When High Potential’s second season lands on the 2025 TV schedule, it’ll little doubt observe up on a number of of the Season 1 finale’s cliffhangers, hopefully with an extra clue or two about its thriller Recreation Grasp antagonist. Nonetheless, seeing that overarching narrative play out runs a detailed second or third to easily seeing Kaitlin Olson again in her groove as hyper-brilliant police guide Morgan. The actress shared her ideas about about portraying a personality whose neurodivergent tendencies can usually be misinterpreted on TV.
With the film and TV sequence Limitless arguably being a hyperbolic excessive, an intimidatingly excessive IQ is usually performed up as being a quasi-superpower in fictional settings, whereas High Potential doesn’t ever shrink back from highlighting the foibles and fumblings that may come half and parcel with the entire further synapses. For Kaitlin Olson, bringing out that aspect of Morgan’s life is extra supreme than solely leaning into her victories. Speaking to Deadline, she mentioned:
It’s a lot extra attention-grabbing to me to have an individual who shouldn’t be excellent and who’s nonetheless attempting to determine it out and who makes errors. So, I would like her to make private life errors. I would like her to make skilled errors as effectively, however be actually satisfied that she’s proper, however be unsuitable. I imply, additionally it simply would get boring in case you simply are like, OK, effectively, Morgan’s going to determine it out. what I imply? You wish to shock folks and also you don’t wish to do the identical factor again and again.
Preach it! I do not assume there’s ever been some extent the place Kaitlin Olson popped up in a present as a personality who may very well be described as “excellent” or “predictable,” which is why she’s among the many best possible and deserves all of the Emmy-related reward that comes her means. So it solely is sensible that she goals to maintain Morgan and her household on a equally various path ahead into Season 2 and past.
Kaitlin Olson On Exploring This Specific Type Of Neurodivergence On TV
Most of the time, extraordinarily sensible characters are mates of the lead whose lives aren’t explored in full. The Large Bang Concept‘s characters are apparent exceptions to the norm, although inside a sitcom universe that is not precisely devoted to realism. So bringing a personality like Morgan to the lots is necessary to Olson, as is ensuring these characters’ variations aren’t being unfairly exploited. As she put it:
I don’t understand how a lot it’s been explored on TV. Somebody with an extremely excessive IQ like that, I imagine that’s categorised as a neurodivergent mind, and there are such a lot of folks on the earth who’re neurodivergent in a roundabout way. I feel many of the world appears at that and thinks of that as a dysfunction, and it’s upsetting and it’s unhealthy, however oh, in case you’re tremendous sensible, it should be actually nice. And that’s not essentially the case.
I like that even in its first season, High Precedence gave audiences episodes that tweaked the format the place Morgan’s expansive information was essentially the most very important piece of every investigation, whereas additionally taking part in up how a lot she struggles with not understanding solutions to issues. Olson spoke to that feeling of hysteria over the unknown being such a relatable character trait.
She additionally spoke to the]negativity that neurodivergent folks cope with, whether or not stemming from inside or from exterior components.
There’s so much that goes on in there, and I’m positive it may be very lonely and other people can really feel very misunderstood, and individuals who aren’t as clever or don’t have a crazy- excessive IQ can possibly be jealous of that and lash out, and their means of feeling good about themselves is placing these folks down.
Olson continued, stating that super-smart folks encourage the identical sorts of misplaced assumptions that extraordinarily prosperous folks would possibly. In her phrases:
I imply, it’s a wealthy world that I feel we are able to faucet into, and I feel it’s too frequent to have the notion that as a result of somebody’s sensible, they should have an exquisite life. It’s the identical factor with something, proper? Simply because somebody’s wealthy, they should have an exquisite life, or if somebody’s engaging, they should have an exquisite life. Not essentially true. Individuals are well-rounded human beings, and that’s why I wished to ensure Morgan was multifaceted and never only a sensible individual briefly skirts.
Simply because somebody has three of the good and cutest youngsters on TV, that does not imply her life is grea…wait, no, that a part of Morgan’s life really does present a ton of happiness and good emotions. And Olson mentioned she’s hoping Season 2 will dig deeper into the problems that Morgan’s son Elliot faces as a high-IQ pupil, and the way which will or might not distinction with Ava’s life.
After all, some High Potential followers are little doubt studying this and saying, “Yeah, that is nice, however what about Morgan and Karadec getting it on?” And I am sorry to say it, however Olson not too long ago addressed Morgan and Karadec’s shippers in flippant means that does not precisely encourage a ton of first-date hypothesis.
Whereas ready for Season 2 to reach, followers can rewatch all of Season 1 with both a Hulu subscription or a Disney+ subscription.