As mentioned in last week’s recap, Power is building towards an explosive courtroom episode. Last night’s The Kind of Man You Are moved the pieces on the Power chessboard into their positions before all hell breaks loose. Ghost is about to break. Tasha is trying to protect her kids who face eminent danger. Angela is officially back on the prosecution team, and Tommy is managing the drug business while warding off internal and external threats. Meanwhile all the other players are in their own version of chaos, except Kanan who appears to have everything seemingly on lock.
The episode opens with Dre, Julio and Keisha all getting picked up by the Feds. The goal here is to try and rattle people close to Ghost with the hopes of acquiring more evidence to use in the pending trial. Obviously Dre and Julio are pros and know how to handle themselves. Plus, don’t Saxe and Sandoval look like lightweights in an interrogation? Julio and Dre not rattled in the least. Conversely Keisha doesn’t do nearly as well as she is not part of the “game.” Not to mention Angela is conducting her interrogation. Keisha, like the audience, blames Angela for the current situation everyone finds himself or herself in. She hates Angela for what she did to Tasha. Slightly unfair to Angela. Yes, she played a big role. But she wasn’t alone in the initial events that set off this seismic chain reaction.
Meanwhile Ghost meets a new member of his team. Last night introduced us to Terry Silver, the arrogant defense attorney who will sit second chair in Ghost’s upcoming trial. His smug holier than thou attitude was dripping off his Joseph Abboud suit. He and Ghost have friction the moment they meet. Silver doubts Ghost’s innocence obviously, but there is something deeper there. Two black men who in theory should be on the same side are not. Both men have assumptions about who the other is, which may ultimately prove more catastrophic for Ghost as he’s the one in prison.
Silver proves some value when he discovers the city camera footage of Knox’s illegal traffic stop of Ghost. Proctor is able to use the footage, and the fact that Angela knew about the illegal stop but it was not entered into the prosecutions’ timeline of events. Because of this “error” (more on that in extra thoughts) the prosecution is forced to withdraw the DNA as evidence, a huge pre-trial win for the defense. Ghost tries to thank Silver, but he’s not interested in finding common ground. Silver detests men like Ghost and doesn’t care about their guilt or innocence. Silver makes a point of telling Ghost, “I know the kind of man you are.” A tough moment for our tragically flawed hero. He is trying really hard to be a different kind of man. But wherever he goes, there he is. Silver is a nice curveball from Courtney Kemp and the writers. He is allowed to call Ghost on his shit and does it from a specific vantage point. Silver says he does his job so he can get paid and help those who really need it. He purports himself as some kind of black Robin Hood figure. As I said, there is more here with this dynamic and it may prove costly to Ghost during the trial.
Ghost sitting in jail and awaiting a murder trial obviously has the most severe impact on his immediate family. Tasha and the kids face grave danger. Not only financially, but emotionally as well. We learn that Angela’s interrogation of Keisha confirms that Ghost and Tasha’s marriage is on shaky ground. Which means during the trial, the prosecution can attempt to break spousal privilege. Meaning she’ll have to testify. If she doesn’t they can prosecute her as an accomplice. We all know and love Tasha because she is a ride or die, but with the prospect of both she and Ghost in jail, that might be too much to bear. What will happen to the kids? Proctor knows this and is worried about what could potentially happen.
Speaking of the kids. Tariq is trying our last nerves, isn’t he? The blatant disrespect for all adults, except Slim (Kanan), is getting annoying. Yes his parents lied to him and they are criminals, we get it. But it’s hard not to root against him when you compare how he is reacting versus his sister Raina. She is completely devastated and wants to do her part in helping the family. She tells Riq “we have to be perfect for dad.” Granted, she doesn’t know what Riq thinks he knows, but still.
The portrayal of Raina is one of the few issues I have with Kemp and the show. Raina’s character is the stereotypical child who believes their parent when bad things are happening and will only change their tune when mounting evidence is placed in front of them. The show only has 51 minutes or so of actual runtime per episode. I get that everyone can’t have depth. But Donesha Hopkins (actress) doesn’t get a whole lot to work with. Leads me to wonder, if Riq is killed, how will that change Raina?
Back to Riq. He has adopted this tough guy persona. Now he can take on groups of kids at his prep school and threaten them with just his presence? Kind of comical when you think about how he interacts with Kanan. The two of them are now involved in a high level robbing spree. Nice. I see their first target is one of those punk kids from Tariq’s prep school.
