The trailer for Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th dropped on Netflix Monday. DuVernay directed the critically acclaimed Selma and is the creator/director of the OWN original series Queen Sugar. 13th is a documentary about the U.S.’s prison system. The trailer previews the film’s exploration of the prison industrial complex, and how mass incarceration disproportionately impacts black Americans. It identifies a “loophole” in the 13th Amendment, which excuses slavery being abolished in the cases of “punishment for crime.” DuVernay’s latest opus was chosen to open the New York Film Festival this coming Friday, the first ever nonfiction feature to earn the honor. Given the state of our nation and the bubbling climate of unrest, this documentary is a must see. For those willing to battle injustice and understand the severity of the challenge ahead, this will provide the necessary conviction to keep your eyes on the prize. For those that believe black and brown people are painting a more grim picture than what is truly happening. Or, that things can’t be “that bad” because we have a two term black President and a few millionaire athletes. This documentary will open your eyes to the systemic and systematic ways in which minorities have been oppressed for hundreds of years. Of course for those that move through life with a closed mind, and a lack of basic comprehension and intelligence you’ll just see this as some piece of propaganda. That’s an injustice and one of the great failures of this nation. Check out the trailer below.
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Each week I run out of superlatives when talking about Courtney Kemp and the way she and her team brilliantly run Power. The season finale, which aired last night, was incredible. The revelations, discoveries and new alliances leave us with so many questions as we wait until next summer’s season 4 premiere.
It’s the morning after Ruiz’s murder and Agent Knox is waiting to meet with him. He receives a call from the NYPD that Ruiz is dead and goes into full panic mode. Greg needs to recover the recording device he had Ruiz wear, with the hopes that it has not been tampered with. Upon arriving at the crime scene he is able to give the commanding officer enough of a convincing story to get close to Ruiz’s body and recover the device. Knox, looking like a man possessed, heads back to his office and immediately starts to connect the dots to his theory of Angela as the mole. But just before he gets to what’s on the device he makes a call to the Federales to confirm the legitimacy of a tip received by Mike Sandoval back in season 2. Meanwhile Ghost is observing the crime scene from nearby and sees Agent Knox. He immediately calls Angela to find out if any surprises are in store. Ghost then meets with Proctor who advises things are not looking good for Ghost unless they know what is on the device. Naturally, Ghost proceeds to break into Knox’s apartment to attempt to retrieve the device. He is unsuccessful and while in the apartment Angela comes in looking for Greg who is with his former FBI instructor listening to the material captured by the device and discussing his options given the wire was illegal and inadmissible in a court of law. The audio on the device confirms Ghost and Tommy killed Lobos, confirms Tommy killed Ruiz and that Ghost and Tommy are drug distributors for Milan. Greg, consumed by proving his theory, decides all he needs is to press Ghost and he will flip on Angela. Greg stops Ghost on his way to Truth and confronts him with the news that he knows he and Tommy killed Lobos and that Angela is their leak. Greg tries to get Ghost to flip but Ghost is too smart for that. Greg calls Sandoval to his apartment to discuss his theory and his “proof” but before they get started, he receives a call from the Federales saying there is no record of any tip by that office given to Mike Sandoval. Greg quickly connects the dots and realizes Mike was the mole all along. Mike admits to it and tries to convince Greg they should turn Angela in. She has colored outside the lines on the entire case and even though she isn’t the mole, she has done plenty of horrible things. Including almost ruining Greg’s career. Sandoval shoots and kills Greg, plants the burner cell in his drawer and leaves with no trace he was there. R.I.P. Agent Greg Knox. Greg was the closest thing to a good guy on Power. Nobody is all good or all bad usually some mixture of both but Greg appeared to be fighting the good fight. Albeit his crusade began from a place of being love scorned, he really sought justice and his good nature wound up getting him killed in the end. All season we discussed how Kemp doesn’t follow traditional story tropes and does her best to keep the audience guessing. Going into the final episode I didn’t have Greg high on the list of characters likely to get bumped off but from the opening scene I sensed this might be it for him. Greg was always teetering on the verge of mania this season. His obsession with getting back at Angela and taking down Ghost and to a lesser extent Tommy, consumed every