---
title: "High Potential"
year: 2024
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/high-potential"
fi1m_id: "high-potential"
imdb_id: "tt22091076"
tmdb_id: 226637
wikidata_id: "Q129206932"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-09-23T13:05:58.454872+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-23T13:06:42.298374+00:00"
region: "CZ"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# High Potential (2024)

Created by Drew Goddard · Drama, Crime, Mystery

## Identity

High Potential

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/high-potential
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** high-potential
- **IMDb ID:** tt22091076
- **TMDB ID:** 226637
- **Wikidata ID:** Q129206932
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22091076/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/226637, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q129206932

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 77 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* Leopard print, three kids, an IQ of 160, and a police department that badly needs its surfaces wiped

> Kaitlin Olson carries this Los Angeles procedural about a cleaner turned police consultant with more comic timing than the scripts strictly deserve. The cases are forgotten within the hour and the detectives are furniture. We kept watching anyway, and not out of duty.

## Synopsis

Los Angeles, the present. Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) is a single mother of three who cleans the offices of the LAPD’s major crimes unit at night. She has an IQ of 160, no qualifications to speak of and a wardrobe of leopard print. One shift she spots a mistake on the evidence board for an open murder case, rearranges it, and is dragged in for questioning. Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) sees what she did and offers her a job as a consultant. Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), who likes procedure and does not like her, has to take her along. Morgan names her price: the department must reopen the case of her first husband, Roman, who vanished years ago and left her with a baby daughter, Ava (Amirah J), now a teenager.

## Review

*High Potential*, created by Drew Goddard, has one idea and sticks to it: a woman with a genius-level IQ and a mop, cleaning the offices of a police unit at night, sees what a room of detectives has missed. Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) corrects an evidence board, is hauled in, and is hired by Lieutenant Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) as a consultant. Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) is told to work with her. That is the whole machine, and it runs one murder an episode, thirteen of them in the first season and eighteen in the second.

It lives on Olson. She plays Morgan fast and loud, in animal print and heels that nobody else in the building would wear, and she has a way of delivering a deduction as if she is slightly embarrassed to have had it. The first time we see her at work she is cleaning with music in her ears, dancing a little, and then she stops in front of the board and starts moving the photographs about without quite deciding to. We laughed out loud, and it was the dancing that did it: she is not showing off, she is bored, and boredom is what a mind like that does to a person. Olson keeps that going for whole episodes. When Morgan reads a stranger from his shoes and his tan line, the joke is never that she is clever but that she cannot stop.

The editing team, Caroline Wang, John Reyes-Nguyen and others across the run, put her thinking on screen as quick inserts: a scuff on a skirting board, a receipt, a ring mark on a table, each held for a fraction of a second before we are back on her face. It is a neat way of showing a mind working and it does the job for the first few episodes. By the sixth it is a tic, and we found ourselves waiting for it the way you wait for a catchphrase. The cinematographers, Mathew Rudenberg and Lisa Wiegand among them, light the squad room bright and clean, more showroom than police station, and Los Angeles outside is all sun and glass. Josh Kramon and Jake Staley’s score bounces along underneath, telling us at every turn that none of this is to be taken hard. It is not, and the music is right about that.

The cases are the weak part, and they are a large part. Morgan does not reason so much as notice, and the show never finds a way to make noticing tense: she looks at a thing, the inserts fire, and she is right. The killer is usually the guest actor with the most lines. Karadec’s dislike of her thaws on a schedule you could set a clock by, and Sunjata, who is good at being put upon, is given little else to do. Daphne (Javicia Leslie) and Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) fill out the unit with jobs rather than characters; they hand over folders and confirm that the thing Morgan said was true. Three episodes in, we could not have told you who killed whom in the first one, and we tried.

What the show has beyond its lead is her kitchen. Morgan’s daughter Ava (Amirah J) is a teenager who has worked out that her mother is unusual and would rather she were not. Elliot (Matthew Lamb) is younger and less bothered. Ludo (Taran Killam), the ex-husband, is amiable and broke and around more than the arrangement strictly requires. Behind all of it is Roman, the first husband who disappeared, whose case Morgan makes the price of her cooperation in the pilot. The scenes at home are written with more care than the murders, and Olson lowers her voice for them. A woman who can read a room in a second and still cannot get three children fed on time is a better subject than any of the corpses.

Against the genre it belongs to, [*Castle*](https://film.one/tv/castle), [*The Mentalist*](https://film.one/tv/the-mentalist), *Monk*, the outsider who sees what the police cannot, it sits comfortably in the middle. It is less inventive than *Monk*, and about as well made. Most critics have been warmer than we are, and we understand why: Olson is doing something rare, which is being funny in a drama without breaking it. We just wish the drama around her were harder to solve.

It is a 12 certificate and nobody bleeds much. Watch one on a weeknight with something in the oven. You will not remember the case, and you will remember the shoes.

*Fi1m score 72, published 23 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like it, and nearly all of them like it for the same reason: Kaitlin Olson. The reviews agree the series is formulaic, a case-of-the-week procedural in the line of Castle and The Mentalist, and they agree it hardly matters, because Olson’s lead performance carries it. Several praise the balance she strikes between the character’s genius and her muddled life as a single mother. The British papers are the warmest, calling it slick, silly fun of a kind small-screen crime has been missing.

The reservations are about the premise rather than the star. The Hollywood Reporter is the outlier, finding the concept half-baked and Olson the one good reason to watch. Collider notes that the supporting cast is thinned out to make room for her. Otherwise the spread is narrow: the early American reviews find it adequate and comfortable, the later British ones find it a treat, and nobody dislikes it.

