Hightown: Season 2/ Episode 8 “Houston, We Have A Problem” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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With Frankie adjusting to this new normal, it is time to see if he still has it to keep from getting caught or between Renee, and others, if he might get caught slipping.

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Aired	12/12/2021
Network	STARZ
Directed By	Antonio Negret
Written By	Mae Smith, Kayla Westergard-Dobson

Recap

We All Need A Win Here – Ray, Jackie, Renee, Leslie, Frankie, Alan

With Renee seeing Frankie have her son shoot a gun, that’s it for her – he has to go. So, she reveals to Ray when a drop is supposed to happen, and while this is the man who fathered her child, and she has been with him since 18, this is it. Well, at least she hopes it is.

But Ray is still persona non grata, so he has to get Jackie involved, and she, she isn’t too sure about Renee. She is the reason Ray lost his job, and with Jackie not in the best situation her damn self, she isn’t trying to put her name on the line with Ray’s associated. That is until there is the possibility of maybe getting to know what happened with Daisy, whose own daughter isn’t sure where she is. So, with Jackie getting promised access to Renee for questions in exchange for using Ray’s tip to take down Frankie, the plan is set.

Well, there is one problem. Alan can’t get involved because he doesn’t trust Ray farther than he can throw him, so Jackie uses Leslie, who also doesn’t trust Ray’s word and still has unresolved issues with Jackie. However, she is willing to give it a shot.

It’s All About Timing – Charmaine, Alan, Ruth, Frankie, Ray, Renee, Jackie, Leslie, Osito, Janelle, Vernon

When it comes to Osito, things are starting to slowly go downhill for him. For one, Vernon is using which gets Osito in his feelings because that is an omen in his life. Following that, Janelle assigns someone new to do his physical therapy, and that dude is a little rough on him. This leads to some questions about why she is trying to ghost him, and the short version is that she isn’t looking for a bad boy, so she doesn’t want to get invested or lead him on.

Speaking of wasting time, Alan goes to Aileen’s funeral, hoping he can speak to Ruth and she’ll give up where Charmaine is, but Ruth flat out says the family motto is don’t talk to cops, so Alan is wasting his time. Just as Leslie and Jackie are since Frankie decides it is time to change things up.

How? Well, by ending the whole plane thing, which leads to the pilot being killed and put into a grave. This was shocking to Charmaine but considering Jorge missing and her likely knowing that has Frankie on edge, I’m sure her attitude was better the pilot than me – especially since Frankie made it seem she could have gotten that slug.

But with no Charmaine and Frank means Jackie looking like an idiot, as well as Leslie, and when Jackie confronts Ray and tries to get to chat with Renee, like promised, that goes nowhere. Renee is freaked out, maybe starting to recoil a bit, and Jackie jumping on a call Renee thought would just be with Ray makes her closed off. Thus, Jackie is royally pissed, and Ray may have lost one of the few allies on the force he has left.

Let’s Start From The Beginning – Alan, Jackie, Frankie

Despite being told repeatedly not to, Jackie goes straight to Alan with her dream of Daisy being dead, and he has to chastise her a bit. He knows about the airport thing and sees she has been drinking and getting sloppy. All of this, which has Ray written all over it, he plans on stopping.

Now, not in terms of taking her badge, but he is trying to do some form of course correction. The challenge with Jackie is that, as she notes, she has moved from addiction of a substance to an obsession with work, and she needs that high of an accomplishment. So, he decides to put some reassurances and boundaries in place. One, she is going to get tested weekly to see if her pee is clean, and also, she is going to learn to call and not just show up at his house, as Ray did. But, in terms of Daisy, he hears her out, and it will be looked into. Mainly since he sees how emotional she is getting about her CI.

All of that is quite the win for Jackie, and it would have made for a decent night if it wasn’t for Frankie at her place, with his man looking like he wanted to start something. But after a stare-down, Frankie moves on, and Jackie heads into her apartment.

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

Things To Note

• Frankie visits Osito, who he thinks may have played a role in Jorge’s death, but Osito brushes that off and makes it clear, if it was him, he would have made it clear he was. Also, Alan visits Osito and is quite mad that Osito isn’t getting the kind of information worth Alan’s time. Thus a threat of sending him back to gen pop is introduced – which would mean the end of Osito’s life.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. So is Renee going to wait until she is officially showing to tell Ray she is pregnant or pretend it is Frankie’s?

What Could Happen Next

1. While Frankie isn’t a sloppy hot head, I feel like someone or something in his operation will go wrong and mess him up. Granted, he is cutting Renee off from being in the middle of things, but I feel like it will be her.
2. Considering Charmaine hasn’t gotten adjusted to killing people yet, either Frankie will help her build a callous to that, or that soft heel will be the end of her.

Review

Highlights

Frankie Broke Charmaine’s Gangster

Charmaine is a tough cookie, and we’ve seen her go toe to toe with Frankie and Jorge throughout the season. But be it Aileen’s death or her realizing what it takes to be in the game and the casualties she will experience, you can see her on the ropes. Maybe not to the point of suddenly exiting, but you can see her weighing her options. So between creating a few degrees of separation or hardening, it’s between one or the other since I think she sees herself as in too deep to quit now.

Never mind, it isn’t like she is going to pick up a 9 to 5 job and live a normal life. How do you go from what she does now to that, without becoming angry at the world and yourself?

A Good Kind Of Spiralling Jackie

It’s hard not to yawn when Jackie spirals, and it means drugs, alcohol, sex, and madness. Mainly since we’ve seen that, and there is nothing to Jackie going down that road that doesn’t feel like every other character in her position tumbling towards rock bottom. However, seeing Jackie spiral because she needs a win and then Ray or, in this case, Alan be there to pick her up, dust her off, and give her a chance? Before she goes to narcotics? We can appreciate that. Especially since, as Jackie notes, she only knows how to pull herself away from drugs or alcohol when she can obsess over something or someone.

Currently, Jackie doesn’t really have friends, hasn’t had a real relationship in who knows how long, so all she has is work, and she needs that to be all-consuming to the point of madness. Hence, she nearly broke down over Daisy, despite having one or two real conversations with her. And while being married to your job isn’t necessarily healthy, some people need that to get through life, and Jackie is one of those people. So Alan, even though this will be Jackie’s second or third chance, seeing that, and not dropping her, it means something.

Granted, he makes it clear he isn’t her friend but her Seargent, but maybe that is what Jackie needs? People who don’t blur boundaries but rather reinforces them and reminds her they exist.

Ray And The Dangling Carrot

Over and over, Ray comes so close to getting a win. Be it getting back with Renee, his job back, or even when he cared about his kid, winning him over. But it seems he just can’t catch a break. Yet, what we appreciate is, despite him coming close to suicide a few episodes back, he keeps fighting for hope. There is still some means, someway he can use his network, a person who needs a win just as much as him, to possibly get back in the game.

I’d even say that is why we like Ray more than Jackie. When it comes to Jackie, she is more of a flight than fight at times, while Ray will go down swinging. And while Ray is imperfect, in so many ways, he has that something that makes him feel like an underdog worth rooting for, despite how he is often his own worst enemy.

On The Fence

Osito’s Storyline

While Osito has done a lot, despite being locked up in prison, I must admit I need him back on the streets. This Janelle storyline is losing luster quick, and Vernon? I’m good. So that leaves Alan threatening Osito with the possibility of gen pop, and as often said with Alan, he is by no means the character you want to be responsible to give your storyline oomph. So here is hoping Osito is given something more than a new addict, a romance that may not go nowhere, and threats from inmates we don’t know the names of.

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