Considering it’s Netflix’s latest word-of-mouth hit, Maid can be an excruciating watch. Based on Stephanie Land’s memoir, it tells the story of Alex – played with total conviction by Margaret Qualley – as she tries to rebuild her life with a two-year-old daughter after leaving an abusive relationship. Adapted by Molly Smith Metzler, whose previous credits include Orange Is The New Black and Shameless, it shows Alex’s struggle to overcome both an infuriating system of endless bureaucracy and the endless shortcomings of her extended family and friends.
In sharp contrast to the grimness and struggle of her daily life, though, is the scenery around her, from which she draws inspiration for a better life to come. Land’s memoir was set in Washington State, around the town of Port Townsend, but for the series, the production headed just over the Canadian border to Vancouver. Though the city is a familiar shooting destination for both movies and television, we get a new look at the region, specifically the Victoria Island region. Here, it plays an essential part in the narrative, with the endless blue sky and coast hinting at the escape Alex is searching for, and the deep forest expressing her feeling of entrapment.
The series was shot using more than 160 different locations.
Apart from a few shots of Montana, used for scenes in Missoula where Alex hopes to return to college, the series was shot almost entirely in the area, using 160 different locations. As Metzler told a local paper, ‘We didn’t have sets, we were a location shoot. That comes through. Victoria is such a character on the show.’ Relocating to the area for the nine-month shoot, the production used the small towns and roads between them to create scenes varying from budget supermarkets to million-dollar oceanfront properties. Here’s our guide to the highlights.
Downtown Victoria
Many of the general street scenes we see were filmed in Downtown Victoria, the most built-up area of Victoria Island. Notable locations here include the farmer’s market where Alex’s mother Paula (played by Qualley’s real-life parent Andie MacDowell) works in later episodes, on Gladstone Avenue, and The Swan, where her estranged partner Sean (Nick Robinson) bartends, filmed at The Guild on Wharf Street. Just east of Downtown is Oak Bay, where we find the Marina Restaurant, the upmarket venue for Alex’s lunch date with lawyer Regina (Anika Noni Rose), on Beach Drive.
Saanich
This town to the north of Downtown Victoria is home to the HQ of Value Maids, at the back of a laundrette, where Alex finds work with the no-nonsense Yolanda (Tracy Vilar). This is in fact Tillicum Laundry on Tillicum Road. Another location filmed here is the Quimper Regional Hospital, where Paula is admitted, which was created in the Gordon Head Recreation Center on Lambrick Way.
Cadboro Bay
A part of the Saanich district, this lies to the east of the township on the coast. It’s home to one of the show’s most spectacular locations, Regina’s oceanfront home on the exclusive Fisher Island, where Alex gets her first cleaning job. The glass-fronted mansion is on Ten Mile Point, at the end of a peninsula overlooking the Haro Strait on McAnally Road. Nearby is Cadboro-Gyro Park where Alex and her daughter Maddie have a playdate with Nate and his son, playing on the Cadbrosaurus, a model of the region’s mythical Loch Ness Monster-type beast.
Sidney
This town on the northern tip of Victoria Island is where we find the ferry that Alex has to catch to Fisher Island and where she spends a night early on in the series. This is in fact Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, which links to the numerous other islands in the region. Leading to the terminal is the Patricia Bay Highway, which was used for the scene where Alex’s car is written off in a crash, while a few miles south-east is Sidney Pier, where Alex has a rendezvous with Regina after a wild day with new friend Danielle (Aimee Carrero).
Esquimault
This neighbourhood to the west of Downtown Victoria is where we find the apartment block that stands in for the women’s shelter where Alex and Maddie find refuge in episode one. Her temporary home is the real-life No 23.
Colwood
Further west from Esquimault across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, this town is well used to filming, as it’s home to Hatley Castle, a faux-Scottish edifice built at the turn of the 20th century. In Maid, the city was used for several street scenes as well as specific locations. These included the Juan de Fuca Recreation Center on Island Highway, which stood in for Maddie’s playschool on Fisher Island but also for a hospital room and the venue for Alex’s therapy group. Just south of this is Ocean Boulevard, a spectacular road that runs along a strip of land between the Esquimault Lagoon and the Strait, and was used for the scene where Alex tracks down her mother Paula on a deckchair on the beach admiring the ‘cotton-candy’ sky. Following the coast south takes you to the Royal Beach, which is where other coastal scenes were filmed for the show.
East Sooke
Heading further west is East Sooke and one of the most beautiful locations used in the show, the oceanfront cabin apartment on Fisher Island that Alex rents from a kindly couple. This is Tideview South Beach Cabin, showcasing astonishing views across the water and the gazebo where Maddie’s third birthday party goes awry.
Maid is streaming now on Netflix.
