Kapamilya whodunit ‘Dirty Linen’ is actually pretty good—and I have some theories

UPDATE: (January 29, 2023, 11 a.m.) Added a fifth theory below regarding JC Santos’ character.

Kapamilya Channel’s whodunit series “Dirty Linen” premiered on Jan. 23 and it did not waste time revving up the tension.

The show opened with Dolly de Leon’s character Olivia de Mesa-Salvacion, a maid in the Fiero mansion, getting shot right before she gave birth to a child. The first five episodes of the show gave away clues as to who the father was, but there were limited clues as to who killed her. As the title suggests, I have some theories.

The Story So Far

“Dirty Linen” stars Janine Gutierrez as Alexa Salvacion, who is determined to unearth (pun intended) what happened to her mother Olivia. In 2007, the police tells the young Alexa and the children of the other missing house helpers that their parents stole from their employers, the Fieros, and were on the run. The truth is that soon after discovering what happened to their co-house helper, Lydia, Noel, and Riza were also killed by Ador Pavia (Epy Quizon), the son-in-law of the matriarch Cielo Fiero (Tessie Tomas). Their bodies were buried under a cockpit arena owned by the Fieros.

Sixteen years later, in 2023, the group of Alexa; Lydia’s granddaughter, who is now the dancer and drug user Lala (Jennica Garcia); Noel’s son, who is now the computer whiz Max (Christian Bables); and Riza’s husband Rolando (Joel Torre) plot infiltrating the Fiero household to know what happened to their family and to hopefully clear their names. They soon found out that Ador is running an underground porn business starring himself and some of the maids. After gaining access to all of Ador’s files, they then learn that Riza was also used by Ador in at least one of the videos. The show doesn’t confirm it yet, but Olivia may have also been impregnated by Ador.

Ultimately, the show is about two families. Aside from Ador and Cielo, the other Fieros are Carlos (John Arcilla), Cielo’s son; Feliz Pavia (Angel Aquino), Cielo’s daughter and Ador’s wife; Leona (Janice de Belen), Carlos’ wife; Chiara (Francine Diaz), Carlos’ and Leona’s daughter; and Tonet (Xyriel Manabat) and Clint (Raven Rigo), Feliz’ and Ador’s children. On the other hand, Alexa, Rolando, Max, Lala, and Rolando’s son Nico (Seth Fedelin) now treat each other as family.

So, Who Killed Olivia?

There were at least two red herrings as to the identity of Olivia’s murderer.

Before she was killed, Olivia was hiding in a closet. The show wants us to believe that it was either Carlos, Feliz, or Leona who killed her. Viewed from the inside, a guy about the size of Carlos walked past the closet.

There were also sounds of stiletto shoes walking past the closet right before the gunshot. I believe the footsteps could be by a maid who Carlos was having an affair with.

My theory is that it was actually the child Aidan who shot Olivia. Throughout the show, he is shown as a traumatized kid with a fear of blood. He could be suffering from a sleep disorder and he might have had killed Olivia while sleepwalking.

Another reason why I think it was Aidan is because of the height of the gunshot. Olivia was sitting inside the closet. It could have only been fired by someone about the height of a kneeling or sitting Olivia. Aidan also shouted after Carlos and Leona put Olivia’s body inside the trunk of the car. He might have woken up and saw the blood all over him.

Aidan also had a dream in which he saw Olivia vomit blood. Perhaps it was guilt?

This theory does not answer other important questions, though. Why was Olivia hiding inside the closet? If it truly was Aidan who shot Olivia, what was he doing with a gun? What was Carlos doing?

Other Theories Not Related to Olivia’s Death

Based on the story so far, I have other theories! Sorry. I just couldn’t help it. It’s fun to speculate.

1. In the first episode, we know that Alexa’s biological father taught her how to cook leche flan. The show has also taken us to the Fiero household’s kitchen at least twice in the show now. There might be a subplot that will involve her cooking skills.
2. Nico, Chiara, and Tonet will be a love triangle. I don’t know. I just have a weird feeling about it.
3. Nico’s allegiance will shift. Nico and Chiara will be the Romeo and Juliet figures in the show (not really Alexa and Aidan) and this will be a problem for Rolando.
4. Olivia’s child with Ador is alive. It’s one of the Pavia kids. It could also be Chiara, and Carlos’ and Leona’s guilt that their son killed the mother forced them to adopt her as their own. Leona was indifferent towards her in the show.
5. We haven’t been introduced to JC Santos’ character yet, but I think he is related to Gregor, the guy whose knees were mashed like potatoes by Carlos. Santos will be the detective in this whodunit, but he is also somehow connected to Gregor. That scene did two things: show us Carlos’ violent tendencies and show us that there are other victims. And victims always have family.

Directed by Onat Diaz and Andoy Ranay, “Dirty Linen” airs every weekday. I am finally excited about another Filipino television show after not caring about Pinoy TV for quite a while.

I’ll be writing about the “Dirty Linen” episodes every weekend, theories, and more, so please follow this blog via my Facebook account so you get an update when I do. Click here to follow.