Desna has been making questionable moves in her quest to become a drug lord, which has caused tension between her and her longtime bestie Jenn.
The descent of Dark Desna continued on Claws Season 4 Episode 3 and Claws Season 4 Episode 4.
This new boss lady is managing to alienate everyone around her.
The enduring charm of Desna is that, no matter how despicable an act she would commit, she was a mother figure that would take care of her extended family members.
That’s not such a sure thing anymore, as she’s turned on Quiet Ann, is fighting with Jenn, and is bossing around Polly and Virginia more than ever.
Dean sure picked the right time to declare independence from her.
It’s simple to understand how Desna got to this place. Throughout the series, men who don’t respect Desna for her abilities or pay her what she’s worth have been mistreating her.
So she’s got something to prove, and she’s determined to make her fortune while showing everyone she can find a better way to succeed.
But it’s questionable if that’s what she’s doing. Desna’s trying to be a gangsta, and she’s not that great at it.
And she’s trying to turn Jenn into a gangsta as well, and that’s not going well either.
Being the good friend that she is, Jenn agreed to co-sign with Desna for a loan with a very questionable lender (two bad credit risks combined makes one reasonable credit risk?).
This decision meant that both of them were risking everything they owned to get Claws Up off the ground. The problem was that only Desna had any say in management decisions.
Desna hit on a good idea in ripping off Lusty Souls’ multi-level marketing plan. She smartly turned some of her most needy clients into salespeople, who in turn recruited more dealers. She gets a piece of all the action.
But she made the mistake of putting Jenn, her lieutenant (and partner), in charge of managing the dealers, who are, at best, flawed individuals.
This choice meant that one dealer panicked when a customer overdosed, and Desna had to shock him back to consciousness.
Then there was Kim, the dealer with a gambling-addict husband who stole the money from her Claws Up party.
Jenn was bonding with Kim, but Desna insisted that Jenn threaten Kim. In the end, although they got their money back, Kim quit and crawled back to her husband, blaming Desna and Jenn for the problems in their marriage.
That wasn’t the worst of it, though, as someone was rebranding and reselling Desna’s oxy at a markup, which the crew discovered when out celebrating Claws Up’s success at a club.
Of course, the traitor was Bambi, Claws Up’s star dealer. And Bambi was mainly in the right since she was reselling product that she bought from Desna.
And Desna had to go gangsta on Bambi’s ass, accidentally killing her when she tried to flee from Desna.
So Desna’s management style has cost her 40 percent of her initial Claws Up class of dealers. That’s a high rate of attrition.
Here’s something else to ponder: Who is Georgia, Virginia’s new trainee?
The former stripper took down the intruder sent to steal Desna’s stash. Also, someone told Bryce that Jenn would be home with the girls, leading to their wandering the streets and ending up with Social Services.
Could Georgia have been planted inside of Desna’s organization by Quiet Ann or some branch of law enforcement?
It’s more likely the latter, as Ann was busy revamping Uncle Daddy’s crew with faces from her past.
One of those faces was very familiar as Cherry, the ex-con with whom Ann was flirting, was played by Suleka Matthews, who also portrayed Ann’s late cop wife, Arlene.
Ann’s brief flirtation came after Uncle Daddy made an impassioned plea for them to go on with their lives after their losses. Clay set his sites on fighter Rolf, a big hunk of beefcake.
While Ann’s star was rising, Bryce’s star was tumbling to earth. He sold the fentanyl patches that Bryce had been praised for to a doomsday cult that he thought was a commune, resulting in Clay, Ann, and Bryce having to retrieve the patches from cult members’ dead bodies.
Uncle Daddy stuck Bryce into the ring with the opponent less Rolf, as penance. Jenn’s ingenious pep talk having Bryce picture Rolf as his tormentor Clay led to Bryce’s unlikely victory.
Now Bryce and Jenn face an opponent more terrifying than Uncle Daddy and Desna: Social Services.
Dr. Ken, after being tortured, stood up for himself to both Clay and Desna. He even met and fell for an ordinary woman, the transgender Selena. Ken is finally less of a cartoon figure.
Dean also met an unlikely new beau, birthing class instructor Eve. Dean was attracted to earth mother Eve while the straight-talking Dean enchanted her. She also inspired him to consider becoming a midwife.
Polly is mulling a new job: Angel of death, after helping the terminally ill Joyce cross over using her oxy stash.
To revisit the devolution of Desna, watch Claws online.
Is Desna in the wrong? If so, can she be redeemed?
What’s Georgia up to?
Who is your favorite character to watch now?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.