Starz's gritty crime drama, Hightown Season 1 Episode 1, titled "Love You Like a Sister," starring Monica Raymund and James Badge Dale, premiered on May 17, 2020.
Set in the picturesque location of Cape Cod, the premiere episode of Hightown Season 1 throws us headfirst into the world of addiction, murder, and secrets rotting beneath the serene shoreline.
The synopsis, as per Amazon Prime Video, reads,
"Jackie Quinones, a hard partying National Marine Fisheries Service agent has her free wheeling life thrown into disarray when she discovers a body on the beach-another causualty of Cape Cod's opiod epidemic. To deal with trauma, Jackie takes the first steps towards sobriety-until she becomes convinced it's up to her to solve the murder."
Here's the recap of Hightown Season 1 Episode 1.
Hightown Season 1 Episode 1 recap: A body by the water
The premiere episode wastes no time. It opens with two women, Sherry and Krista, parked by the shore on a rainy night, waiting to meet a mysterious guy. Although Krista looks concerned, Sherry brushes it off and asks her to have fentanyl. However, horror strikes when Krista steps out to pee and helplessly watches two men shoot Sherry and stuff her body in a trunk. It's a brutal opener. One that sets the tone immediately.
Enter Jackie Quinones, a National Marine Fisheries Service agent who's more interested in booze and women than boats and quotas. Hungover and high, she stumbles upon Sherry's body while staggering home from a hookup. It's not a wake-up call she expects, but it kicks off a spiral that could either save her or destroy her.
Hightown Season 1 Episode 1: Jackie is in deep trouble
In Hightown Season 1 Episode 1, we meet Jackie, who has a drinking and drug problem. After binge drinking in the bar, she sniffs drugs and has a one-night stand with a woman. She's spiraling. Sex, drugs, denials- it's all in her toolkit. But the discovery of Sherry's corpse and a looming ferry DUI charge might push her towards rehab.
Enter Detective Ray Abruzzo and Alan Saintille, who inform the chief that their department will be taking over the case. When Ray asks Jackie to give her statement, she introduces herself and replies,
"I took a walk around 6:00 low tide, saw something about 20 yards east of the sea wall over there. I approached, saw the girl. It was obvious she didn't need CPR, so I called it in to PMP, but the tide was rolling in fast, so I took photos."
Jackie is not in good shape either-she wakes up abruptly as she gets nightmares about the girl's corpse. She crashes her car and gets arrested. She lies and cries and then, finally, agrees to get help. There's a pulse of redemption under all her self-sabotage. It's messy but honest.
Detective, dealers, and a dancer
While Jackie tries to pull herself together, Detective Ray Abruzzo is already in deep muck. The dead girl? His informant. Her murder? Connected to Frankie Cuevas Sr., a locked-up drug lord.
The wife, Renee, works at a local strip club and carries her own secrets. She plays both sides when Ray questions her, but we're not fooled. Renee's loyalty to Frankie may not be as solid as she pretends. Later, we see Renee visit Frankie in jail with her son in Hightown Season 1 Episode 1.
Meanwhile, Ray's confrontation with Frankie in prison adds another layer. There's a menace in every word. And while Frankie plays dumb, it's clear he's still pulling strings outside the walls.
Ray tells Frankie about the girls' death and his suspicion that it's related to Frankie's crimes. As he puts it,
"Well, she knew you. She told me so much about you. How do you think we knew to search your cousin's storage shed?"
Storm brewing off the cape in Hightown Season 1 Episode 1
By the episode's end, threads begin to tangle. Jackie attends the therapy group, and it is here we find Krista's snap in a board (turns out she's a part of the group). The same Krista who watched Sherry die. Elsewhere, it looks like Jackie's friend, Junior's got secrets too-including a ruby he finds on the fishing boat that maybe is more than a shiny trouble.
Hightown Season 1 Episode 1 is available to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
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