'The Cleaning Lady' Season 3 Episode 2 ' For My Son' is special

REVIEW

Twenty-five minutes in, The Cleaning Lady's Season 3, episode 2 took a historic turn when the characters of the drama series began discussing aspects of Filipino culture.

With Fiona (Martha Millan) and her son Chris (Sean Lew) in Manila, it gave the drama series' writers an opportunity to remind audiences of the Filipino roots of the De La Rosa family.

The locale also introduced a new character, Paolo Bellea, played by JB Tadena, a Fililpino American actor from the unfortunately cancelled Kung Fu.

Belleza, a fun-loving and charming guy with a breezy sense of humor and sexy confidence. Paolo owns and operates a “Turo Turo” food stall in Manila where he is loved by his community and i (surprise, surprise) as it turns out,  is Chris's biological father. 

Martha Millan and Sean Lew are mother and son in 'The Cleaning Lady' sTV eries.

(Just an FYI: Turo turo, translates into "point, point," wherein he customer orders by pointing at the dish in the steamer or on the grill.)

Paolo eases Chris' anger aimed at his mother for taking him away from his father by leaving the Philippines to the US. He explains the Filipino value of "malasakit," in the cself-sacrifice for the benefit of others.In this context:Fiona, he explains, gave up her family and everything she loved in the Philippines so that Chris can have better opportunities in the US. Hence, the episode's title: "For My Son."

During the spisode, on the way to Paolo's turo-turo, Fiona and Chris wander through a street market where the writers again used the locale to introduced Ruby Ibarra, the Filipino American rapper whose music is often played in the background of the gritty atmosphere of Las Vegas' underworld.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Rapper and song-writer Ruby Ibarra is featured in an 'The Cleaning Lady.'

Pay close attntion to Ibarra's lyrics  because they fit perfectly into the secondary storyline of Chris discovering his past and Filipino heritage.

FYI: Watch The Cleaning Lady — Season 3 with a subscription on Hulu, or buy it on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV.

The Cleaning Lady follows a Cambodian doctor from the Philippines, Thony De La Rosa portrayed by Elodie Yung, who comes to the US for medical treatment for her son. She is forced to become an undocumented immigrant making a living as a cleaning lady. She gets involved with the of criminal underworld rabbit hole and finds herself unable to get out. 

The Cleaning Lady's Paolo Belleza is a rare character in US television. Tadena's Bellaza is a positive image of the Asian man who is not (so far) not involved in crime, or an overbearing husband or a sexless wimp providing comic relief. He is also not a computer techie, or a "best friend" relegated to the background or a martial artist (at least, so far). Hopefully, the writers will find a way to bring him back into the story.

The storyline also reintroduces Fiona's parents, lola and lolo, respectively played by Princess Punzalan and Alberto Isaac, and their complicated relationship with their wayward daughter, a mixture of love and disapproval.

The series must have a writer or cultural adviser on salary to make sure to include and not  mess up the cultural references throughout the stories because someone not knowing the nuances of Filipinoness would take the time to explain some of the decisions made by of the characters. 

Credit must go to the series producers, including Miranda Kwok who conceived the series by taking the original Argentine series and trgiving it an Asian twist (The Philippines, specifically) reminding audiences  at the diversity that makes up this country and a a glimpse at a community rarely depicted on US television beyond the usual stereotypes.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.