‘Hightown’ Recap: ‘Fallbrook’

2/10/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Monica Raymund as Jackie Quiñones in Episode 303 of ‘Hightown’ – ‘Fallbrook’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 303 of ‘Hightown’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

Something that is genuinely fascinating about the human condition, is how we convince ourselves that attacking the definition of insanity from a different angle, will change our lives for the better. Because well, it doesn’t. It just puts us in a situation that allows for old habits to come forth and eventually slip us back into the rut we wanted out of in the first place. Creating nothing short of a vicious cycle, and what makes this so fascinating, are the thoughts we use to get us into that different angle. For all we are doing… is making excuses to return to old haunts and forget about change.

If anything, that wildly complex and unhealthy style of living is top of mind today, simply because it served as the central theme of the next episode of Hightown on STARZ. For ‘Fallbrook’ was a story that saw three primary characters do just that. But before we dive too deeply into that journey, we need to take a moment to discuss Ostio and Frankie’s storylines in this episode. Since both men made power moves to regain agency in the game. With Frankie coming to learn about Osito’s relationship while Rachel did his bidding, and Osito… opted to go for broke and get his hands on as much product as possible by going after Owen’s source, giving rise to brewing conflict for certain, the kind that may boil over quickly.

But as their respective machinations took place, those old habits were indeed dying hard. After all, Renee made her own power play at the club. By taking the time to seize control of the schedule and the floor, so that she could start moving the last of the good stuff from the Cuevas Drug Reserves. All because Renee really thought this would give her a new beginning to an old path. Because now she would be in charge of distribution and handle her own collection of fees and everything in between. But let’s be honest, this just makes Renee, the old Renee. A woman working in a place and around a trade that never brought her happiness and won’t now. But she is genuinely convinced this will somehow do the trick.

Atkins Estimond as Ostio in Episode 303 of ‘Hightown’ – ‘Fallbrook’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Not to mention, her better half was slipping back into old habits as well. For Ray’s undercover work with Sarah put him in the thick of the thrill that the streets provided him with. The kind that prompted him to once indulge in elicit sexual behavior and Sarah only helped to further bring forth those old thoughts. Granted, she was not responsible for Ray’s final choices here. Since we are in fact, responsible for our own actions and our own decisions… but Ray let her do anything to get information and was eager to enjoy anything sexual she took part in to get that intelligence. So, he could use it to return to that erotic thrill, a move that was clearly an attempt by Ray, to vicariously quell his unhealthy sexual appetite in a manner that wouldn’t lure him back into it. When in fact, it most likely will. For addiction, even sexual, will come surging back with a sampling and for proof… we need not look any further than Jackie’s journey throughout the course of the show.

In fact, speaking of Jackie, she too… was back in the world of old habits in the hopes of trying to approach an old problem differently. Because let’s be honest… Jackie Quiñones stays sober when she hyper fixates on a case. For that provides her mind with the rush that drugs and alcohol bring her, and it was that rush that helped her join the force in the first place, and she fell back into the world of drugs when Frankie went to jail… to get that fix. And here… she was once again hyper fixated on the Veronica mess. In the hopes of using a different and more personal case to cure what ails her and drive her forward into a better tomorrow. When in fact, she needs to address root causes first. But her journey here, while unhealthy, did produce some good. Because she’s once again stumbled onto something dark and dreary, and dangerous.

Since it is clear now, that someone is committing acts of murder, and their preferred victim is sex workers. Giving rise to quite the case for Jackie to work on, and while we wait to see what she learns from the revelations brought forth here… we can celebrate one brilliant tale, directed by Monica Raymund no less. One that more or less informed us that until we go after the real reasons we indulge in negative behavior and our vices, they will forever haunt us, and no different angles or approaches will help. We’ll just be stuck in a cycle, like these folks… since they’re now inches away from being right back where they started. And it will be interesting to see if they can overcome and grow at last when this saga ends, or if they will become trapped in a never-ending cycle of sorrow and hope… courtesy of a fear of real change. Until next time.

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