TV TALK

My newest obsession! \o/



Morgane Alvaro and Adam Karadec on HPI
starring Audrey Fleurot and Mehdi Nebbou


HPI (Haut Potentiel Intellectuel) is a very popular French crime procedural in the general vein of the Sherlock Holmes genre. There are 32 episodes over 4 seasons now. Season five (another 8 episodes) will air this year, and it will probably be the last one.

Where?

The show has been exported to many countries, and you should be able to find it in your country, I hope? Prime has it, hulu has it..., it's everywhere! (There are remakes in different countries, too. The US one is called High Potential. Please watch the French original instead. <3)

Is it a rec?

OMG so much yes. By the end of season 2, I was hopelessly in love. Mostly with the love story between her and the detective (which is a lot of will-they-wont-they, but the writing supports the romance every step of the way, it's brilliant), and with Mehdi Nebbou's acting. The more I'm rewatching, the more I appreciate Audrey Fleurot's acting as well - she really put everything into this role.

What's it about?

Morgane (Audrey Fleurot) is a woman with an IQ of 160+, a single mother of three who struggles to hold a job or maintain any relationship because her brain is always running a mile a minute. She gets hired as a consultant to the police in Lille, much to the chagrin of commandant Karadec (Mehdi Nebbou). It has a bit of a Sherlock vibe, and a bit of a Monk vibe, and if you like other "consultant to the police" procedural shows, I think you'll like this one, too.

There are four seasons (and they keep getting better and better), and a fifth and final one will air this year. The only non-spoilery thing I could find in terms of reccable video is this hulu trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWRCpVZWNw8

The setup in the first season is very 'standard': he's rigid and all about the rules and a good police officer, and she's chaotic and draws all the attention and doesn't respect any rules at all. So, predictably, they clash a lot. But they're also attracted to each other, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Morgane is definitely neuro-atypical, both highly intelligent and with some adhd traits, she is hyperfocusing on one side but easily distracted on the other, and never manages to follow the big picture. Its often sad to watch how she is her own greatest enemy in that sense. But I very much identify with her on the joy of solving puzzles! While her life is chaotic, she is generally shown as capable of juggling the challenges life throws at her. Of course she gets herself and the police into dangerous situations because of her disregard of the rules and her lack of patience, and I realize that if someone had told me that up front out of context, I would have said I'd hate her - but I don't. Not at all! I can't put my finger on what exactly they did right, but I think the character is very well constructed and I empathize with her very much.

Karadec is soft-spoken and very empathetic, and I for one loved that in the portrayal of a police detective. There's no arrogance, no better-than-thou attitude, no matter who he's dealing with. He is kind and caring with the suspects and the witnesses, and he takes his job seriously. What can I say, I love him.

From the start, the show doesn't get into a rut. The characters develop, nothing is easy, and they both make mistakes, hurting themselves and others. The writing never forgets about their romance, though. There are obstacles - a lot of them - but as a shipper, I always felt very loved by the writing. From the small things, like each scene taking the time to show the leads' reactions to everything, to the big things, like them actively trying to have a relationship, the show always delivered what I wanted.

As for the tone of the show, it gets both funnier and bolder as time goes on. Some of the secondary characters have comical storylines, and the show takes itself less seriously as time goes on. I very much liked that, too. If you take all of it seriously, it can get pretty tragic, but the humor balances it out nicely.

a few caps and my thoughts on the first two seasons

If you've seen HPI and want to discuss with me, click through to my journal (link above). I wrote down my thoughts on seasons 1 and 2 and would love to talk about them with you!