Claws 4×01 & 02 Review: “Betrayal” & “Vengeance”

With the season 3 finale airing back in August 2019, Claws finally came back for a fourth and final season with a two-episode premiere. ‘Betrayal’ and ‘Vengeance’ were all about the confrontation between Desna and Ann escalating.

After Ann burned down the casino, I liked how the writers decided to make the two-episode premiere focus on her relationship with Desna in ‘Betrayal’ and ‘Vengeance’. I don’t know if the two will be able to mend their friendship by the end of this season or not, but for now, I’m here for both trying to find ways to destroy each other.

The two women have a lot of anger, but they are also dealing with a lot of pain. I think they want to be friends again, but that can’t happen until they have an honest conversation and take responsibility for their actions. As far as Ann’s concerned, her wife died because of Desna. And I don’t think there’s anything Desna can do to make Ann realize it wasn’t her fault. Desna, on the other hand, doesn’t want Ann back in her crew because the casino was Desna’s away to finally enter the big leagues. Ann ruined Desna’s future plans.

‘Betrayal’ showed that Desna was more or less back to square one. She needed to find a new way to make money and the extreme hike in her nail salon’s rent was adding to her already increased stress levels. Desna’s always been a businesswoman. Over the course of the three seasons, we have seen her learn from Uncle Daddy and others around her. So, without having a casino anymore, it made sense for Desna to directly step into a business venture she knew a lot about. She was going to sell drugs herself!

Of course, that made her Uncle Daddy’s competition and he wasn’t happy about Desna stealing his pills to sell to other people. Not only that, Desna refused to continue laundering money for Uncle Daddy.

While I liked seeing a more resilient Desna, Uncle Daddy isn’t a threat that should be taken lightly. Desna and her crew can defend each other if they had guns. But they won’t be able to do much if Uncle Danny decided to go on a rampage and attack the women with his bare fists. Desna better hope he continues being all bark and no bite.

A pregnant Ann deciding to work with Uncle Daddy was quite unexpected. However, I understood her decision. She was desperate for a job so she could take care of her baby. But even I think she crossed a line when she betrayed Polly’s trust and told Uncle Daddy about Desna’s plan to sell pills to rick folk at some wellness convention.

I think Polly did the right thing by making her disappointment obvious to Ann. She’s been trying to get Ann and Desna to mend their relationship. Not only that, but Polly’s also been accompanying Ann to her medical appointments and even agreed to come to yoga class with her. Ann’s betrayal broke Polly’s heart. 

Even though Jenn told Desna that her crew wouldn’t be picking sides because they were all adults and she can’t force them to stop talking to Ann (who clearly needed her friends), I wonder if Jenn still feels the same way now that Ann’s betrayed Polly as well.

After Polly decided to end her friendship with Ann (for now), I’m not sure how I feel about Ann connecting with Dean. Desna’s not going to like her brother supporting Ann through her pregnancy.

While the main plot involved Desna and Ann’s war with each other, the rest of the cast got momentum in their narrative arcs, too. With Jenn siding with Desna (duh!) and Bryce wanting to keep his connection with Uncle Daddy, ‘Vengeance’ showed Bryce trying to stand up to Jenn. Following Uncle Daddy’s orders, Bryce told Jenn to stop working with Desna. I knew his stern attitude wasn’t going to change Jenn’s decision. Does he not know his wife? Ha! I laughed when Jenn took him down a few notches and warned him never to use such a tone with her again (especially, not outside the bedroom).

The battle lines have been drawn. We have Team Desna and Team Ann. I’m looking forward to seeing how such a fight will impact Bryce and Jenn’s marriage. I think Byrce realized that Uncle Daddy would gladly replace him with Ann if given the chance. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Byrce messed up down the line and got kicked out by Uncle Daddy. Also, Bryce loves Jenn. He could have a change of heart and switch to Team Desna soon enough. Let’s see.

‘Vengeance’ had Virginia try and change the life of a young woman who reminded her of herself. I liked the conversation Virginia had with Desna. Virginia was a mess when she started out. But, even though Desna was reluctant at first, she took Virginia under her wing. I would like to see Virginia do the same for someone else. Virginia’s grown a lot over the past three seasons.

Polly’s narrative arc continued to be hilarious. After mustering up the resolve to get over her breakup with Joe, she decided to set her eyes on something different. Polly’s all about financial security now. The way she got an extremely rich old man to fall for her by faking an accident involving his car was awesome. I’m ready for Polly making wedding preparations and then have everything crumbling down around her because she got caught lying. Ken still had feelings for her. So, he could do something to mess her relationship with the rich guy.

As for Desna’s romantic life, she did meet a handsome new delivery man. However, I’m still side-eyeing him. He kind of feels too good to be true, in my opinion. I’m saying this because Desna’s been betrayed before by men. But maybe this time will be different? Hmmm.

All in all, ‘Betrayal’ and ‘Vengeance’ served as a very strong opening to the fourth and final season of Claws. I’m disappointed that the series is ending. But I’m glad that the writers seem to be on track to make the final outing the best one yet.

Did you watch the season four premiere of Claws?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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