fiber of his being. However, there is a problem when you build a theory based off an incorrect assumption. You are blinded to the possibility that your assumption is wrong, even in the face of compelling evidence. Every action you take and subsequent step has to prove your original theory correct. Unfortunately for Greg, when he realizes his assumption was incorrect, it was too late. The Tariq and Kanan show escalated just as everyone knew it would. I suspect this storyline has left many Power fans a little ambivalent. There is a segment of fans out there that was hoping Tariq would get his due, given his backtalk and the general petulance he displayed all season. But, I think holding him for ransom will add some interesting depth, particularly for Tasha, next season. The other exciting part about the continuation of the Tariq storyline in this manner is the return of Jukebox, played by the wonderful Anika Noni Rose. I’ve gushed about her brilliance before, look back at the early season recaps for more on her. The game Kanan, Jukebox and company play with Tariq was a nice plot mover. It was somewhat stereotypical but in its initial play you didn’t know which direction it was headed. But, when the camera revealed that the officer in the driver’s seat was Jukebox, you knew it had layers and wasn’t going to end quickly. Despite what you might have thought, Tariq did play it tough and didn’t snitch. As we move into season 4 it will be interesting to see how Tariq deals with being a hostage. He has spent a lot of time with Kanan, learning about the streets, etc. Will there be an additional subplot as Kanan and Jukebox wait for the payday? Will Kanan follow through and kill Tariq? We end the episode with the double double cross. Raise your hand if you knew Ghost, Tommy and Tasha would reunite kill Milan and that Tommy would be the man with the upper hand? Stop lying, none of you saw it play out like this. The show’s dynamics have been completely flipped. Ghost is no longer the man in the shadows that sees everything and has all the bases covered. He is no longer in a position of Power (pun intended, literally and figuratively). Tommy is now the man that sees and knows all. He is the man that tells everyone he’s got a plan that will get everyone what they want. He is the man working on alliances and pulling the strings. Tommy is the one that convinced Milan’s #2 to turn rogue and go against his boss, he teamed with Dre and his crew to assist in the disarming of Milan’s men. Ghost and Tommy were in lock step on the plan (at least phase one) and after they kill Milan Ghost is happy. He and his brother are reunited, his club is about to go international and everything he wanted seems like it finally happened. But, of course we are not in this for happy endings. Tommy and his new crew plan on continuing to sell drugs out of all of Ghost’s clubs, and it doesn’t look like Ghost will have a choice. His son is being held for ransom, though he doesn’t know it. Oh, and the love of his life just arrested him for the murder of Agent Greg Knox. Come on Ghost, no matter what you have to keep the gloves on, evidence, DNA, etc. Season 4 is going to be incredible. Can we get the Emmy nomination process going for this show?! A few extra thoughts:
I want to thank all of you who supported the site and read the Power recaps. I’ve engaged with many of you on Twitter and hope to do a lot more. Get at me on twitter @jshector We will definitely be back next season with recaps and possibly add a podcast segment. Let me know what else you might like to see from BSO as it relates to Power. Again, thanks for reading and visiting BSO. Last night’s episode, Don’t Worry, Baby might be the best so far this season. Many of the show’s characters are being assured by those around them that everything is okay. However, there is imminent danger lurking around the corner for all.
Ghost and Angela are dealing with the aftermath of the Tariq gun incident. Tasha has banned the kids from staying at Angela’s apartment. In an effort to help, Angela calls in a favor to have Tariq’s record with the NYPD expunged. When Angela tells Tasha about her good deed, the two have an awkward encounter. Ghost finds out about Angela’s visit and it leads to an argument between the two. To make matters worse, Angela’s sister Paz comes over for dinner and it doesn’t go well. Paz is not a fan of Ghost and uses every opportunity to throw shade at their relationship. As mentioned in previous recaps Ghost and Angela got what they wanted, they are together. But the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for.” Things are clearly not going well for them right now and they are not being honest with each other. The communication is poor and there are some control issues. Ghost is used to running things his way and Angela is an independent woman, there is bound to be tension. Something tells me they won’t make it through this season together. Angela even questions Ghost towards the end of the episode about their relationship. She is truly contemplating its future and if everything they’ve done was worth it. Down in D.C. Jukebox is working