Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
High Potential – Hulu
In the new ABC series “High Potential”, Kaitlin Olsen plays Madison, a quirky single mother of three with a genius IQ that has tended to get her into more trouble than it helped. While working as a night janitor at the local police station, Madison knocked over a box of evidence related to an adjacent case board and though she only saw a few photos of a dead guy from the scene, she went to the board and crossed out a woman listed as suspect and changed it to victim.
The next morning, Detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) began to review the case and was very upset that someone had scratched out suspect and wrote victim under the photo of the wife of the victim. Upon reviewing the security video, Det. Karadec went to Madison’s home and insisted she come down to the station to discuss her actions. Madison explained that in accidentally knocking over the box of evidence, her brain immediately began reviewing the evidence like a puzzle and she came to the conclusion that the police had wrongly suspected the wife.
Madison noticed details that others overlooked such as in the crime scene photos the male victim lying on the floor was not bound with tape in any way, but Madison noticed that the photo of the chair in the room had small pieces of hair sticking to the legs, meaning someone had been taped to the chair. This meant there were three people at the scene and now had to assume there was a second victim, most likely the wife who the police had actually considered the prime suspect. Det. Karadec said that Madison would be temporarily detained while they reviewed her story.
When Madison was released, she passed the team reviewing the security footage from the murder scene to try and find the third person, but she noticed right away that the date was wrong on the timestamp. She said the video could not have been from the day of the crime because seasonal winds blow the opposite direction from what was scene in the footage as well as knowing the direction the wind was blowing by the east facing church in the background (noting that all churches were built facing east). In reviewing her comments online, both facts were true.
Madison explained she had to “solve the puzzle” or it would drive her crazy due to her extremely high IQ of 160, classifying her as a high potential individual with advanced cognitive abilities, intellectual creativities, and photographic memory. Madison did not consider it a gift, for it caused her to obsess over every problem she saw, hence why she had to point out the problems with the criminal investigation, and generally it makes it hard to hold a job, relationship, or conversation.
Though Det. Karadec was very skeptical of Madison and not on board with her being part of the investigation, Captain Selena (Judy Reyes) told him that they obviously needed her cooperation now that they discovered there was a second victim. Captain Selena believed Madison’s unusual methods could assist them with their now botched murder investigation and find a victim they didn’t know existed before Madison’s review. Madison’s unconventional ways proved to be helpful to the investigation, and Captain Selena felt Madison would be an asset so made her a job offer.
Madison asked her to add 20% and include child care, and Captain Selena agreed. Madison had one other condition and that was for Captain Selena to look into the disappearance of her first husband from ten years earlier. Madison was convinced it happened under suspicious circumstances but written off by the police at the time. Captain Selena said they had a deal, so serendipity not only got Madison a great new job suited to her quirky style and intellect, it also had the potential of solving her own unsolved case.
Runtime: 10 – 45m Episodes (airs on ABC Tuesdays 10pm)
