As the 8th episode of Maid begins, Alex (Margaret Qualley) wakes up next to Sean (Nick Robinson) after spending the night together. When she tries to get up, Sean pleads with her to stay because it is too early. She wants to take the next ferry, so she asks Sean to drive her. Sean offers to cook her breakfast, but Alex says she’ll wait for him in the car. She goes through the motions as they ride on the ferry and Sean drops her off at Nate’s place. Sean tells her he is going to wait for her outside because he isn’t going to let her deal with Paula (Andie MacDowell) on her own. Alex says they can meet at the hospital because she needs a minute to herself. Sean says she doesn’t owe Nate (Raymond Ablack) anything, but he agrees to let her go. When she goes inside, Nate reminds her she said she’d be home soon ten hours ago. He complains that she didn’t send a text and likely slept with her ex. Alex tells him about Paula’s injury before confessing she did indeed sleep with Sean.

Nate doesn’t understand why she likes Sean and accuses her of crying on Sean while he provided daycare. He reminds her she said she couldn’t be with anyone. Nate admits he doesn’t want to watch Alex’s kid while she is sleeping with Sean, so he is going to have to ask her to move out. Alex understands and agrees to leave with Maddy (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet). Nate tells her to keep the car because she is going to need it. She thanks him for being so kind. She leaves with Maddy before they reach the hospital and meet with Sean. Paula screams at the detective who tries to read her rights to her. When Alex walks in with Maddy, Paula rages and demands the child be taken out of there immediately. Sean takes Maddy while Alex remains and learns the woman is the DCR or Designated Crisis Responder. Alex steps out of the room after the DCR asks her to do so. When the DCR steps out, she confirms the tenant did not press charges.

Instead, she was determining whether Paula meets the criteria to be placed on an involuntary hold or not. Although Paula was telling the truth about owning the house, she also claimed she was the Goddess Aphrodite and screws the sun. Alex claims her mother just says that stuff before learning Paula has refused voluntary treatment, so the DCR is filing a petition to detain her. Although Alex says she would never hurt anyone, the DCR suggests otherwise and claims she is a danger to herself and others. The DCR says this is what they’ll have to do unless Alex can provide collateral information and agree to take responsibility for her mother. Alex would need to tell the court why she thinks her mother would attend outpatient treatment. They’re willing to discharge Paula if Alex is going to take her and care for her. Alex says she has a three-year-old, work, and her mother scared her last night. The DCR tells her about the evaluation and treatment center in Port Orchard and her mother would be there 14 or 30 days.

When she asks who tells Paula, the DCR says they usually don’t tell the patient until it is actually happening. Alex cleans a house while remembering the conversation in the hospital with Paula who promises she’ll take the medicine if she gets to choose it. Alex says they’re just going to keep her in there a little long, but Paula doesn’t want to stay past dinner. When Alex tells her mother she is worried about her, Paula explains she caught a wave she couldn’t handle, and it took her under. She believes she’ll roll back in like the tide. Paula tells Alex they don’t know that the sun bends toward her and that she contains the sun in her. After she finishes working, Alex goes back to the trailer and finds Maddy there with Hank (Billy Burke) and Sharlene (Erin Karpluk). Hank believes Paula will get the help she needs now that she has a DCR, but Alex is eager to get rid of him. Once they’re gone, Sean argues he had to tell Hank because he was worried that he didn’t show up to the meeting this morning.

He promises to tell Alex why he has Hank’s tools later. They go inside where Sean and Maddy surprise Alex with dinner. Later that night, Sean tries to get Alex to sleep in bed with him and says she should be back if she is back. Alex says she is only staying until she can find something else. Then, Sean tells her he is going to become a carpenter because bartending is bad for his sobriety. Sean says it’ll be good for all of them when he starts bringing home 25 an hour, but Alex doesn’t want to be included. He keeps asking her to come to bed with him, but she refuses because she has a busy day tomorrow. In the morning, Alex drops Maddy off with Melody (Gillian Barber) at the preschool before heading to the first clean. When she arrives, Regina (Anika Noni Rose) begins talking to her on the doorbell camera and asking her to come to the garage.

