Behind Every Skirt is a Slip
Episode 6 of Hightown Season 2 is back after a week hiatus, picking up right where it left off from before. A bloodstained Ray is incredulous to Renee’s confession of love. He invites her in after patting her down, but there’s clear hostility between them. “I wish I never met you.” Ray says through gritted teeth, angry that he’s sold his soul for her. This singular decision of Renee choosing Frankie over him has imploded both their lives, as Renee has been stuck under Frankie’s thumb and living in constant fear. However, she knows how to get under Ray’s skin and it doesn’t take long for them to hook up. Meanwhile, things between Jackie and Leslie are frosty, to say the least. Leslie refuses to engage at work, shrugging off Jackie’s suggestion of talking. It doesn’t help that Daisy isn’t picking up her phone (for obvious reasons!) This ultimately brings Jackie over to Ray’s place, asking for relationship advice. Given Leslie used to be involved with him, it seems like a solid idea. However, Ray scoffs at that notion, calling Leslie a psycho and essentially forcing her to leave. Jackie continues to spiral and heads over to see Ed. She apologizes for her words last episode but the damage has already been done. In fact, Ed has decided to retire after the holidays. “Don’t do this to me.” Is her reply. Now, we’ve seen Jackie self-centered and selfish across the season but here, it hits a lot harder, especially after the work she’s been putting in to be a better person. It’s pretty disappointing if I’m honest. This time though Jackie is called out for her BS, as she’s left feeling guilty and reeling over her harsh words. Renee tries to get her story straight in the car on the way. Will Frankie take the bait though? He’s more interested in the drug situation, but when Charmaine touches down on her plane, Jorge obviously isn’t there for the pick-up. Instead, Char gets an Uber home, complete with Christmas gifts for the family. It doesn’t take long for her to ring Frankie though, who promises to throw something extra her way for the trouble. Deep down, he’s very clearly concerned about where Jorge may be. Renee tries to cover her tracks, deciding to bring out a replica bullet to replace the one from Jorge’s handgun. And it works too. When Frankie comes storming in, looking for answers, she keeps story straight. Renee claims she last saw him after-hours. An ominous bloodstain on the side sees her quickly scramble to hide it, as Frankie grabs the handgun (checking the bullets too no less, great work Renee!) and heads out to see Frankie Jr’s play at school. Charmaine’s place is raided, with the drugs gone and Aileen dead. When Alan learns about this, he immediately sets up a search warrant and demands they starts investigating. Alan pleads with Char to cooperate and work with the police. He knows she’s working with Frankie and sets out to try and take them down. Char though, has other ideas. She lashes out, questioning Alan’s motivations and believing he’s only out to get her arrested. Ray heads over to see Jackie and questions her about the case. He also asks about Renee, which gets her reeling. She hits out at Ray, calling him an addict (how ironic) and eventually forcing him to leave. Jackie eventually busts over to see Leslie, learning that they’re over after “having fun”. Leslie was indeed put off by the text, making her realize things were getting too serious for her, so she skipped out. “Don’t you have any other place to be Jackie?” She quizzes, eventually shutting the door on her. After spiraling out of control all episode, Jackie eventually heads home to see her father, who shows up drunk at the door. She hesitates when he invites her in for a drink, but eventually succumbs to her desires.
The Episode Review
Oh Jackie, you were doing so well as well. Seeing her spiral back into old habits is hard to watch and worse, it actually undoes a lot of the work done to try and develop her character into a more likable and empathetic protagonist. Now that Jackie has slipped back in that unlikable character from before, it feels like a bit of a step back. But hey, she hasn’t almost killed anyone yet while drink driving so I guess that’s a plus! Despite that, this season has managed to ramp up the tension and it would seem that Charmaine is the one who could be the key to unlocking this investigation. With Ray and Renee together now too, it would seem that we’re about to gear up for quite the dramatic set of episodes to come. We shall see.
