Idyllic Cape Cod Displays Its Dark and Dangerous Side in the New STARZ Drama HIGHTOWN

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Rebecca Cutter has a clear-cut distinction when describing her gritty new series HIGHTOWN. “I don’t think it’s a show about people with issues,” said Cutter, creator and executive producer. “It’s a show about people, and people have issues.” Debuting Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on STARZ, HIGHTOWN is set on iconic Cape Cod and follows one woman’s journey to sobriety in the shadow of an unfolding murder investigation. Monica Raymund stars as Jackie Quiñones, a hard-partying National Marine Fisheries Service Agent – a.k.a. fish cop – whose life is thrown into disarray when she discovers a body on the beach, potentially another casualty of the opioid epidemic that’s plaguing the area. Jackie finds herself pulled in two directions, taking reluctant steps to get sober following the trauma of the event, but also starting to believe that she’s the only one with the insight and proper approach to solve the case. This puts her on a collision course with Sgt. Ray Abruzzo, played by James Badge Dale, an abrasive but effective Cape Cod narcotics cop who also is in danger of losing himself in the investigation. “I think most people have issues, and I just think TV has gotten to be more of a platform – sort of like indie film was – where we get to really explore very nuanced levels of character,” Cutter explained. “So the issues come out, front and centre. But I think Jackie is many things. I think Ray is many things. They’re both very effective at their jobs. They both are very magnetic and charismatic and funny and smart. I don’t think they’re just their issues, you know?” Best known previously for her roles in LIE TO ME, THE GOOD WIFE, and most recently CHICAGO FIRE, Raymund finds it exciting to play a character who is so complex and can go in so many different directions, because she’s at a fairly low point in her life when viewers first meet her. “This role is really about battling inner demons, trying to find redemption, trying to fill something within me that I can’t fill – I don’t have a whole person yet, but I’m exploring that as the character of Jackie,” Raymund said. This is totally different, a different structure. CHICAGO FIRE was its own thing, but this is something that is a narrative. This is not a procedural. This is not a who-done-it. This is a character-driven show. And even though it’s centring around murder, we’re with these characters throughout, and we see how they intersect. So, this story is like … this is the real deal.” Cutter acknowledged that when most people think of Cape Cod, they either think of the Kennedys, or they simply think of it as an idyllic summer vacation spot for rich people. “But it has this real dark and light,” Cutter said. “In the summer it’s this thriving tourist place, and in the winter it’s under-employed, and it’s cold, and it’s very isolated. So that was the starting point. Provincetown is at the very tip of the Cape and that is the place that has the very thriving LGBTQ community and is sort of a gay mecca in the tourist season. Hyannis is sort of the biggest city on the Cape and that’s where a lot of the drug crime is. In our show, Jackie lives in Provincetown, and the Cape Cod Interagency Narcotics Unit, that’s all in Hyannis. So it’s really about all of the Cape, but those are the two named places.” One last thing: What’s with the name of the show, HIGHTOWN? “It was called ‘P-Town’ and then Gary (Lennon, executive producer) and I really wanted to go back to Provincetown, so … ” said Cutter, cracking up reporters. “No, that’s not true. Provincetown is like a special little unicorn at the tip of Cape Cod, and it doesn’t really represent all that the show is. So we were looking for a name that sort of is about drugs, but also is from Cape Cod, and I heard actually from our police technical advisors that the slang for Hyannis is ‘Hytown’ And I was like, ‘It’s genius, I love it, I’ll take it.’ ” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv