Netflix’s ‘MAID’ is ‘Gilmore Girls’ Plus Grit and Guts

It’s hard to watch a story about a devoted young mother raising a daughter on her own without thinking of Gilmore Girls. And yet, Netflix‘s MAID goes beyond Amy Sherman-Palladino’s beloved comedy series, leaving behind the folksy friendliness and perfection of Stars Hollow for a town in Washington state where things don’t come easy for our single mom, Alex (Margaret Qualley). In fact, she has no Miss Pattys or Babettes or even Sookies to help her along. Unlike Lorelai (Lauren Graham), she doesn’t have rich parents to pay for her daughter, Maddy’s (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet) school, and she doesn’t have a wealthy and connected ex like Christopher (David Sutcliffe) who will pop in from time to time.

Alex is a maid by trade who fights tooth and nail for everything she’s got, and even that, she finds herself losing over and over again. Her version of Lorelai’s Luke is a well-off single dad named Nate (Raymond Ablack) who offers help (but that help comes with strings attached). Her co-workers and boss at Value Maids tend to be infinitely more brisk than Michel (Yanic Truesdale) — which sounds impossible but trust me, it’s true — and seem determined to keep her down. The closest people she has to friends are a prickly wealthy client (Anika Noni Rose), a fellow shelter resident (Aimee Carrero) who only has a short but impactful time in Alex’s life, and the woman who runs the domestic violence shelter (BJ Harrison).

The system itself also seems intent to freeze Alex out, and the brief shots of scenes from her perspective (which include everything from characters calling her “jobless white trash” to government forms whose headings she sees as “Welfare Bitch,” “Nobody Cares,” and “Go F*ck Yourself”) give a stunningly honest picture of the harsh realities of poverty and homelessness in America today, and how people in real life aren’t always as keen as those in Stars Hollow when in comes to lending a helping hand.

Even so, Lorelai and Alex do begin their journeys in a similar way, both ending up on their own as young, single mothers who can’t rely on their parents for assistance and have to work as maids just to make ends meet. Lorelai does, however, have wealthier connections she could rely on if she chose to, whereas Alex’s mother, Paula (Andie MacDowell), is flighty, financially unstable, and (as Alex puts it) “undiagnosed bipolar,” and her father (who has some major demons of his own) has mostly left her behind to become born-again Christian and start a whole new family.

Alex also lacks a best bud like Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy), and therefore has no one really turn to when trying to escape from an emotionally abusive relationship with Maddy’s father, Sean (Nick Robinson), who struggles with alcoholism and addiction in a way we don’t really see at any point in the more wholesome and cozy Gilmore Girls. MAID isn’t a wish fulfillment comfort watch the same way Gilmore Girls is, but its unflinching and emotional story (which is inspired by the real-life experiences of Stephanie Land, detailed in her memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive) is what make it a show that everyone should watch.

While I have no doubt that Lorelai’s early years raising Rory were difficult and lonely, we don’t see this part of her life like we do with Alex in MAID, which doesn’t skimp on the nitty-gritty details of everything from horrible house cleanings to the troubles that survivors of abuse have to face in their daily lives. Perhaps who Lorelai and Rory become is who Alex and Maddy have the potential to be. It certainly seems possible, as Alex and Lorelai show the same fierce love and loyalty for their daughters that drives them to do everything they can to give their girls the lives full of opportunity and comfort that they perhaps didn’t have for themselves.

MAID will move and enrapture you. Margaret Qualley serves up an award-worthy performance, and her work alongside her real-life mom Andie MacDowell is some of the most striking in the show. Both Gilmore Girls and MAID are elevated and branded into our souls, I believe, because of the incredible ways that they portray intergenerational mother-daughter relationships. Even though MAID does have a certain gritty, gutsy, and edgy quality that Gilmore Girls lacks (which is okay! It’s more of an escapist show than a realistic one, and I think that’s part of why we love it so), the bonds between Emily (Kelly Bishop), Lorelai, and Rory Gilmore feel as fraught and tender and real as those between Paula, Alex, and Maddy.

Both MAID and Gilmore are stories of a woman’s struggle and triumph when she’s been forced to flee from the life she once had. They’re each stories that depict the unexpected kindness of others that can give a boost to an individual who has the gumption and tenacity to work their way to a better life. They are both stories of mothers and maids, and ones you’ll want to do yourselves a favor by bingeing as soon as you can.

Watch MAID on Netflix