TV Review: HIGHTOWN: Season 1, Episode 7: Everybody’s Got a Cousin in Miami [Starz]

Hightown Everybody’s Got a Cousin in Miami Review

STARZ‘s Hightown: Season 1, Episode 7: Everybody’s Got a Cousin in Miami was a dramatic shell game. It delivered some highly telegraphed plot twists, but none more painful than the loss of one of the most compelling characters in the show. Unfortunately, we are at the penultimate episode and Hightown has still failed to make Jackie (Monica Raymund) a convincing lead.*Major spoiler alert*

Hightown has few engaging characters. Junior (Shane Harper) was one of them. Harper played him with an emotional core that shined on the screen. Junior was earnest and sweet, and absolutely not cut out for the violent drug game. Watching this show, you could see that Junior’s fate was clear. Even though Osito (Atkins Estimond) tried to instill ruthlessness in him, Junior’s compassion was evident. Junior had every chance to save his own life, but he was preoccupied with protecting everyone else. Too busy looking out when he should have been looking in.

Osito extinguished Junior in the way he knows an addict would likely go. The whole time Osito was wishing Junior well I had chills crawling up my spine. That was cold-blooded, but Osito knew there was no other choice for his own protection from multiple murder charges. Moreover, he was motivated by Frankie’s order on pain of death. So, Hightown lost its most lovable addict to an overdose. It is sad because Junior was one of the brightest stars on this show.

The loss of Junior means the loss of a best friend for Jackie. He challenged her on a personal level that pushed her to be better, in a way that rehab was not capable. The world revolving around her is shrinking fast. While you feel sorry for Jackie, resting the narrative on her shoulders feels insufficient. Also, I really wish we got to see more interaction between Jackie and Dr. Larkin (Henny Russell), because the dialogue they shared was incredible. There was so much there to explore besides her desperate “need to be a part of this”.

Instead, we have had very little development of her relationship with her seasoned partner for us to care. Her Ex dumped her, again. Her relationship with Ray (James Badge Dale) is lopsided and weak besides their mutual failures. They barely have respect for one another. Ray does not even have respect for his own partner. Both of our main characters are only marginally good at their jobs. We are coming up on the finale, and this show still seems unable to identify itself as anything more than a drama of errors.

With Jackie it feels like we are always hurrying up to a stop, or chasing something just to be let down, mostly by her. Meanwhile, Osito has risen as the bona fide star. Our introduction to him was a brutal shock to the system, and we have not been let down since. I wanted to root for Jackie. I wanted, at least, to like Ray, but it is kind of impossible. The bad guys have are out-thinking and out-shining them at every turn.

Who would have thought the big bad would be the best thing on this show. Atkins Estimond has sneaked up to become the more convincing lead in this series. Lethal as a cobra, smart as a whip, Osito is without a doubt the most brutal player in the story. That moment of him talking about the trauma of becoming a killer at 15 is unparalleled by any other character development of the show. So far, he has coped with his station in life. Now, he is considering gaining actual control.

“Thugs gotta have a code,” Osito says. We can tell from his actions in Cousin in Miami, Osito is making a move. Frankie has been too confident in his power. He (Amaury Nolasco) underestimated his woman, Renae, his reach as far as Jackie and his drug connection are concerned, and clearly, his lieutenant, Osito. Should Osito decide to realize his full potential, the death toll and the substance of this show will rise. That is, of course, if Jackie and Ray fail to apprehend him, again.

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