7/23/2018 Power Episode Recap: Kanan Two Steps Ahead, Tate is Playing With Fire, Plus Ghost And Angela Reunited And It Feels So…Read NowLast night’s episode title Second Chances was rather uneven, of the season’s first four episodes it’s the weakest. A few storylines are fraying around the edges and it seems as though some of our main characters have too much going on at the moment. They are all individually focused on doing or completing this one deed or task, with the hope that it will save them and give them a reset. But, we know life doesn’t work out that way. The decisions they’ve made to this point will live with them regardless no matter how hard they try to right a wrong…
We open this week’s episode with the three amigos. Ghost, Tommy, and Kanan. Ghost learns that Tommy’s dad (Teresi) is out. Ghost is not happy he’s only now hearing about the news and that other people (Kanan and Proctor) knew before he did. Everyone has their own motives and suspicions around this. Ghost doesn’t trust Teresi as he blackmailed him twice when they were in the can. Tommy wants a dad, but is somewhat suspicious. He also yearns for acceptance, love, and loyalty, unconditionally. Kanan wants to get back what he lost, while he was inside. He wants to be the NYC drug kingpin. Between the three of them, he’s the one with the clearest vision and an endgame. Most importantly, he doesn’t have outside forces (familial or personal) interfering or clouding his judgment. Kanan’s character development from the beginning of the series until now has been really interesting. He was a shadowy figure locked away, then once he got out he becomes more of a viable threat to Ghost, Tommy, etc. Now he seems poised to be the one person that may actually get what he wants. That isn’t to say that his journey to this point has been smooth, the man did get barbecued inside of an abandoned building. He did kill his own son, and more than a few people would be happy if he were dead. But Kanan has managed to work his way into the “good graces” of just about everyone, and in turn, he uses the information from these people to further his plan. He got Ghost to tell him about a plan to make Tommy to “radioactive” for the Italians and Kanan beats him to the punch. In terms of vulnerability and weak spots, Kanan has far fewer than anybody else on the board, and that’s a frightening thought. Kanan has even managed to get in good with the Italians, using the old I’m going to rescue you from a situation that I set up, ploy. Funny how that scheme always seems to work. The Italians are a storyline that while necessary, only muddies the pool in my opinion. Teresi is so obvious in his attempts to get information from Tommy. Does anyone else see that? Tommy has his guard up and is suspicious, but the aforementioned shooting will possibly cause him to slip. Notice how worried he was after the Kanan “rescue”? He speeds over to Teresi’s to make sure he is okay. Meanwhile, Kanan is sowing seeds of discord with Vincent and his crew. Telling Vincent, that the driveby was a result of Tommy’s drug beefs. Now Tommy has his “family” looking at him through a suspicious lens, while he tries to deal with everything coming down on him. Tommy still has Dre and the Jimenez cartel to worry about. Speaking of Dre and the Jimenez “brothers.” Alicia is back! So, if there was any confusion as to who holds the reins in the cartel, that is now crystal clear. Alicia is cold, calculated and pragmatic. Nothing seems to rattle her and she stays cool under pressure. She likes to toy with Dre, sexually, like her brother. But even in that situation, you can see the difference between Diego and Alicia. He acts out, and is petulant. She remains calm and collected, ultimately getting the results she wants. Alicia surprising Dre and learning about her brother’s incidents at the clubs are all small potatoes for her. She knows Diego is a problem and will handle him in some fashion. Though it seems she’d rather have someone else do the deed. Alicia tells Dre to teach Cristobal how to manage all of the club business, Dre resists and is not happy about this new arrangement. This is akin to what Lobos was doing with Ghost back in season one. Remember when Lobos told Ghost to give Tommy more responsibility, which would, in turn, reduce Ghost’s risk but increase Tommy’s. Alicia is doing the same thing here with Dre. But to what end? Maybe she wants to elevate Dre, so they can begin some type of romance? Diego is already suspicious of this and many of you have said the same in your comments. Time will tell. Time is something all the characters wish they had more control over. Nobody more than Ghost. If he could do it all over again, in other words, turn back the hands of time; would he do it the same way? Everything is closing in on Ghost this week. His excessive drinking to cope with the pain of losing Raina has dulled his senses completely. When Ghost now says “I have a plan” is anyone confident of its success? Tasha finally does what she should have done a