‘Hightown’ Recap: ‘Severely Weatherbeaten’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One universal rule about life that a great deal of us abide by, is that we need to atone for our sins. Simply because a great deal of the bad things we do are correctable, and the best way to move forward is to own those mistakes and do what we can to set things right and there are some serious psychological benefits that accompany following this rule as well. After all, so many of us feel great when we’ve cleared the air and apologized and made amends and being in that mindset, also allows for us or really learn the lesson inherent that accompanies that mistake and truly, it would be nice if everyone adhered to this law of the land. But what’s genuinely fascinating about this rule, is that it sometimes requires a measure of delicateness in executing it.

Because sometimes, the mistake we made was so great and so devastating, that immediately trying to repair what we’ve done, is a bad idea or seemingly impossible. Which means we need to take a moment and really think about what happened and figure out the right way forward to make amends, even if that includes working on ourselves, so we don’t rush into this and make another faux pas and really, this is relevant to our discussion today… simply because it served as the focus of the next episode of Hightown. For ‘Severely Weatherbeaten’ saw Jackie Quiñones in a tough place mentally during her rehab stay. Because she really thought she was making great progress in her recovery. to the point where she thought she was ahead of the game, and that motivated her to ponder upon what comes next.

For she was of course, still facing felony charges for the accident she caused, courtesy of her drinking and drug problem, and she was also still haunted by Sherry’s murder and well… the discovery of Krista Collins and her relationship to Sherry, is what brought about the exploration in question and the answer to Jackie's question. Because just like that… Jackie thought that solving Sherry’s murder and saving Krista in the process, might reflect well on her record and perhaps heal the wounds in her soul over her mistake and that in turn, sent her down a bold path. One where she left rehab and opted to perform a grand investigation on her own and well… it quickly became clear that such a move was a bad idea. Largely because, she wasn’t a cop at the moment, nor was she safe in doing this in the slightest. But more so, because this wasn’t going to heal her or fix her, she needed to do that first before making amends, leaving all of us to wonder how long before such a decision will backfire upon Jackie.

But while that made for a solid and fascinating exploration on how to properly atone for our mistakes and how self-care is pertinent to that when self-destructive behaviors are in play… this episode also took a little time to advance the case against Osito. For Alan and Ray made great strides in getting close to him and some answers about his involvement in all this. A feat they accomplished by using Renee as bait to draw him out in the open so he could potentially sell some drugs to an undercover cop. Which is a move that went poorly, since Osito smelled trouble and bounced before the the unit could get a long term fix on him. But Ray was able to pull some prints from a fast-food bag he left behind and get a positive ID on him and his true identity, and hopefully that will help them move quickly in solving this case, especially since dark clouds are gathering on the horizon regarding it.

After all, we now know that Junior is mixed up in this mess, since he met with Frankie in jail and provided the boss man with all kinds of updates and apologies in regard to Sherry’s murder. Which also speaks volumes to the fact that Frankie is pulling some strings behind the scenes and no good can come from that. Plus, to complicate matters further, Ray is fixated on Renee and that’s just bad. Since such feelings and attractions could derail this case in an epic manner and well, all those juicy storylines do is leave us eager for more. Because that’s the kind of stuff you have to see play out. But before we dive into the next chapter in this dynamic tale, we can celebrate another solid episode. One that once again explored the power of addiction and the nature of our characters in a detailed and dynamic manner… all while pulling us deeper and deeper into the seedy underbelly of Cape Cod. Until next time.  

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