Jay Singletary is a former Marine turned hack-reporter who investigates the sinister George Hodel. Jay Singletary is a major character in ‘I Am the Night,’ and is portrayed by Chris Pine.
Official Description[]
"Jay Singletary, a former Marine-turned-hack-reporter/paparazzo."[1]
Character Overview[]
Jay Singletary is a former US Marine who fought in Korea and who suffered a few physical but above all psychological scars. Jay is tall, with broad shoulders and a lean but muscular body, blue eyes, and blond straw hair. Jay's hallmarks are his sense of humour, stubbornness, and tenacity that led him to constantly seek the truth even when forced to give up a successful career to write sensationalist gossip. In fact, Jay's ethics has clashed several times with public figures and corruption in the police force.
His professional failure combined to a form of post-traumatic stress disorder turned Jay into a bitter man easily prone to fights. Strong noises, explosions, and thumps, then, trigger what was commonly referred to as “shell shock”, or a state of sensory dissociation. But the horrors of war were not limited to waking daylight. Jay, in fact, is constantly visited by by the Korean soldiers he killed in the war in his nightmares. He claims that the responsibility for the death of another human being is a burden that he will carry with him forever. To endure his depression Jay abuse of illicit substances.
Although Jay's life is overshadowed by failure, pain and a sense of powerlessness in a corrupt and ruined world, Singletary has a strong sense of justice and he is loyal to his friends, such as his boss, Peter Sullivan and Detective Ohls. Jay also bonded with Fauna Hodel, whom he considered the key to finally taking down his nemesis and obsession, Dr. George Hodel as Jay always believed him guilty of both raping his daughter, Tamar Hodel, and murdering many young women including Elizabeth Short and Janice Brewster.
Biography[]
The following contains plot details – read at your own risk.
Los Angeles, 1965. Jay Singletary earns his living as a paparazzo at “Malibu Movie Colony”, raising problems for the movie magnates who abused their role for illicit affairs with actresses.
However, as he often points out to his boss, Peter Sullivan, Jay is not happy with his work. Jay, in fact, used to be a talented journalist before ending up in a story that ended his career. On the hunt for news to get him back on track, with Sullivan's advice, Jay goes to the morgue to steal a few shots of Janice Brewster, a woman who was mutilated in a very horrific way. When caught in flagrante by Sergeant Billis and a colleague, Jay is handcuffed and thrown in Billis' car after being beaten by the two policemen. Jay is later rescued from the hot backseat of Billis' car in the parking lot by his friend, Detective Ohls. Since Jay is always a step ahead, he was able to save the film while he was hiding in a refrigerator before the two policemen smashed his camera.
Discouraged and depressed, Jay even attempts suicide but is saved in time by a mysterious anonymous phone call from a woman. On the other side of the phone, the woman tells him not to give up and to continue investigating Dr. Hodel. Jay was right to suspect him. [2]
After the call, Jay is more convinced than ever to go back to investigating Dr. George Hodel, but Sullivan is more interested in carrying out the investigation into the murder of Janice Brewster and her murderer, nicknamed “Bloody Romeo” by the press. Jay seeks the help of Detective Ohls; however, his friend thinks that Jay should give up the story that has ruined his life. Singletary, however, is stubborn and decides to unveil the mysteries behind Dr. Hodel. In particular, what happened to his daughter, Tamar, after being sent to a convent. Spying near Hodel's home, Jay spots a teenage girl in the company of Mrs. Hodel.
