Devious Maids
Last night on Lifetime after the season premier of “Drop Dead Diva” (which I still have to watch) was the premier of “Devious Maids.” This is a show from Marc Cherry which ABC passed on, but Lifetime picked up. I can see why they passed on it honestly. It’s almost a clone of “Desperate Housewives” in terms of the formula. However I still really enjoyed it.
The show is set in L.A. and is about a group of Latino maids that work for a bunch of rich snobby and somewhat crazy people. The show opens with the murder of Flora, one of the maids, during a big party her employers were throwing. Flora is confronted by the wife of the family for sleeping with her husband, seducing him in fact. She warns her to stay away from him, or else she will have her deported. Flora then begins writing a note feverishly about how they all know the truth, the husband raped her! She then places it in a book and is promptly stabbed. We don’t see who stabbed her. We know the husband and wife were dancing outside when it happened. A young waiter who apparently finds the knife used to stab Flora is accused and arrested. So we basically have our “Mary Alice” of the season . . .
Another family has lost their made in a divorce. The man’s ex-wife took her! So they have to hire a new maid, enter Marisol (the older sister from “Ugly Betty”). From the beginning we know something is very different about her. She was born in L.A. “doesn’t have an accent” and “speaks as if she went to college” . . . all things the new wife noted during the interview. However she is given the job, and seems to be very interested in Flora’s murder. When she befriends the other family’s maids to find out info, some of them are suspicious too.
By the end of the show we learn that Marisol’s son is the waiter in jail accused of Flora’s murder and she’s working to get him out by finding out the truth.
The show’s title is a little misleading. The maids are devious, we do learn that quickly. One, Carmen, works for Alejandro (played by ex-Brandon from “Days”) who is a major Latino recording artist. She does everything she can to get him to notice her and her music. Valentina is the daughter of another maid, and she is in love with the son of their employer (Susan Lucci). Then there is Rosie who works for a couple who are actors and whose son she cares for, while her own son is in Guadalajara and she can’t afford to bring him to the U.S.. She pulls a trick off to convince the wife to give her a day off so she can meet with a lawyer who is trying to help her get her son back. However none of the maids are as nasty as the people they work for!
After the mystery of Flora’s murder is solved, I’m sure there will be a new mystery every season, should the show last. Hence the “Housewives” formula.
SPOILERS for the next episode!
SETTING THE TABLE – Airs Sunday, June 30 at 10:00-11:00PM (ET)
Valentina’s plans to get closer to Remi continue to irritate Zoila. Rosie gets caught in the middle when Spence accuses Peri of cheating. Carmen takes advantage of Alejando and Odessa being out of the house, much to Sam’s dismay. Marisol tries to figure out a way to spend more time at the Powell house.
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