Claws 4×09 Review: “Wrath”

Claws season 4 episode 9, titled ‘Wrath’, served a very enjoyable penultimate episode. The next episode is going to be the series finale and I can’t wait to see how everything will come to a close.

After learning about Tony being a DEA agent in episode 7, I liked how Desna realized that she needed to take her crew and leave town. Fighting an entire DEA team just wasn’t possible for Desna. Giving them a distraction and running away was the best option right now. However, there were some complications with her plan.

The previous episode had Jenn and Virginia exhibiting their displeasure with how Desna’s been treating them. All of the pressure Jenn’s been under led her to start taking drugs. While Virginia ended up killing Georgia because she wanted to impress Desna. ‘Wrath’ showed the two making the decision to leave Desna and start anew. Jenn’s all about cutting out the toxicity from her life and that includes Desna and Bryce.

I do feel that if the final season of Claws had a longer episode count, the writers could have spent more time focusing on Desna trying to reconnect with Jenn and Virginia. I wouldn’t have minded seeing everyone getting to talk to each other about their feelings and apologizing for their actions. However, with ‘Wrath’ being the penultimate episode, the writing team just didn’t have time to address it all over the course of two or three episodes.

In a single episode, Jenn and Virginia ignored Desna’s calls and texts, and then a few moments later Polly showed up to make them understand that they had no choice but to stick with Desna’s plan. The DEA would continue coming for them if they stayed behind. And they weren’t above using Jenn’s kids against her to get what they wanted.

Now, Desna did apologize to Virginia and Jenn, but everything felt a bit too rushed. 

The same held true for Jenn and Bryce’s relationship. ‘Wrath’ had Jenn break up with her husband over text and then a few minutes later, showed the two getting back together. As I’ve already mentioned, I think the relationship troubles involving Desna trying to make it up to Virginia and Jenn could have been handled a lot better over a multiepisode arc.

Speaking of Bryce, I was concerned about what he was going to do after he made up his mind (in episode 8) to cut the “cancer” out of his life. I wasn’t sure if he meant Desna or Tony. ‘Wrath’ showed that Bryce meant Tony. As far as Bryce’s concerned, he had no idea that Tony was a DEA agent. Bryce just thought Tony was having an affair with Jenn and that’s why he needed to get rid of him to save his marriage.

I have to say that I wasn’t expecting Bryce to shoot Tony. It was an accident, of course, but Bryce still killed him. I thought Desna was going to be the one to take Tony down to get back at him for making her fall in love and using her to gather information on drug deals. I wanted to see Tony’s face when he realized that Desna knew he was a DEA agent and that she was more than prepared to kill him. Sigh!

However, Desna did get her revenge on Uncle Daddy. ‘Wrath’ was basically a goodbye episode for the OG character. In a sense, everything Desna’s done throughout the previous seasons was due to Uncle Daddy not giving her what she was owed. Uncle Daddy continued to underestimate Desna and his attitude gave Desna the motivation to start her own business and destroy his in the process.

Uncle Daddy’s death came as a surprise to me. But then again, I think his story had run its course. He was basically alone at this point and his stubbornness to keep fighting with Desna over their drug dealing businesses wasn’t going to end well. To be fair, Desna did offer Uncle Daddy the chance to leave everything and run away. But his ego got the best of him.

Uncle Daddy even threatened to kill Dean if Desna didn’t call the cops and confess to murdering Tony. I mean, what the heck did he think was going to happen? You don’t ever threaten to hurt Dean in front of Desna if you want to live.

Also, shooting Bryce was a bold move (don’t worry. Bryce’s still alive). I get that Uncle Daddy was heartbroken that Bryce betrayed him and was still working with Desna, but shooting Bryce was a step too far. 

From what I could tell, it looked like Uncle Daddy went to heaven… which, how? But good for him, I guess. He was able to finally reunite with his dead wife and boyfriend.

Now that Tony and Uncle Daddy were off the board, Desna still had DEA agents after her. The agents even found a partial fingerprint was found in the van where Tony was murdered. And Ann’s still out there, too. With Ann working with the DEA to gain immunity and witness protection, I’m looking forward to seeing if she will play a role in bringing down Desna or if she will allow her ex-friend to leave town.

Coming to Dean, after learning about Eve being pregnant, he’s ready to be a father. I liked seeing how much he’s grown as a person. He wasn’t ready to become a father when he was with Virginia. But Dean’s more than ready now. He even got accepted into midwifery school. He’s got things figured out. It made sense for Desna to be proud of his brother. She was in a pickle. But at least she was glad about the fact that her brother could take care of himself if she got locked away or worse.

However, I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy when Dean had a little conversation with Ken about wanting to propose to Eve. TV shows have a habit of making marriage proposals blow up in the face of the person who proposes. I don’t want to see Dean becoming an emotional mess if Eve refuses to marry him.

Due to the number of enjoyable surprises featured in ‘Wrath’, I can’t wait to see what the series finale has in store for fans! Can Desna survive what’s coming? We’ll find out soon enough!

What did you think of ‘Wrath’? How do you feel about Uncle Daddy dying?

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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