‘Hightown’ by Starz: Shows off Cape Cod in the darkest ways

Just a couple of days ago, on May 17th, Starz premiered a new show called Hightown. It takes place in Massachusetts and follows Jackie Quiñones (Monica Raymund), a National Marine Fisheries agent and substance abuser. One day Jackie has the misfortune of finding a dead body on the beach, and becomes part of the investigation because she desperately wants answers.

The show is a very dark drama & very rated ‘R’. The show allows itself to take advantage of the fact Province Town is known for its party heavy reputation, as well as being notoriously welcoming spot for the gay community. There are a number of sex scenes, which Starz can do because they’re a premium station, and plenty of drug usage.

With only one episode out so far it’s hard to truly judge Hightown, many shows begin to feel better after their pilots. As of now, the show is said to be a bit formulaic, but others find Raymund’s performance to be engrossing enough to pass over the predictability. Besides, with only the pilot episode having debuted so far, there’s plenty of time for the show to adjust course.

The big debate will likely end up being whether the show continues to be boring or whether it ratchets up the intrigue.

The show’s creator is Rebecca Perry Cutter, who is best known for her work on the shows Gotham and The Mentalist. Her past shows Cutter has experience with both mysteries and dark stories, as well as creating shows with dedicated followings.

Jerry Bruckheimer is also attached to Hightown, who is a prolific producer and a winner of ten Emmy awards. Bruckheimer has worked on everything from Lucifer to The Amazing Race, and even one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so his presence on the team bodes well for the future of Hightown as well.

Hightown is set to have eight total episodes in the first season, airing at five pm on Sundays, which will bring the season to an end on July fifth. Currently ratings are sitting somewhere between 60%-70% positive depending on where you look online, but these numbers could easily change as more episodes are released.

If gritty mysteries are your thing, then Hightown may well be something you need to check out. There’s multiple ways to stream the first episode, so you can catch up before watching episode two live this weekend.