The walls are closing in on Tasha, Ghost, and everyone around them as they desperately try to keep themselves out of prison and protect Riq at the same time.
Power is back after a week hiatus, and things are getting very interesting as the season begins to wind down. On the last episode, Tasha, Ghost, and Angela are now in a world of trouble after Silver —the one person who could corroborate her gun story— packed up and left town after being hit with a subpoena leaving the unlikely trio dumbfounded. The latest episode picks right up as they try to formulate a new plan that will keep them and their young son out of prison.
Same Goal, Two Different Plans
With Silver leaving Tasha looking utterly dumb, a new plan is needed asap. Tasha at first was willing to take the fall for her missing gun, but Ghost was not feeling that idea, and he believed he should be the one to go down. Being the only one thinking straight at the moment, Angela shuts the idea of anyone turning themselves in down. Ghost is adamant about going through with his plan, but before he can walk out the door, Angela hits him with a series of questions.
Putting on her prosecutor hat, she leaves Ghost tongue-tied as he tries to answer the fierce questioning he would face if, in fact, he turned himself in. The moment gives the elder St. Patrick a moment to think, and he comes up with the idea to frame Dre instead. He tells Tasha to store the infamous gun in a safe place while he goes and makes sure everything in place for the plan to be successful.
For once Tasha thinks this is the right play but of course, this is Power, and there is always a catch on this show. She instead wants to frame Kanan and convinces Angela this is the angle to run with even if it means they have to go behind Ghost’s back to pull it off. Keep this pivotal moment in the back of your head because we will be revisiting it further in this recap.
Ghost and Dre’s Tense Truce Is Over
Ghost has no idea what his mistress and his ex-wife are planning behind his back, so he is proceeding as if the play is to still frame his former protegé. They don’t know Kanan has double-crossed both of them by taking out Diego Jimenez himself and taking the head of the dead cartel leader to Jason and warning him that Dre was coming. Ghost surprisingly finds out Tommy’s boss is still alive when he exchanges text with him informing him that Diego is dead which buys them more time.
Ghost informs Tommy of his plan to frame Dre instead of just canceling Christmas on him, but Ghost makes it entirely clear to his Caucasian brother from another that Kanan cannot know about the plan. After a bit of hesitation, Tommy agrees once Ghost points out that the case is getting too close to home and Riq is in danger.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Dre links up with his two sorry ass goons 2-Bit and Spank to get the lowdown on the hit. They inform their boss that Ghost never showed up to take out Diego and that Kanan instead was the one who took out the perverted Jimenez cartel leader. Dre ponders if they killed the hood boogeyman, but 2-Bit tells Dre no much to his displeasure. The young wannabe drug kingpin also has no idea that his overly ambitious lackeys are working with Kanan behind his back. Before Dre leaves on an excursion with his new number two Cristobal, he tells 2-Bit the next time he has a clear shot at Kanan that he better take it.
After they both learned the new details on the hits, Dre and Ghost link up at Truth to discuss why things didn’t go exactly according to plan. Despite Dre knowing that Kanan did the job, Ghost still feels Dre owes him a body, but Dre feels otherwise. The once tense truce they both agreed too is now over, and Dre lets his former mentor know he is appreciative of all the lessons but he is coming for his spot. Unfortunately for Dre, he has no idea that Ghost has other plans in store for him that could cut his ambitions to be the most prominent NYC drug dealer short.
Tasha’s Subtle Power Play With Her Son Worked
Make no mistake about it —Riq is about as hard-headed as the Barbz are when it comes to their Queen, Nicki Minaj. Tasha, Ghost and even Angela are trying their absolute best to get it through his thick skull that they only want what’s best for him, but a teenager is going to be a teenager. Both his parents are both enacting different plans to save him unbeknownst to each other.
Tasha and Angela talk to Riq first, and he isn’t quite receptive once he sees Angela is there waiting for them. Tasha gets him to calm down and to share whatever information he had on Raymond Jones and how he met him through Jukebox and Kanan. This is also the first time that Riq hears from one of his parents that Kanan killed his own son Shawn. Riq quickly catches on that Tasha and Angela are trying to frame Kanan and wants no part of it. Tasha is taken back by her son’s reaction to the plan and tells him to choose between either her or Kanan. Riq makes his choice and tells his mother to find another way before walking off.
Tasha and Angela failed so now its Ghost turn to try to reach his son. Riq, of course, is very hesitant about the idea of breaking bread with his dad. The two do eventually have a man to man discussion and Ghost breaks down to his kid that he doesn’t want to frame Kanan but instead Dre. It seems he gains his son’s confidence a bit when he reassures him that if the plan doesn’t work, he will take the rap for shooting Ray Ray keeping Tasha out of jail. When Ghost walks out of the room, Tasha walks in and tells Riq they need to talk again. We don’t see this conversation but whatever she and Riq talked about will have significant consequences for actions that will take place later on in the episode.
