‘Claws’ Spoilers: EPs Talk Polly’s Big Moment, Toby’s Water Ballet Scene In Season 1, Episode 4

“Claws” executive producers discussed Polly’s (Carrie Preston) coming-clean moment and Toby’s (Evan Daigle) water ballet performance in last week’s Season 1, episode 4 of the TNT drama.

In a video interview released by the network, executive producer and writer Eliot Laurence explained why Polly’s life as a con-artist — which the viewers got to see for the first time in episode 4 — is exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. “[When Polly is reunited with her gold-digging ‘friend’ Sally (Gina Torres) at the nail salon,] immediately Polly like drops into this different persona. It’s just so funny,” Laurence said. “But also very sad because you really saw Polly’s vulnerability and you see how desperately she wants to have a good life.”

Towards the end of the episode, Sally found out that Polly is a con-artist. Hoping that they could still be friends, Polly revealed her real life story to Sally. But Sally didn’t trust her anymore, so she asked Polly to leave her house. With a heavy heart, Polly returned to the salon, where she broke down to Desna (Niecy Nash).

READ: Is ‘Claws’ Getting Season 2 Renewal From TNT?

“When she comes clean she’s sort of coming clean to us that she’s none of these personas she’s taking on,” executive producer and showrunner Janine Sherman Barrois said in the featurette. “Desna has to catch her and I think it’s that sort of a mama bear thing that Desna has to try to lift her up because she’s a broken soul. These women believe, ‘We have a chance to do better.’ They still have a shot at the American dream.”

Barrois then revealed that she’s the one who thought of doing a water ballet scene in the episode.“We really want ‘Claws’ moments in every episode where there are surreal moments,” she explained. “We wanted to do something that is out of this world, and I pitched that I wanted to do something with water ballet.”

Executive producer Howard Deutch praised Daigle’s performance in the amusingly unconventional sequence. “The actor who plays Toby was so good in it,” Deutch said. “When I went to the set I said, ‘Where’s Toby?’ because he was as good to me as those professional women who were in it.”

Laurence said that the water ballet scene helped balance the tone of the episode because “there’s so much dark stuff happening around.”

“It is phenomenal,” Barrois added of the scene. “You don’t see that on other shows, and that’s sort of what makes it special.”

What do you think of Season 1, episode 4 of “Claws”? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!

“Claws’” next episode airs on Sunday, July 9 at 9 p.m. EDT on TNT. Check out the synopsis and trailer for Season 1, episode 5 below:

“Bryce (Kevin Rankin) wrongly accuses Dr. Ken (Jason Antoon) of a crime, and Desna and Jennifer (Jenn Lyon) may be Dr. Ken’s only hope. Also: Dean (Harold Perrineau) sees a disturbing billboard ad, leaving Desna to deal with the fallout; Virginia (Karrueche Tran) and Desna must go to Polly for help when Desna’s past haunts her.”