Meanwhile, Jay also continues to look for clues about Janice, the woman that was brutally murdered, especially when a black man is found guilty. The woman was a prostitute, so Jay contacts some of her friends in the hope of getting some useful information. While talking to one of them, Mary, Jay has an epiphany. Tamar was pregnant and for this reason, she had been sent to a convent. Therefore, the girl must be her illicit daughter. Jay rushes to follow the two women to an art gallery, but can not find the mysterious girl. [3]
Jay is shaken by the terrible nightmares of when he was a soldier in Korea. But the ghosts of dead soldiers are not the only ones to haunting his mind. The search for the murderer of women such as Elizabeth Short and Janice Brewster is abruptly interrupted by Sergeant Billis, who breaks into Jay's apartment along with some policemen. At the police station, Billis violently threatens Jay to the point that he is about to pluck out Jay's eye out with a pencil. Jay is fortunately saved by Detective Ohls, who intimates to Billis to leave him alone because Jay saved his life during the Korean War. Jay is so out of his mind that he does not realize that Ohls is now running out of favours. The reporter then turns to Peter Sullivan, trying to make him understand that he must certainly be on the right track since the police are coming in his way. While at the bar, though, Jay suffers a “Shell shock” episode when a drunk man falls down loudly, and the reporter is laughed at by the patrons of the venue. Angry, Jay starts punching the drunk man until he is knocked out of the bar.
Investigations lead Jay to spy on Dr. George Hodel's home. Here he notices that a young woman has sneaked into the house. Once she escapes, Jay pulls over with his car trying to start a conversation. However, he is not the only one interested in the girl. A shady man tries to kidnap the girl but Jay intervenes and the two leave on Jay's car. At Chili John's, Jay discovers that the girl is called Fauna and that she is searching for Tamar Hodel. Jay tries to find out more about the matter, believing that she is the mysterious daughter whisked away but Fauna flees at the first available opportunity.
Jay begins to lose hope. At first, he tries to enlist, but he is not an ideal candidate and his request is not taken into consideration at all. The reporter then decides to study the track better and acquires an essay on the Black Dahlia Murder that he studies sitting in the car in a love lane together with a sleeping prostitute. [4]
Jay is surprised to receive Mrs. Hodel's invitation to attend an avant-garde soiree, “The Happening”. Before being overwhelmed by the surrealist evening, Singletary has a meeting with Detective Ohls and Miller at a diner to talk about the implications of the Black Dahlia Murder.
At the event, Jay is quite bored until he spots Fauna, the mysterious girl tied to the Hodel, is also present at the party and decides to follow her. As usual, troubles are always around the corner for Jay and the reporter is soon involved in a fight with the shady man who had previously tried to kidnap Fauna. When the shady man attacks the girl in a basement of the building that hosts the event, Jay intervenes and the two fight until Jay stabs him in self-defence with an iron bar recovered nearby. To avoid being connected to the body after being almost discovered by some party guests, Jay and Fauna decide to get rid of it in a landfill that the girl knew was a place not often visited.
The two accomplices return to Jay's apartment where, the following morning, they decide to ally themselves in their search for the truth. Fauna believes that Tamar is in Hawaii, but will reveal more clues to Jay only if he finds out something about the shady man — a man named Ivanovich Viktor Sepp.
Jay sneaks into Sepp's apartment for clues without too much success until a delivery boy delivers an invitation to an art exhibition sponsored by Dr. George Hodel. Jay decides to come down to the party but is recognized by Mrs. Hodel, and he is chased by some bouncers. Jay manages to avoid them and ends up hiding in a room where the private collection of Dr. Hodel is exposed. The reporter cannot believe his eyes. Almost all the paintings and sculptures represent mutilated female bodies very similar to the bodies of Elizabeth Short and Janice Brewster. [5]
Jay meets with Sullivan to discuss what he has just discovered - a sensational story to nail George Hodel down. Sullivan is reticent until Jay mentions that he has found Tamar Hodel's daughter. Jay and Fauna decide to go to Hawaii, despite opposition from Jimmy Lee who thinks he is a sexual predator. Following a heated argument between Fauna and her adoptive mother, the two leave anyway.
During the trip they get to know each other a little better, especially after Jay gets into a fight with some navy sailors on leave who were bothering the girl. Later, Jay opens up to her about the horrors of the war that still haunt him. They track down Tamar, who shares a moment with his long-lost daughter. Since Fauna is shaken by what Tamar told him, Jay wants to get to the bottom of it. He questions Tamar about her past and her father. She confirms Jay's claims but does more than that; she shows him paintings done by Hodel depicting not only Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, but also other murdered women.
