Watching – High Potential

I’m a sucker for the “She’s a detective and he’s a wacky misfit – together they solve crime” trope. Usually the wacky misfit has some special gift, like mystry writer Rick Castle’s insight into murder or the supernatural abilities of Lucifer. There are some that play with the formula some, where the misfit is a little more solo like Adrian Monk or J.B. Fletcher but still has that authority figure to bounce off of. High Potential is a member of this broad family. The form tends towards lighter than the grimdark murder shows like Criminal Minds and Wire in the Blood and the plots tend to provide enough clues for the viewers to break the case by the end.

Based on the French-Belgian series HPI, the formula is the standard by the book tough guy detective teamed up against his will with a sassy single mother of three – her gift is being a High Potential Intellectual, hence the title. It’s summed up as her having a high IQ and her mind never forgetting and never slowing down. It plays out with her noticing small details and making connections that the police don’t see, aided by her perfect recall of past jobs and documentaries she watched. Her problems include keeping up with her kids (surly teenage girl, HPI pre teen son, and a baby girl), balancing her budget, and the disappearance of her first husband over a decade ago. The unravelling of that mystery is a B plot for the season but so far hasn’t overshadowed the crime of the week.

The supporting cast hits the regular beats of the two junior detectives, the driven female and her offbeat partner, and the police captain who keeps the team on task. Over the episodes we get to see the development of their quirks and specialities. Vibe-wise, it’s reminding me a great deal of Psych! with the hyper awareness and random trivia connections. It’s been renewed for a second season so I’ll likely watch that as well.