From The Ashes – The episode opens during a basketball game. Luca (Sebastien LaSalle, Valentino LaSalle) dribbles the ball down the court and passes it off to his teammate. He gets a personal foul that leaves him frustrated. On the sideline, Thony (Elodie Yung) gives him a few words of encouragement and sends him back to rejoin his teammates. Ramona Sanchez (Kate Del Castillo) takes a seat beside Thony. As the game continues Ramona reminds Thony of how Luca’s illness held him back and attributes his improvement to Thony’s tenacity. Thony asks if she is accepting her offer. Ramona says they can help each other when Luca scores. As fans cheer, Thony, Luca, and Fiona (Martha Millan) head toward the exit.

Jeremy Dolan (Brandon Jay McLaren) is surprised that Thony would lead to Sin Cara. ASAC Katherine Russo (Liza Well) urges him to stay away from the FBI headquarters. He tells her that Attorney Jorge Sanchez (Santiago Cabrera) has been known to represent the Sin Cara and his new client is Nadia Morales (Eva De Dominici). Jeremy questions if Jorge is Sin Cara.

Ramona confronts Jorge about his visit with Nadia. He refuses to ask for permission after the mistake she made with Armando Morales. She tries to assure him that they will always be a team. He informs her of his plan to establish something on his own. She suggests he will utilize Nadia’s money to do it. He says with Nadia’s money and connections.

Fiona warns Thony against going to Ramona’s. Thony suggests if she can help Ramona, it will keep them safe. She reminds Fiona of what Ramona did to them and Armando. A short time later, Thony is forced to change into something provided by Ramona’s security. Ramona puts her x-rays on display and says her nephrologist believes he has kidney disease. Thony points out that her blood work didn’t show a trace of creatine. She attributes Ramona’s swollen lymph nodes to some type of autoimmune disease. Ramona is reluctant to believe it. Thony suggests Ramona had two former pregnancies because her estrogen levels are elevated. Upset, Ramona claims she was not meant to have children and demands Thony find out what is wrong with her. Violeta (Olivia Frida Filomena) misses her mother. Jorge says it hurts when he knows there is nothing he can do for her. Thony stresses the need for children to be able to feel their good and bad feelings.

Watching CCTV footage of Thony’s house, Jeremy sees Fiona leaving with Luca and Chris (Sean Lew). A short time later, he enters the house and tampers with kitchen faucet. Seeing Thony approach, he rushes to finish up and slips out the back door. She hears him from the laundry room but he is already getting in his truck.

Nadia asks Jorge to post her bail and she will convince Oliver Gordon (Doug Savant). Later, he is having a drink at her club when she approaches in a sexy outfit. Oliver shortly joins them. Nadia spends some time in making Oliver feel comfortable before motioning for Odette (Bailey Swift) and Cyndra (Darielle Williams) to join them. Jorge records Odette and Oliver.

Thony researches Ramona’s symptoms. Fiona asks if she spoke to Ramona about Gizelle (Natasha Elias) and Camilla (Esmeraldo Camargo). Chris names off all the places that Camilla said they worked. He insists on going with Fiona to Bandera Bottling Company. Seeing photos of himself and Odette, Oliver realizes he is being blackmailed. Nadia and Jorge offer discretion in exchange for Nadia’s charges being dropped. Fed up with the leaking kitchen faucet, Thony calls Jeremy to ask him to fix it. Hiding his badge in the console of his vehicle, Jeremy heads to Thony’s.

Bandera Bottling Company – Fiona and Chris search for Camilla and Gizelle. She finds a woman who knows Gizelle. Mistaking Fiona for a worker, the foreperson (Anthony “Animal” Garcia) orders her to put on a hairnet. Chris pulls the fire alarm lever. Fiona and the other workers are forced into a van. She gives her keys to Chris for him to follow them.

Thony refuses to tell Jeremy anything about Ramona’s medical condition. When she leaves to get some money to pay him, he snaps photos of Ramona’s medical file. Outside, he calls Russo to see if she got the photos. They are able to identify the patient as Sin Cara, Ramona. A short time later, Thony tells Ramona that she has lead poisoning from when she was shot. Ramona assures her that the bullets were removed. Thony suggests a few fragments may have been left unnoticed. Ramona refuses to believe her. Utilizing an LVF detector, Thony shows her where the bullet fragments are located. Ramona threatens to shoot her if she doesn’t remove them.

Thony tries to give Ramona ketamine to put her to sleep. Demanding to be awake during the procedure, Ramona warns that if she dies, so will Thony and her family. Utilizing a scalpel, Thony slices the skin. Ramona’s screams are muffled by a rag. Elsewhere, Chris follows the van to a house. Fiona cannot get any information from the women. A man orders her to leave. In the van, she assures Chris that the women knew Camilla and Gizelle. He insists on asking them but she stops him.

Jorge and Nadia learn Ramona leaked Oliver’s provocative photos. He says for Ramona, it is about control. She argues that it is her life, not a game. He vows to keep her out of jail because he wants her money. Elsewhere, Thony removes several bullet fragments but the last one is dangerously close to the vein. Taking several swigs of tequila, Ramona tells her to do. When she hesitates, a guard threatens to shoot her. Thony goes to work but severs the vein. She frantically calls for hot water and towels. Jorge arrives after Ramona is out. Thony orders him to put on gloves. While working to stop the bleeding, she tells Jorge about the lead poisoning caused by leftover bullet fragments. With the vein tied off, the wound is ready to be closed.

Ramona admits to being wrong about Thony and realizes why Armando trusted her. Thony says once her lead levels drop, she will begin to feel better. Jorge accuses Ramona of ruining Oliver. She claims to have exposed him to keep Jorge from leaving her. She promises to get Nadia’s charges dropped, so her money is accessible but demands to be part of whatever he is doing.

Nadia admits to wishing Ramona died. Jorge says Ramona got her charges dropped. She asks if he is going to crawl back to Ramona. He suggests letting her believe she is in control. She says the two of them make a good team. Elsewhere, Thony is tidying up when she finds a partial show print. After the home security footage, she convinces Mr. Pearce (Stephen Zamora) to let her look at his security footage. She snaps a photo of Jeremy approaching the house after everyone is gone. The episode ends.

 

The Cleaning Lady Review

Thony believes if she can get Ramona on her side, she will protect her and her family. Studying her medical file, Thony determines it is lead poisoning, not kidney disease. Once she has Ramona convinced, she is forced to surgically remove the bullets or die. A vein is severed during the procedure but Thony successfully ties it off before more damage is done.

Jorge and Nadia set Judge Oliver Gordon up with an exotic dancer. They plan to blackmail him but Ramona leaks the photos to keep Jorge from leaving her. Jorge convinces her to believe they will always be a team. He and Nadia agree to let Ramona think she is in control while they utilize the insurance money to build something for themselves.

Thony finds CCTV footage of Jeremy entering their house when no one is at home. Jeremy and Russo know Ramona is Sin Cara.

 

The episode is filled with plot holes. Why would the Cartel let Chris leave the bottling company but take Fiona only to later let her go? If the Cartel is as dangerous as the show portrays and wants to keep its illegal workers a secret, why not make them disappear?

The surgery is not believable. The episode deserves a 4.5 out of 10. Get more of The Cleaning Lady recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with Reel Mockery can help build brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic films, TV shows, cold cases, and more.