After that cliffhanger, High Potential is back with a midseason premiere featuring even more star-studded appearances.
In Us Weekly‘s first look at the Tuesday, January 6, episode, James Martinez plays a role in the ongoing mystery surrounding a missing painting. The heist was previously explored in an October 2025 episode where Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) and Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) tried to get to the bottom of the case — despite complications from boss Nick Wagner (Steve Howey) and art recovery specialist Rhys (Aiden Turner).
“Morgan’s suspicions of Rhys grow deeper as the case of the missing Rembrandt artwork continues,” reads the official synopsis. “Elsewhere, Roman’s missing backpack causes problems for all involved.”
Before the ABC show’s return, Judy Reyes spoke with Us about Martinez’s cameo, saying, “One of my friends, James Martinez, who was just in Dexter, will be making an appearance and the show soon. I’m proud of that and I’m excited about his episode.”
Which ‘High Potential’ Stars Are — And Aren’t — Returning for Season 2?
Showrunner Todd Harthan also expressed excitement at more guest stars.
“One of the wonderful things about this particular season is now that the show is doing really well, the choices we’ve had for casting have been incredible,” he shared. “In the back half, you’re going to see some really exciting guest stars.”
Harthan continued: “We have this wonderful main cast and we’re trying to recruit — just like with Steve Howey. These actors have been just incredible. They can come into our show and hang with our wonderful cast and just add their own flavor to our world. It’s been exciting and you’ll see there’s some really cool people popping in.”
The police procedural, which premiered in September 2024, follows a high-potential intellectual — Morgan — who teams up with the LAPD to help solve murders. She gets paired up with Karadec, who is initially skeptical about Morgan’s involvement with the Major Crimes unit but ultimately starts to rely on her.
Meet the Season 2 Cast of ‘High Potential’ — Including Newcomer Steve Howey
Season 2 picked up with the confirmation that Morgan’s ex Roman was still alive after going missing for more than a decade. The only information Morgan — and all of Us — have is that her ex worked as an FBI informant and doesn’t trust the LAPD.
“It’s a pretty bumpy ride. We’re going to start unpacking some pretty intense things with Morgan, as it relates to all things Roman. There are all kinds of trials and tribulations that are going to happen with the kids at home,” Harthan teased to Us. “It’s just going to get messy and complicated — hopefully in all the best ways so that the audience stays on the edge of their seats.”
He concluded: “Our job now as we get to the back half of the second season is to fill in some of the big blanks and progress some of the relationships. You’re going to see some intense things happen between Steve Howey’s character and Captain Wagner really starts to bloom in the back half. That causes some good soapy messes on multiple fronts. It’s just our normal MO of just trying to mix things up and keep the audience engaged and keep them guessing.”
High Potential returns to ABC Tuesday, January 6, at 9 p.m. ET. The show is streaming on Hulu.
