Hightown: Season 2/ Episode 2 “Girl Power” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

It’s an episode featuring some notable wins for the police, and with a few bad decisions on the criminal side, you can potentially see the writing on the wall.

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Aired	10/24/2021
Network	STARZ
Directed By	Rachel Morrison
Written By	Scott Wolven, Tim Walsh

Newly Noted

Characters

Daisy (Jona Xiao)

Jorge’s main squeeze who works at Xavier’s.

Nick (Joey LaBrasca)

Ray’s kid with who he has a strained relationship with.

Henriette (Charline St. Charles)

Alan’s wife and mother of his child.

Recap

So This Is What Rock Bottom Feels Like? – Nick, Ray

At this point, Ray has very little going on. He’s sleeping with his married boss one day, working some construction job the next, but with all this free time, it means connecting with his son moves up on his priority list. The problem is, we’re currently in October, and Ray hasn’t seen Nick since Christmas, so Nick isn’t feeling his dad’s suddenly showing up.

However, by the end of the episode, he is willing to extend an olive branch to his dad for trying without asking for anything beyond time.

I Don’t Trust Them – Charmaine, Renee, Jorge, Daisy, Frankie, Osito, Alan, Henriette

Making friends out of people who easily present themselves as enemies is hard. For Alan, the plague of three dead white kids is making the early part of his tenure tiresome, and add in kids coming for him at an assembly? Oh, he needs a win. The problem is, Osito is his only lead, and he isn’t giving him what he asks for. He notes where Kizzle’s body is and even pins Junior for it, but that doesn’t solve the drug issue.

However, after talking to his wife, Henriette, he is reminded a win is a win, and with Osito coming through on that body, maybe Alan may treat his snitch better? Especially since Osito has no allies, not even his cellmate.

Oh, and speaking of alliances, Charmaine enters into one with Jorge and Frankie, or at least she thought she did. If you go by how Frankie and Jorge see it, she works for them, and they are not partners at all. However, considering the liability Jorge is by murdering someone, albeit accidentally, and his love affair with Daisy, maybe Charmaine is better off if they see the relationship that way? Plus, with her bringing Renee in, if things get hot, at least there is one snitch who might be on her side.

A Drink, Some Conversation, And A Toast To Partnership – Jackie, Leslie, Alan

Despite Ray’s warnings, Leslie, so far, has made quite a good partner to Jackie. She has always been collaborative, made sure Alan is aware of Jackie working with her to get things done, and she is turning out to be a decent friend. However, lines get crossed when Leslie ends up in Jackie’s bed.

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

Things To Note

• Character Guide Update (Renee): Frankie Jr. is 5
• Character Guide Update (Donna): Her daughter is 16 months
• Donna starts working at Xavier’s in this episode.
• Character Guide Update (Leslie): Is a divorcee who claimed to be strictly dickly.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. How Ray go from drinking with his former boss to outside of Frankie and Renee’s house?
2. How did Leslie end up half-naked in Jackie’s bed, and did anything happen?

What Could Happen Next

1. Charmaine is going to come to regret this partnership.
2. Jorge killing Charmaine’s dealer is going to be what takes him down, maybe Frankie too.
3. Jackie and Leslie becoming a complicated thing that will help Jackie understand Ray’s initial warning
4. Donna learning about who she works for and becoming an informant.

Review

Highlights

The Liability You Know Renee & Donna Will Become

Let’s be real: Renee isn’t really about this life Frankie is focused on, and she is likely petty enough to find a way to take Jorge down. The question is, how will she do it, and with what evidence? Alongside that, Donna lost the love of her life, the father of her child, to the people who she is now working for, and I see her as the type who will try to get revenge. Now, whether she will end up face down in the cape for her troubles? That’s hard to say. But her death could very well be what leads to Renee snitching, if you think about it.

After all, Donna could become one of the few, if only, people Renee can call a friend.

Ray Bonding With His Son

I didn’t realize how much I’d miss Ray in the center of things until Alan took on that role. Yet, Ray trying to get his life together by bonding with his son and doing right by him, it might just be what his character needs. Heck, maybe even the show since there aren’t really any notable relationships on here that don’t seem based on sex or business relationships.

On The Fence

Alan

We’re still in a transition period when it comes to Alan, and in a show which has debauchery left and right, him being married, with a child, living in the suburbs makes him an outlier. One who hasn’t really found a way to bring the heat, despite a tame personal life. His scenes with Osito lack the punch others have had with him, and Alan just generally lacks a quality scene partner to bring out any sense of him being one to watch. Thus making it appear he is flailing as a leading man of the state police and in desperate need of some consistent figure to shore him up.

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