## Straight answers

**Is High Potential worth watching?**

*High Potential* is worth watching for anyone who wants an easy weeknight procedural with a funny lead, and we scored it 72. Kaitlin Olson carries it as a cleaner turned police consultant, and the scenes with her three children are written with more care than the murders. The cases themselves are forgettable and the killer is usually the guest actor with the most lines.

**Where can I watch High Potential in Czechia?**

*High Potential* is streaming on Disney+ in Czechia. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is High Potential, and is it suitable for children?**

*High Potential* is a UK 12 and US TV-14, a murder-an-episode drama in which nobody bleeds much. The crimes are talked about more than shown, the squad room is bright and clean, and the score keeps telling you none of it is to be taken hard. It is fine for teenagers and most older children; the squeamish have little to fear.

### Reviews we read (8)

- **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it gorgeous, brilliant trash TV that is desperately needed perfectly paced fun, praising Kaitlin Olson’s incandescent performance as the feisty single mother sleuth. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jan/23/high-potential-review-kaitlin-olson-disney-plus)
- **The Telegraph** (80/100, inferred): Kaitlin Olson is terrific in this chaotically charming comedy about a cleaner with a knack for cracking impossible cases, described as sparky cosy crime with an irreverent twist. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/high-potential-disney-plus-review-kaitlin-olson/)
- **The Times**, Tim Glanfield (80/100, inferred): Olson is a triumph in the lead role of this silly and slick crime procedural, bringing the fun back to small-screen sleuthing with her deft balance of genius and vulnerable parent. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/high-potential-review-kaitlin-olson-q9nsdv27f)
- **The AV Club**, Saloni Gajjar (B): The pilot is a perfectly fine, formulaic start to a lighthearted procedural reminiscent of shows like Castle and The Mentalist, with nothing extraordinary except its genius protagonist. The critic singles out Kaitlin Olson's terrific, snappy performance and the show's relatable layers for Morgan as reasons it could become comforting weekly viewing. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/high-potential-recap-premiere)
- **Variety**, Aramide Tinubu (76/100, inferred): The critic finds the series perfectly adequate formulaic television that is not revolutionary but engaging enough due to its quirky cases and protagonist's eccentricities. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/tv/reviews/high-potential-review-1236145941/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (65/100, inferred): The critic calls it a great star vehicle with a half-baked premise, praising Olson as the one good reason to watch while noting the show struggles with basic elements of its concept. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/high-potential-review-kaitlin-olson-abc-1236004236/)
- **Paste**, Tara Bennett (8.1): The review calls it a slick, entertaining consultant procedural with witty dialogue and breezy cases, highlighting Olson's charming, eccentric lead performance and the strong creative team behind it. It notes the personal life elements add depth beyond standard case-of-the-week plots. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/abc-hulu/high-potential-review)
- **Collider**, Carly Lane (7/10): The review praises Kaitlin Olson's standout performance that showcases her full range beyond comedy, along with the show's entertaining premise and visual style for illustrating the lead's thought process. It notes the series spotlights the lead at the expense of supporting characters and supporting ensemble development. [Read](https://collider.com/high-potential-review/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Drew Goddard
- **Creator:** Drew Goddard
- **Director:** Nancy Hower, James Roday Rodriguez, Viet Nguyen, Alethea Jones, Rebecca Asher, Anu Valia, Pete Chatmon, Rob Corn, Kelli Williams, Tara Miele, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Marc Webb, David Straiton, Jennifer Getzinger, Maureen Bharoocha, Todd Biermann, Eric Dean Seaton
- **Writer:** Marc Halsey, Todd Harthan, Nicole French, Robert Goodman, Eric I. Lu, Katie McElhenney, Marqui Jackson, Kassia Miller, Rebecca Kirsch, Andrea M. Scott, Kat Sieniuc, Jordan Rosenberg, Dennis Saldua, Diane Ruggiero, Andy Berman, Rob Thomas, Drew Goddard, Myung Joh Wesner
- **Story:** Marc Halsey, Robert Goodman, Jordan Rosenberg, Dennis Saldua, Jordana Lewis Jaffe
- **Teleplay:** Marc Halsey, Jordan Rosenberg
- **Cinematography:** Amanda Treyz, Mathew Rudenberg, Giovani Lampassi, Lisa Wiegand, Simon Chapman, Beaudine Credle
- **Editor:** John Reyes-Nguyen, Philip Fowler, Andrew Behrens, Nicole Artzer, Tuan Quoc Le, Caroline Wang, Luke Pebler, John Norris, Faroukh Virani
- **Music:** Jake Staley, Josh Kramon
- **Producer:** Katie McElhenney, Philip Fowler, Andrea Massaro
- **Cast:** Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory; Daniel Sunjata as Adam Karadec; Judy Reyes as Selena Soto; Javicia Leslie as Daphne Forrester; Deniz Akdeniz as Lev 'Oz' Ozdil; Amirah J as Ava Gillory; Matthew Lamb as Elliot Radovic; Taran Killam as Ludo Radovic
- **Release (Czechia):** 17 September 2024
- **Genres:** Drama, Crime, Mystery

## Where to watch in Czechia

- Disney+: streaming, hd

*Checked 2026-09-23.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *HPI* (2021): Audrey Fleurot as a cleaner-genius with the Lille police; rougher and stranger.
- *Columbo* (1971): The pattern for every underestimated detective since; the murderer is always the rich one.
- *Monk* (2002): The consultant genius as a man who cannot touch a doorknob; funnier and sadder.
- *Poker Face* (2023): Natasha Lyonne spots lies for a living and drives away from each town afterwards.
- *Elsbeth* (2024): Another cheerful woman in loud clothes the police wish would stop being right.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/high-potential