while ago and decides to leave him. The scene where he asks, “you’re leaving me?” and she responds, “you left me a long time ago, remember?” was powerful. Again, all the choices Ghost has made, places him in the exact predicament he finds himself in. Tasha is right in calling out Ghost’s inability to grieve and attacking the Queens Child Project (QCP) as an empty monument that won’t do what he hopes it will. Earlier in the episode Ghost is unable to deliver a speech at Truth during an investor event for the QCP. The tremendous amount of guilt is weighing him down physically and emotionally. This scene is jarring to the attendees and threatens to slow the momentum of the QCP. Not one to see his plans thwarted, Councilman Tate steps in and sees that he needs to remedy this situation quickly. He later brings in Dre to serve on the board of the QCP, hoping he is someone that will be more stable (read: controllable) than Ghost. This is likely to be a huge miscalculation on Tate’s part. He seems to truly believe that these drug kingpins really care about a public image. In Ghost’s case that was likely true as he was attempting to leave the life. What makes him think Dre wants that? While Dre may be a younger “version” of Ghost, he’s still way too involved in the life to really be that concerned with local and state politics. This will likely end poorly for Tate, and end his Gubernatorial bid before it really takes off. Good riddance. Tate is a character I won’t be sad to see go. One character we can’t shake is Angela. For better or worse both she and Ghost are in it for the long haul. Despite what many pockets of fans hope or believe, at its core this show is about the love between these two characters. Yes, there are plenty of power dynamics (pun intended) in place, and several key players and minor characters that move in and around them. But, the magnetism between them is unavoidable. Angela, was out of the gates quickly this week, seemingly about to emerge from the wreckage with a great professional victory, sidestepping a landmine, and a new love interest. Not so fast my friends. Angela and the Feds apparent win by arresting Diego and Alicia was too good to be true. We all saw this coming right? As quickly as they were arrested, DEA agent Steve Tempio had them released. As an aside, the interplay between the various law enforcement agencies at work in this week’s episodes is exactly how things play out in real life. One agency makes a move, and a larger more influential one asserts its authority and power, and big-time criminals essentially avoid prison. Prisons aren’t filled with the leaders of major cartels or crime organizations. It’s all the low-level criminals with a few middle men and known names. You ever wonder why that is? But I digress… Angela goes from literally being on top of the world to in the depths of despair in about an hour. Tempio is not who he says he is and she has her suspicions now about his connection to the Jimenez’s. To make matters worse, she’s now aware of a wiretap/surveillance by Mak and Saxe with Tommy Egan being the target of their investigation. That matters of course because it can blow back on her and Ghost and all the shady and illegal dirt they’ve done over the last four seasons. To make matters worse, NYPD detective Blanca Rodriguez is not giving up. She has her Pinterest board hidden in her office with all the lines and dots and all roads point back to Ghost and Angela. Rodriguez even has Angela’s colleague Darryl in her office, no doubt explaining to him that Angela is the reason he’s been suspended. In times of crisis and utter duress, we revert back to the familiar. It’s no surprise the episode ends with Ghost and Angela meeting in the diner. The waitress asking, “Do you two know what you want?” was brilliant. All of the machinations, lies, murders, coverups, can be traced and connected back to these two in some form or fashion. Six degrees of separation with Ghost and Angela. In this moment of deep despair, they both have nobody but each other to turn to. In truth, that’s what they both seek. When Angela walks in and sits down, the first thing she does is comment about Ghost’s facial hair. Their ability to compartmentalize the disaster their lives have become and just be present with each other if only for a brief moment underscores the importance of the relationship on a micro level (for each other) and a macro level (the world of Power). As stated in the beginning, this was the weakest episode of the first four, but when the others have been B+/A- level a B – show is not that bad in the grand scheme of things. This episode has left us with some questions that need to be answered and storylines that need to advance forward or come to an end. A few extra thoughts:
What do y’all think? Get at me on twitter and Instagram @jshector Please share with your friends and people you think would enjoy the show. As always thanks for reading and visiting BSO. See you next week!
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