The Cleaning Lady is coming back for season 4, so here’s what to remember about the underrated Fox crime drama!
The Cleaning Lady premiered on Fox in 2022 and became a surprise sleeper hit. It centers on Thony De La Rosa (Elodie Yung), a Cambodian-Filipino former surgeon living in Las Vegas with her ill five-year-old son, Luca. With her visa expired, Thony is reduced to being a cleaning lady at a local casino to make ends meet.
The plot kicked in when Thony witnessed drug lord Arman Morales (Adan Canto) killing a rival. To save her life, Thony offers to clean up the crime scene. Before long, she’s the go-to “cleaner” for the mob and it gets worse when the FBI pushes her to become an informant.
The first two seasons balanced Thony trying to keep herself and her family safe, aided by sister-in-law Fiona (Martha Milian). She also fights a strange attraction to Arman, who has his own problems with his criminal family and rivals, which became a major issue in season 3.
How a real-life tragedy changed The Cleaning Lady season 3
Season 3 of The Cleaning Lady had to be changed due to tragic circumstances. As production on the season began, Adan Canto passed away from cancer in January 2024. That meant any plans for Araman had to be changed.
Thus, the season 3 premiere opened with Thony and Arman’s wife, Nadia (Eva De Dominici) seeing Arman being abducted by rivals. That brought in Ramona Sanchez (Kate del Castillo), a relative of Arman’s whose public face as a philanthropist hid her true murderous agenda.
With the aid of some CGI trickery, the producers had Arman pop back in only for him to sacrifice himself to save Thony’s life. Meanwhile, Nadia wanted out of the criminal life so Thony helped her fake her death. Sadly, Ramona found out and killed Nadia for real.
Thony reached out to Ramona’s brother, Jorge, (Santiago Cabrera) for help. He was wary until he realized that Ramona was setting him up to take the fall for her crimes and take away his daughter. It led to a big charity event raided by the FBI, where Jorge revealed he’d cut a deal, so Ramona was arrested.
That seemed to be a good wrap-up for the series itself with Thony now freed of this life. However, the final scene is of her being given a burner phone by one of Jorge’s “associates,” hinting that she may not be out of this life yet.
What is The Cleaning Lady Season 4 about?
Season 4 moves a bit from the title as Thony is now working as a surgical intern while taking care of Luca (now played by Khalen Roman Sanchez). However, there’s no escaping this life as gangster Feng (Alian Uy) forces Thony to treat a wounded mobster.
That has Thony taking charge, declaring the cartel has taken so much of her life and “I want what’s mine.” Thus, Thony is tired of being a pawn in these games and wants to be more of a player while keeping her secret from hospital supervisor Dr. Sean Dupont (recurring guest star Daniel Bonjour).
We get glimpses in the trailer of Ramona in jail, Fiona trying to help, and Thony being thrown into wilder situations. It’s a new direction for The Cleaning Lady but it may be a more exciting season to thrill fans.
The Cleaning Lady Season 4 premieres on Tuesday, January 25 at 8/7c on Fox.