Inspired by a French crime series, High Potential became a runaway hit when it debuted on ABC in 2025. The series centers on a woman named Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), working on the janitorial staff of the police station, who ends up using her observational skills and intelligence to provide a break in the case.
Morgan’s ability to connect details that the detectives do not lands her a consulting job with the police force. It is also the result of a high IQ and some very unique skills on Morgan’s part. Morgan’s High Potential is based in reality – and it’s not the first time the idea has been used in shows like this one.
Morgan’s HPI In High Potential Explained
Morgan Calls Herself A High Potential Intellectual
In the pilot episode of High Potential, when Morgan offers up her reasoning for believing one of the suspects in a case is actually a victim, Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) is impressed by her ability to retain that knowledge. She even calls Morgan’s abilities a “gift.”
Morgan, however, notes that she has a genius-level measured IQ and calls herself a High Potential Intellectual, someone who has the capacity to retain more information and observe more than the average person. Morgan’s hyper-observation abilities are what help her throughout the first season. She does not see it as a gift.
Morgan specifically corrects Soto about it being a gift, saying:
No, not a gift. I obsess over every little problem I see. My mind is constantly spinning out of control, which makes it impossible to hold a job, relationship, a conversation. Not a gift.
Morgan shows her exact assessment of her gift throughout the first season is not entirely wrong. She misses dates because she obsesses about cases, stays up all night trying to piece together information, and constantly corrects those around her, much to their chagrin.
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While all of that seems like a negative, it is balanced out by the good Morgan does. She sees missing pieces and connective details and “has a compulsion to set things right,” which is what allows her to unravel the threads of the murder mysteries.
All of the cases in High Potential’s first season are vastly different from one another and require very different knowledge bases. There are rare frogs, the orientation of churches, altered videos, and more. Morgan is able to retain all of the knowledge she needs to understand everything.
Does HPI Exist In Real Life? (How Accurate Is High Potential’s Depiction Of It)
An HPI Is Very Real
While viewers might think Morgan’s High Potential seems impossible, it is actually very real. It is called High Intellectual Potential in real life, and there is also a variant called High Emotional Potential, which involves emotional intelligence.
High Intellectual Potential is often termed “HIP” among academics. It’s also a term synonymous with “gifted.” For a person to be officially considered HIP, they have to have a tested IQ of over 130. While IQ tests have been seen as biased in the past, they are still the most trusted method of understanding cognitive intelligence.
Those classified as HIP do not simply have a high-measured IQ, though. They are also acknowledged to often have atypical ways of making connections between things in the world around them. As Morgan notes in the show, many HIPs have photographic memories.
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Many HIPs also have difficulty maintaining focus while processing so much information, or can get bored when they already understand the knowledge people are throwing at them. That can lead to many HIPs being diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but as C2Care points out, not all HIPs have ADHD.
The “symptoms” associated with HIP include:
- Boredom in school
- IQ above 130
- Perfectionism
- Easy Memorization Skills
- Difficulty Maintaining Social Relationships
The traits associated with a person considered to have High Intellectual Potential are exactly the traits Morgan exhibits in the show. The series has been able to offer a remarkably accurate representation, even if some of the audience might find the show far-fetched.
What Are Other Shows That Feature HPI Characters
HPI Characters Populate Crime Shows
High Potential is the only series to outright confirm a character to have HIP. Despite that, it’s actually easy to draw parallels between Morgan’s traits and other characters in crime shows that likely share that label.
One show that High Potential has been seeing comparisons to since the pilot episode premiered is Psych. Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Morgan share a lot of the same traits. From memorization skills to boredom with lectures to near-photographic memories, they use their skills to solve crimes in similar ways.
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Of course, the difference between them is that Morgan is up front about her cognitive abilities, while Shawn pretends to be a psychic to explain them away. Interestingly, Rodriguez has been directing High Potential episodes himself, which allows an actor with a similar background to help Olson bring HIP to life.
Psych is not the only series to have this type of main character. The Mentalist had Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), Criminal Minds had Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), and more recently, Found had Margaret Reed (Kelli Williams). These characters all have similar skill sets, but they all demonstrate them differently to solve crimes: Jane is a human lie detector, Reid excels at pattern recognition, and Margaret specializes in reading emotions.
Morgan is the latest in a long line of likely HIP characters, which help to make crime shows even more compelling. Morgan, however, might be one of the most realistic versions of an HIP on television, which helps High Potential to stand out from the rest.
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