Riq and Kanan’s Relationship Comes To An Epic Conclusion
We honestly can’t think of a television character at this particular moment that is more annoying than Riq. We seriously can’t. While his parents are desperately trying to save his life and soul from the clutches of the world they wanted to keep him from, he is out learning the ropes of the drug game with his new best friend, Kanan.
While re-upping his stash of pills, the hungry young knucklehead eyes get a bit too wide when he sees cocaine. Kanan quickly tells Riq to slow his role and start small with the stash of Xanax he just supplied him with to move when he goes back to school. After a quick lesson in drug dealing 101, Kanan takes Riq with him to meet with the head of the Teresi family to establish a working relationship at the expense of Ghost and Tommy.
The Training Day-inspired moment between Riq and Kanan has the young bull being thrown on the pavements to move the weight. Riq returns a little too quick from selling the stash Kanan supplied him with. When he hits off his drug dealing mentor with the cash, Kanan discovers he was slipped a fake $20 bill. Usually, Kanan would have gotten physical with any of his subordinates after such a mistake, but he kept his cool with Riq. While driving Riq spots the kids that gave him the counterfeit money and runs up on them getting the product back.
Kanan is impressed with Riq and tells him he’s the like the son he never had which was the perfect segue for Riq to inquire about Kanan’s deceased son. Riq is perplexed at how Kanan could kill someone he loved, but the ruthless drug dealer explained Shawn wasn’t built for the life like he was and he never took a DNA test, so there was a chance he wasn’t his father. Now while all this is going on Riq is exchanging texts with his mother telling her where he is. Looks like with the help of Ghost and whatever Tasha and Riq spoke to each other about the second time around they penetrated the boy’s thick skull.
While Kanan is taking Riq home, they get pulled over, and it is deja vu all over again for Kanan. It turns out Riq listened to his mother, took his gun and placed it in the trunk of Kanan’s car. When the police find it, they question Riq, and he tells them that Kanan has kidnapped him. Kanan instructs them to take the kid and the cops place him in the back of the squad car. Kanan has no intentions of going back to jail and John Wicks himself out of the situation taking out all of the cops but in the process sustains gunshot wounds. Riq tries to escape, but the doors are locked, Kanan sees him in the car but elects to leave him alive and drives off. Kanan has survived being set up once, set on fire but this time he won’t be able to talk about this story. Kanan succumbs to his wounds and dies while trying to escape.
While all of that was going on Ghost and Tasha are arguing at home after he discovered the gun is not in the safe. Tasha breaks down the entire plan to Ghost but he knows Kanan is not going to go down easy and he was right about that. But he didn’t foresee Kanan actually caring for Riq by allowing him to live even though he set him up the same way his mother did years ago.
Angela Is Not Out of The Woods Yet
Everything seems to be going according to plan, Dre has been framed with the murder of Diego, Kanan is dead, the gun has been placed on him, LaKeisha vouched for Tasha even though she was initially scared to do so and Angela’s job looks safe. Or is it? They managed to get rid of all their enemies but in the process might have gained a new one who was a staunch ally.
Ghost’s attorney Joe Proctor has gotten his law license back, but it appears he flipped for it. Saxe and Mak put the screws to Proctor, and it looks like the ghosts of the dead correction officer Ghost killed while he was locked up is coming back to haunt him and his client. Proctor masterfully denies any knowledge of his death and that they would be hard-pressed to prove Ghost was responsible. Saxe and Mak reveal to them they have a witness (Teresi) that could implicate Ghost and place him at the scene of the crime. Proctor goes to see Ghost to talk about the incident and ask his client if he knows anything about the gruesome murder. Ghost, of course, plays coy but he seems to be very suspicious about Proctor.
Not too sure about his answers, Proctor decides to get some insurance. Proctor’s loyalty is beginning to waiver and he links up with Ben to get the murdered Homeland Security agent’s laptop with some damaging video surveillance on it that could take down Tommy and Ghost. Proctor believes he has been more loyal to them than they are when it comes to him and feels Ghost would pick Angela over him in a heartbeat.
Now he is still team St. Patrick in the end but he by no means cares for Angela at all. So as part of his deal to get his job back, Proctor offers to flip on Angela to Saxe, Mak, and Tameika, telling them that Angela has been helping Ghost all this time. With only two episodes left things look like they are going to get extra spicy now.
