This is a long running TV series that started in 1985. The actual first episode was aired in 1983 with slightly different plot based on Seicho Matsumoto's novel "Atsui Kuuki" (Hot Air), but Matsumoto refused to franchise the character for TV series so TV Asahi and script writer Hidesaburo Shiba wrote a semi sequel which developed into this series.
Akiko Ishizaki (Estuko Ichihara) is a lady in her 50s who works for maid resource agency "Osawa Kaseifu Shokaijyo" (Osawa Maid Referral Agency). She is sent to very rich client's house to be a house maid. While working for her client she snoops around their privacy, and even engages in somewhat impropriety activity of checking out the owner's private clothing etc. while being a good worker. There's no clear line between where her work ends and where her private snooping interest starts. In other words, she's an ordinary woman or a fox in the chicken coup. She then goes back to her friends at the agency and gossips about the things she found out at her clients house.
The program gets into the underbelly of human nature and that's the focus of this series. There's nothing noble about people who shows up in this series - just people who are human, and acts on their human instincts.
In a way this is a scary show. It shows that you can't trust your house maid. All your secrets and your belongings becomes in a way a property or a play thing for your house maid. But the program is also bit educational in what you need to do when you are around people who you can't trust but need to hire because of necessity.
This review is not only for this episode, but for all episodes of this series. Interesting and unique show that nothing of the like has been aired on television.