On the prosecution side of things, it’s all about narrative. Knox’s mentor Bailey Markham, an agent with Homeland Security, is back and he’s casting doubts on the prosecution’s narrative that Knox was the mole. This is making Sandoval nervous for obvious reasons. At the end of the day locking up Tommy and Ghost is their ultimate goal. However, for Markham he wants to clear Greg’s name because he knows Greg is not the mole. He’s incorrect in stating that it’s Angela but given the information he has, that’s plausible. He doesn’t have the knowledge we do about Sandoval. But keep an eye on Markham, he clearly doesn’t think Mak and the team is smart and he doesn’t trust them. Plus Sandoval’s visit, offering to “work together” has Markham curious. He may already be on to Sandoval. Wonder who blinks first there?
This storyline exposes the dangers of narratives. Which are particularly dangerous if they stop us from exploring any other possibilities. The role of Markham is important because he is forcing the prosecution to look at an alternate theory. When you have a neat and tidy story made up in your mind and you’ve already convinced yourself of its validity, it takes a hell of a lot to move you off that premise. Side note: This is exactly how the criminal justice system works. Circumstantial evidence is pieced together and a narrative is formed. You can see how that is problematic…
With Dre, Julio, and Keisha brought in for questioning, dealing with Ghost’s family and the pressure from Chicago (the connect), it’s a wonder Tommy is still upright. His character isn’t portrayed as someone who always stays cool under pressure. But, this is exactly what Tommy does in this episode. He handles these seemingly impossible situations with relative ease. Remember when he moved the cash with the wash and folds in season 2, and switching cars with his mom last week because he knew the feds would be on him? He does his best to remain one step ahead. This week he pulls the fake card game in the warehouse (low level crime) where the Feds can “see” him, while he hides in the truck bringing in the shipment with tons of weight ready for distribution. Tommy in the thinking man’s role is a nice change. I wonder how long Tommy can keep his cool? That vice grip is only getting tighter and there are a lot of balls to juggle. Kind of the opposite of Ghost, who because of his situation doesn’t have that luxury. He is now more than ever a prisoner of his emotions.
A few extra thoughts:
- I enjoyed the scenes that bookended the episode. Dre and Julio talking about the good part of Ghost and Silver seeing through him and telling him what kind of man he really is.
- Did Ghost cave to Teresi too quick? The whole “pay me or I’ll talk” scam is kind of played out. Odds are, Teresi is going to talk anyway. Plus $20K a week is a lot of money, how much liquid cash does Ghost have on hand?
- Speaking of Teresi. We called it last week that we believe he’s Tommy’s dad. Makes sense right?
- Smuggling the burner cell through commissary in the ramen noodles package, brilliant.
- Last one on Teresi. Are Italian gangsters the most racist of all gangsters? I believe we heard Chink and Moolie in last night’s episode.
- Ghost spots the cell phone in the crime scene photos, nice catch. Can that help later?
- Mak refusing to follow through on the Josh Kantos lead may prove costly. Don’t forget there are people outside the drug game that want to hurt Ghost. Simon Stern, the douchebag brothers Andy and Albie.
- How quick did Proctor and Silver say “no way” to Angela’s request to meet with Ghost alone? Also, how cold is she bringing up his youngest daughter Yasmin.
- Angie is SO cold. Telling Ghost “We both know when you want something, your family doesn’t matter.” Burn!
- Saxe to Julio: “You look like a smart-ish guy.”
- Speaking of Saxe. Where is he meeting the judge? In the Harvard Club? Dude just got out of a steam room and he’s asking about inadmissible evidence. This incident impacts how the judge handles the motion to dismiss the DNA.
- I said to pay attention to Julio and Dre, these two are on a collision course.
- Kanan, as he’s teaching Riq how to make lean: “What’s wrong with you little nigga? You look all fucked up.” LMAO. As if Kanan doesn’t know the part he played in messing with Riq.
- Dre, Ellen & Soo at TRUTH packing pills in the matchboxes. Dre: “Ellen, nice work.” Ellen: “I’m good with my hands.” Soo: “Yeah, I bet you can handle two at a time.” Must be nice to be a club owner or in Dre’s case, manager.
- The St. Patrick’s made it! They are Page Six royalty!
- Tommy got guys named Tickleshit and Dookie Shoes working for him? LOL.
What do ya’ll think? Get at me on twitter @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!