The Cleaning Lady: Season 2/ Episode 5 – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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We get our first sighting of Cortés, and, to much surprise, we meet Jaz’s father, JD, as Arman struggles being under Robert’s thumb and Nadia’s hate for Thony grows.

Aired (FOX)	10/17/2022
Episode Title	The Brit
Director(s)	Lou Diamond Phillips
Writer(s)	Denise Hahn, Ross Knight
Introduced This Episode
Ginger Cline	Susan Anton
Julian Cortés	Nick E. Tarabay
JD Harris	Ryan Sands

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Recap

Guess Who’s Back? – JD, Fiona, Jaz, Chris, Luca, Thony

JD, Jaz’s dad, we learn is a military man who will no longer be stationed here or there but has accepted a teaching job in Vegas. This doesn’t make Fiona happy, however. She worries about how co-parenting will be and comparing the chaos of her life with the stability JD can provide. All of which would make you think JD is a bad guy who has longed for custody, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

From Thony to Luca and Chris, it seems JD, who we’ve only heard by name, but have finally met, is beloved. To the point of wondering, what happened between him and Fiona for them to not be together anymore?

Fiona’s Big Break – Ginger, JD, Fiona, Thony, Luca, Jaz, Chris

Getting a gig, never mind a consistent one, is difficult for new businesses. But what makes things harder for Fiona is that she is unable to pay people while she puts up fliers and waits on phone calls. But luckily for her, a woman named Ginger, a former showgirl, is starting up an event planning business and needs people to clean after.

Now, things don’t really go as either expected at first since Ginger has a paid trial in which Thony and Fiona are the only ones available, but thanks to JD, Luca, Jaz, and Chris, the job gets done. But, seeing three kids do the task does raise some red flags for Ginger.

But, recognizing Fiona and Thony are willing to complete the job by any means impresses her, and when you add they are trying to free themselves from working from a man and JD working with Fiona is notable, Ginger offer Fiona steady work.

Can The Enemy Of My Enemy Become My Friend? – Thony, Cortés, Robert, Nadia, Arman, Garrett, Tyler

Arman and Garrett end up on a crash course, and it is all because of Cortes and Robert. As established, Cortes is who Garrett has been going after for years, and with Tyler getting Garrett back on the case, he is laser-focused. Meanwhile, with Robert coming up with more and more ways to embarrass Arman, including having him join in meetings with his former associate, while in a bouncer’s uniform, it makes Robert having any influence over Arman irritating to no end.

But, it isn’t until Arman, Nadia, and Thony argue over dealing more addictive drugs does Arman perhaps find a solution to his problem, and Garrett too. You see, Thony is ready to end her relationship with Arman when he gets opiates. But, as Arman’s life spirals under Robert’s thumb, Robert coerces Arman to call Thony to clean up after Arman whooped someone’s ass. This leads her to see that, as much as she needed him, he needs her, so she softens her stance on selling the drugs and invites herself to come with him to the drop after cleaning.

However, Garrett catches them and is ready to arrest Arman until Thony reveals that while cleaning, she overheard Cortés trying to make a deal with Robert and offers to become a CI for Garrett again. This softens Garrett’s stance, and Arman? Well, getting in deeper with the FBI has increasingly ruined the membership levels of the club he and Nadia runs. But, the ability to remove Robert from his and Nadia’s life might be too good to pass up.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. So, what led to Fiona and JD getting together, and what broke them up?
2. What exactly did Robert do to lose Nadia? Did he cheat on her?

What Could Happen Next

1. Arman trying to take down Robert, only to learn he already works for the FBI or another government organization
2. Jaz continuing to ask questions and learning the truth about Marco

Review

Highlights

Meeting JD

JD can be the key to Jaz feeling relevant on this show and peering a bit into Fiona’s past. For something that has long been curious to me is, how did Fiona get to own a house, being a TNT, and a cleaning lady? Are prices really that cheap in Arizona? Does she make more than expected? How did that work? Especially when you consider Chris’ dad is some guy in Manila, and when it comes to JD, it was never really clear if he was a deadbeat, solely focused on his daughter or what.

But now, he can maybe clue us into Fiona’s years before Thony came around and help Fiona show a different side of herself. Consider this, if he is still interested in her, paired with the business doing well, that could mean Fiona switching from surviving to thriving, and dating could be something nice for her. Heck, I could see Luca as a flower boy in a wedding, with Jazz as the flower girl and Fiona being given away by Chris.

Ginger

Alongside giving Fiona’s business a jumpstart, Ginger also brings an eccentric character worth noting. I’d even add, second to JD, she might be one of the few characters this season who, off the bat, you want to know more of and see more of. Mind you, we only know she is a retired showgirl turned event planner with an accent. But, because her energy is just so out of place on a show like “The Cleaning Lady,” there is hope she could liven things up and make it less doom and gloom.

Things Picking Up For Garrett

Garrett needed an assist, and straight-laced Tyler wasn’t helping, nor the damsel in distress he paints Maya as. Thony, willingly, had to help him, and adding Arman to boot? Never mind both trying to take down their enemies? This might be the rare time Garrett working for the FBI might be an asset to “The Cleaning Lady.”

On The Fence

Cortés Not Making A Grand Impression

“The Cleaning Lady” having a villain problem remains in place. Robert has been lackluster, and while Cortés has been given a modicum of hype, him trying to convince Robert not to pull the plug on him made any respect that could be had lost in an instant. Well, that and him beating Maya.

After all, Robert is a man who has a lot of mouth because he has a lot of money. From what it seems, his hired muscle allows him to continue to run his mouth, and considering they let Arman grab the man’s throat without touching him? I feel like their loyalty is to their check since Robert hasn’t shown any other reason to not betray him.

So, with that in mind, the bar is low, and I’m hoping we eventually get a villain who is worth a damn. Especially since, at this point, everyone who could be a villain has been a creep in their interaction with women ranging from the stalker known as Garrett, Cortés who beats on women, and Robert, who is trying to sow discord in Nadia’s marriage and perhaps woo her.

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