out the details of a jewelry store heist. Watching Anika Noni Rose in this role is a treat. Jukebox is as ruthless and pragmatic as they come. There is no mistaking who is in charge and she is not afraid to let anyone, man or woman, know it. A minor disagreement starts when Kanan enters the room as Jukebox and her team are discussing the details of the heist. Jukebox lets them all know she will decide who does what. As she exits the room she tells Kanan she isn’t sure about his ability to handle a gun given the injuries. She then tells Kanan he probably can’t even jerk off. Kanan and Candy are left in the room to make sure that his hands are working. Candy reports back to Jukebox that both of his hands work just fine. That scene was incredible as it reinforces the power dynamic through a proxy. Jukebox is the boss and Candy is her proxy in this instance. Jukebox uses Candy’s sex to show her power and control, over both Candy and Kanan. The jewelry store heist is a great action scene, the combination of smashing glass, screams and the loud demands of the assailants was well shot and edited. In the aftermath of the heist, Jukebox calmly throws the police off the trail by giving the description of the getaway car with four white males (anybody else catch that?) traveling in the wrong direction. She and Kanan celebrate later at a strip club and they discuss his plans on returning to NYC. He obviously wants to kill Ghost but she gives him more to think about. Ghost took a lot away from Kanan when he set him up, how should he seek revenge? Tommy and Holly were busy this episode. On a visit to Tasha’s apartment, while Tommy is having a talk with Tariq about the afore mentioned gun incident, Tasha and Holly share a moment bonding over motherhood. Tasha gives Holly stern but prudent advice on what she needs to consider. It is in that moment when Holly begins to strongly feel the bonds of family. Holly continues to press Tommy about killing Ghost. The new mother to be loves Tommy and wants to be in this relationship for the long haul. Her motives are clear and she needs Tommy to do the deed. Tommy’s inability to kill his brother causes tension between he and Holly. Tommy, severely stressed over the decision to kill Ghost, “confesses” during a money pickup that he is having difficulty following through on his mission. Anybody else find the priest’s comments about the Ten Commandments funny? “God doesn’t care if you honor your father or mother…” The love and feeling of family is weighing heavily on Tommy and he is unsure what to do. Tommy will have to decide, if he is going to save his old family or his new one. Remember what he tells Tariq during their talk, “families are supposed to stay together, not break up.” Unbeknownst to Tommy, the son of the Korean primera plans on killing him that evening. Did I miss something? How did the Korean know where Tommy was going to be that night? Dre (back on the block, where he isn’t supposed to be) learns of the plan to hit Tommy and tells Ghost. Despite his desire to go fully legitimate, Ghost can’t let his boy get killed, so he springs into action and foils the attempt on Tommy’s life. When Tommy returns home injured but alive after the attempt on his life, Holly goes full alpha female. Assuming that the attempt on Tommy’s life was Lobos, she knows that now is the time to act. Holly needs to make sure Ghost is killed before Lobos kills her, Tommy and their unborn child. The biggest revelation this week is FBI agent Greg Knox, with the help of DEA agent Medina, has located Vibora Ruiz. The former head of the Soldado nation was last seen at the end of season 2 fleeing NYC and going into hiding from Lobos at Ghost’s request. Knox travels to San Diego and finds Ruiz living under the alias Armando Garcia. Knox pushes Ruiz and eventually gets him into custody. Upon his reinstatement to the Lobos task force Knox lets the team know that Ruiz will testify and give up the entire distribution network. This means trouble for Ghost and Angela. Knox is hell bent on burying Angela and revealing the truth about Ghost. He looked very smug on his return to the task force, shooting very cocky smirks in Angela’s direction. Angela knows how to handle herself, it will be interesting to see how she gets herself and Ghost out of this one. The head of the district office, Mike Sandoval, may actually end up inadvertently saving Ghost and Angela. As a mole for Lobos he must protect his boss at all costs. It’s hard to believe but next week puts us at the halfway point for this season. The pressure has been turned up and nobody appears to be on solid footing. A few extra thoughts:
What do you all think? Use the comment section below. 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! I Got This on Lock is the title of this week’s episode. It might as well be the mantra for all the characters in this prestige drama. Or, the mantra they project on the exterior. While everyone is settling into their new roles, it takes some adjustment. Rather than show any weakness or fear, everyone flexes and puts on that steely outward resolve as though nothing could break them.
