Jett is an American drama series created by Sebastian Gutierrez that began airing in June 2019 on Cinemax. The show focuses on ex-thief Daisy "Jett" Kowalski (Carla Gugino) who gets drawn back into a life of crime. Aside from Gugino, the cast includes Giancarlo Esposito, Elena Anaya, Michael Aronov, Gaite Jansen, Gil Bellows, Chris Backus, Gentry White, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Violet McGraw.
In January 2020, Cinemax stated that it was cancelling all of its original programming, including Jett. Following the announcement, Gugino revealed that she and Gutierrez were searching for a new home for the series.
This show contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: The Bennie/Rosalie storyline, which takes up much of the seventh episode, is then essentially dropped and remains unresolved by the end of the season.
- Actor Allusion: Both Phoenix and Gaite Jansen, the actress who plays her, are from the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
- Affably Evil: Charlie Baudelaire is a notorious crime boss—who enjoys nothing more than a quiet game of golf and is generally a pleasant person.
- The Alcoholic:
- Dwight, Rosalie's husband.
- Dillon admits to being this.
- Anachronic Order: The last episode of the first season.
- Asshole Victim: Towards the middle of the season, Dwight gets shot by Rosalie while he's sexually assaulting her.
- Brother–Sister Team: In a more disturbing example, Phoenix' half-brother Neal is her pimp.
- Canada Does Not Exist: The series is filmed in Toronto but the actual setting is never specified.
- Cliffhanger: The first season ends with Jett learning that Alice has been kidnapped.
- Depraved Homosexual: Charles Junior.
- Disappeared Dad: Alice's father is completely absent, and she's raised by her mother and Maria (and later, Phoenix).
- Domestic Abuse: Charles Junior with Bobby, Dwight with Rosalie, and Charlie with multiple lovers.
- Dream Sequence: There are several, perhaps most notably at the beginning of the first season finale.
- Emotions vs. Stoicism:
- When Jett gives her the money to pay off Neal once and for all, Phoenix breaks down in tears of gratitude and virtually jumps on Jett to give her a hug. Though she hugs Phoenix back, Jett looks mildly uncomfortable.
- While the men of the show don't usually demonstrate their feelings as openly as Phoenix, most of their motivations are romantic and emotional in nature. Creator Sebastian Gutierrez revealed that he intended this to contrast with Jett's cool level-headedness.
- Flashback: Frequent, as several episodes focus on the backstory of Jett's relationship with a particular character.
- Homage:
Word of God states that Josie's outfit of a tank top and panties in her final scene was a tribute to Sigourney Weaver's character in Alien. - Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Phoenix invokes this trope verbatim to describe herself. Justified, as she's probably the most genuinely sweet adult character in the show.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Bennie constantly watches over Rosalie to make sure that she never comes to serious harm by Dwight. While he's technically a Stalker with a Crush, most of the fanbase loves him anyway.
- Jerkass: Charles Junior is unstable, rude, violent, self-centered, and incredibly controlling to his partner Bobby, who is never anything but nice to him. He's also later revealed to be completely crazy.
- Killed Off for Real: Many characters. By the end of the first season Dwight, Josie, Bobby, Carl, Charles Junior, Charlie Baudelaire, Maria (probably), and Miljan Bestic are dead.
- Love Triangle: Miljan Bestic was in love with the woman who had an affair with Charlie Baudelaire and eventually gave birth to Charles Junior.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Jett can be quite the Femme Fatale when she wants to.
- Phoenix has several nude scenes and often wears revealing clothing, even after she stops working as a prostitute.
- Mood Lighting: Frequent. The show's visual style has been frequently praised.
- Mooks: Bennie and Carl for Charlie Baudelaire, Taggart and Hopper for Charles Junior, and Evans for Miljan Bestic.
- No Honor Among Thieves: The reason why Jett works either alone or only with a handful of criminals that she trusts explicitly. When Evans forces her to work with a crew of his own choosing, she is proven right when one of them tries to abscond with the loot.
- However, Jett is not immune to this herself. She is willing to betray Charlie if it keeps her and her loved ones safe.
- Non-Specifically Foreign: In early episodes Bestic is just said to be "Eastern European" until it is eventually revealed that he is from Moldova. Even afterwards he is sometimes referred to as Russian.
- Parental Substitute: Maria is one for Alice when Jett is away. Due to Maria's illness, Phoenix is set up as a replacement.
- Split Screen: Happens often, though usually more for artistic than plot-related reasons.
- The Stoic:
- Evans essentially has one facial expression and always speaks in the same measured tone of voice.
- Jett herself. She rarely shows any form of emotion at all unless she is around her daughter, or, less frequently, Maria or Phoenix.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Bennie certainly sees Rosalie as being this.
- The Topic of Cancer: While it's never specified outright, Maria has some kind of terminal illness which is heavily implied to be cancer.
