shed his working-classroots and adopteda hipster
aestheticand attitude,planningsignificantchanges.
Thesedrawtheconsternationofoneofthelocals,
Watto(NoelO’Neill),anIrishheavydrinker who soon
becomesa sourceofcomicrelief.
AndthereinliestheproblemwithThe Heights. While
it hasbeencelebratedasa working-classdrama,^1 the
showis carefulnottobetooworking-class– andcer-
tainlypointsitscameraawayfromthepoverty-racked
characterswhomust,byinferenceif notappearance,
alsodwellin ArcadiaTowers.Thereareexceptions
- oneepisodeopenswitha fewunnamedhomeless
peopleidlywatchingsomeoftheprincipalcharacters
attenda taichiclassin thenearbypark– butthese
momentsare fleeting.Our true protagonistsprove to
beindividualswithnosmallamountofcomparative
powerand wealth:a formerpoliceofficer,a lawyer,a
doctorandnofewerthansixsmall-businessowners.
Moreimportantly,thesecharactershaveanimplied
degreeofsocialmobility.Pav,whodealsa littleweed
to support himself, may rail against the barriers he
This page, from top:Claudia, Pav and Ash with Pav’s ex-wife, Leonie (Shari Sebbens), and Mark (Dan Paris); Sully’s mother, Iris (Carina Hoang)
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