The episode opens at a random drug store in Washington D.C., where an attempted robbery goes awry. A local cop, officer LaVerne “Jukebox” Ganner, played by the brilliant Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls, The Good Wife, Roots) arrives on the scene and appears to deescalate the situation. The 90 seconds that immediately follow set up this tremendous episode. Ganner instructs one of the men robbing the store to kill the store clerk, revealing herself as a dishonest cop. As she scolds the two men – whom she knows – for failing to plan accordingly, one of them tries to explain his thought process and she shoots and kills him. As the other looks on in horror she loudly affirms, “I got this!” Officer Ganner returns home after the incident where we find her girlfriend and Crispy Kanan! The introduction of Jukebox and the return of Kanan and their backstory (which I hope we get more of) was the most interesting part of this week’s episode. We learn the two are cousins and they both feel a certain indebtedness to the other born out of a shared personal experience. Rose is the perfect actor to play Jukebox, while diminutive in stature she wields a tremendous amount of power. Not only as a crooked cop that is running some sort of con that I imagine is profitable. But also as the head of her household and the one with the upper hand in her relationship with Kanan. Jukebox withholds Kanan’s meds, and uses her girlfriend’s sex as attempts to seek truths from her severely burnt cousin. Kanan tries to show strength and push back on Jukebox but ultimately succumbs to her demands for no more secrets. Jukebox is intimately familiar with Kanan’s relationship with his deceased son, Shawn and Ghost. Jukebox seems to be the ultimate ruthless pragmatist giving us the line: Shawn was a pawn and you sacrifice pawns for the greater good. Back in NYC, suspended FBI agent Greg Knox is still stalking/lurking. Trailing Ghost, he spots him outside of Tommy’s apartment and takes photos of him as visual evidence when he confronts Angela with his truth about Ghost. Knox connects with agent Medina (you remember him from season 1, he was part of the original Lobos task force), to ask for his help on proving that Ghost is the actual distributor. Greg is a man on a mission and clearly will not rest until he proves who Ghost really is. I fear that his vigilante justice crusade does not paint him in a favorable light. He comes off as a desperate, slightly crazy, scorned ex-lover. Even though he is 100% correct with everything relating to Ghost and Angela. The three new best friends Tasha, Tommy and Holly are checking out their legit business and discussing how they will launder the drug money. Last week we wondered how LaKeisha got the money for Weave Got The Funk? Now we know. Tasha staked cash as the initial investor and the salon is the new front. As a part of this new alliance, Tasha and Holly are forced to spend more time together and it appears to be going well. The ladies had their “come to Jesus” moment over the stolen earrings from season one. Holly admitted she took them and Tasha seemed to forgive her. The duo even reverted into a character sketch when pulled over by cops for an illegal lane change. Holly had bundles of cash on her, which if the cops effected a search (though there was no pc) would have caused problems. Holly went straight for the “she’s my nanny” move and the cops let them go. It was a little campy and too easy, but given the dynamics in the car and in the scene, it made sense. On the St. Patrick home front, Tariq is facing expulsion for bringing Angela’s gun to school. Ghost and Tasha meet with the school principal to discuss alternatives. In a “ripped from the headlines” ploy, Tasha rehashes all the incidents at the school in which white children were given lesser punishments despite actualized violence and/or criminal wrongdoing. Nice job by Courtney Kemp and the writers with that. Ghost and Angela discuss the gun situation and it leads to a very tense exchange. Both sides are getting used to the new arrangements and Tariq taking Angela’s gun from her bag and bringing it to school was an unfortunate byproduct. In the scene, Angela confronts Ghost About Tommy as the issue of trust (surprise surprise) comes up again. Ghost tells Angela choosing between her and Tommy was difficult and that he chose her but needed to connect with Tommy. Although he wasn’t 100% honest with her in that moment as to why he needed to see Tommy. Ghost and Tommy do wind up meeting under false pretenses and the two share an awkward moment. Despite Tommy not killing Ghost last week and Ghost being aware, to a certain extent. Serious damage has been inflicted upon that relationship, I’m not sure it heals any time soon. We will see what this means as it relates to Lobos and all the other players that orbit the Ghost and Tommy dynamic. I enjoyed this episode a lot. We began by saying the characters’ outward projection is one of confidence. I enjoy the moments where the characters show their fragility when they are around people they love. Ghost and Angela, Tommy and Holly, and Tasha and LaKeisha. It’s hard to believe but next week puts us one episode away from the halfway mark of the season. Get ready for some drama and WTF moments. A few extra thoughts:
What do you all think? Use the comment section below. 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! Greetings Power Fans! Starting with last night’s episode, I will be doing weekly episode recaps here on BSO. If you can’t get enough of the drama, intrigue, and NYC backdrop; this is the place for you! One thing to note, the episode recaps will be written with the assumption you are current on all seasons.