Alex does as she is asked. Regina asks her to watch baby Leo who is in the car while she runs to the bathroom. She tells Alex that Leo is only sleeping in the car, so she has been driving around Whole Foods to get him to sleep. Once she comes back from the bathroom, Regina claims Leo can’t be transferred to the crib because his eyes rip open and he starts screaming like a banshee when she so much as breathes on him. Alex tries using classical music to transfer him since it worked for Maddy. It works for Leo as well since he is soon resting in his crib. Regina breaks down while admitting she can’t do this. She has had Leo for four days and she is already giving up. She complains about having body odor and accidentally dumping her coffee earlier. Alex believes she just needs a nap. At first, Regina says she can’t nap but Alex convinces her to get a 10-minute nap in while she can.

While cleaning, Alex gets a call from Steve who heads the creative writing program in Missoula. She learns the scholarship they offered 4 years ago is no longer available, but she can apply again for this academic year. There will be no application although she’ll need a new, typed writing sample. She sits down and begins typing her work immediately. When Regina gets up, Alex rushes to return to work. Regina is surprised to find out that Leo is sleeping before admitting she feels like an entirely different person. Regina admits she died. She thanks Alex and asks if she ever found a place to live with her daughter. Alex says they did. Regina begins apologizing and realizes Alex was asking for her daughter. It looks like Alex leaves her notebook behind when leaving Regina’s house. Alex visits the place where Paula is being kept and her mother pleads with her to get her out of there. Paula tells her about the medications she has to take and the fact she can’t use her phone.

Nevertheless, Alex doesn’t think she can take her since the stay is court mandated. Paula says the people there scare her because they’re really mentally ill and she is not. She tells Alex about Ray who chewed his toe off. Alex says she should make the best of the stay and suggests the medication may not be a terrible idea. Paula begins blaming her daughter while saying she didn’t say anything to keep her out of there. She reminds Alex that she showed up at her RV while homeless and asked to stay with her. Paula claims she let Alex ruin her marriage with her new husband because that is what you do when you love someone. She tells her daughter what she’d do to prevent doctors from doing this to her. Alex tries to stop her mother from leaving since they have 20 some minutes left, but Paula screams for them to get the beotch out of there. Next, Alex goes back to Value Maids to get a filter and Yolanda is rude to her. Alex wants to know what is up, so Yolanda says she just spoke to the clients at 19 Glastonbury and learned about Alex stealing business from her.

Alex is fired before Yolanda threatens to beat her arse and take her to court if she tries to steal any other clients. She isn’t eager to help her get her last paycheck either. When Alex leaves, she goes to the preschool to get Maddy and receives an invoice. She also has to get signatures from her employer for the WCCC paperwork too. She pays $6 for Maddy’s ice cream and is almost out of money already. Once they leave, she stops at the gas station and accidentally overspends at the pump. She frantically begins searching for money in her vehicle but has to bum it from a woman nearby. After sitting at home for a bit, Alex decides to take Maddy on a hike like old times. Later that night, Alex puts Maddy to bed and greets Sean at the door. He tells her about his first day as a carpenter and how difficult it was. Then, she breaks the news that she got fired and pretends she is going to have enough money to survive until she gets something else.

Alex explains she is going to try to find her own clients. They try to find out what to do with Maddy now that Alex has lost her ferry pass, and both are going to be working. Alex is adamant that she wants to work and be independent. Sean offers to watch Maddy on the weekends so Alex can clean then. He also suggests letting Hank and Sharlene watch Maddy, but Alex says no because Hank is not a good guy. When she asks him to trust her, he agrees to keep Hank out of it and says they can figure it out together. The next day, Alex goes shopping for cleaning equipment before visiting her mother to give her lipstick. Alex tells her mother that Maddy is artistically gifted. She also puts up flyers in hopes of finding clients for her cleaning business. She tells Paula about applying for the creative writing program in Missoula although she thinks it is a long shot because her writing sample is about cleaning toilets. She thinks about moving there with her mother when she gets out.

Sean returns home to a grilled cheese sandwich Alex made him. Her phone is out of minutes, and she needs gas. She believes she’ll need $50 so Sean wonders if they should cut her phone off and keep his. She put her number on the cleaning ads, so people need to call her, but Sean bluntly says nobody has called yet. She justifies it by saying nobody wants weekend cleans. He’ll have money tonight and believes they can figure it out together. Sean hears a vehicle pull up outside, curses, and says Hank is there. Sean meets him outside and learns Hank brought Alex’s stuff from the apartment with black mold like he promised he would. Hank confesses he came to check on Sean too since he hasn’t been attending meetings. Sean turns down the offer to go with Hank to the next meeting because he has to work. Sean tells Hank he can’t come around anymore because of Alex and him being with her. Hank asks if Alex is with him though since she has him working two jobs and skipping meetings.

