Starz’s “Hightown” TV Series Looks Ready to Deliver Queers and Murder-Mystery This Spring

Judging from the teaser for the upcoming Hightown TV series, you might want to consider adding Starz’s latest offering to your viewing list. The new murder mystery series is set to debut in Spring 2020 and will feature a lesbian lead.

According to reports, Hightown will take you on a journey featuring a woman’s path to sobriety while she tries to uncover the truth behind a murder. It will also address Cape Cod’s “growing opioid epidemic.” A teaser was shared before the show’s panel during the Television Critics Association 2020 Winter Press Tour in Pasadena.

The series is executive produced by Rebecca Cutter, Gary Lennon, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, and KristieAnne Reed. It stars Monica Raymund (a publicly out actress) as Jackie Quinones and James Badge Dale as Detective Ray Abruzzo.

The first-ever woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Rachel Morrison (Fruitvale Station, Black Panther) serves as the director for the first two episodes. 

She shared that she “learned a great deal about creating a style for the show — while having the confidence that subsequent episode directors would maintain a consistent tone.”

Also, you should know the series won’t shy away from the darker elements of opioid abuse.

As for the premise, it reads:

Hightown follows “Jackie Quinones (Monica Raymund), a hard-partying lesbian in Provincetown, Massachusetts, aka P-Town; a federal Fishery Service Agent who uses her gun and badge to seduce tourist chicks. She’s none-too-enthusiastically putting in her time until she can draw a federal pension – but everything changes when she discovers a body in Cape Cod Bay, and finds herself at the center of the Cape’s gruesome heroin epidemic.

Here’s the teaser!

Starz does have a commendable track record when it comes to queer representation on the small screen. It’s not always quality queer representation, but when done right, Starz sure delivers some of the best queer offerings. 

The network gave the world Spartacus which featured the ‘Bury Your Gays‘ trope defying romance (through Agron and Nasir) all the way back in 2013. Black Sails (2014-2017) was praised for having a gay man as the lead character and how his narrative arc was handled. The currently running Outlander has its moments, too.

Some of the messy stuff, on the network, includes 2019’s Now, Apocalypse (thankfully canceled after one season) and Da Vinci’s Demons (2013-2015).

Anyway, Hightown looks like the type of show that will likely deliver some well-written queer representation, and that, too, from a woman’s perspective.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the teaser with us.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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