The episode opens at the women’s prison, with inmate Estrella (Estrella Avila) brushing Ramona Sanchez’s (Kate del Castillo) hair and urging her to ignore the other inmates. Ramona sends her and the other inmates away. A female guard yells, “Lights out.” As Ramona enters her cell, two male COs (Victor Andrew Cordova and Jerry G Angelo) slip a hood over her head and beat her. She struggles against them. A guard shocks her with a Taser and identifies her as the leader of Sin Cara. Frantic, she offers to hook them up with her girls and drugs. Writing an account number on her hand, he demands $25m to keep her secret. Elsewhere, Thony De la Rosa (Elodie Yung) packs her bags to move in with her new husband, Jorge Sanchez (Santiago Cabrera). Fiona (Martha Millan) tries to convince her to stay there and visit him periodically. Thony stresses the need to make their marriage appear real. Thony assures her that she and Jorge will work something out but worries about how it will impact Luca (Khalen Roman Sanchez).
At the prison, Ramona tells Jorge about the guards’ threat. He claims their money is wrapped up in the lithium mine. He warns of what will happen if the mining commissioner refuses them an operational license. She asks if he risked their lives for a dream. A guard eavesdrops on their conversation. Jorge tells her to survive until he can get a prison transfer pushed through. Later, Jorge and Violeta Sanchez (Olivia Frida Filomena) welcome Luca and Thony to their home. Luca asks why they are staying in the guest house if this is their home. Thony says it is cozier there. He gives Violeta piko, Filipino hopscotch. Jorge urges them to play on the patio. Luca asks why they have armed guards. Jorge tells him they keep them safe. Luca asks to return to Fiona’s. Thony reminds him of their discussion and asks him to give it a chance. He agrees and goes to teach piko to Violeta.
At the prison, Ramona attacks a female CO (Michelle Waterson). A male guard intervenes. Ramona asks if they have met. The guard says she is to stay in general population. The female guard insists she go to isolation and leads her away. Ramona looks back at the male guard. At the Sanchez estate, Luca and Violeta play pico. During a call, Jorge tells Feng (Alain Uy) the money transfer needs to be completed by tomorrow. Feng promises to have the funds from his crypto by tomorrow. After the call ends, Thony asks Jorge if Luca should go to Violeta’s school. She insists on having a house key and suggests giving Luca his favorite cereal, Cinnamon Crunch. Greta (Susan Louise O’Connor) offers to pick some up tomorrow. Jorge warns that Assistant District Attorney Joel Herman (Robert Cicchini) will be watching them and suggests she help him host the Desert Colosseum grand reopening. She refuses to be his arm candy. He says they need to pretend to be a happy married couple. She denies having any experience in that field. He offers to show her. She reluctantly agrees. Luca and Violeta are playing piko on the patio when gunshots ring out. Jorge and Thony rush out to find a dead coyote that the guards shot. Thony criticizes his standing rule to shoot coyotes.
Luca tells Thony that he dreamed of being a coyote. Jorge is having breakfast when she approaches and asks for a decrease in the guns the security uses. Refusing, he says the cartel is in the process of negotiating and if it doesn’t turn out in his favor, they will turn on him. She criticizes him for not telling her, so she and Luca could have stayed with Fiona. He asks if she believes he cares less about Violeta and accidentally calls her Vanessa. He gives her the option of going to a safe house. She asks to be part of running the house. He agrees. He escorts her to Vanessa’s room and suggests she pick out something formal to wear to the reopening. She suggests Vanessa wouldn’t appreciate it. He says she doesn’t know that and claims she only cared about family. Jorge recalls his promise to leave the cartel but she died before he could fulfill it. He removes her ring from his necklace. Thony tries to resist but he slips it on her finger. It’s a perfect fit.
The Warden (James Healy Jr.) pays Ramona a visit in solitary confinement. She threatens the female guard if she comes at her again. Smirking, he says her attorney filed a protective custody request but she is going back to general population. She suggests sending his wife a dozen of her favorite white roses in Summerlin. He assures her that she isn’t the first inmate to threaten her. She vows to be the last. He orders the female guard to leave them alone. Ramona tells him two guards assaulted her and demanded she pay $25m. She believes they were acting on his order. He claims some very bad people forced him to do it. She promises to provide his wife a lifetime of protection and white roses if he puts her in contact with the people responsible.
At the Sanchez estate, Jorge stops getting dressed when he sees Thony in a red dress. She demands to take Violeta and Luca. He reluctantly agrees. He calls Feng to ask for an update on the money transfer. Feng promises it will be ready by the day’s end. Jorge warns that he will not be happy until the bribe is paid and ends the call. Feng gives Jialong (Shu Q) ginseng tea for his cough. Jialong compares the scent to a wet dog when they hear a noise outside. Jialong goes to check it out and is attacked. Feng pushes the boom, missing an armed man. He punches him. The man falls over the side of the boat. Feng grabs his gun and shoots him. He and another man exchange gunfire. Out of bullets, Feng approaches the man from behind and wraps a rope around his neck. The man struggles and falls to his death. Jialong finds Jialong unresponsive.
