Here’s Why Netflix’s ‘Maid’ Was Deemed “The Most Important Series In History”

Featured Image Source

Netflix’s new Maid series sounded like it could be a horror story when I first saw the description. “After fleeing from an abusive relationship, a young mother finds a job cleaning houses as she fights to provide for her child and build them a better future.” That’s what the description says, but those few simple lines are not why the series is being called “The Most Important Series In History.”  

It’s not just that 25-year-old Alex (Margaret Qualley) perfectly captures the experience of a young, feisty mama who’s down on her luck and desperate to survive. The series is based on Stephanie Land’s own personal experience, which she shared first as an article on Vox and then as a bestselling memoir: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive.

In one of its synopses, Netflix describes the series as “one young mother’s incredible story of survival and resilience as she navigates the world of poverty, abuse and redefining her worth against all odds.” That seems to encapsulate so much, but it doesn’t really say it all. 

What does say it all is the series of moments in this trigger-warning-heavy story of homelessness, abuse, and daily struggles. Alex struggles to keep custody of her three-year-old daughter, Maddie (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet), as she navigates a broken system that’s not able to accept the brutal combination of emotional abuse, homelessness, and joblessness. She appears to be in a no-win situation. She can’t get a job without a place to live. And she can’t get a place to live or a job without child care for Maddie.  

To make matters worse, her could-be family support system consists of a mother, Paula (played by Qualley’s real-life mother, Andie MacDowell), who has undiagnosed bipolar disorder and who sees herself as a misunderstood goddess artist. Brief moments of “help” inevitably come at a price that’s 10x worse. When Alex called upon her mom to watch Maddie for a job interview, her mom quickly grew tired of taking care of her granddaughter and called Sean (Nick Robinson), Alex’s abusive ex-husband, to pick up Maddie. 

Something About an Abusive & Alcoholic Boyfriend

The opening scene of the series follows Alex as she escapes from her abusive boyfriend, Sean. She quickly discovers that she has no friends because they’re on his side. And it’s those opening moments that set the stage for the desperate struggle that Alex faces throughout the series. She removed herself and her daughter from a dangerous situation, but then feels the constant push to go back to him from would-be friends, family, and even from the broken aid system.  

And there are those moments when Alex sees that Sean loves his daughter, that they have shared experiences, and that he’s “trying.” There’s also the fact that he’d been drinking since he was 9, he came from a broken home that was destroyed by substance abuse, and he works in a bar. Maid showrunner Molly Smith Metzler explains Sean’s character: “None of us are just one thing, and we are all victims of our own circumstance, and we all carry around our family’s baggage with us, and it informs our addictions and our choices and our relationships.” 

He’s an abuser, but it’s not that simple. Robinson explains: “It’d be easy to kind of write Sean off and not care about him at all if he was just this out-and-out, villain. But there is some goodness in Sean that he’s constantly trying to bring out.” Sean is broken, brought down by his demons. Along the way, he did see some fragments of light and hope. He wanted to become a carpenter. Ultimately, he says that he will get clean for Maddie. But the story leaves him behind.  

Something About an Abusive & Alcoholic Father

Alex also has a recovering alcoholic father, Hank (Billy Burke), who is at first reluctant to help. When it’s obvious that Alex is homeless and in a desperate situation, he finally offers to help by offering to let her stay with him and his new family. There’s more to the fractured father-daughter relationship than abandonment issues and lack of connection. 

PTSD flashbacks offer further insight into her father’s volatile abuse, which inspired Alex’s mother to flee from him all those years ago. He may really have found religion, and he may be a “better man,” but he’s still in denial about what happened back then. Her memories of the past are more than just nightmares. They offer reasons for why Alex was more likely to stay with an abuser like Sean. Alex’s personal acceptance of the past helps her to come to terms with her own trauma, both from her childhood and the more recent emotional abuse. 

Those revelations from the past were what Alex needed to confront her father and ask him for help just one last time. Hank’s refusal to give her a witness statement about Sean’s abuse reinforces the fact that he never saw himself as an abuser or ever in the wrong toward Alex’s mom. He prefers to believe that Paula was just crazy, which inspired her to take Alex and run off to Alaska to join a commune. 

Alex wants to understand and love her father, and she even believed bits of the crazy-mom-runs-to-Alaska story. Those PTSD flashes force her to see the truth. She realizes that her struggle is not just about her own emotional and physical safety. It’s all for her daughter’s well-being as well.

It’s About Impossible Choices

Mentions of abuse, homelessness, and desperation tend to make us want to shut down. The choices are impossible, which lends itself to a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. What’s the point of it all anyway? The point is that life is hard and devastating. Yes, we see the heart-wrenching violence and pain. But it’s not all bleak and irredeemable. There are moments of hope. There are good people. And there’s light at the end of the tunnel. 

The choices may at some points be impossible, but Alex never gives up hope. 

What are your thoughts on MAID? Do you love it? Hate it? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

For More TV Show Reviews, Read These Articles:

Jean Smart And Hannah Einbinder Make ‘Hacks’ HBO Max’s Can’t-Miss Series

Should Virgin River Be Your Newest Binge-Worthy Obsession?