Hank recommends getting himself to a meeting before he finally leaves. Sean steps inside and tells Alex it was fun being an a-hole to someone without knowing why. They hug and kiss. Alex agrees to wait up for him before he goes to work. Later, Alex gets a call from Regina who wants to know where the heck she is. Regina calls the new woman incompetent and says she isn’t loyal to Value Maids. She wants Alex even if she was fired. Regina finds out she can’t afford the ferry so she offers her 15 hours a week at $20 an hour. She says Alex can clean and help take of Leo. She will handle the supplies and ferry pass. Alex quickly accepts although the phone loses service. Alex grabs her daughter and runs to a payphone so she can tell Regina she’ll accept the offer. Once they get it sorted out, Alex goes to the clinic to check on her mother only to learn they let Paula go earlier today. She learns that Basil gave her collateral, so she decided to let her go.

Once she meets with Sean later, he wonders if it is a good thing since Alex has been responsible for her mother for her entire life. She says she should’ve given collateral, but Sean says Paula isn’t her child. She wants to go home although Sean says everyone wants to see her. Alex explains Island Friends agreed to take Maddy part time so she can clean while they have her. Once they arrive, Sean takes to the stage to say a few words about Ethan (Xavier de Guzman). He roasts Ethan while telling everyone what Tania (Christie Burke) helped him do. Then, Tania thanks Alex for coming and receives congratulations for their marriage. Tania got married at city hall and she is already pregnant. Alex denies she is back together with Sean although he has been telling Ethan otherwise. Alex changes the subject and asks if she can use the printer. Tania tells her where her tablet is so she can print the ferry pass.

When she returns, Alex tells Tania that she got another scholarship to Missoula and Sean finds out seconds later. He wonders why she didn’t tell him and why she thought taking Maddy to Montana wasn’t something they should discuss. Once they’re alone, Sean says he has been killing himself working two jobs and becoming a better person for no reason since Alex has a getaway car sitting outside waiting for her. She says it is a writing program and has nothing to do with him, so he asks if Nate is going with her. He says the whole thing is screwed and he doesn’t know what she is doing without him. They drive back to the trailer moments later. When she gets out with Maddy, Sean drives away in his Jeep. In the morning, Alex gets up and finds Sean still in bed, so she begins making coffee. She looks outside and notices her car missing. She asks Sean about it, but he reminds her it is Nate’s vehicle.

Sean admits he gave it back to Nate because he was sick of seeing another man’s car in his driveway. She goes nuts while saying it was her life. He slams his hand on the wall and says he is late for work before storming out. Alex sobs on the floor once he is gone and calls herself stupid. She takes Maddy for another hike later and starts freaking out. Sean returns home with a 6-pack of beer and Alex imagines her body sinks into the couch.

 

Maid Review

Maid has been an interesting exploration of poverty, domestic violence, and the impact of having messed-up parents. The series has something to say if viewers can get past some of the annoying characters. However, I am afraid the message is going to fall on deaf ears considering how easy they made everything for Alex. While I’ve enjoyed it and feel many will, the writers have taken away the viewer’s ability to cheer for the main character because so much was handed to her.

So many unrealistically kind individuals have made Alex’s journey far too easy. When has anyone let someone they barely know borrow a car for eternity without any strings attached? Who is paying for the car’s insurance? It seems farfetched for someone to get so many breaks such as getting the perfect rental on the island, having Regina give you the perfect job, and getting two scholarships.

I’d really like to compare Maid the television show to Maid the book to learn more about the differences and see which more closely parallels reality. As someone who dealt with similar issues and homelessness without depending on Uncle Sam for a break, it is a bit of a disappointment to see the real issues just glanced over so carelessly.

Nevertheless, Maid is not a documentary, and we must remember that. I’ve been hooked since the Barefoot Billy episode so I am going to see it till the end, and I will sincerely say it is better than most shows I’ve been watching lately. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. All Maid recaps will be available on Reel Mockery here.