At the Desert Colosseum, Jorge escorts Councilwoman Reyes to her seat. Fiona teases Thony about Jorge dressing her like his deceased wife. JD Harris (Ryan Sands) looks at her. Thony and Jorge spot Joel across the room. He greets Mayor Solomon (Golden Goodwin) and introduces him to Thony. Solomon asks how they met. Thony explains while having brief flashbacks of their first meeting. Jorge says she proposed to him. She receives a page with coordinates. He urges her to ignore it. She insists on going because someone may be dying. He apologizes and kisses her as Joel approaches and asks to speak with them. Thony rushes off, leaving Jorge to deal with Joel. Fiona laughs at a clown losing his pants. Charles “Chaz” (Joe Pistone) asks if she likes the clowns. He boasts that they make him a lot of money. She claims the money is flowing in from her own business. JD interrupts their little chat. Chaz invites her to his webinar and leaves. El Don (Danny Pardo) informs Jorge that the money transfer never went through and warns of spilled blood. Jorge calls Feng and demands he make the money transfer. Feng explains how they were attacked and complains about the doctor not showing up. Jorge orders him to make the transfer. Feng refuses until his man has seen the doctor and ends the call.
At the location, Thony assesses Jialong and finds no fractures but an infected tattoo. He complains about it being painful. She recommends taking him to the hospital. Feng tells her to treat him there. Jialong reaches out his hand. Feng takes it and asks if she is going to report it. She says it is no one’s business and suggests it makes his job harder. He complains about people assuming he is easy prey. She calls him a monster for beating his prisoners. He vows to do whatever is needed to protect Jialong. She assures him that she will not become a monster. He claims to have said the same thing. At Desert Colosseum, Joel tells Jorge that it will take more than an act for him and Thony to evade a murder charge. Jorge calls Thony and tells her that Feng needs to complete the money transfer to secure the mining license. Jialong collapses. She urges Feng to take him to a hospital. Feng says if he is deported back to China, he will die in a prison camp. She warns that the cartel will be after all of them if he doesn’t complete the transfer. He tells her Jialong is the hacker, not him. Later at the community hospital, Thony sends Jialong to triage. Dr. DuPont (Daniel Bonjour) criticizes her for delaying treatment for head trauma.
A guard escorts Ramona to the Warden’s office where Hunter Heller (Rita Volk) is waiting. She suggests they couldn’t kill Feng. Hunter tells her she never mentioned his combat skills. Ramona insists she fulfilled her side of the deal by giving up his location. Hunter reminds her that she agreed to stop Jorge from paying the bribe. Ramona expresses her disapproval of Jorge’s lithium mine and will help stop it but her hands are tied there. At the hospital, DuPont and Thony discuss Jialong’s test results. She points out a perforation in his lung and asks if it could be tattoo ink. He says the fluid needs to be drained and tested for ink. Jorge and his men arrive looking for Feng. Thony asks them to leave. He enters the room, draws a gun on Feng, and orders him to make the transfer. Feng refuses until Jialong is ready to move. Thony pleads with him to tell Jorge the truth. Feng claims Jialong is the only one who can do it. Jorge scolds him for not telling him the truth. Thony threatens to call Code Silver if he doesn’t put his gun away. He ignores her. She says the mine will not bring Vanessa back. She promises to take care of it. DuPont enters and orders Jorge and Feng to leave. He looks at Thony and leaves.
Thony tells Feng the tattoo ink leaked into Jialong’s lungs. She administers a drug to wake him. Feng asks him to complete the transfer. Jorge hands him a laptop. Jialong starts the process. Elsewhere, Fiona is feeling down after attending Charles’ webinar. She tells JD that financial stability is key to a successful franchise. He offers to withdraw money from his 401k to invest in her business. She suggests they move in together at his place. They kiss.
DuPont approves Jialong’s discharge as long as he is stable. He asks why she never called Code Silver. She admits the gunman is her husband. He demands Jorge and his colleagues stay away from the hospital. Later, a happy Luca hops into bed and says Fiona bought him cotton candy. She says they are home now. He argues that it isn’t their home. She explains how they had two homes and now live there together. The next morning, Jorge gives Luca a ring to give to Thony. The doorbell rings. Jorge opens the door and finds himself face to face with Ramona who was released on bail. She hikes up her pant leg to show him her ankle bracelet. She asks to stay there. Jorge looks at Thony. She says family is always welcome there.
The Cleaning Lady Review
Realizing how important it is to make their marriage look legitimate, Thony and Jorge move in together at his place. She and Luca are uneasy surrounded by armed security. The cartel is in discussion to reach a deal regarding Jorge’s lithium mine. He is relying on Feng to make a money transfer for a bribe to secure a mining license. Ramona and Hunter had a deal to stop the transfer. Hunter sent two armed men to kill Feng. Jialong, a Chinese prisoner, sustained a head injury during the attack. Feng kills both of Hunter’s men and refuses to make the transfer until Thony sees Jialong. She convinced him to take him to the community hospital. Thony and DuPont discovered tattoo ink had seeped into Jialong’s lungs. Jorge showed up and threatened to kill Feng if he didn’t make the transfer. Jialong improved and made the transfer. DuPont confronts Thony about not calling a Silver Alert when Jorge showed up with a gun. She said he is her husband.
Hunter bribed two guards to attack Ramona and ordered her to pay $25m. Ramona attacked a security guard to get into solitary. She made a deal with Hunter to help stop the lithium mine from being licensed. Thony agreed to let her stay with them. The episode deserves a 5.5 out of 10.
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