The premiere episode of season 5 begins in the immediate aftermath of the death of crooked NYPD officer Raymond Jones (Ray Ray) at the hands of Tariq. Police are on the scene and it appears there is more here than a simple murder. Ray Ray’s flophouse is full of stolen goods, and Internal Affairs (IA) is on the case when they notice the head of the Eastern District criminal division, Angela, is already on the scene. Yeah, because that doesn’t suggest to anyone with a halfway functioning brain that something is not quite right. Welcome back Power fans!
This was an excellent way to open the premiere episode titled Everyone Is Implicated. The St. Patrick family and their criminal deeds have not only come home to roost with the death of their eldest daughter Raina, at the end of last season. But these people are radioactive. Anyone that comes into their orbit gets their hands dirty either out of obligation, loyalty, love, or just plain happenstance.
For Angela, this is nothing new. Her hands have been dirty since the first season when she and Ghost started their affair. Now it’s even more complicated because of her high profile position. Forgetting for a moment all of her past misdeeds, and there have been plenty. At the end of last season, she helps Tasha locate Tariq in Washington Heights who was on his way to handle Ray Ray. She confronts Tasha early in the episode about what she believes went down, thinking she gave Tasha, means, motive and opportunity to kill Ray Ray. Like the lawyer she is, Angela believes she is an accessory to murder. Tasha drops a bomb on her that changes things ever so slightly. When Angela learns that it was, in fact, Tariq who killed Ray Ray, with Tasha’s gun, a whole new problem emerges. The ballistics report from Tasha’s gun is in the federal system when they match the bullet from the crime scene, that will be all the evidence needed.