Hightown is the rare drama to tackle the opioid epidemic, but its goal is to put an emphasis on recovery

The Atlantic

"While documentaries and news reports about the opioid epidemic have proliferated in recent years, drama has largely stayed away from the subject, meaning that complex, humane stories about people with addiction have been harder to find," says Sophie Gilbert. Hightown creator Rebecca Cutter's vision for Monica Raymund's character "began when, driving in her car one night, she was suddenly struck by the idea of Jackie, a 'charismatic alcoholic lady-killer' by night who’s unapologetic about her sexuality, who loves her job in federal law enforcement, and whose partying is a consuming crutch that enables her not to get too invested in anything or anyone," says Gilbert. "Raymund was drawn to the character not only for how rare it was 'to be able to play a Latina lesbian as the lead,' ... but also for how the show isn’t about the various boxes Jackie fits into so much as it’s interested in “her demons, her addictions, and her purpose as a person in the world.” As Gilbert notes, Hightown is led by females. “It makes a huge difference,” says Raymund. “It makes the biggest difference in my career. Automatically, there’s a feeling of agency, autonomy. There’s a feeling of sisterhood … equality. It feels like there’s finally a seat at the table, and with that comes self-worth and confidence, and working from a place of curiosity and commitment rather than fear.” Cutter, meanwhile, says she wanted Hightown to have all the fun elements of a gripping crime drama: sex, violence, and humor. “The show isn’t prescriptive,” says Cutter. “I don’t have a solution, and I don’t have a villain, and I don’t have a Why did this happen?”

ALSO:

• Hightown is in part a rehab and redemption story, but in an organic way that mostly avoids preaching and solemnity
• Hightown is an uneven mashup of incongruous themes, a veritable grab bag of provocations that wouldn’t even have felt edgy 20 years ago
• Hightown's setting is more intriguing than its recursive storytelling
• Monica Raymund was excited due do something completely different from Chicago Fire: "So when the project came across my desk, I was just elated, because I couldn’t ask for a bigger dream role"