Claws season 3 episode 9 review: To kill Melba or not kill Melba

Claws, Claws season 3 review August 5, 2019

…That is the question. Through Claws season 3 episode 9, Desna Sims faced one of the most important decisions of her life with the Professor and the triad breathing down her neck. What was she willing to do in order to spare her life? Killing Melba would help her for now, but it could also destroy everything around her.

“Melba Toast” turned out to be an episode of (some) convenience for Desna, given that at the end of the episode, Mac’s wife joined him beyond the grave … but not of Desna’s doing. Instead, after being set free from the nail salon after a kidnapping and (brief) hostage situation, she taunted them, went out into the street, and was hit by a truck. This was very much entertaining … but we’d also be lying if we pretended that it was anything other than incredibly predictable. This is the sort of move you could see coming from the moment that Melba walked out towards the street.

The bulk of the episode’s action happened while Melba was trapped inside said salon, mostly in how almost ALL of the secrets of the season were aired out. Think in terms of Polly killing the Governor along with Joe, Desna lying about who killed Arlene, and Melba admitting that she and Mac used Dean as a get-out-of-the-casino-business plan. Finally, we have some clarity! They saw Dean as a Mahjong superstar and thought that he would win the tournament and give them an opportunity to run away from the triad and never return.

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As Dean started to learn more of Melba’s true intentions, he still asked Desna for mercy — and after spending much of the season ignoring some of Dean’s proclamations, Desna listened. She didn’t kill her and allowed for other events could take their course. There’s more trust there and this could help be a guiding light towards whatever the future could now be.

Unfortunately, there are still MANY messes that still need to be cleaned up. Arlene now realizes that Joe was a mole for the Professor, making him even worse than your garden-variety murderer. Meanwhile, Quiet Ann isn’t sure if she can ever forgive Desna for lying about what happened to Arlene, and for putting these characters in a position where all of this craziness even unfolded in the first place.

Finally, Toby has ratted himself out to the police for shooting at Virginia and Desna! He couldn’t live with his own guilt, and he also ratted out Roller for what happened with Clint. There is going to be some MAJOR drama coming up.

CarterMatt Verdict

We’d consider Claws season 3 episode 9 to be one of the best of the season, even if the show still has no clear plan for how they are using Uncle Daddy and the whole Melba demise was so over-the-top and predictable. This episode wins mostly for the little emotional moments, from the Desna/Quiet Ann scene at the end of the episode to Dean reconciling with the family who truly loves him.

The best moment of all, though, was Desna recognizing that none of this the past few years has been worth it, and in her quest for power, she’d lost sight of what mattered. She wishes she can go back to that, but there is no clear way to do so.

What do you think about Claws season 3 episode 9?

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