After the success of its first season, ABC’s hit new series, High Potential, is back and better than ever.

Having enjoyed its first season, I was intrigued to find out how ABC and the production team would expand on the strong foundations of its French crime drama adaptation. Fortunately, it seems like they’ve only learnt good lessons from their successes, as the second season premiere hits the ground running.  

Entitled “Pawns”, the episode picks up where the previous season left off, with the team scrambling to catch some sort of clue as to the identity of a mysterious criminal known as “Game Maker”. In this episode, the team are caught in his game once more, as they believe that he is behind the recent disappearance of a woman who bares a striking resemblance to Morgan (Kaitlin Olsen), the series lead.

The episode’s strengths are owed to its tight and fast-paced mystery. Despite Game Maker’s obvious involvement in the disappearance, the story does well to throw a few curveballs into the mix. There are plenty of better suspects and red herrings for Morgan to wade through, including an abusive boyfriend and stalker boss, before she can point the finger at the series’ first recurring antagonist.

Adding to the premiere’s arsenal is some solid development for Morgan’s character. As someone who can see patterns where no one else can, her battle of wits against Game Maker challenges her in ways that normal investigations don’t. Unable to make sense of his twisted game, she’s left on edge and grasping at straws, frustrated at her own powerlessness against the perpetrators’ taunting. However, it is through her trust in her team and a slight stroke of luck that she’s able to see through Game Maker’s motivations.  

While the mystery and Morgan’s character development are great, the episode does lack slightly in conflict. It is a strange omission that Morgan’s crisis of faith in her abilities doesn’t cause a clash with the rest of the team, especially with her partner Karadec, with whom she often locks horns. With other suspects available, the show misses an opportunity for depth by not having one of the other main or side characters fight to change Morgan’s mind on her single-handed obsession with Game Maker being responsible.