Back in Los Angeles, Singletary meets Sullivan at a diner to tell him about the scoop but it is a trap. The journalist is handcuffed by Sergeant Billis. As he is dragged away by the cops, he ensures that Fauna is not involved.[6]
At the precinct, Jay is beaten up by the cops and thrown in a cell. He tries to claim he has found Janice Brewster's real killer but Billis doesn't believe him. After all, his pal ran a story that cleared Brody Stiles. Billis advises him that he could walk out of prison one day if he just kept his mouth shut about that name. Jay then accuses Billis of being a corrupt policeman working for the mafia when the sergeant won't listen to the evidence Jay has on George Hodel - he is a murderer and rapist.
Jay sees the cops cramming a dozen black men into the cell next door, including Xander who he had met last time they were both arrested. Jay asks him what is going on out there. They're rioting, burning down the neighborhood. Xander explains how black people have had enough of police brutality and how they are treated as the dregs of society. For them, there is no system to protect them. No justice.
The next day, Jay is taken to the interrogation room by Billis and Cuddy where he is beaten up into cooperation. The sergeant reveals that he looked at the evidence and went to Hodel's house. There is nothing substantial that would hold up in court. Cuddy takes out a switchblade, ready to slit Jay's throat, giving the paparazzo an idea. Since Hodel has too many important people by the balls, Billis' hands are tied. If he tried to do anything against Hodel alone he would be dead. Jay and Billis then agree to take out George Hodel, killing two birds with one stone.
Billis orders Singletary's transfer to another prison, leaving the patrol forced to go through the uprising in the Watts neighborhood. Here Jay has a chance to escape and reach Hodel's house. Jay finds Fauna in time - wounded but safe. However, George has disappeared driving Jay into a fit of rage at missing the opportunity once again. Leaving the house of horrors, the two go their separate ways, losing themselves at opposite ends of the street in the middle of the riots. Before saying goodbye, Fauna tells Jay that there is grace for him if he can find it.
Weeks later, Jay left the city to find some semblance of peace in Hawaii. He has kept in touch with Fauna via letter, but by now the story of Tamar and the horrors perpetrated by George is lost in the night and Jay watches the sunset on a surfboard.[7]
Quotes[]
- Jay Singletary: “Another stupid little murder about nothing that'll change nothing, and nobody cares.”
- — Pilot
- Jay: “I just want the truth, that's all.”
- — Matador
- Jay: “I've got the A-Bomb. That's what I'm telling you. I've got the nougat and it's primed and ready.”
- Jay: “I remember walking through Honolulu thinking, "They should’ve trained us how to come back", y’know? They teach us how to fight and then bury us in the shit, and they never show you how to come back.”
- Jay: “You pay a price. They own you. You take a life and they come with you forever.”
- Jay: “Death and evil, they’re around us all the time.”
- — Aloha
Appearances[]
I Am the Night
- Ep. 1: "Pilot"
- Ep. 2: "Phenomenon of Interference"
- Ep. 3: "Dark Flower"
- Ep. 4: "Matador"
- Ep. 5: "Aloha"
- Ep. 6: "Queen’s Gambit, Accepted"
Trivia[]
- Jay Singletary is not a fictionalised version of a real-life person like most of the characters in the limited series.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Official Overview for Chris Pine's Jay Singletary — TNT Pressroom
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (January 28, 2019); "Pilot". Episode 1. I Am the Night. TNT.
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (February 4, 2019); "Phenomenon of Interference". Episode 2. I Am the Night. TNT.
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (February 11, 2019); "Dark Flower". Episode 3. I Am the Night. TNT.
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Victoria Mahoney (director); (February 18, 2019); "Matador". Episode 4. I Am the Night. TNT.
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Carl Franklin (director); (February 25, 2019); "Aloha". Episode 5. I Am the Night. TNT.
- ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Carl Franklin (director); (March 4, 2019); "Queen’s Gambit, Accepted". Episode 6. I Am the Night. TNT.