Why Did High Potential End Early After Only 13 Episodes? How Star Kaitlin Olson Very Much Factored In

Kaitlin Olson’s High Potential was largely considered to be one of the best new shows of 2024. However, when it returned to the 2025 TV schedule from its winter hiatus, it seemed we were met with its season finale — albeit a wild, cliffhanger-filled season finale — all too soon. So why did the ABC crime drama end after only 13 episodes? Better question: Does it surprise anyone that Morgan herself is to blame?

High Potential drew lots of praise for its first season on ABC (and streaming with a Hulu subscription), as it gave us a super-smart (almost too smart) and fun-to-watch cleaning woman-turned-police consultant in Morgan Gillory. It even avoided a quirky procedural pitfall by surrounding our genius hero with detectives who are good at their jobs. So while a baker’s dozen of these mysteries — plus one overarching one regarding Morgan’s husband — didn’t seem like nearly enough, TV Insider’s Matt Roush reports that 13 was all Kaitlin Olson’s schedule was able to accommodate.

While a series that gets a reception as positive as this one did would typically earn an expanded first season, Matt Roush says, Kaitlin Olson had to jump back into Sweet Dee mode and return to shoot It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17, which is set to premiere in June. The good news is that High Potential has already been renewed for a second season, and it’s expected to carry an episode order larger than 13.

We don’t know exactly when Kaitlin Olson will be able to leave the gang behind in Philadelphia and return to the LAPD for High Potential Season 2, so we have plenty of time to process the crazy Season 1 finale and all of its cliffhangers.

For one thing, Morgan was revealed to be the target of a Saw-like game master, played by A Million Little Things vet David Giuntoli, and we’ve got some theories (ridiculous and otherwise) about this master villain. It was also confirmed that Morgan’s missing husband is alive, and that’s almost certain to lead to more emotional moments between Kaitlin Olson and Amirah J, who plays her teenage daughter Ava.

There’s also the matter of Morgan’s love life, and boy does she have options. While lots of people seem to be shipping a workplace romance between Morgan and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), it was Tom (JD Pardo) who made a surprise return and won her affection — at least momentarily before she abandoned him to save Oz (Deniz Akdeniz) from their killer’s latest game.

That’s quite a lot of story to work with whenever High Potential Season 2 does return, which is expected to be later this year. In the meantime, head over to Hulu to do a quick rewatch of the 13-episode first season to keep your skills sharp for more mysteries to come.