Aahana Swrup
The Fox crime thriller show ‘The Cleaning Lady’ has charted an exceptional narrative over the course of the past few years. The series centers around Thony De La Rosa, a single mother who has had to undertake some shady avenues to ensure her sick son, Luca, has access to life-saving medication. One of these less-than-legal paths she takes remains her inadvertent entanglement in the world of criminal organization. By season 5, the cleaner/surgeon’s life takes a drastic turn, putting her in a marriage of convenience with Jorge Sanchez, head of the Sin Cara Cartel. The end of that season finds the protagonist in a precarious position. Her tentative romance with Jorge proves to be star-crossed, while she decides to make some extreme changes to her professional life. For the same reason, this open-ended nature of the last season finale further aggravates the news of the show’s cancellation that came on June 6, 2025.
The Cleaning Lady Was Likely Canceled Due to a Dive in Viewership
The season 4 finale of ‘The Cleaning Lady’ came out on June 3, 2025. Only a few days later, news of its cancellation arrived along with several other Fox shows. On the record, no official reasons have been shared regarding the decision to nuke the show in the aftermath of its fourth season’s cliffhanger ending. However, this likely means that the show’s future ultimately came down to logistical and business grounds. For the same reason, it is highly possible that at least one of the causes behind this decision was the significantly lower ratings that the show garnered in its final season. According to reports, ‘The Cleaning Lady’ was entertaining somewhere around three million viewers per episode during its original airing in 2022. However, by season 4, that number had more than halved, sustaining only one million viewership.
There are a number of elements that could have caused this sudden drop in ratings. Most notably, the season recently had to undergo a drastic redevelopment regarding its central storylines and inter-character relationships. In 2024, one of the main leads in the Adan Canto, who embodies the character of Arman Morales, tragically passed away due to cancer. Since it didn’t feel right to recast the beloved character, the show inevitably had to shift gears and introduce new characters and storylines to continue Thony’s narrative. The new angle, including Santiago Cabrera’s charming Jorge Sanchez, fit in well with the story. Still, the sudden narrative pivot might have contributed partially to the viewership decline. Additionally, various other angles were likely at play that made up the entirety of the big picture. Ultimately, the show’s cancellation cannot be traced back to any one single reason. For the most part, it remains an unfortunate outcome of the network’s inner workings.
The Cancellation Leaves The Cleaning Lady’s Story Without a Satisfying Conclusion
Since the cancellation after season 4 came as a surprise, ‘The Cleaning Lady’ unfortunately had no opportunity to tie up its several loose ends. While the last season concludes its self-contained narratives, setting Thony and the other central characters up for their newfound adventures, many overarching storylines remain open-ended and unresolved. For instance, at the end of season 4, Thony finally decides to embrace the perpetual love affair she seems to court with all things illegal. Instead of allowing life to take her to dangerous corners, she takes over the reins, prepared to pen her own destiny. In order to do so, she negotiates a powerful position for herself over at the Sin Cara Cartel. In season 4, she strikes up a deal with Herman, the District Attorney, to play the role of an insider double agent for him.
Consequently, season 4 perfectly sets up the protagonist for a transformative journey that would have likely led her to one day either take down the criminal organization or become its head. If the show had been allowed to explore this storyline further, fans could have gotten to see a yet-unlocked side of Thony’s character, one that the adversity of her circumstances has forged. The same goes for other characters, like Fiona, her kids, Benny, and Feng, who could have gone on to chart intriguing new storylines. Alas, that seems to no longer be in the cards for the show. On the other hand, Thony and Jorge’s romance, which has been building up for quite some time, also ends on a vague separation. The latter decides to leave the States and rebuild his forces to strike back against his enemies. As such, the couple part ways with only the slightest hope that their paths might one day converge again. Unfortunately, the cancellation has all but confirmed that such a future won’t come to pass for the ill-fated pair.
Read More: Is The Cleaning Lady Based on a True Story?
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