Better in concept than execution (and higher in gloss than authenticity), TNT’s drama “Claws” follows the skeevier travails of an ambitious Florida nail-salon owner, Desna Simms (Niecy Nash), who, to finance her dreams of opening a fancier salon across town, helps launder the piles of cash coming out of the shady pain clinic down the way, where opioid addicts gather to easily renew their prescriptions.
Both the clinic and the nail salon are tightly controlled by a man called Uncle Daddy (“Breaking Bad’s” Dean Norris), a petulant, drug-addicted, bisexual owner of a chain of strip clubs. Mired in an abusive relationship with Uncle Daddy’s thuggishly vain nephew and major-domo, Roller (Jack Kesy), Desna undertakes a risky scheme to steal from Uncle Daddy’s criminal empire, a plan that within a few episodes becomes part of an even larger ploy.
With its “Weeds” and “Orange Is the New Black”-like attempt to turn a banal setting and commonplace criminal activity into a darkly comical stage for a grandiose, female-centric saga, “Claws” looks like the kind of show that ought to have much more going on beneath its initial, saucy appeal.
Nash, who transcended typecasting in HBO’s moving dramedy about nurses, “Getting On,” has no problems bringing the sass and swagger to convincingly play the best nail technician in Manatee County. To add a dose of empathy, the show gives Desna a virtuous motivation, caring for her autistic adult brother, Dean (“Lost’s” Harold Perrineau).