Fox’s The Cleaning Lady is a crime drama thriller series developed by Miranda Kwok. Based on the 2017 Argentinian television series La Chica Que Limpia by Lucas Combina, this series stars Élodie Yung as Thony De La Rosa as the protagonist. The main supporting cast also includes Adan Canto, Oliver Hudson, Martha Millan, Sebastien and Valentino LaSalle. The series will go through weekly episodic releases and this review addresses only The Cleaning Lady Episode 1.
– The Cleaning Lady review does not contain any spoilers –
The Cleaning Lady: TNT
Thony is an undocumented doctor from Cambodia living in Las Vegas with her sister-in-law, Fiona with her kids and Thony’s own son Lucas. But, what circumstances have led to Thony living her life as a cleaning lady in the resort city? The answer to this question and several others unveils in the first episode itself.
We find out at the very beginning of the episode that Thony’s son suffers from a rare immunodeficient disease that requires him to go through treatment but, after the last donor backed out and their visa expired, the mother-son duo has continued to live in the city in the hope to find some way or the other for the treatment. Struggling with an already difficult life, Thony encounters a murder she is not supposed to and one event leads to another to her being offered the position of a cleaning lady for a local cartel.
However, if Thony continues on the path to aid the cartel and look for a way to successfully treat her son is for the audience to find out by streaming the episode. Filled with action and the classic trope of ‘good guy-bad guy’, the first episode is not very entertaining but, promises a compelling drama to come.
Image Credit: Still from The Cleaning Lady Episode 1
Fox’s The Cleaning Lady surely has a lot of potential to engage us in important topics ranging from illegal immigration to life in a cartel and the dangers of leading a double life. However, the show has started off rather slow, even though the performances by Élodie Yung and Martha Millan were delightful. But, the series does instil hope that the future episodes can delve deeper to examine the class hierarchy in the society and the dark side of crossing the moral street.
We expect to see a greyscale for Adan Canto’s Arman Morales as he is the bad guy but, does not necessarily behave like one. The exploration of the moral development of other characters with the passage of time is also something to look forward to.
The Cleaning Lady: Final Verdict
It will be interesting to see the development in Fiona and Thony’s characters as both are tempted and willing to walk the dark path. However, if the gain will be more than the cost is still uncertain. Thony’s strength should be enough to help her survive the underworld but, if she can wield this strength to keep herself and her family safe is still questionable.
Image Credit: Still from The Cleaning Lady Episode 1
Overall, The Cleaning Lady Episode 1 was not a surprise if you have watched the trailer. It gives you more to the blurb you already know but, it is a good place to start giving us a nice build-up of what is to come. You can catch the episodes for The Cleaning Lady streaming live every Tuesday on Fox at 10:30 IST or catch the episodes later on Hulu.
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