The Cleaning Lady Season 4 Episode 7 Recap: Keep the Family Close

In season 4 of Fox’s ‘The Cleaning Lady,’ Thony De La Rosa’s descent into the world of dangerous mobs and cartels continues to grow even more precarious. Ever since her marriage of convenience with Jorge Sanchez, the head of the Sin Cara Cartel, the doctor has had to dodge many bullets to keep a firm hold over her various secrets. However, episode 7, titled ‘Keep the Family Close,’ introduces another threat into the lives of the Sanchezes. Ramona’s lies and betrayal have put a firm target on her family’s backs, inviting the elusive Hellers as the Cartel’s newest enemies. Thus, when a missed meeting brings these enemies to their doorsteps, Thony finds herself entrusting the untrustworthy crime boss with her life. Meanwhile, an unwitting Jorge receives an offer regarding his mining project that could change the entire gameboard. SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Attack at the Sanchez House

Ramona’s stunt with Bianca compels Thony to drug the former and hold her hostage in the guest house for a much-needed conversation about boundaries. Nonetheless, in doing so, she inadvertently opens her home up to a deadly attack. In the morning, Ramona attempts to inform the newly formed “Cartel wife” of the same, revealing that she made a deal with the Hellers. As per the deal, she had to dismantle her brother as the cartel head to hand over their growing mining business to the other crime family. Since she missed the deadline, Ramona believes she could have fixed things with a conversation, which she inevitably missed after Thony drugged her.

Ramona tries to bribe the other woman by offering her a way out of the cartel life, but the latter remains reluctant to trust her. Soon enough, the two end up encountering a much bigger problem than their differences when Heller’s men attack the house, leaving dead bodies of various staff members in their wake. Consequently, Ramona and Thony end up working together and manage to secure a hideout for themselves in a fortified panic room. Still, with only a wall separating them from their attackers, it’s only a matter of time before danger catches up to them again. Not to mention, the growing traction between the two is cause enough for concern. Thony is critical of Ramona for allowing her selfish interests to cloud her family’s safety.

Inversely, the hardened criminal believes the newcomer isn’t that different from her, given her repeated inability to leave the life of crime behind. Eventually, after enough time passes and the attackers clear out the house, the duo realizes that the attack on the house had never really been a play on their lives. Instead, Heller’s men were more interested in a mysterious vault that held something presumably precious. Nonetheless, before Ramona and Thony can figure out what exactly was stolen from the house, the latter ends up taking a near-lethal bullet to her torso from a hidden attacker.

Jorge Meets Sam Heller

While the Heller attack endangers Ramona and Thony’s lives at the Sanchez Residence, Jorge remains oblivious to the entire ordeal. Therefore, when he receives an intriguing offer for a meeting from Hunter Heller, he agrees to it. However, instead of Hunter, her father, Sam Heller, shows up at the agreed-upon meet-up location. The man has a unique proposition for the newly appointed head of Sin Cara. He wants Jorge to cut him a 50% deal in his highly lucrative mining project. In return, he would become a majority stakeholder in the reputed business/criminal mastermind’s casino resorts. Even though this would mean a significant pay cut for Jorge, it would allow him to dip his toes in the world of legitimate business, offering him a way out of the Cartel.

Nonetheless, despite his desire to escape from the crime world, Jorge turns down Sam’s offer. He knows that his recent decisions have notably benefited his family business. Therefore, he can’t turn his back on the family name now, even if his interests lie elsewhere. However, unbeknownst to him, this proposal was a final offer in Sam’s arsenal before the man decides to resort to the tried and tested methods of war. Once Jorge turns him down, he orders his men at the Sanchez residence to break into the secret safe, which holds the deed to the mining land. The same, paired with Thony’s sustained life-threatening injury, effectively sets up the stage for an all-out conflict between the Sanchez and the Heller families.

Fiona Confronts the Idea of Losing Her Home

As Fiona and her family’s lives continue to develop away from Thony and her chaos, they find themselves facing a more mundane but still emotionally distressing complication. The house that the mother has been renting for years is in the process of going up for sale. This doesn’t pose an immediate problem to the family, since they’ve already moved in with JD. Yet, the idea of saying goodbye to the house they grew up in comes with many emotional burdens. Initially, Chris discovers the news after eavesdropping on a conversation between his mother and JD. Afterward, he shares the information with Jaz, who stops by the house to collect some of her mail, including the news of a scholarship won through a writing contest.

After the siblings lament the idea of losing their childhood homes among themselves, Fiona eventually joins them. This leads to a heartwarming family bonding moment, in which Jaz reveals that she has inherited her mother’s tendency to never put herself first in her list of priorities in favor of her loved ones. Consequently, this pushes Fiona to take charge and come up with an idea to save her house. She and Benny come up with a plan to start a business of sorts to create fake IDs for other undocumented immigrants, allowing them to find legitimate work. As a result, the profits from this scheme can be put toward flat-out buying the house from the owner. Although this marks a turning point in the family’s story, it’s quickly darkened when Ramona shows up at Fiona’s doorstep with her injured sister-in-law.

Dr. DuPont Comes to Thony’s Aid

In the immediate aftermath of the gunshot wound, Thony is able to direct Ramona into basic first aid before driving down to Fiona’s house. Although she had expected the place to be empty, her entire family, including her son, ended up at the house. Fortunately, it gives Thony a semblance of comfort to be able to talk to her son while she’s on the near-edge of survival. Furthermore, Fiona is able to quickly jump to her sister-in-law’s help and reach out to help from one of her colleagues at the hospital, Dr. DuPont. The nature of the attack prevents Thony from seeking out medical aid in any professional setting. Nonetheless, she’s able to rely on DuPont to save her life without asking too many questions.

In the end, DuPont ends up employing the help of Ramona to help him through the process of patching Thony up. This interaction leads to a peculiar discovery when the crime boss mentions witnessing the death of Jorge’s previous wife, Vanessa. So far, the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death have been ambiguous. Still, there’s a general belief that her death was an unexpected accident. For the same reason, Thony can’t help but cling to Ramona’s words, suspecting she has a more menacing connection to the incident. Meanwhile, the medical emergency unexpectedly deepens Thony and DuPont’s growing bond. In light of her decision to stay with Fiona during her recovery and subsequently away from her “husband,” Jorge, these newfound emotional connections might lead to some unpredictable avenues.