Brief Story Line
Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson - Finding Dory, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia TV series etc) was a cleaning lady for the LAPD who noticed something bothering her on a murder board. The Detective in charge Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata - Echoes mini series, Graceland TV series etc) found out it was Morgan who did something on the board. It would be revealed later that she was a High Potential Individual (HPI) who could deduce things based on what she saw. Lieutenant Soto (Judy Reyes - Devious Maids TV series, Smile etc) saw her potential and decided to appoint Morgan as consultant for the police despite the reluctance and skepticism from Karadec, although the other Detectives Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie - Batwoman TV series, Always a Bridesmaid etc) and her partner Lev Ozdil (Deniz Akdeniz - The Flight Attendant TV series, Dumb Money etc) were more open minded.
Morgan only accepted the job if LAPD was willing to pay for daily care of her children Ava (Amirah J), Elliot (Matthew Lamb - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever etc) and her baby. She also insisted the police help her on a personal matter.
So how would Morgan fare as the consultant? You could find out in this series.
End of Brief Story Line
As I said above, I was interested in the series due to its premise. The brief synopsis already gave hint that it would be a police procedural series which I have not been watching for a while. And it turned out to be interesting cause the character Morgan Gillory was quite exceptional with her knack for finding out the truth based on all the clues she saw. It was always fun looking at her showing all her knowledge that came from watching documentaries and other sources. Although it would not be nice if she did not have a partner and in this case, Adam Karadec proved to be a good enough one as he was a detective with proven track record and quite by the book, the opposite of Morgan.
The pilot episode was a great opening to the series as we were introduced to the main characters which immediately intrigued me to find out more. Subsequent episodes were quite delightful with Morgan kept on showing her abilities while Adam provided the know-how of detective work. However, as the series progressed further, I personally felt it become repetitive and the story did not move too much forward. And after a while, it also felt the detectives were outshoned by Morgan's capabilities which should not be the case. It did not help either when the other detectives were not given more focus. Only towards the end there were two cases which involved them.
The first season of the series consisted of 13 episodes. My favorites were the pilot, the season finale and the 11th episode which had a strong whodunit feel. To my surprise the finale had a rather cliffhanger ending. I guess it was because the series was already renewed for second season that they decided to do so as they could continue it later. During the closing credits, I read that it was based on French series tItled HPI Haut Potentiel Intellectuel which is still ongoing till now. The US adaptation/remake was created by Drew Goddard (writer of World War Z, The Martian, creator of Daredevil and director of Bad Times at the El Royale etc). I also noticed that Kaitlin Olson was credited as one of the producers.
This series garnered a lot of praise from critics, particularly on Kaitlin Olson's performance. I myself was quite agreeable as she was truly convincing in this role. I think audience also liked the series a lot which translated to the producers confidence in renewing it. Aside from Kaitlin Olson and Daniel Sunjata who was pretty decent, I also like Matthew Lamb's portrayal of Morgan's 11 year old son Elliot as the adorable kid who inherited her brain. Oh in addition to the main cast, there were also few recurring characters like Morgan's ex husband Ludo Radovic (Taran Killam - Single Parents etc), the janitor Tom (JD Pardo - Hypnotic etc) and the familiar face of Garret Dillahunt (Ambulance, Braven etc) as Lieutenant Melon. Few notable guest stars included Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy films etc), Madeline Zima (The Nanny sitcom etc), Nasim Pedrad (Desperados etc), David Giuntoli (Grimm TV series etc) and some others.
Overall I was quite entertained with the series premise. The way Morgan analyze all the clues and come up with the deduction was fun to watch and her family dynamics was enjoyable & heartwarming to see too. There was also a larger story arc involving Morgan's personal matter that was dived a bit deeper in certain episodes that made it a bit more interesting. The only thing that I felt lacking was the other detectives who did not really have opportunity to show their strength and seemed like minor instead of support characters. Although the series was focusing on Morgan, but perhaps they need to keep it a bit more balanced. Maybe it would be better in second season. (I think the highly popular and great series Bones would be a great example of balanced characters story). So if you are looking for a fun, light, family friendly police procedural series, then this would definitely satisfy you. The whole season is currently available on Disney+.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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