What chance does Desna’s crew have to present a united front against the DEA threat?
Not much if Claws Season 4 Episode 8 was any indication.
Everyone was too busy pointing fingers and dwelling on their problems to develop a plan to combat Tony’s infiltration of their organization.
Desna was at the heart of all this chaos, and she brought much of it upon herself.
Should she have been more suspicious of the hunky, younger delivery driver who aggressively inserted himself into her life? Probably.
But in Desna’s defense, younger men have chased her before, most recently Roller, who is sadly missed in exile this final season.
Her mistake was opening up too quickly to Tony, telling him her entire criminal life story. Desna has been too full of herself recently, and it may end up costing her and those around her.
She deserves credit for updating her crew and thinking on her feet.
Desna had no choice but to play along when Tony showed up at her door, teasing a special surprise for her. (Yes, she should have been alerted by how little Tony appears to deliver packages.)
She shut down the babbling Bryce before he spilled the sleep-clinic deal to Tony, seated beside her. Too bad he was oblivious to Desna’s emergency code phrase “ambrosia salad.” (I agree with Tony that that does sound tasty.)
She believably demurred the opportunity to supply oxy to Tony’s “homegirl” Lori, avoiding that entrapment.
Then she got free of Tony, who must have had to go to work finally, in time to break the news about him to her crew.
Since the lonely Jenn fell for Tony’s act as much as Desna had, she really couldn’t complain about Desna being taken in.
Unfortunately, the crew had already settled on Georgia as the mole inside their group, leading to her demise.
If Polly hadn’t been so distracted by the baron, maybe, just maybe, she would have recognized the con being played by Tony on Desna. But Polly largely had been absent thanks to her pursuit of/romance with Axel.
That left Jenn and Virginia, who both depend on Desna to think for them, as the organization’s only defense. In other words, no clearsighted defense at all.
Quiet Ann was always the other intelligent member of the crew. But she was now a free agent just looking to get out of town. No such luck, however, for the luckless Ann.
A peek of the compassionate Desna we know and love showed up when she declared that she would take the fall for the team.
That’s only fair because they generally get in trouble supporting the overconfident Desna. But just being sheep following their shepherd isn’t a defense that’s going to hold up in court.
As if having a DEA agent in their midst wasn’t enough with which to deal, Jenn’s recent method to cope caught up with her as she overdosed on oxy.
Jenn’s brush with mortality should have led to a kumbaya moment for the crew. But no, instead, they just kept fighting, blaming each other for their own mistakes.
Virginia blamed both Desna and Jenn because she killed Georgia, who was believed to be the person skimming oxy, in part to establish her gangsta cred.
It took a visit from Dean to inadvertently get Virginia thinking, no easy task. She later owned up to her choice to Jenn.
Polly finally got justice when she inherited the bulk of Axel’s estate over his entitled children.
It was hilarious when a drowsy Jenn awoke to see Muppet versions of her friends arguing and fighting. Jenn was right when she cleared the room because she didn’t recognize them anymore. Most viewers don’t either.
There are still two more episodes in which they can get out from under the looming indicted and return to being their bighearted self.
The only thing Desna didn’t have to deal with was Uncle Daddy, who must have suffered a head injury since he’s still taking advice from his dead wife, Juanda.
Ann wisely told him no. Then Ghost Juanda suggested changing his warehouse headquarters into a nursery. I can’t wait to see how that looks. Ann is too smart to fall for a pretty room for her baby, right?
The wild card in this game is Ann. She rejected Clay; then, she turned down her $100,000 relocation fund when Desna told her that Tony is DEA.
Will she indeed work with Tony and Lori to turn on Uncle Daddy and Desna for the sake of a fresh start for her and her baby? Only time will tell.
The other unknown is Bryce, who has some innate intelligence on those rare occasions that he uses it.
Having hypocrisy, he blames Desna and her crew for dragging Jenn back into a life of crime. He’s also pissed off with Uncle Daddy for passing over him as heir in favor of Ann’s fetus.
So maybe he becomes a state’s witness as well, getting a deal for Jenn and renewed custody of the girls.
Getting short shrift this season is Dean, who is in line to become a parent along with his paramour Eve.
To follow Desna and Tony’s journey, watch Claws online.
How does the crew get out of this mess?
Will Ann indeed turn on them?
Are you happy for Dean?
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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.