Just a mom and her kid trying to make it. Oh, and Nick Robinson is there.
*Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse, Mental Illness*
“MAID” on Netflix is a new show that follows the story of a woman and her child as they navigate the intense social welfare system on their own. Alex, the main character, leaves an abusive relationship, but is often confronted with her ex at every turn. The show follows her through her legal battle, search for a home, struggles with her family and mental health battles. This show spotlights issues that many women and families face everyday and it’s exactly why everyone should take the time to watch it.
At the beginning of the show, we find Alex caring for her young daughter and in a loving relationship with her boyfriend, Sean, whom everyone loves. We soon learn that Sean is emotionally abusive and could easily turn physically abusive. His abusive tendencies are only amplified by alcohol and drugs. Alex decides to take her daughter, Maddy, and go to a shelter for domestically abused women.
This show does a fantastic job of highlighting the difficulties in getting any kind of social welfare support. There are multiple scenes throughout the show where Alex waits hours at an office only to be denied benefits or to find out that the benefits are so small that they won’t even help her. The social welfare system in America is difficult, especially for single mothers who barely have a job, let alone enough time to sit in an office for 7 hours to get their papers turned in.
Along with battling the social welfare system, Alex also takes on the legal system as she tries to gain full custody over Maddy. This creates an entirely different and complicated situation for her as well. We soon find out that the legal system will favor Sean simply because he has a job and a place of residence. As a watcher, it was incredible to me that the courts could simply overlook Alex’s claims of abuse against Sean because she didn’t have a job or a permanent address. The courts actually ruled that Maddy had to stay with Sean for a week and Alex was allowed visits as long as someone was there with her watching. I realize that this is a fictional show, but it has real implications. There are people out there who have gone through similar things and it’s heartbreaking to think that a woman has to let her child go home with her abuser.
On that same idea, the show does a great job of highlighting the challenges of leaving an abusive relationship. During one of Alex’s stays at the domestic abuse shelter, she encounters Danielle. Her and Danielle become quick friends and support systems for each other. Later in the show, we find out that Danielle has returned to her abusive ex. As heartbreaking as this is, it is a reality many women experience. The coordinator of the facility herself says that it usually takes women seven times before they will finally leave. Alex herself finds it difficult at times to leave Sean and even returns to him after he makes promises to change and provide for her and Maddy. This leads to another instance where her and Maddy’s safety is in jeopardy. Alex even then falls into a deep depression.
This leads me into another thing this show does incredibly well. “MAID” is able to represent mental illness in a way that makes it easily representable to many audiences. Alex’s own battles with depression were easily understood and relatable. The show also highlights Alex’s mom’s battle with Bipolar Disorder. Even more than that, the show highlights Sean’s challenges with addiction which is even more relatable for audiences since many Americans are facing this issue everyday. It does this in a respectful way that allows the audience to really understand people’s everyday struggles with mental health issues.
The show even takes a step beyond this to assess social class. At every turn, Alex is faced with discrimination because she is poor or homeless or a single mother. Even more so, she chooses to take a job as a maid (get it? the name of the show?) cleaning enormous, rich houses. Many of these people treat her as lesser than because she’s there to clean their house even though Alex was supposed to attend college. The show is supremely aware of class issues and isn’t afraid to have this conversation.
The only issue I have with this show is that the ending may be a bit too unrealistic. Alex is able to crawl her way out of her circumstances and finally can go to college. The college has been very lenient with her throughout her ordeal, which is not the case with many colleges across the country. The show insinuates that people can get out of their circumstances if they try hard enough which is not always the case. In Alex’s case, she had many opportunities and was very creative in her situation. However, the system is often built to keep you down and it’s hard to get back up.
I don’t want this to be so pessimistic though. The show is fantastic; the actors are amazing, the writing is great and visuals are wonderful. I found the story to be so heartwarming and heartbreaking that I felt so close to Alex and Maddy throughout the whole thing. I think this show is doing a wonderful job of telling a story that many people face, while also leaving us with a bit of hope, however unrealistic it may be.