Television series

Claws

Name: Claws
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 2017
Cast: Niecy Nash, Carrie Preston, Harold Perrineau, Judy Reyes, Jenn Lyon

Workplace drama

Claws is a dark comedy-drama about five manicurists at a salon in Central Florida who get tangled up with a crime boss, their own demons, and each other. It's soapy, funny, brutal, and oddly tender—a show that treats its working-class characters as the complex, capable people they are. For anyone who likes messy ensembles and genuine stakes underneath the comedy.

TVMaze rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime stories where sudden violence sits next to catty banter and people trying to keep a small business afloat, with a sharp ear for tangled loyalties.

Skip it if you want the comedy to lighten the mood, since the tone swings hard from salon gossip to brutal crime and can feel uneven across its hour-long episodes.

What it asks of you: Hour-long episodes arrive in a steady stream across four seasons, forty in total, so it rewards settling in and following a cast of overlapping grudges rather than dipping in.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Killing Eve2018

Stylish, violent, and darkly hilarious, following a killer and MI6 agent locked in a psychological duel. It has Claws' energy: high stakes, twisted humour, and characters who are both dangerous and magnetic.

But The final season botches its ending, and some viewers find the pacing uneven. It can also be gratuitously graphic.

Ozark2017

A family pulled into crime and forced to play a brutal game. Like Claws, it balances domestic intimacy with genuine peril, and its ensemble cast are vivid and contradictory people, not types.

But It becomes increasingly bleak as it goes on, and the tone can feel punishing. Some find the later seasons repetitive.

The Mindy Project2012

Fast-paced romantic comedy with a diverse ensemble cast where every character is allowed to be funny and flawed. It shares Claws' warmth underneath the chaos and its refusal to make women one-dimensional.

But The humour is rapid-fire and not everyone's speed. Also, the romance-focused plotting may not appeal if you're looking purely for plot and stakes.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Claws

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Sopranos1999

Both centre on a morally complicated protagonist managing crime and family, and both trust their audiences to hold multiple truths about characters simultaneously. Desna is what happens when Tony Soprano is a woman at a salon instead of a mob boss.

The DNA ancestor of prestige TV, it pioneered the tonal trick Claws pulls off: merging genuine character depth with criminal stakes, domestic comedy with violence, without flinching from either. It proves this mode works because it understands people contain contradictions.

But It's 86 episodes and takes patience; the early seasons are rougher than later ones. If you're not interested in a 60-year-old man's therapy, it's not for you.

Insecure2016

A funny, unsentimental look at a group of women navigating real money trouble, ambition, and friendship. The writing captures both comedy and pain without cancelling one out, just like Claws does.

But It's intimate and character-driven rather than plot-heavy. If you want big serialized drama and set pieces, this is quieter and slower.

Orange Is the New Black2013

An ensemble cast where each person is fully realized, flawed, and human. Handles class, race, and survival with both humour and seriousness. Like Claws, it believes its marginalized characters deserve full interior lives.

But Early seasons are stronger than later ones, and the show sometimes mistakes earnestness for resolution. Later seasons can feel scattered.

Nurse Jackie2009

A sharp ensemble drama-comedy about working-class women managing impossible situations and their own secrets. It's funny and tender without being sentimental, with genuine stakes lurking underneath.

But It ends abruptly with an unsatisfying final season. Some find the main character exhausting rather than compelling.

Russian Doll2019

A darkly comic limited series about a woman trapped in a time loop, written and directed with style and depth. It balances irreverent humour with real pain—tonal territory Claws knows well.

But The second season abandons the loop premise and some feel it loses its narrative propulsion. It's also existentially heavy rather than plot-driven.

Fleabag2016

A chaotic anti-heroine navigating family, money, and chaos with wit and genuine feeling. It's a masterclass in tonal balance—the humour doesn't diminish the hurt, and the hurt doesn't demand we stop laughing.

But It's very British and the fourth-wall breaking isn't everyone's cup of tea. The later season gets more sentimental, which some find a betrayal of the earlier vibe.

Godless2017

A Western miniseries with a diverse ensemble cast and a genuine moral weight to its stakes. It's visually stunning, morally complex, and treats its characters—especially women—with real respect and interiority.

But The pacing is deliberate and some find it slow. It's also quite dark and violent, and the plot can feel secondary to character study.

Killing Zoe1993

Like Claws, it's a movie that loves its characters enough to wreck them. It finds deep humanity in people the world has written off, and it never confuses style with substance or violence with meaning.

A kinetic, stylish crime film about a crew pulled into a heist that careens into chaos and violence. It's trashy, beautiful, and treats its ensemble with genuine affection even as everything falls apart. Zoe is brilliant and self-destructive.

But It's aggressively 90s, the plot is secondary to mood and character, and it's genuinely violent. The ending is bleak and some find the pacing erratic.

Our Flag Means Death2022

Both shows are genuinely about people finding belonging in the margins and in crime, and both refuse the cynical reading of that premise. They see their characters' capacity for love and loyalty as the real story, not their moral failures.

A pirate comedy about a crew of misfits, thieves, and damaged people finding family in chaos. It's funny and weird but never cruel; it takes its ensemble seriously while staying joyfully ridiculous. Tonal control this good is rare.

But It was cancelled after two seasons mid-arc, so you'll be left wanting more. If you need pure plot momentum, the loose piracy structure won't satisfy you.