The Cleaning Lady
In the U.S., there’s a common dialogue that places discussions of immigration on a binary of America ‘the great’ versus Mexico, when in reality, immigration occurs across all bounds. Since the nation’s inception, America has been held on a pedestal as the country of dreams and hope, but for whom?
Fox’s new series, The Cleaning Lady(2022- Present), based on the Argentine original, explores the extensive underground world of day to day life for immigrants trying to make it and survive in America. Filipino doctor turned cleaning lady, Thony De La Rosa(Elodie Yung), moved to the States with the hope of finding a cure for her young son, Luca’s life threatening autoimmune disorder. Surrounded by her sister in law, Fiona(Martha Millan), niece and nephew, Jaz(Faith Bryant) and Chris(Sean Lew)Yet, she ends up clasped in the clutches of gangster boss Arman Morales(Adan Canto) in addition to formerly disgraced FBI agent, Garret Miller(Oliver Hudson) hot on Thony’s tail.
The series dares to speak on an obscured reality that too many immigrants face in this nation, from visa proceedings failing/falling to the wayside, to consistent threats of deportation and heinous conditions in ICE detention centers, to the intergenerational traumas. Struggling to find her footing in this new American landscape, Thony finds herself cleaning up for Arman and the Vegas Armenian cartel he grinds for. In the crossfire between maintaining some semblance of ethics and moral standing, Thony hassles doing what’s best for her son’s health and her family’s ability to make a decent living in America.
Slowly growing more entrenched in Arman’s deeds, witnessing and participating in some of his crimes, Thony becomes a stealthy aid to the cartel’s agenda all while utilizing her connection and budding relationship with Arman to her advantage and Luca’s needs as his condition fluctuates.
The series presents as a gripping universal truth for immigrants from the Far East and Latin America. As this version is a remake of the original argentinian series, it still holds true to some riveting instances of harsh realities. The Black market life and all those associated with such enter such an industry at a cost, and Thony discovers this in striving to find a cure to Luca’s bewildering and debilitating disorder.
It is her resilance through murders, FBI investigations, deplorable ICE detention center treatment, a fracturing marriage, and her own sanity, Thony in addition to Fiona and her own struggles with her growing tweens’ conflict with their Americanization and their Cambodian roots, they each stand throughout the show as a testament to the trials and tribulations that migrant family deal with day in and day out. How are bills gonna get paid? Who is gonna make it at school? Who’s gonna come support a loved one at their next basketball game? Will it be another night of not seeing Mom because she’s pulling doubles back to back?
The Cleaning Lady throws audiences into moments of authentic humanness in a refreshing way. This series remake is one Fox desperately needs to keep a hold of for its sheer ability to tell the difficult truth through fictionalized eyes.
