The Cleaning Lady Review – Legacy (1×03)

The Cleaning Lady is like a punch to the gut, every single week. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good gut punch (if that sort of thing exists) as it serves as a reminder to appreciate what you have and that things could always be worse.

And for Thony, it seems like things just keep taking a turn for the worse. 

She’s so strong, but every time it seems like she’s coming up for air or turning a corner, the world starts caving in on her all over again. 

“Legacy” started off on a positive note as it was the day Luca was set to start his trial, but a series of unfortunate events led to a heartbreaking final moment that showed how far a mother, desperate to save her son, would actually go. 

First, Thony was told that Luca’s trial would be postponed because of his slightly abnormal liver results. She wasn’t pleased with the information considering the long road it took to get to this very moment, but with the encouragement of a fellow mother in her shoes, she accepted that this was just a momentary setback. 

Unfortunately, the retesting revealed that sweet little Luca was in liver failure and needed to get a transplant, which disqualified him from the trial. That’s not the kind of news any mother wants to hear. My heart broke watching her sit there and break down because she of how helpless she feels yet how badly she wants to make this go away for her little boy. 

And she’s been trying everything. 

She’s become a cleaning lady for a mafia after seeing a man get killed, and since then, she’s just seen more horrors at the hands of Arman, including a councilman getting waterboarded.

Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, FBI Garrett Miller swung around to the trial clinic to ask her to be an informant, which is essentially signing your life away if you get caught. 

When she refused, he threatened to deport her and her child fully knowing that he’d be signing her son’s death sentence. 

It infuriates me that people continuously use the one thing women love most in the world — their children — as leverage. And it’s even lower coming from a man who has a child that’s almost the same age as Luca. His job might be on the line, but it seems as though he has no sympathy… and maybe walking a mile in Thony’s shoes just might be what he needs to get her to fully trust him and agree to become the woman on the inside. 

Naturally, Thony was against Garrett’s proposition not only because of the risk that came with it but also because she developed a loyalty to Arman. He might have mafia ties, but he opened up to her about what led him down his path, and he has never wavered in his help when she needed it. He’s the reason that Luca survived the adenovirus; in Luca’s eyes, Arman is a hero who drove him to the hospital in a cool sports car. 

Thony feels a sense of gratitude toward Arman, which is evidenced when she tells him that she’d like to take on more shifts to pay him back for his generosity. 

At that moment, Thony was coming from a sincere place. 

However, Arman and Thony do this tango every time, so the dynamic quickly changed when she saw him almost kill the councilman (thankfully, she’s a doctor and was able to save him). 

This was a turning point in their relationship. Up until now, I think Thony was in a bit of denial over who Arman actually is because she’s only seen the kindness he’s extended towards her in her time of need. I love that she sees this twisted side of him because it’s so easy to romanticize someone who is doing you favors. She knows he’s in really deep, but she wanted to believe that he was a good man so that she could justify what she was doing. 

But there’s no unseeing the darkness behind his eyes as he almost killed another man with his bare hands. She sees what he’s capable of now, and she realized that she’s painted him as a hero when he’s actually a monster. 

This moment is what swayed Thony into taking Garrett’s offer, unwillingly. When she approached Arman’s wife and asked her to help out at the wedding because she needed extra cash, she was no longer being genuine — she had an ulterior motive. 

Arman’s wife has sniffed out some kind of chemistry between him and “the help,” so she was easily manipulated by Thony And just like that, she was working the wedding. 

A little snooping her and there allowed her to catch a glimpse of Arman counting cash, and she was able to snag a photo of that list so that she could deliver it to Garrett.

However, that never happened. The following day, she told Garrett that she wasn’t able to get anything while working the wedding, which is obviously a lie. 

My guess is that her encounter with Tarik — who accused her of stealing — and eventually, Arman, who lost it when he realized Thony was actually afraid of him, scared her into further secrecy… for now. 

She’s seen these people at their worst, she knows they can “take care” of any situation, and there’s no reason to cross them and put everything at risk. 

The fight between Arman and Thony was explosive and intense. There were a lot of emotions at play, including disappointment. She was disappointed that he wasn’t the man she thought he was, while he was disappointed that she was a hypocrite that was “leeching off of him” when she needed his help but also judging and criticizing the very reason he’s able to provide that help.

It pained me to think that Arman kind of had a point, but Thony is benefitting from the lifestyle, and using her son as an excuse doesn’t justify it. 

I understand her motivation, but it’s hard to point fingers when you’re also doing immoral things in order to gain something from it. 

Yes, Thony has a line she won’t cross, or so she thinks, but what happens when she hits yet another roadblock — as she has with the trial — and needs another favor?

As I said before, she’s such an impressive and strong woman that I hate for her to crawl back and ask for forgiveness because she needs his help again.

If she’s going to be involved in this, I want him to respect her and see her as somewhat of an equal.

And on some level, he likely does respect that she’s not afraid to stand up to him, call him out on his actions, want him to be better, and challenge him, but it just seems a little too soon in the game to be wanting to call the shots when you still need strings pulled. 

Of course, this fight happened not only after she saw him almost kill a man but also after she saw him make out with Isabelle, so she’s likely a little hurt by the realization that his kidness towards her was an act. 

Arman’s love life is messy and complicated. 

His dynamic with Nadia is strange; she seems to be in his corner with wanting to become Hayak’s partner, but she’s also taking advantage of the fruits of his labor. Hayak reduced Arman to nothing more than “the help” when he asked him to go fetch the councilman, and Nadia had no problem with it. 

Would I be far off base to say that Nadia is probably sleeping with Hayak? Or that she would leave Arman the moment Hayak propositioned it? She definitely seems to be interested in a legacy, and I don’t see Hayak wanting to give the keys to half of his kingdom away. 

Hayak also seems to like Arman more than his son, Tarik, who he announced at the wedding that he is shipping off to join the army (and this explains Tarik’s anger at the world — he just wants his father’s acceptance), but he also doesn’t seem to respect him. 

During Arman’s chat with Isabelle, we learn that the duo dated but she was forced to break up with him at her father’s behest because he’s not Armenian.

Then they kissed in public without even trying to hide it. I mean, come on!?! Anyone could’ve caught that — and Thony did. 

My guess is that Arman is going to be tired of being nothing more than an errand boy to Hayak, Nadia, and everyone else in his life, and eventually, Thony is going to help him see the light that his “family” isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Plus, on some level, he understands Thony as he’s been there; he’s been viewed as and called “the help,” so his soft spot for her is very much real and not something he’ll be able to shake. It’s the very reason why their fight was so emotional — that kind of heated argument only happens when feelings are involved. 

Can Arman save Luca while Thony saves him?

The fact that “once you’re in, you’re in” seems to be the motto is slightly concerning. Hayak obviously controls councilmen in Vegas, so getting free from his grasp doesn’t seem like an easy feat. 

Does the FBI even have what it takes to bring Arman/Hayak down?

Why do you think Thony didn’t bite with Garrett? Do you think Garrett’s decision to divulge his personal life with his former wife and child was a bit too forthcoming with an informant? We know that he previously got a slap on the wrist for sleeping with an informant and getting Theo killed, so maybe he just doesn’t understand personal boundaries in the slightest?

Will Fiona figure out that Thony is consistently lying to her since she caught her in a lie about a job? And how will that go over in a household embracing a “no lying” policy?

What’s Thony’s next step when it comes to Luca?

What did you think of the episode and how are you enjoying The Cleaning Lady on FOX so far this season?