Rebellion Dogs
Hightown returns this week with another formulaic slice of crime drama in a series that’s quickly becoming less relevant the longer the weeks draw on. It’s a shame too because there’s actually some nice elements to this series but the unlikable protagonists, lack of dramatic tension and a formulaic story that lacks much in the way of intrigue holds this back from being a better title. Given the gorgeous locale and promise early on, Hightown is quickly squandering that and heading straight to mediocrity. Episode 3 of Hightown begins by cutting back in time and seeing Junior stashing Sherry’s body on the boat with his friend. Riding out to sea, he takes a deep breath and throws her overboard. This brings us back to the present where Jackie and Junior discuss the dead body she found. Only, Osito rings him while they talk but when he does’t pick up, Osito leaves a voicemail demanding he phone back. Meanwhile, Ray continues to pursue his case with constant messages to Renee saying “hey”. As we cut across to her, she ignores the messages and hurries off to prison to see Frankie. Admitting he can’t do anything from his jail cell, he suggests Renee should try getting involved with Ray. In the morning, Jackie heads back to the station and receives her verdict – her licence is revoked and she’s suspended. Jackie is none too happy with this though but outside the building, Ray rings her and agrees to hear her out on the information she has relating to this case. There, she spills the detail around Kristi and how she was there the night of the murder. Given she’s not an officer anymore, he politely escorts her out the building. When she leaves, Ray gathers the group and starts looking into the possibility of Krista being involved. Ray heads to Renny’s, a local burger joint and learns Osito was there and it’s a spot he frequents. At the same time, Jackie heads back to Lisa’s with Junior and after convincing her to talk over some dope, they learn that Krista left her suitcase there. Outside, Jackie looks through the belongings but doesn’t find anything except for some papers. The next day, Jackie turns up late to rehab and the therapist refuses to sign her attendance card. Instead, Junior signs it for her and outside they share a cigarette together. As smoke curls into the air, she thinks over what to do next and deliberates over the sheet of paper she found in the suitcase relating to “Glendon House”. After doing some digging, she learns from the group therapy girls that one of the names on the sheet of paper she has, labelled Anthony, relates to a guy Krista was dating. She finds Anthony’s number and phones through but he tells her he’s not interested and hangs up. Back at the strip bar, Osito shows up and sits with Renee. He hands over a “gift”, which happens to be a stack of cash. Realizing this relates to speaking to Ray and getting involved with him, she messages back and the two start talking. Osito meanwhile, visits Junior and berates him for what happened with the body out at sea. He admits that Frankie wanted to kill him but instead, Osito decides to toughen him up by forcing Junior to beat up the worker at the fast food joint. Jackie meanwhile sleeps with an old flame with the sole intent of using her car. After emotionally manipulating the girl, Jackie slips out in the morning and drives to Anthony’s construction plant where Krista happens to be with Anthony, sitting in his car which is where the episode ends. The biggest problem with Hightown comes from its unlikable characters and it’s just not enough to pique the interest in a story where we already know many of the answers to the questions being asked. We know who killed Sherry, we know who dumped the body out at sea and we can piece together most of the reasons why this happened. There just isn’t enough here to drive the story forward and worse, our protagonist is a liar, cheater, self-centered and only cares about herself. Rehab has done nothing for Jackie and despite calling herself sober, she’s still smoking and emotionally manipulating people for her own benefit, making it difficult to warm to her. Ray isn’t much better and the way he blends pleasure with work, along with his creepy fascination with Renee, doesn’t make it easy to warm to him either. Perhaps there will be a twist in the coming weeks that turns this around but for now, Hightown is a disappointingly indifferent crime drama that could be so much more than it is. Published: 31 May 2020 at 11:27pm on TheReviewGeek.com
