Maid: Ongoing thoughts

 So I'm up to episode 6 in the series and it tackles some very tough issues, like income inequality and co-parenting, in very realistic ways. One of the episodes handles problems like the inhabitable living conditions some lower-income landlords expect you to live with. Alex notices mold and her landlord suggests that she open the window to air the place out, but Maddie (Alex's daughter) is sick and she isn't getting better. They end up having to move and temporarily stay with Alex's bio dad until Alex figures out that he used to beat her mom because she has flashbacks to her childhood while cleaning the estate of a mother who has recently passed away and noticing the evidence around the house that this woman was extremely abusive (locks on the kid's bedroom door, a small crawlspace with a lock on it where there are child's drawings, etc). Naturally after dredging up the repressed memory, Alex doesn't want to be anywhere near her father, so she moves in with her mom who had gone awol for a bit but is back and married to the guy who seems to be fleecing her. (Alex notices several things that lead her to this conclusion, and there is little evidence that the guy has any real feelings for her mom).

It also explores online dating, moving on from a relationship, and co-parenting, all in realistic ways. Alex keeps falling into places where she needs help because government assistance is just not enough and in order to qualify she has to limit the hours she works so it's basically a catch-22. This is an extremely good representation of income inequality. And there are social pressures on her from her former friends (who are Sean's friends), from her mom (who doesn't understand that emotional abuse is still abuse) and from her own feelings for Sean (which are portrayed beautifully when she goes out and finds him and gives him a ride home after he's been gone 2 days on a bender). Alex finds little help from the rich people around her, most of whom see her kind of like a tool for them to use rather than an actual person.

I find myself getting more and more invested in these characters, hoping against hope that she doesn't go back to Sean, because that would be bad, and maybe seeing a bit of my own struggles with raising kids and financial troubles at the very least. I remember when the kids were young enough to require daycare it was so expensive that it was almost a day's wages just to pay half. If I'd had to foot the entire thing, I don't think I could have done it. And not having a family she can fall back on (even her mom is flighty and unpredictable) is something I also relate to, as is feeling isolated by the people you thought were your friends because it turns out they were only friends with you because of the person you were with. It doesn't help that the only person who is remotely willing and able to help seems to have ulterior motives (in that he's attracted to her). The show hits home and I like it. I might write one more review when I finish it just to let you know what I thought of the ending (or how it left off if it seems likely to continue beyond one season).