electric chemistry. Shawn and Gus are reminiscent of the relationship with your best friend, possessing quirks only the other person can understand. It also succeeds in making you envy Shawn’s skills, while equally putting his flaws on full display.
High Potential succeeds in many similar ways. Kaitlin Olson is always a win, but she delivers in a different way here. She has proven to be a comedic genius, playing highly-flawed sociopaths in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Mick.
Her High Potential lead, Morgan Gillory, has the same lack of filter, but that’s where the comparison ends. However, it is not to the show’s detriment. Morgan is compassionate and driven by helping others, a perfect antithesis to Dee Reynolds. High Potential introduces her as a single mother of three, struggling to make ends meet as a night janitor. When she accidentally topples over some case files, her heightened intelligence is on full display, as she uncovers a break in the case and eventually lands a role as a consultant.
Morgan’s relationship with her children is the heart of the show. Everything she does is for them, and her motherly instincts prove crucial to many cases as she shows compassion for the parents and children involved.
Another crucial element to the genre is the chemistry between the consultant and the detective they are paired with. This is another strength for High Potential as Daniel Sunjata — perhaps best known as special forces fodder for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises — aces the role, and plays well off Olson as Adam Karadec. He is as strait-laced as they come, but the duo shares the ultimate drive to do whatever it takes to serve justice.
High Potential successfully achieves a comedic undertone without trying to be a comedy. Psych was a great comedy that happened to also have compelling crime stories; High Potential is a compelling crime drama that happens to also be funny. The closest thing to full-blown comedy is when the show illustrates Morgan’s thought process, displaying her comedic alternatives to what may have happened. Those jokes land well. The rest of the comedy is subtle and comes from clever dialogue and amusing situations. It won’t make you laugh a lot, but you’ll leave amused.
Another element successfully achieved by High Potential is crime stories that you feel like you could solve if you just pay attention enough, but you know you never actually will, because there is always a clever twist about 80% of the way into the episode that ties everything together.
One more element the show wisely adds is slowly unraveling, season-long mystery, which also teases a second season. It’s easy for a show like this to hit the reset button each week as it always turns over to a new case. Adding overarching storylines helps keep it grounded, and feel like it is building up to something.
High Potential is hardly original — which is fitting since it is a remake of a French series — but it does the genre justice. Unlike many police procedurals which are repetitive and serve as good background viewing, this one is worthy of your full attention. It is one of the better shows produced by network television in years. Olson carries it with a believably caring performance, and she is supported by a talented cast.
Rating: Liked It
High Potential is currently streaming on Hulu
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