Why is Oliver Hudson leaving The Cleaning Lady?

Spoilers ahead of The Cleaning Lady season 2 finale

The Cleaning Lady season 2 ended like it began, with a death that upends the storyline moving forward. At the top of the show’s sophomore run, Thony’s husband Marco was accidentally killed by her nephew, Chris. She and Fiona covered up what happened. Keeping the authorities from finding out was a major part of the season.

Now Garret Miller’s death has rocked the plot. This series has always been one full of twists that have dire consequences for its leads. However, it likely wasn’t on viewers minds that they’d lose the FBI agent after only two seasons. What’s the story behind the decision? Did Oliver Hudson decide to leave the show or was this a writing decision? Here’s what we know!

Why Oliver Hudson is leaving The Cleaning Lady

In a post-mortem with Deadline, co-showrunners Melissa Carter and Michelle Kwok discussed the season 2 finale and how it’ll reverberate in the story in season 3. This included information on the decision to kill Garrett off. Kwok had the following to say:

"We absolutely love Oliver. He’s been such a supporter of the show, and I think that’s also part of that decision is that it would be so heartbreaking, so devastating to lose one of our leads. [It’s about] the importance of showing not only the unpredictability, but the consequences [of Thony’s actions]. Thony is a character who is always the smartest person in every room. She’s so resourceful. She’s got all the chess pieces moving, and [Garrett’s death] really shows her that she can’t control everything all the time. She isn’t in control, and that she’s going to make mistakes. Thony, for the past two seasons, has been on this tightrope of morality between the law and the criminal world and trying to navigate both. She’s always wavering in that and finally made these decisions that did not work out for Fiona or for Garrett."

The co-showrunner went on to describe Garrett as someone who kept trying to get Thony out of this criminal lifestyle that she has slipped further and further into in the quest to keep her son alive, her family safe, and to help Arman. With Garrett gone, she’s lost that person in her life but also her connection to law enforcement that had afforded her and her loved ones the ability to avoid deportation.

In order to get Fiona back, Thony is going to use every resource at her disposal even if it means falling deeper into crime. It also could mean she doesn’t learn her lesson about trying to control everything which could mean more detrimental mistakes are around the corner for season 3.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more The Cleaning Lady news and coverage!