Quick review: 'It may not be perfect, but you need to watch 'The Cleaning Lady'

From left, rapper Ruby Ibarra, actor Elodie Yung and creator Miranda Kwok at a sneak
screening of 'The Cleaning Lady.'

OPINION

I have to admit, I cheered when I heard Ruby Ibarra's music set the gritty undercurrent of the new Fox series, The Cleaning Lady: Struggle, American urban, underdog, defiant, and "I am not your model minority."

As the camera flew over the Las Vegas' Strip, fiently in the background, Tagalog lyrics were being sung in an aggressive rap, "Island woman rise, walang makakatagil."

"Hey, did you hear that? someone said.

"That's Ruby Ibarra," I proclaimed.

"That's a first!"

"So cool!," I said.

Producer and creator Miranda Kwok purposely chose Ibarra's work for the Filipino pride and cultural complexities she raps about as an immigrant and a woman, which mirror Kowk's own experience and the defines the world of The Cleaning Lady. The lyrics are from Ibarra's hit "Us," an anthem, of sorts, for Filipino immigrant women.

And despite having a French Cambodian actress, Elodie Yung as the central character Thony De La Rosa, the show had elements in it that were definitely and unapologetically Filipino, starting with the first episode's title, "TNT."

"TNT" means dynamite in most English language contexts, but in the Filipino community, TNT stands for "tago nang tago," literally translated to "always hiding," referring to the status of undocumented Filipinos in the U.S. and the status of Thony.

I wasn't alone in the burst of pride of seeing Filipinos as the main characters on an American network series. Filipinos all over the Twitterverse were cheering, crying tears of joy."

Miranda Kwok, the producer who brought The Cleaning Lady to Fox, tweeted:

The first episode got mixed - but, mostly good - reviews. "TNT" performed well, garnering the highest rating ever for a Fox premiere; ruling its time slot and beating out the more established NCIS on CBS.

Although filmed in New Mexico, the story takes place in Las Vegas, where Filipinos, drawn by the glitz, glamor and economic opportunities in healthcare, business and domestic work and an underground infrastructure,  constitute the largest Asian group in Nevada. If the series stays true to its locale, expect to see a lot more Asian Americans and AAPI-themes.

There was a lot  of information to pack in the show's first 45 minutes, but the stage has been set for some interesting possibilities that haven't been covered in other more conventional cop-crime series. The undocumented status of its principle characters; the Filipino cultural references thrown in that Filipinos "get" (mahal kita, ate) will hopefully gain more meaning for regular viewers;  and then there's Ibarra's  music and lyrics, mixing Tagalog and English, providing an undercurrent of anger and defiance.

The world of The Cleaning Lady is so different than the image most non-Filipinos have seen on network television where the Filipino American characters are depicted as members of the model minority, sidekicks, butts of a running joke but. The series show fully fleshed-out human beings with dreams and problems; just trying to create a better world for their families. 

The fact that the central character, Thony, as portrayed by Yung, is Cambodian and not Filipino -- a change from Kwok's original script necessitated by Yung's French Cambodian heritage -- did not bother me because Yung was so good in her role.

As the series goes deeper into the rabbit hole world of TNTs and moral choices between good and evil Thony must make, The Cleaning Lady will get even more complex and not so black-and-white in those predicaments as she struggles between  the moral debt (Filipinos' sense of utang na loob) she owes the crime boss who helped her and her own Filipino/Catholic-influenced moral code.

I know there will be some Filipino Americans who will scoff at the series and the picture it portrays of TNTs. I can hear titas, lolas and nanays tsk-tsking and saying, "We're all not like this."

Of course not, but not all Filipinos are also not all the professionals -- teachers, healthcare workers, lawyers, tech experts -- that you want your children to become. The Cleaning Lady helps round out a broader image of AAPIs outside the pigeon-holes that American society wants to place us in.

In episode four, we are going to be introduced to Filipino American actor Lou Diamond Phillips and his real-life daughter Gracie portraying a Filipino father and his daughter who will have an impact on the future health of Thony's son, who has an immune-deficient condition and needs a transplant.

I can't wait.

The Cleaning Lady airs on the Fox Network, Mondays, 9 p.m., 8 central. It is also streamed on Hulu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.