‘This Is Us’ Star Joins ‘High Potential’ Season 2

High Potential is bringing in This Is Us alum Susan Kelechi Watson for a mysterious new role in Season 2.

The actress, who played Beth Pearson on the critically-acclaimed NBC drama from 2016 to 2022, will make her debut on the Jan. 27 episode of the ABC crime drama starring Kaitlin Olson as an intellectually gifted cleaning woman who becomes a police consultant.

Watson has been cast in the role of a character whose name has yet to be revealed, but is “a woman from Karadec’s (Daniel Sunjata) past” who is described as “wry, open-hearted, and independent,” and “always chasing what’s next, not out of recklessness, but out of a real appetite for life,” as per Deadline. “She follows her curiosity wherever it leads, whether that’s a new city, a new flavor, or a new chapter.”

The episode in which Watson will make her premiere is titled “NPC,” and follows the LAPD Major Crimes Division as it investigates the mysterious murder of a former esports champion, whose gaming rival and a sushi chef are under suspicion.

Meanwhile, time spent with her son Elliot (Matthew Lamb) unexpectedly provides Morgan (Olson) with insights on the case as Karadec reconnects with a woman from his past.

Fans have speculated that Watson could be playing Karadec’s ex-fiancée Lucia, whom he mentioned in Season 1 had left him because he was ultimately too involved with his job.

Showrunner Todd Harthan may have also been teasing Watson’s character during a November interview with TV Insider in which he said fans could look forward to a new character, “that comes into Karadec’s orbit, that is really gonna shake things up, both personally and professionally.”

Harthan didn’t go into details about the character or the actor who would be playing them, but teased, “It’s something we haven’t quite done yet on the show with his character… We just started filming with the actor playing the part. It’ll be an exciting, splashy piece of casting.”

High Potential airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.