Spoiler alert: The following article discusses the Season 2 finale of “The Cleaning Lady.”
After maneuvering through bureaucratic red tape, narrowly escaping death at the hands of the kingpin and bailing out multiple immigration issues, Thonny (Elodie Yung) finally finds herself in the bind she finds at the end of “The Cleaning Lady.” I can’t get out. season 2.
Her admirable, yet ultimately foolish, devotion to her son results in the death of FBI Agent Garrett (Oliver Hudson) and the exile of sister-in-law Fiona (Martha Millen). The decision to leave Tony desperate and withdraw the consequences of his rash and criminally amateurish actions is one that co-showrunners and executive producers Melissa Carter and Miranda Kwok were keen to portray: as much as Tony believes She knows best, that she knows right from wrong, she cannot always be blameless.
“It permanently put him in that corner of the crime that Garrett was allowing out of this world,” Carter told TheWrap. “And now that he’s gone, he doesn’t really have a law to lean on anymore.”
The finale also sees the shocking death of Naveen Andrews’ handyman at the hands of ex-lover Nadia (Eva De Dominici), who reinstates him and Armaan (Aidan Canto) as criminal entrepreneurs and secretly brings Tony into the fold. brings back Below, Carter and Kwok explain that explosive performance, the alternate ending, and what they want to explore in a potential Season 3.
Episode 11 really explores how dedicated Tony is to saving his son at all costs. Can you talk about crafting that story with the unregulated Manila drug?
MC: We wanted to do a whole episode where you’re in the American hospital system. You see there are all opportunities to save lives by going by all these rules and regulations. She has the drug that could save her son, but it hasn’t been FDA-approved. And also, Fiona’s biggest fear has always been being in a hospital, so we wanted to show that undocumented people can go to the hospital, medical repatriation exists, but Las Vegas is a sanctuary city, and basically Any of these tell audience members who do not have documents that you have the right to travel and receive medical care without fear of being deported.
Thoni is ready to do anything – from the journey she just went through in episode 11, to get that medicine, to the thrilling shootout in the shipping yard, to confronting the doctor after calling Armaan. That she thinks she’s going to be able to take possession of this device and save her son and convince the doctor that it’s the right moral thing to do. We wanted to subvert all expectations of what she has been able to do in the past and show that it’s not always that easy.
MK: And show the results of his deeds. She is usually able to turn the chessboard in her favor by being the smartest person in every room, but this is again a time when she is not able to do so. Part of it is because of the system and part of it is that we also want to highlight that the things that she’s doing is that you shouldn’t treat yourself, it’s because of your immoral in you. Yet she is forced to do all this to keep her son alive. It’s a bit of a Catch-22.
What led to the creative decision to banish Fiona? Certainly with great sacrifice, Thony managed to get himself and his family out of ICE issues in the first two seasons.
MK: [There were consequences of] Fiona is losing her now that she no longer has Garrett to bail her out of these situations. So it was very important to his character, [because] This year he took a deep dive into crime. She went way beyond that moral line.
MC: In season two, we find him walking the tightrope between crime and the law. Ultimately, the end of the second season reveals that Armaan always comes for her and it’s not Garrett’s fault—he’s killed—but when one side disappoints her, she’ll reach for the other. So now all his links from the side of the law have been removed.
Pointing to Kamdar, I wanted to highlight the line that Thoni says, how she was ready to essentially toss Armaan as she needed Kamdar more for her son. What kind of game is she playing with him, or is there some truth in this?
MK: It’s definitely both of those things. One, she was simply trying to persuade him to find the drugs, do the deal to get Fiona out. But at the same time, as we saw in Episode 10, she is actually faced with a choice where she is told that Kamdar is going to kill Armaan. But at the same time, her son needed that medicine, and when the pressure came, she chose her son. She and Armaan have a very strong bond, but at the end of the day, her family comes first.
MC: The ironic or crushing part is that if he let her die, Armaan [would be] They will be able to get medicine and they will not face any kind of problem.
And Garrett would still be alive.