“Family is forever. It’s Never Over.” Those are the words spoken by Tasha in this week’s episode. Truer words have never been uttered for the characters in the Starz drama. Roles have changed and power (pun intended) dynamics have shifted. No matter what changes have transpired, escaping the past will not be easy and for some will be impossible. The episode opens with a smart scene between Ghost and Angela. They are in bed and Ghost is struggling to sleep. His brain is racing. Lobos is still alive and coming for him, he has left Tasha for Angela, he needs to establish the JSP Nightlife brand and he needs to settle things with his “brother” and former business partner Tommy. His constant tossing and turning wakes Angela and she concernedly asks “Baby?” Ghost says nothing and pretends he’s asleep. It’s a terrific scene, so much is conveyed with no dialogue. Despite committing to Angela and telling her that “Ghost is dead” the life they both want with each other is not going to be an easy transition. Showrunner Courtney Kemp does an amazing job mirroring this scene later in the episode, when Ghost returns home after a failed attempt to meet with Tommy. This time Angela is the one pretending to be asleep, while her brain is racing. Speaking of brain racing, Tommy is finding life as the #1 drug dealer in NYC a daunting task. It requires the right balance of patience/reason and aggression/emotion. When Tommy was Ghost’s lieutenant he could afford to be hot headed and act based strictly off of emotions. He always had the even keeled Ghost to clean up his mess and be the voice of reason. Now that he’s THE guy he needs to be more careful, that temper can and will cost him. Watching Tommy struggle as he deals with distribution and product issues is interesting. He was Ghost’s #2 for a long time and while he doesn’t possess Ghost’s level of business savvy, he had to pick up some knowledge along the way, right? Tommy is desperately trying to shake the rep of being all muscle and no brains, and he’s finding it to be quite the challenge. His subordinates are openly questioning his decision making, leading to the severe beatdown of one and the unwillingness to make Julio his #2. Watching Tommy struggle between reason and emotion in this episode was fascinating. Kudos to actor Joseph Sikora. When he was supposed to meet Ghost and kill him at Lobos’ behest, he couldn’t do it. The reasonable and sensible decision was to kill him and move on with business. But his love for his brother, the overwhelming emotions he still has for Ghost, didn’t allow him to pull that trigger. Ghost and Tasha were his family. Poor Tommy, but this is what he wanted. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown. Angela and Tasha had the confrontation we all knew was eventually coming. I loved the way the scene was shot. Seeing Tasha in that long hallway you weren’t 100% sure where she was. As soon as the door opens, you had to get excited (Angela struggling with the childproof lock was a nice touch). Is it me or did both women handle it well? Tasha may have dominated the scene from a dialogue perspective but Angela didn’t turn catty and in the end made it clear she is going to give an earnest effort at being some sort of a stepmom. As soon as she is comfortable being left alone with the kids…The easy thing for Courtney and the writers to do would have been to create some kind of knock down drag out between these two women. But, besides making the show more “soapy” what does that accomplish? Also, it shows where these two women are in life. They both may have grown up as around the way girls, but their lives have been much different since. Ghost and Andre are finding life as legit businessmen a bit challenging. Ghost encounters his first setback trying to book a popular EDM DJ for one of his clubs. Instead he gets outbid by a rival club owner. In the streets, when something doesn’t go your way you can retaliate quickly and “put and end” to your problem. As Andre is more than willing to do. But what Ghost is attempting to show Andre, is while the quick fix may bring immediate resolution and satisfaction it often means long term blow back and repercussions. The struggle between the illegal and legitimate world is nothing new. Every crime drama has taught us that over time. Meanwhile in FBI land, Sandoval is doing his best to sabotage the Lobos investigation from the inside and is looking more and more nervous by the episode. Remember when he bursted on the scene in season 2? He was cocksure and throwing his weight around like a champ. But ever since Lobos was arrested his position has become tenuous by the minute. Sooner or later Angela and Saxe, though they hate each other, will figure out that someone internally is trying to derail the case. My money is on sooner. Did you notice they both have evidence being held up? Guess who the link is? This was a good episode and is laying the groundwork for what will ultimately be a season of transition for our favorite characters. Some people are built with the ability to adapt and evolve, some aren’t. Who will be able to navigate their new role and who will succumb? So I was thinking:
In the previews for next week, we see Kanan is back, determined to settle the score with Ghost. Hope he got some serious burn cream and skin graphs. We also see Angela in a confrontation with former lover Greg Knox. We know Knox has a serious score to settle with Angela and Ghost. Can’t wait for next week! What do you all think? Use the comment section below. 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! |