Sarah M

I’ve never reviewed a series before so this is a first for me. Another first was being glued to the screen and not looking at my phone once as I binged the series over two nights. Which in this day in age says a lot. Maid is a beautiful yet heartbreaking account of mother Alex and her three year old daughter Maddy struggling to escape a life of poverty and an abusive alcoholic partner. It takes a lot for me to cry but this had me in tears at many points during their journey. What struck me most was that the path to escaping poverty is not linear and there were certainly times during the series where I felt like Alex should have given up. It’s a credit to the writers that you as an audience feel as defeated as it’s main character. I felt every emotional detail of this exhaustive battle…the stress of being broke, the anxiety of homelessness, the fear of abuse, the helplessness of each setback, the terror of losing everything and most importantly the realisation that Alex is on her own. There were so many times where I had to remind myself to breathe, just as Alex did. All of the characters have a shade of “villain” within this story, each dealing with their own demons. But of all the characters in this series, Andie MacDowell whose portrayal of manic depressive Paula (Alex’s Mum) is by far the most captivating. I love/hate that this story was a miniseries. I could have easily watched another 10 episodes of Maid. I hope to see some recognition for this wonderfully crafted story in the form of an Emmy or two!