Benjamin Bratt in The Cleaner Season One Finale

A&E Cable Series About Real Life Drug Interventionist William Banks

Oct 14, 2008

Benjamin Bratt portrays real life drug interventionist, William Banks, in The Cleaner on A&E Cable Network. The edgy drama is about the tragedy that can follow addiction.

The Cleaner, starring Benjamin Bratt, aired the Season One finale, in an episode that highlighted alcoholism and the effect it has on families. The series is based on real life extreme interventionist, William (the Cleaner) Banks. Before getting clean, Banks was a heroin addict. According to the story on the official website, Banks struck a tentative deal with God after hitting his own rock bottom from addictions. Banks formed an unconventional team, dedicated to helping people get away from their addictions.

Each episode features a different storyline about the tragic effects of drug addiction. Most of the episodes have been about drug abuse, including heroin, crack, cocaine and crystal meth. The program does an excellent job of showing how drug abuse hurts the addict and their family. Not every addict makes it, which is a realistic portrayal of addiction.

The Cleaner get hired, usually by a family member, to grab the addict and stage an intervention.

The Case

In the finale episode, The Cleaner is hired by a man who wants to stop his son and daughter-in-law from drinking. His is concerned about the safety of his granddaughter. Both the husband and wife are alcoholics who enable each other. When confronted, the husband sees there is a problem, but thinks he can handle it on in his own, The wife starts drinking more aggressively, as if making a point.

The husband eventually goes into treatment. The wife agrees to treatment, but then leaves.

Guest stars in the season finale include Malcolm Jamal Wamer, Kim Fields, Tim DeKay, Kari Matchett and Ralph Waite.

The Cleaner's Personal Life

While taking on the job of getting addicts clean, The Cleaner has to deal with his own demons. He is constantly reminded by his wife of his shortcomings as a husband and father. The past haunts him as he is reminded of how he was not there for his family during the many times they needed him. The Cleaner is now clean, but the hurts he perpetrated on others while he was using have wounded his family deeply and they cannot forget. When his wife gets angry at him, she throws in his face his times in jail and his sexual affairs with other women.

Bank's wife starts a new real estate career and the family dynamic changes. Just when it seems like the Banks are going to repair their marriage, she starts to focus on her new career and an attractive new coworker.

At the close of the episode, Banks wife tells him they need to take a break and he packs to leave, breaking his children's hearts.

The Cleaner is an intense portrayal of a quest to fight drug addiction. Each episode can stand on its own, but the storyline becomes more intriguing as the personal stories of the interventionists unwind.

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