'Hightown' Premiere: 'Fake nail of dead girl' on Junior's boat shocks fans who rooted for him all episode
Spoilers for 'Hightown' Episode 1
Starz's new crime drama surrounding a blazing heroin epidemic in the fictional Provincetown of Cape Cod saw one of its characters rise to exponential proportions of love from viewers. Shane Harper's Junior McCarthy in 'Hightown' might be a rash fisherman making naive, impulsive mistakes to climb the ladder, but fans saw something real in him to relate to right from the start. Be it him clinging on to his 90-day sobriety like a prized possession or just doing the utmost to win back his estranged wife and their newborn son, everybody loved Junior. Probably why everybody was also left rattled when an acrylic nail was found on Junior's boat at the end of the pilot episode.
Taking it to social media, fans noted Junior's heartfelt attempt at redemption after drugs and alcohol lost him his own family. He is the son of local fisherman Michael and they get busted by protagonist Jackie Quinones for bringing in young lobsters and pregnant crustaceans. Jackie convinces her partner to let them go without an official complaint and the bond between Junior and her is established right at that moment. His other redeeming qualities? Being 90 days sober, speaking at the AA meetings he attends regularly and also being an all-around good friend to Jackie.
That drove a Twitter user to share: "Junior has my heart... I think he's a very real character, very human. He's full of defects but is trying to be a better person day by day. I cannot wait to see this character development. I think Junior has so many things to tell us this season." And others chimed in with tweets like "Junior melts my heart", "Junior is so pure he deserves the world" and "Junior is 90 days of sober, you're doing amazing sweetie!"
But the show also opened with a cold-blooded murder right in the middle of the road. A girl called Sherry was meeting her drug dealer, but was instead shot down by two men and her body was dumped in the ocean. Jackie gets roped into the case after her early morning hangover nursing beach stroll ends in discovering the body wash up ashore. But right at the end of the episode, turns out her best friend isn't all that far away from the murder either.
The pilot dims out with Junior and Michael out on the waters again, when Junior comes across the same nail tangled in the nets, that was seen on the dead girl's hand. And while Junior contemplatively looks at his father before throwing the nail away, fans have also grown quite suspicious and worried in equal parts for the character they rooted for throughout the episode. "Omg the fake nail of this dead girl on Junior's boat has left me speechless....," shared a fan, while others flocked in asking "Why is that girl’s nail on your boat Junior?" A third fan asked "How exactly did that girl's fingernail end up on Junior's boat??!? I want to know!!" And another questioned: "Uh oh. What did you do Junior?"
While we haven't seen Junior directly interact with the guys who killed the girl, he is a former addict and by the looks of it, he was in too deep. Could it be somehow possible that he dropped the body in the waters? Is Junior working for them or is his father? He did look at Michael suspiciously for a few seconds as if trying to speculate himself what are the odds... But as of now, the fandom seems to be convinced Junior is the fishy one of the lot. No pun intended.
'Hightown' premiered on May 17 at 8 pm on Starz. Weekly episodes will roll out every Sunday.