‘The Cleaning Lady’ Recap & Q&A: Elodie Yung Breaks Down Action-Packed Season 3 Finale

Katie Campione
·7 min read
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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the two-part Season 3 finale of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady.

It appears Thony De La Rosa has escaped the clutches of the Sin Cara cartel. For now, at least.

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Season 3 of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady ended on an eventful note Tuesday with a two-part finale that saw Thony (Elodie Yung) explore all possible routes to take down Ramona Sanchez (Kate del Castillo).

After helping Nadia (Eva De Dominici) fake her own death, Thony thought she was in the clear. Get Nadia out of town, feed the FBI a few more tidbits of information, and she’d be done with the cartel for good. Well, that plan is quickly foiled when Ramona intercepts Thony and Nadia, finishing the job herself. With Nadia gone, Thony is convinced that she’s next, but Ramona has other plans.

She brings Thony even deeper into the Sanchez family business, making her a trusted ally. You know what they say about keeping your enemies closer. Little does she know (or does she?), Thony only doubles down on feeding information to the FBI.

When she finds out that Ramona is planning to frame her brother Jorge as the leader of Sin Cara, Thony tries to clue him in, offering him immunity if he works with the FBI.

The finale culminates in a charity auction, which the cartel is using as a cover to receive some kickbacks from trusted partners, including the owner of the company that had Camila and Gizelle working under awful conditions. After being saved by Chris, Camila joins Thony’s family in assisting the FBI with their investigation.

At first, it seems Jorge may have changed his mind about playing nice with the FBI. It is his sister he’s betraying, after all. That is until a showdown on the roof ends with Ramona arrested by the feds, thanks to the knife linking Ramona to Nadia’s murder.

And with that, all is set right. Jorge assures Thony that the cartel will leave her be. So why does she receive a burner phone call from her contact Derek along with another job offer?

Series star Elodie Yung spoke with Deadline about that whirlwind of a finale and whether Thony is really stepping away from the criminal underbelly of Las Vegas for good.

DEADLINE: Thony has been saying all season she just wants out, but at the end of the finale she gets another job offer. Do you think she’s out for good?

ELODIE YUNG: I think there’s a pattern with Thony there. She always fights her way out of tricky situations…working with the mob, working with the cartel. She puts the needs of her son and of her family and the people she loves [before herself]. Finding Arman was one of the main things for her this season, but it just feels that she’s kind of always sucked back in. So I really can’t tell you what they have in store for me in Season 4. I can’t wait to see which direction we’re gonna go with Thony next season. But so far, I think the show has been built in a way that she really wants to do her best, and she wants to make the right decisions, but she is making mistakes. She’s very human, which I love, by the way, about this character. There’s nothing perfect about Thony. So I really don’t know. I can’t tell you where it’s going to head. But I’m sure they’ll have interesting things for us in Season 4.

DEADLINE: What do you think keeps sucking her back in? I feel like there’s been a few opportunities for her to just wipe her hands clean of it.

YUNG: In Season 2, I felt like she was in kind of autopilot mode. Things were overwhelming, and she was just trying to react as things were coming her way. This season, I felt like there was some desperation to her, juggling with different problems, bringing back Fiona, finding Arman. So she was kind of drowning in a way, emotionally drowning. I think we can all relate to this like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much on the plate that I need to do — this and that.’ I think forces us in times to make mistakes. I think it’s a mixture of this. Also, in the writers room, they take pleasure in throwing her in really difficult situations. So he has to be reactive. My job is to keep things human, to make sure that I can relate to what she does and how she approaches things and how she feels about those situations.

DEADLINE: I’m glad you mentioned all that she was juggling with. At first, it seemed like she had so many different issues, but in time throughout the season, it became clear they all really led to one place. How was it as an actor to unravel all of that?

YUNG: I don’t see things ahead. I received those scripts, and then this is the story that unfolds for me as well. I think it’s very important that our audience relates to this single mother, [who] is an immigrant who now has to operate in this crazy, crazy world. It’s violent. This is not what she knew. I’m very adamant to keep Thony very human. I don’t know if it translates well, but I really want to relate to her. So then we can have real reactions from her. I don’t have much visibility, which is exciting in a way, because every episode I’m like, ‘Okay, which guest am I going to have this episode? What am I going to unfold and face this episode?’ Every step she does, it needs to feel real to me. I need to keep things grounded.

DEADLINE: Ramona is arrested at the end, but something tells me this isn’t over. How was working with Kate del Castillo? Would you want to see her back?

YUNG: I absolutely loved working with Kate. She’s just the best. I know everyone has been very excited by her character. I wouldn’t be surprised that they would bring her back. I would love for it to be the case. It’s just been great. She’s huge in Mexico as well. She’s just so down to earth and humble. The way she approaches her work is just, I don’t know, it’s very supportive of others and humble. She enjoys playing, I think, this type of character…She’s very impressive, and she’s got this stature and this aura about her. Throughout this season, we see the cracks, and we see the vulnerability.

DEADLINE: Although Arman’s story ended a few episodes ago, I wanted to ask you about bringing that story to an end for Adan Canto. How do you feel about the way that story ultimately ended?

YUNG: It started with the network and the studio. They really wanted to make sure that he’d be honored in the writing, that his family felt supported throughout this whole grieving process. As a scene partner, as a friend, I think I was a shock. I went through the pain of losing someone I absolutely adored and loved working with. As I received the script, it was really hard. There’s the Elodie part [of me], you lose your partner — I mean, it was just he and I for a long time — and a friend. He was a great man. He was truly loved by everyone on set. So there’s like this energy part of me that’s losing someone that I loved. And then there is the character, who is desperately looking for the man she loves and has disappeared…I think everything, as painful as it was, it came out of a lot of love for Adan from all of us.

DEADLINE: When you heard the news about Season 4, what were your thoughts?

YUNG: My gosh, I jumped up and down in the air. I mean, what a wonderful gift. I am so grateful. There are so little series that go to Season 4. So that in itself just feels unreal. But also I can tell you that I have felt the the excitement and the support, whether it’s coming from Warner or from Fox. I’m so grateful for that. I’m so happy that they see the potential of this specific story. We’re talking about a single woman. She’s an immigrant. They embrace my roots, the Cambodian roots. So, to me, it just feels — it’s not unbelievable, but I’m grateful that the network and the studio have the same love for the project as I have.

This is a great character. The family around her, all of that needs to be put out there more. To carry on being part of this project just feels…I’m so happy. I don’t have words for that. I can’t believe it.

DEADLINE: Any hopes for Thony in Season 4?

YUNG: I need a minute to go camping…and spend time with my family. I’m very confident that they’ll write something that will resonate with us and for the audience.

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