Claws Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Fly Like an Eagle
Dale McGarrigle
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In her latest efforts to rescue Dean, Desna kept getting in further and further over her head.
Desna's newest plans to rescue Dean from mah-jongg and the Lovestones blew up in her face on Claws Season 3 Episode 6.
But at least we finally found out who the actual power behind the Bayside Rapture Hotel and Casino was.
It was apparent that Mac and Melba weren't actually in charge, that they answered to someone called "The Professor" of whom they were afraid.
Sure, they've proved devious and brutal enough to be middle management, as was clear in all their dealings with Desna.
Still, they haven't been terribly smart and aren't big-picture thinkers.
Mac and Melba got Desna to sign over her share of the casino by holding Roller hostage back on Claws Season 3 Episode 4.
That would have been the ideal time for them to sever ties with Dean. But they couldn't just take the win.
Related: Claws Season 3 Episode 5 Review: Zaddy Was a Rolling Stone
Instead, Mac insisted on maintaining the father-son relationship with Dean, with which Melba went along since she couldn't deny Mac something he wanted.
That meant that Desna was bound to keep coming to the casino to get Dean back and that she was smart enough to learn more about its operations, to find a chink in Mac and Melba's armor.
In other words, behavior the opposite of what the Lovestones should have been encouraging.
This episode, Mac fed Dean the concept that Dean was a golden eagle, caged by Desna and her friends.
Desna referred to that kind of thinking as "white-people shit." Since it came from Mac, it was more Native-American imagery, but she had a point.
Most working-class people, such as Desna and her extended crew for all their lofty goals, don't have time to waste on such new-agey ponderings.
Desna and Virginia played right into Mac's hands when they tried to force Dean into a move to Desna's condo.
Dean has been actively rebelling against being handled, even if that's exactly what Mac was doing.
So he asserted his independence, telling Desna to stay out of his life and breaking up with Virginia. The offer to move to Calvin's beach house on Sanibel Island likewise failed.
Things went exactly as Mac planned.
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Then came the latest Mac-and-Melba freak show, when Melba gave "birth" to Dean, making him their "son."
Them adopting Dean was the natural next step. Florida must be one of the 29 states that allow adoption regardless of age.
When pleading failed, Desna dug deep.
She tried blackmailing Governor Patel, but without proof, it's impossible to shame a politician.
I figured they would give what intel they had to Ann's brother, who was running against Patel and let him handle the dirty work. But no.
Next, Quiet Ann took aim at her baby daddy, a prime target since he was both married and under investigation.
He gave up the name of the judge who was over-sentencing minority convicts to Patel's private prison, in exchange for kickbacks.
Then Desna worked her way through her many salon clients to find the one who could get her financial records that linked Patel to the judge.
That gave her the wedge she needed to separate Patel from the Lovestones. But she found out that anything which threatened Mac and Melba also endangered their newly adopted son Dean.
What was Dean thinking, agreeing to that?
So when do we get to meet this "Professor" or another Triad member?
When they weren't trying to help Desna with her Dean problem, her crew had their own issues.
Virginia was most impacted by Dean's addiction.
As she enumerated, she has put up with a lot of his "quirks." But for him to break up with her was a symptom of how far gone he is.
EJ caught Virginia at her most vulnerable, so she was susceptible to having a shoulder on which to cry.
It was inevitable that Jenn and Virginia would find out in the worst possible way about EJ/Eric.
Naturally, Jenn, who has a tendency to over-react, did just that, calling Virginia a ho and telling EJ that she would have to revisit the custody agreement.
Jenn seemed most upset by the fact that Virginia didn't follow her on Instagram. That's certainly a betrayal in this social-media age.
Bryce was fortunately able to give Jenn some much-needed perspective.
He rightfully pointed out that someone who fooled around on her husband shouldn't be using codes as a basis for feeling betrayed, and that life is easier if you just let shit go.
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It was heartwarming to see Jenn admit she was wrong so that she could make up with Virginia.
Still, I suspect that Virginia won't see EJ again, following the "chicks before dicks" mantra.
Also, I want to see her back with Dean, if he can only get his head out of his ass.
Polly's secret came out as we knew it would.
Did she really think that whatever she told Roller wouldn't get back to Desna, sooner rather than later? After all, Roller is always on probation with Desna.
That said, Roller has once again become the voice of reason, as he was for a chunk of Claws Season 2. Maybe he's an undiagnosed schizophrenic.
Anyway, at least Polly had the common sense to return Joe's gift of an antique gun to him.
Still, he's going to end up being trouble for her before this season is over.
Ann got a happy ending after Arlene asked Ann to marry her after Ann told her about being pregnant.
It can't be that easy, can it?
So now Desna is going to have to team up with Mac and Melba to keep Dean safe from some global criminal enterprise while finding some way to extricate him from the casino.
In four episodes.
It also appears that Calvin has disappeared again, for the immediate future.
To review Dean's descent, watch Claws online.
How does Desna get Dean out of this mess?
What will Virginia do?
Will Calvin return?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
