Review by C.J. Bunce

ABC/Hulu’s new crime drama High Potential is the latest detective mystery series in a long line of Prime Time series attempting to gain your attention, along with edgy series like Prodigal Son and more lighthearted, quirky fare ranging from Monk to The Irrational.  It’s a U.S. English version of the original series from France, running in parallel and in its fourth season, Haut Potentiel Intellectuel, with the U.S. version a scene-for-scene remake of its French counterpart in its first episode.  Two episodes in and the U.S. version has plenty to keep viewers coming back, but after even a few episodes of the original, you may find it’s even better as a springboard into that series.

The shows follow a quirky office cleaner who knocks over some documents one night working at police headquarters, quickly to realize the accused pictured on the murder board is actually one of the victims.  How’d she figure it out?  It turns out she has a 160 IQ and is a highly functioning, if socially maladjusted, savant of a sort–like Psych’s Shawn Spencer but more adept at memorizing obscure facts and processing information.  This is the specific quirk that makes her different, and lands these shows straight in the middle of Sherlock Holmes-inspired mysteries when the cops decide they could use her talents.

Like the frenetic lead in Poker Face, Morgan (Morgane in the French version) is a walking nightmare, both in her overuse of animal prints in her fashion, in her inability to tolerate any authority, and in her nonstop stream-of-thought chatter that gets her into all sorts of trouble (she is incapable of tact and civility, at least at first).  But she is even more like the heroine of Erin Brockovich–similar clothes, similar drive, but also effective in (eventually) getting results, and getting everyone around her on the same page.

In the French version, Audrey Fleurot’s Morgane is a fiery redhead who could be sisters to the office-working Donna Noble of Doctor Who fame.  Fleurot is brash, and fantastically so.  She takes over and practically clobbers the other actors in every scene, and you can’t help loving her for it, even with some cringey colloquialisms about cops and more profanity than U.S. Prime Time would allow.

Across the pond in the U.S., you’d never know Kaitlin Olson was a comedienne in the Groundlings of Will Farrell and Phil Hartman fame.  Her Morgan is less comedy, less slapstick, and more grounded.  The fact the U.S. version doesn’t mention comedy in its tags is telling.  Olson brings along plenty of snark, but she seems more serious, her circumstances more dire somehow.  With both first episodes to compare, the French version is more fun, and Fleurot seems to have a better grasp of the character.  It’s no wonder the series in France is in its fourth season.

But Olson’s take is still interesting.  She seems to conjure both Mary McCormack in her In Plain Sight role and Maria Bello in Prime Suspect.  The series together are a good study in the different direction actors can take their characters.

Veronica Mars and iZombie chief Rob Thomas is an executive producer on two episodes, which should be enough to get everyone’s attention.  But so far the U.S. version is more remake than standout show.  The promise of the second U.S. episode is that it isn’t the same as the second episode of the French series.  The more the showrunner and directors can make the U.S. different than the original, the better it may do over here.

But the French edition is going to be hard to beat.  Morgane’s kids are key to the story’s success, with a smart and savvy older daughter from an earlier relationship and a younger son who has inherited some of Morgane’s genius, and a baby pulling her own crime-solving weight.  So far the kids in the U.S. version are holding their own.  Morgan/Morgane’s police handler co-star is played by lookalikes Daniel Sunjata (U.S.) and Mehdi Nebbou (France).  Their boss is Céline/Selena, the only person who believes in Morgan/Morgane’s potential, played by Judy Reyes (U.S.) and Marie Denarnaud (France).  Bruno Sanches is a standout as another offkilter cop in the French version.  Garret Dillahunt seems out of place as the Lieutenant in the U.S version, who we only barely glimpse in the second episode.

If you don’t speak French, you’re still going to quickly embrace the English dubbed version of the original, as its voice cast is near seamless, although not perfect.

As for 2024 series, the Canadian detective show Wild Cards (reviewed here) is a bit better and more fun.  But we’re only two episodes in, so check out High Potential on ABC Tuesdays, streaming on Hulu, and then check out the even better, established Haut Potentiel Intellectuel also on Hulu.  Season 4 does not appear to have landed yet in the U.S.