Claws Season 3 Episode 3 Review: Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Dale McGarrigle
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One lesson you have to learn at a casino is not to overplay your hand.
Unfortunately, Desna seemed to have missed that piece of knowledge as she did exactly that on Claws Season 3 Episode 3.
Granted, by quietly keeping their eyes and ears open, Desna and her crew have pieced together much of what's happening at the Bayside Rapture Hotel and Casino.
But they hardly know everything that's going on yet.
For example, who is this "Professor" to whom Mac and Melba answer? Obviously, it's someone higher up the food chain than them and not knowing about him puts everyone that Desna cares for in danger.
Someone called Desna's bluff to blow up the whole operation and had Roller abducted. Probably it was the same person that had Penelope's body left at the salon.
And I don't think it was Mac and Melba. Joe, on the other hand, could be working directly for this Professor taking care of the wet work.
Yes, once again, Roller is a pawn in someone else's scheme.
Related: Claws Season 3 Episode 2 Review: Muscle & Flow
It wasn't even his fault this time. Unlike, say, when he got Olga pregnant then was blackmailed by the Russian mob to embezzle from Uncle Daddy.
Poor Roller. He's trying to go straight. He's separated himself from Uncle Daddy's operations, as dilapidated as they are now.
One of this episode's highlights was Polly's makeover of Roller, to the tune of Patti LaBelle's "New Attitude." It had a real reverse "My Fair Lady" quality to it.
And Polly's magic worked, as Desna agreed to go out on a real date with new Roller.
Roller has been trying to prove himself worthy of Desna, to show he has changed.
The problem with his logic is that while he's been trying to extricate himself from his thuggish past, Desna has been getting too comfortable in a gangsta lifestyle.
For instance, was living with her best friend and family that much of a hardship? Instead, she had to go find a fancy condo which she's paying for with money she doesn't have yet.
Also, she has had to dispose of two bodies in three episodes. She wasn't directly responsible for either death, but still ...
Remember when she and Virginia had no idea of how to get rid of Roller's body back on Claws Season 1 Episode 1? Those were simpler times.
Which has resulted in Roller being a captive, once again. Based on past experience, Roller could prove to be more of a problem than his captors are expecting. Just ask crazy Gladys.
Desna's heart is in the right place, as she's trying to improve the lives of her family and friends. But, once again, she's up against people who are much more lethal than her.
Sure, she can kill in the service of self-preservation. Just ask Ruval.
Related: Watch Claws Online: Season 3 Episode 2
But she's up against people who use murder as a tactic, to silence witnesses or to intimidate rivals.
In other words, Desna is in way over her head, again. It's going to take all her wiles and resources to get everyone out alive, never mind wealthy.
The governor's "fundraiser" ... err, sex party was one of those bizarre scenes that Claws does so well, such as Roller's "funeral" on Claws Season 1 Episode 2.
It takes quite a bit to shock Desna and her crew, but the debauchery at Mac and Melba's event at least threw them off stride for a moment.
But they were there to follow the money and follow the money they did. Or at least Desna did, as the rest partook of the Molly-laced champagne and were rendered fairly useless.
It was enjoyable to watch dominatrix Desna zap the information she needed out of Patel.
So he's been taking kickbacks for approving private prisons in Florida. Here's hoping that Ann's brother takes down this weasel in the election.
You just know that politics are going to raise their ugly head this season.
Still, some truths spilled out of Quiet Ann and Polly at the party.
Although the multilingual Ann had sex with a man, under the guise of learning about the payments, Arlene was about whom she was thinking the whole time.
Desna finally gave her blessing for Ann to get back together with Arlene.
So after earlier kissing off Arlene outside the salon, Ann came to Arlene outside her office and promised a relationship with nothing held back.
Related: Claws' Jenn Lyon Q & A
Considering what Desna, and by extension Ann, are involved with, that approach promises to be troublesome.
Or maybe Desna will need to work with the Feds again in the end, such as she did on the Claws Season 2 finale.
Polly seems to have exchanged the nutso Dr. Ken for the homicidal Joe, not a good trade, in my opinion.
Under the influence, she revealed far too much herself and Desna's mission to Joe, which is bound to come back to bite the crew in their attractive asses.
It's unclear who Joe is loyal to, but it's safe to say he's not on Team Desna.
Dean and Virginia have been an unlikely but stable couple, but that appears to be threatened now.
Dean seems to think that to be his own man, he had to leave behind Desna. And he expected Virginia to follow his lead.
But Virginia has grown surprisingly close to Desna and not surprisingly wanted to move out of the roach motel where she and Dean have been living.
On top of that, Virginia was attracted to EJ, Jenn's jailbird ex.
Just when she was finally getting accepted by Desna's crew.
Also, Mac was successfully undermining Dean and Desna's formerly close relationship. Desna knows Mac is dangerous, but Dean won't hear of it.
The only couple making a wise move was Jenn and Bryce, who reluctantly agreed to let EJ and Brienne meet since their pasts weren't going to help them in a trial.
But then Bryce countered that move by following Uncle Daddy's lead and taking on Jenn's estranged mother Brenda as a rehab client. I can already see Jenn and Brenda rolling around in the strip-mall parking lot.
Uncle Daddy is finding out that doing the right thing can be incredibly hard.
To catch up on Desna's casino caper, watch Claws online.
Is Desna over-reaching?
Did Ann make a mistake reuniting with Arlene?
What will Virginia do?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
