High Potential Paves The Way For ABC’s First Hit Of 2026
Antonella Gugliersi (she/them) has been a feature writer for Screen Rant since 2021. While studying for her bachelor’s in Economics & Management, they started writing about movies and TV shows for Turin-based The Unconventional Mag. After a brief internship at TPI, she decided she wanted to pursue journalism and graduated with a degree in International Journalism from Brunel University.
The following article includes discussions of mental health conditions and SPOILERS about R.J. Decker season 2, episode 5.
The replacement for High Potential during ABC’s 2026-2027 TV cycle just exemplified what its biggest strength is, and it is inescapably connected to the Kaitlin Olson TV show. High Potential joined the likes of The Rookie and Will Trent during the 2026-2027 season, as ABC delayed its season 3 return until midseason, just like it had previously done for both TV series with discreet success. High Potential season 3 not being part of the fall lineup necessarily meant that another TV show would have taken its Tuesday night slot, and newcomer RJ Decker is the perfect substitute.
Despite not sharing the same universe or setting, High Potential and RJ Decker have several things in common. Indeed, the two ABC TV shows have at their center characters who are involved in police investigations without being officers of the law. Their being outsiders offers them an advantage when accompanying their law enforcement sidekicks, as it changes the tone of the shows greatly, making it more lighthearted than that of more traditional police procedurals. This is also aided by R.J. and Morgan’s quirks, which make the characters memorable.
What nevertheless sets High Potential and RJ Decker apart from the plethora of crime procedurals that crowd our screens is their ability to balance the genres perfectly, and RJ Decker season 2, episode 5, “Better Luck Tomorrow” proves it in a genius way through the use of the Groundhog Day gimmick. RJ Decker’s cleverness wouldn’t have had a place on ABC without High Potential paving the way for it.
R.J. Decker Season 2, Episode 5 Proves Its Strength Lies In Genre-Bending
Groundhog Day episodes in TV shows have been a staple for some time, but the premise of there being a time loop often ensured that the most successful iterations would have to fall in the Sci-Fi genre, or the loop couldn’t have happened in the same reality of the TV show. RJ Decker season 2, episode 5 perfectly overcomes this hurdle by having R.J.’s client worry about his mental health, having been diagnosed in the past with schizophrenia.
Instead of making the episode feel unlike anything that happened before on RJ Decker, season 2, episode 5 immediately establishes R.J.’s hesitation to take on Sam’s case, believing that he needed his therapist. Seeing the events unfold as Sam described them nevertheless made R.J. certain that something was happening, and it hinged on making Sam feel that his mental health was deteriorating.
RJ Decker season 2, episode 5 thus played by the rules of all genres it inhabited: the loop felt like a time loop, set the scene, and needed to be solved, but not investigating what caused it as if it were a supernatural event, instead approaching it like the case of Sam’s gaslighting. On top of that, RJ Decker maintained its usual lighthearted tone through the involvement of Reggie Decker in the investigation, simultaneously treating Sam’s problems with the respect they deserved.
How High Potential Opened The Door For R.J. Decker on ABC
While never blending as many genres as RJ Decker season 2, episode 5 did, High Potential walks the fine line of comedy and procedural just like its replacement. Like RJ Decker, the cases Morgan is involved in are serious, with High Potential never shying away from solving murders and kidnappings. However, the very presence of Morgan balances out the seriousness of Karadec’s approach.
Morgan’s disregard for the rules and unusual perspective make the investigations in High Potential stand out, lightening them up. Albeit differing completely from Morgan, R.J.’s own differences with the Fort Lauderdale police do something similar in RJ Decker, as he can also get away with bending the rules during his investigations in a way that Mel wouldn’t be able to.
Technically, High Potential preceded RJ Decker by only one season, as it began in Fall 2024, while the Scott Speedman TV series debuted during midseason of the 2025-2026 TV cycle. This makes High Potential’s role in inspiring a similar approach for RJ Decker difficult, time-wise. However, their similarities still speak of a different attitude ABC might employ when creating new procedurals, whether they are inspired by a book or a foreign TV series, one that has the potential to revitalize the procedural genre in the long run.
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A disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con reinvents himself as a private investigator in sun-soaked South Florida.
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Morgan, a single mother of three with a brilliant but unconventional mind, partners with a methodical detective after solving a crime during her job as a cleaner. The unlikely duo proves effective, blending Morgan's out-of-the-box thinking with his by-the-book approach.
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