MC: Yes, she thinks she’s the smartest person in the room, but there are some mistakes that she makes, and they’re very human, relatable mistakes, that she does what she does to light a fire or move on. Somehow she thinks she is going to save her son. But sometimes she plays foul just because she is not a professional criminal.
What happened in the writing process, specifically Kamdar’s death at the hands of Nadia?
MC: We had a lot of different endings that we brought up over the network and we had a lot of discussions about what was the best approach. We always knew we wanted Nadia to either be involved in her murder or enjoy watching her die. [laughs] Because both Armaan and Nadia were actually kept under Kamdar and tortured by him. She’s a sociopath, so she enjoys humiliating Armaan, stripping away his dignity one maneuver at a time. The decision to have him is something that Miranda – and I believe the director and one of our other producers – came up with and it felt like an exciting, surprising move that you wouldn’t necessarily see.
MK: And also that he still had doubts – Nadia was not the murderer in the first place, but Kamdar tried to kill her. It’s also about how she’s been treated, her own justice, her own retribution based on how she’s coming into her own power.
MC: once to get it back, he tried to poison her, so he did [try to kill him]so he only tried to murder her [after],
You could say he was trying to kill them all first, so it was preordained.
MK: to be fair, ok [laughs],
MC: She was supposed to inherit everything as his wife, which she was led to believe after they were divorced. She was like, “Okay, maybe I’m with it,” but it wasn’t easy.
MK: If we had more time in the episode, there was going to be another change where she’s not actually going to try to kill him. Try talking to Armaan instead, so that if Armaan doesn’t have to die, then Kamdar doesn’t have to die.
MC: She tries to convince him, she says, “I need Armaan’s help to run La Habana.” [But] When she learns that Armaan’s head is on the chopping block, she is elated.
Was there ever an ending where Kamdar survives and Cayman escapes?
MC: We actually talked about letting him live and be out in the world somewhere, but whenever you do that on a television show and a drama, you expect the person to come back. It seems very unsatisfactory, especially with the dynamic and the relationships. We knew that if we didn’t eliminate him permanently, viewers would continue to wonder, and that’s okay — we love Naveen. But we ultimately wanted that satisfying ending where you have two deaths in one episode: one you don’t expect and don’t want to happen and one you look forward to seeing how it turns out.
MK: And we definitely talked about the different ending where Garrett didn’t die. We love Oliver Hudson, but this was going to be such a devastating death for Tony. It is the unpredictability of this world that one can go where, no one is safe. It’s very important to show the reality of what it’s like to be in a world of crime and a life of crime, especially a person who shouldn’t be in it.
Where do Nadia and Armaan stand as a couple now that she is the sole owner of La Habana and was never legally married?
MK: Definitely going to be an interesting love triangle which will continue. Armand and Nadia love each other, but Armand loves these two women for different reasons and in very different ways. We really wanted this journey for Nadia – especially under Kamdar for so long – but it was lacking in her marriage to Armaan, where she was completely loyal and devoted to him and unfortunately Than, Thoni came into the picture and it affected him in such a way that he could not hold back. We don’t know if they’ll be able to rekindle or rebuild, but we do know that she now holds all the cards. There has been a complete power shift in their relationship.
MC: I think you can have a lot of fun with this: Is Nadia going to get a boyfriend? Are they going to separate? Are they going to be together? Are they going to remarry eventually?
At the end of Season 2, Tony takes over the smuggling operation and sets in motion a plan to get Fiona back, entangling himself in a world of crime. What’s next for her in a potential Season 3?
MK: Thoni thinks that whatever trip she’s about to go on, she probably won’t make the trip. It will continue to be a challenge that he will have to find other resources to help his family, to help his son, to bring Fiona back. It’s always going to be a struggle for him. Now, is she about to plunge deeper into the world of crime? probably. And so if Luca or the family is there, what’s going to be the ramifications of bringing him back. There’s no more Garrett trying to bring her back. That’s just a little without the net.
MC: It’s always fascinating to see a character do right wrong with more wrong. It’s a slippery slope, but in a world of crime, that’s what you expect, and you want it to be tough and morally challenging for him. But now he has no choice; Because of his actions, Fiona is exiled, so he must bring her back.
This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
