ClaireBell - UNCUT

This was a phenomenal final episode for a GL series! I think everyone was like “Charlotte what are you doing here?!?!?!?!” Claire beating Kae within an in of her life genuinely scared me and while I am not squeamish, I almost couldn’t watch all of it. I have always liked Deedee since the beginning and Kae made me feel suspicious from the start. That fact that Kae went and nearly killed Bell at the end there simply because she couldn’t handle seeing Bell and Claire be happy outside the jail is a new level of “if I can’t have her then no one can”

The shoulders on the outfit that Clair wears as she leaves prison each have a swatch of light cloth. I presume that these symbolize Clair’s graduation day. They bookend Bell’s graduation that set everything in motion.

I really loved this final episode. It made me feel so many things, but I think, for me, the scene of their shared freedom, even when they were in Jail, was one of the best. I will be so happy with a second season....!!!

The Super-sized finale starts as Bell is packing her stuff while Claire is still sleeping; we flash back to the previous night with Claire and Bell lying on the mattress in the old toilet together, and Bell thinking she is not ready while Claire mentioning she should be happy. Bell wants to be free - but the thought of being free while Claire is still a prisoner makes her heart sink. Claire thinks she will forget her in no time, but Bell thinks that’s crazy. Claire acknowledges that their whole relationship seems like a dream, but when Bell wakes up, she’ll be in the real world out there, while Claire’s real world is in here – they both belong to different worlds. As she sits packing in their cell, Bell starts to cry, while back on the mattress, she asserts that if this is a dream, it’s the best one she ever had. And Claire feels the same way; Bell packs a rose. After the very short credits, Porsche lets Deedee out of solitary, with Porsche hoping that she will learn from this while Deedee wanting to know if he’ll be the guard again if she gets back, but Porsche doesn’t want her to be locked up there again. Their hands briefly touch as she passes him. Next, we see Dao, who has obviously survived the night, she goes to the nurse, and after a few moments of consideration, tells her that she’s pregnant. So, she didn’t go through with her DIY abortion. Later, Porsche comes to her in the yard, and he’s offering her a cigarette, but Dao doesn’t take it. He wants to know who got her pregnant, but she tells him he should already know the answer to that question, so why ask? At first she thought it was love, she continues – but after it came to light, his father became a different person, he kept telling her to get rid of the baby. But it’s not the baby’s fault – her dad and herself are to blame. Porsche wants to know what she plans to do, but she doesn't answer. Kae gets a visit from her outside contacts again who tells her that he won’t bring her money anymore; she argues that they made so much money, but he maintains that what they gave her was all they got left. She threatens to expose them, but he tells her to just go ahead – he is done getting extorted by her. But he argues that going to jail is better than being her pawn. Kae laments that they threw her under the bus, that’s why she’s the only one in prison -but he argues that everyone else has already cut her off, he’s the only one still contacting and providing for her. Kae vows to get revenge and ruin his life as well, but he repeats that his life got nothing left anyway, so she should just go ahead. And he close by telling her not to expect any money from him ever again. Kae goes to the kitchen to tell Karakade and Mathusorn that they’ll get their money “next month” – which causes both to quit their “job” as enforcers, and telling her to collects the money herself. Deedee is talking to Dao about “not getting it done”, but she can’t bring herself to do it. She want to know if she plans to give birth in prison, but Dao hasn’t planned that far ahead. She tells her to just get rid of it, but Dao tells her to stay out of it. Then, Karakade and Mathusorn come to Dao to make up with her, they apologize and claim to her learned their lessons. Deedee wants to punish them for stabbing her in the back, but Dao tells her to stop – this would only cause more trouble. But Deedee is still mad, so she bashes their heads together, but leaves it at that smiling and winking at Porsche who was guarding the room. He smiles back. Mint is looking through her brother’s phone and looks at the photos he has collected, crying – then, she find some shots of female students that are NSFW, finally getting to the video he made of the day of his death. She cries as she watches this and is clearly disgusted. Claire and Bell are in the library talking about comics; Bell finds it strange that Claire loves to read the as she already know what is going to happen, but Claire mentions that just thinking about what will be on the next page already makes her laugh, and Bell understands this – but she’ll find her some new comics; new gags are better than old ones, after all. Claire has to stop herself from breaking into tears, and Bell tries to console her. Kae tries to collect the debts by herself, but is no match