'Hightown' Episode 3 Review: Jackie Quinones 'prostituting' for a car is a new low but is there trouble ahead?
How far can Jackie Quinones (Monica Raymund) go in order to distract herself from the addiction that continues to call her? How far can she go to indulge in her distraction that has changed into an obsession — something Jackie has begun to believe that she was fated to follow? 'Hightown' Episode 4 expands on this idea and the portrayal of the answer to these questions is distasteful. Yes, it is understandable that we would be presented with questionable choices, considering the characteristics of Jackie is questionable. However, just the fact that she was ready to use her ex-girlfriend for sex and a ride is heights of insensitive behavior. Thankfully, Jackie's girlfriend calls out this bull**** soon.
Jackie is convinced that finding Krista Collins (Crystal Lake Evans), who she believes was with Sherry the day she was shot, is her mission to complete. The fact that she is not ready to face the fact that she could have been the reason for one woman's death gets pushed back every time someone tries to remind her of the gravity of her actions. Snorting cocaine, drinking alcohol and driving while being under the influence of both and trying to get sex all at the same time spelled disaster, and the fact that Jackie was an officer of the law only stresses how Jackie's attitude is problematic. The show, however, doesn't put her in the path to redemption. In fact, it pushes her further away from it.
The fact that she is ready to drive without a license after the accident that she caused is further proof of how much Jackie is in dissonance with what is right and wrong. All that she can think about at the moment is to solve why Sherry was murdered. When Junior (Shane Harper) tried to bring her attention to the fact that she was only obsessing about Krista and Sherry, Jackie throws excuses to get away with having to even consider where she is wrong. Of course, Junior is only trying to get Jackie to give up on Krista and Sherry (Masha King) because of his involvement in getting rid of Sherry's body. However, that doesn't diminish his point.
It is also interesting how Jackie's actions escalate the more she is called to take responsibility for the accident she caused. After checking herself out of the rehab forcefully, Jackie must have known that the court wouldn't give her any kind of leeway. Yet, she hopes for the charges to be dropped to a misdemeanor. When the judge denies and charges her for a felony, just for a moment, Jackie's expression shows a crack. There is fear hidden beneath all the bravado and that fear pushes her further to rebel against everyone trying to talk sense into her.
She reaches out to Detective Ray (James Badge Dale) and tries to reveal her supposition to him and he shuts her down calling her conclusions nonadmissible because they are based on assumptions, not facts. It is ironic that a woman's desperate attempts to distract herself lead her on to the right path even as the detective flounders trying to track down Osito (Atkins Estimond), Frankie's right-hand man. Ray's goal is to bring Frankie down using Osito. In that sense, his investigation is on the track, however, if investigating the crime scene were his goal, he would have had to find out about Krista as a witness.
When all of Jackie's leads turn into dead end, she finds out that Krista has an Italian Sugar Daddy who she could be roomed with at the moment. However, to meet with this Italian man, Jackie needs a car. She might have convinced Junior to be her sponsor, but she is unable to convince him to lend her his car. He knows that her license was suspended. So instead, Jackie uses her stint at the rehab and the fact that she has been 12 days sober to reconnect with her ex-girlfriend Devonne (Gia Crovatin).
This is after she asks Junior if she should be "prostituting" herself for a ride. The fact that she figuratively did just that is hard to accept. The saving grace being Devonne figuring out Jackie's intentions the minute she asks her a favor and calling her out on her bull****. She does lend Jackie the car but also gets Jackie to accept her manipulative ways of using people to get what she wants. Is Jackie headed towards more trouble?
New episodes of 'Hightown' drop on Sundays on Starz.