If you think Empire is the only show to serve up black love, intricate plot lines, men with too much influence, drugs and women who won’t stop to get and secure what’s theirs, let me hip you to a little show called Power.
The 50 Cent back Starz drama is the precursor to the Fox hit but doesn’t really get the shine that Empire does it seems. Regardless, it is grittier, more sophisticated and more stylishly executed than the network show. So to get you caught up on what happened last season and in the first episode of this season, let’s do a little recap.
The show revolves around James (Jamie) St. Patrick , played by Omari Hardiwck, who is a drug dealer turned night club owner but still drug dealer. His name on the streets is Ghost and the only people who know who he really is are the ones closest to him. His right hand man Tommy (Joseph Skora) pretty much does all the dirty work for him. He goes along with Ghost’s desire to get out of the drug game but still relishes in their side dealings.
So here is the thick of the plot and what happened last season. Ghost opened up a club, Truth, as both a way out and a guise to cover up his dealings in the drug world. His wife, Tasha, played by Naturi Naughton knows everything that goes down with her husband and like Tommy, indulges his club side venture. She really doesn’t want him to stop selling drugs because it pays for the lavish lifestyle that they live.
One day, a chance run in brings Ghost in contact with a childhood flame Angela Valdes played by Lela Loren. She just so happens to be a federal prosecutor. The sparks between them are obvious and of course they start a torrid affair. The twist in their relationship is neither one knows what the other does because if they did, that would cause major problems for both of them.
As Ghost continues on with his extra marital affair, it seems he is finally happy in his personal life, but that does not stop the drama and danger of his “work” life. It is not long before Tasha gets a whiff of what her husband is doing with Angela, not quite able to put her finger on exactly who in the beginning, she acts out in her own way.
Ghost keeps everything in order as best as he can but things are stirred up when his mentor Kanan, played by 50 Cent, devises a plan while he is in prison to get Ghost out of the picture. He plants all kinds of lies and obstacles and even gets Ghost to believe that one of the most loyal members of his crew betrays him. Ghost kills him for betrayal, which further sets Kanan’s plan in motion since he is about to be a free man.
Meanwhile Tommy falls in love with some trailer trash thief named Holly who works at the club now. Tasha nor Ghost trusts her but you know how it goes when men are pussy whipped. Tommy doesn’t see these things and almost forsakes his relationship with his childhood friends to keep the girl in his life.
Things really heat up as the time comes closer for Kanan to get out of prison. He hires a Latina female fatale to take care of Ghost and everything is supposed to go down on the day of a very important party for one of his potential clients at Truth. The night is going just as planned for Ghost and his club when the hit girl pulls out her gun to shoot him. She misses and the bullet hits Holly instead. Tommy wasn’t there because he was taking care of, unbeknownst to him, Angela’s informant. Right as he finishes doing the job, Angela shows up because she got a voicemail from the guy that he was in trouble. As she sees him lying on the floor, she calls for backup stating her name and Tommy, who is hiding around a corner, hears her and in disbelief, backs away.
End of the first season.
Season 2 Episode 1 recap
The first episode of the new season picks right back up. Ghost is questioned by police, while still in his bloodstained suit, about the shooting and asked if there was anyone who might want to kill him. He says he doesn’t know of course lying. The hit girl calls her people to let them know that it didn’t go as planned and they are, obviously, not happy to hear that.
Tommy, who is all kinds of messed up because he knows who Angela is, doesn’t trust Ghost anymore. We see him in a house, at night getting money out of a secret place when all of a sudden he is hit in the head with a baseball bat.
Angela is reprimanded for losing her lead and asks her boss for help who pretty much tells her she is on her own. She ends up having to answer to a guy that she was once in charge of as a kind of punishment.
Tasha, who is very clear on Angela and Ghost’s affair (she know exactly who the other woman is), takes measures to secure her and her kids’ financial future if need be. Kanan makes his rounds as his son, who is also Ghost’s driver, takes him where he needs to go. He’s with him when he finds out about that Ghost is still alive and is very much bothered by it but keeps it to himself.
Ghost looks for Tommy who doesn’t know that Holly was shot (which by the way, she is in the hospital fighting for her life). He looks high and low for his missing friend, even calling Tommy’s mom’s house. She says that he’s not there and that she hasn’t seen him, which we know is a lie because it was her house he was stealing from and she is the one who hit him with the bat.
Ghost doesn’t believe her and makes a trip out to see her. He brings her some drugs as a peace offering and makes him way in to the house. Tommy roughs him up, pulls a gun out and accuses him of knowing about Angela. Ghost denies it and Tommy realizes he’s telling the truth. He suggests killing her, and Ghost is not about to do that.
In the end, Tommy rushes to the hospital to lay with Holly and Ghost goes to Angela house. The episodes finishes with him sitting in a chair asking her, “How was work?”
There, we are caught up.