for three inmates, who tell her to forget about it, then beat her up, then leave her lying on the yard. Mangpor is concerned, but Kae just wants to know if she got her order – after all, she works in the kitchen, so she has to cook. But Mangpor tells her to just do nothing, as she hands her some package. Natty/Cream get home as she is called from the phone of the teacher, and it’s Mint who’s waiting outside for her. She hands her the phone back, telling her she’s seen everything on it. She wonders who would have thought someone capable of doing such abhorrent things, and that person being her brother. She states that her sister loves her so much, to which Cream starts crying, then tells her she hopes she’ll do the right thing as she fights back tears herself, then leaves her. Claire then gets visited by her, and she tells her that she can’t keep up lying, the guilt is killing her, but Claire asserts that it was all her doing, and she isn’t to blame. But she can’t keep the promise she made and asks her not to stop her. Next, Claire and Bell are watching the news of Natty having brough the recording to the police who is mentioning self-defense, and adding that they are currently processing Claire’s release. Bell is happy that they’re both getting out, but Claire doesn’t want her sister to go to jail – yet, she reports that Cream was never happy with Claire’s decision to take the blame. Bell thinks it’s time for her to make her own decisions. Kae observes them, then visits them at their special place… … where Bell is asking Clair whether she isn’t happy – she is, but is also unsure what will happen to her sister, Bell states that everybody has their own path to follow, but she believes that Claire will continue to stand by and fight for her. But right now she is not alone anymore, because she’s got her. Kae then congratulates them as they are both about to be getting out. She continues to congratulate Bell for being in a relationship with someone she thinks she’s great, but warns her that a rabid dog will always remain a rabid dog, and one day, it might come after her. Clair mentions that being a rabid dog is better than being a dog that is left to rot, but Kae tells her it might surprise her what this dog that’s left to rot is capable of doing when its back is against the wall. She vows to always protect her, but Kae warns her that she can’t protect her girl forever. Bell then asks her if she isn’t tired and why she keeps doing this, what have Claire and her done to Kae? But she argues that Bell has betrayed her, someone who loved her, just like everyone else did. But Bell maintains that if she really loved her, she would be happy for her to be happy. It’s not love what Kae is showing, it’s being selfish. With that, Claire and Bell leave Kae alone. Then, Mint visits Claire again, but she once again declines the visit. As she’s getting out, Jade, Bell’s attorney, is waiting for Bell. Kae return to the kitchen which is no longer under her control and the fellow inmates tell her to start working. She then starts to put the shrimp-flavored seasoning she got from Mangpor and puts it into the food of the day, knowing that Bell has a shellfish allergy (at this point, I yelled at the TV screen). She watches Claire and Bell as they are getting lunch. Bell tells Claire that it’s rude to stare at someone eating, but Claire want to catch every glimpse of her as she is getting out today. Things go well – until Bell starts eating the sauce that contains the shrimp seasoning. She starts to choke immediately, getting hives and soon collapsing. Clair calls Porsche to help, and Deedee sounds the alarm as Porsche rushes Bell to the infirmary and Clair is left alone in the canteen as everyone else is rushing out, but Mangpor is rushing towards Kae asking her what the hell she did, but Kae tells her to leave because she is coming. Meanwhile, Bell is brought to the infirmary by Porsche and the nurse quickly assesses that she need to go to the hospital immediately. As Jade is still signing in, an ambulance carries Bell off. Claire goes after Kae, who admits it was her who put the shrimp seasoning into the lunch, because she couldn’t stand them enjoying their happy lives, she tells her to hurt her, to stay a bit longer. She claims she got nothing left, and cheers her on to go ahead. But Claire start to cry instead, as Kae goes on about her being unable to protect the ones she loves – her sister and Bell – and even if she killer Bell there would be nothing she could do to her. Claire thinks about their time together – then, she hits Kae with a bottle, then her fists as Kae continues cheering her. Kae hits her with another bottle then get her face smashed to the kitchen counter. Now, she begs her to stop, but Claire doesn’t stop and keep beating her as Wichai and the guards arrive and finally drag her away. She tells Bell (who isn’t there) that she sorry. We hear a voice from the off telling us that her sentence is extended by three years for this attempted murder, and she’s is placed in solitary again. The final 20 minutes of the show start with Claire waking up in her old bed at home, with Auay – her father’s old nurse – coming in and asking how she feels. She has been hired to care for her by Jade. She revisits her father’s old room and lies on his bed hugging his pillow, then she eats plain white toast in the garden; meanwhile, Claire is lying in solitary constrained. Then, Posche gives Wichai his resignation. Wichai wants to know what this is about, but Porsche congratulates him for assessing him right – he is not cut out for work in this prison – with his father having an affair with an inmate, getting her pregnant and telling her to get an abortion. Wichai tells him to calm down, but he doesn’t want to listen anymore, he tells him that the inmate has more humanity that him, and leaves. Wichai follows him but is stopped by the director, the supervisor and some guards. Then, Bell comes to the prison, and learns that the got three more years before getting out. She visits Claire and asks her why she did that, but Claire claims she couldn’t stand what Kae did to her. Bell think three years is nothing, she will wait for her and visit her every day – but Claire doesn’t want to her waste her life, so she begs her not to do it and she has taken the makeshift ring she made off. Bell asks her if she doesn’t love her anymore, but Claire ends the conversation and leaves because she doesn’t want to see her crying, leaving Bell alone crying and taking off her makeshift ring. Wichai is packing and leaving the prison looking at Dao, who doesn’t look back. Posche is making his goodbye visit to Deedee who is still applying makeup. He sits down next to her and tells her it’s his last day as a guard. She thinks he’s kidding but he asks if she knows what happened between Wichai and Dao, and Deedee tells him everybody knew, but he tells her that Wichai is his father, and he can’t keep working her anymore. He thanks her for the wonderful time he had (really, wonderful?) and she fears they won’t see each other anymore, but he claims that they can always meet outside if she’s is a “good girl” and gets released soon. She states thar being a good girl never worked for her, but he is sure that she can do it. With that, he leaves, and Deedee hugs him from behind and tells him not to go. He hugs her and tears start to fall as he leaves again. Dao and Duen also make up and hug. Then, Bell visits er ex-boyfriend who is dunk, drugged and almost passed out. She gives him the necklace back he gifted her, not wanting to owe him anything. She knows that she got her out – but tells him that Beam visited her in prison and told her that it was Top’s drugs which he hid in her handbag – and serves his sentence in his stead now – as she did. She thanks him for all the good time she had behind bar while he was a coward refusing to take responsibility – and he almost hit her as she accuses him of always hiding behind her father. Then, he leaves for the lawn, crying there. Bell meanwhile finds his even larger drug depot from Beam’s instructions he gave her during his visit. She then prepares a noodle meal and then uses a short-circuit to cut the cameras and sets fire to the house; she consumes the noodles calmly as the house starts to burn. When the fire brigade arrives with the police, she’s already long gone – but shy has made sure the police will find the drugs, and as Top finds out what is happening he wants to call his father. Claire reminisces about her time with Bell as she looks through the scrapbook she made her and even place her makeshift ring in there, she thinks that their time together was long enough – but I don’t believe her. Bell meanwhile is also thinking about her as she collects the rose she took while still in prison and at her shoes labeled “Claire”. They both hug their shoes as they miss each other and cry. The final minutes are of course a flashforward to three years later. Duen has taken over the kitchen, with Deedee still applying makeup and behaving, because she is waiting to meet Porsche soon. She runs into an inmate – played by Charlotte Austin! – but leaves it at a verbal scolding to be more careful next time. Then, we meet toothless dog aka Kae, who became a b*tch for her new cellmate having to fetch her cigarettes and cut her nails. Claire is being released that day, but still tends to the garden so PaPorn is happy. She takes a moment to look around all the blooming roses, then takes the cat and leaves the garden. On her way out, she passes by Dao who plays with her son. As she leaves the prison, she is greeted by Cream and her parents who all hug her; as she is about to get into the family car someone yells her name, and she runs over to get reunited with Bell, of course. As we see a montage of their time together in prison, they run into each other’s arms, and we see both of them wearing their makeshift rings again, and we end on and kiss by them when they were both prisoners. ___ Well, that were 75 minutes which perfectly ended the prison love story that is ClaireBell. All remaining threads got resolved, and even Dao and Deedee found new “loved ones”. Top and Kae got what they deserved, only Wichai got off the hook too easily, I think, as we don’t know what became of him. But that was a near-perfect end to a near-perfect series, leaving me to want more of Claire and Bell – I’m giving “ClaireBell” an “A-“ or a 9 out of 10, the same as “Us”, the other near-perfect show of 2025. So, in the end, the two top GLs of the year are the first and the last show to air.