The third episode of POWER is the season’s best. Its title: “I got this on lock” is fitting but not for who you might think. We meet Jukebox, played brilliantly by the incomparable Anika Noni Rose. She enters a robbery in progress in Washington, DC. She points a gun at one of the robbers but then instructs him to kill the store clerk. The robber does as he’s told. Did I mention Jukebox is a cop? She was in full uniform as this was all going down. Oh, and she decides to kill the robber who killed the store clerk. Yeah. That’s Jukebox.
If anyone has anything on lock, it is her. She’s also the reason Kanan is still alive; they are cousins. Is there any surprise here? She transported him from New York to Washington, DC unaware, at first, as to who “burnt [him]like a pork rind,” as Dirt, one of Jukebox’s minions, put it. Kanan and Jukebox go back-and-forth with who, what, and why this all happened to him. He finally confesses to Jukebox’s girlfriend, unintentionally, that Ghost was responsible. Jukebox wants to help Kanan quench revenge. Kanan welcomes this help with open arms by saying: “You ain’t Black no more. You blue.”
Be prepared to see a crossing of not only Jukebox and Kanan with Ghost but also with Angela. Jukebox is law enforcement, but Angela is a higher type of law enforcement. Let’s get ready to rumble!
In other news, Tommy, Holly, and Tasha seem to be one big happy sibling family. Tasha, the resident smart one of the three, is getting a hair weave business off the ground, which of course, will be a front for Tommy’s illegal dealings. Holly is hoping to learn from Tasha so that she can take over all of the accounting. Although Tommy and Tasha have said that’s the plan, their condescending looks and comments make it seem like she’s just an annoying stepchild. I sincerely doubt that either of them allows her to be responsible for keeping the books. Does anyone remember that she’s a kleptomaniac?
Our star, Ghost, is dealing with something a little more provocative. His son, Tariq, was threatened with expulsion for bringing a gun to school. Ghost automatically assumes that it was Tasha’s. The principal reveals that the gun was registered to AUSA Angela Valdez. That’s right, Ghost’s girlfriend.
Ghost confronts Angela about it, and she apologizes, explaining that she wasn’t able to place the gun back in the safe because Ghost brought the kids over earlier than expected. Ghost was clearly annoyed and reaffirmed the fact that Angela does not have kids.
This spirals into a conversation about whether Ghost has seen Tommy. Greg Knox, Angela’s ex-lover and ex-colleague, is still following her around, hoping to make a case against her man, Ghost. Greg tells her that Ghost is still “up to his old tricks,” while showing her a picture of Ghost outside Tommy’s apartment building. Angela hopes that Ghost is honest with her, and he is. He says that he has tried communicating with Tommy but hasn’t been successful. Angela has been hopeful that her beau is now living a clean life, but I am sure she believes that could all change in a heartbeat.
A clean life for Ghost isn’t impossible. He is trying to expand his brand with a hotelier, Karen Bassett. She is interested in putting his club in one of her spaces. If Ghost can resist the lure of the drug game, he could have a very lucrative career and happy life with Angela. But is this what he wants?
Tommy receives a text from Tariq asking to meet him to talk. Tommy shows up, and who do we see? Ghost. Tommy immediately turns around knowing that he has been tricked. Ghost says, “You’re a good uncle, Tommy” and continues to tell him that he knows Lobos hired him to kill him. He proposes that they work together to defeat Lobos because even if Tommy kills Ghost, “when” Tommy makes a mistake, Lobos will off him, too. Tommy is offended by the “when” and walks away from him, asserting that he knows what’s he doing.
This interaction shows us the most important thing about Tommy: He will not kill Ghost, and this is sure to drive a wedge between him and Holly. Holly has been pressuring Tommy to kill Ghost, and Tommy has been acting as if he will, but as we can see, when faced with Ghost, he walks away. At the end of the day, that is his brother.
Tommy will probably not tell Holly about this interaction, and Holly will probably not tell him about her own situation: she is pregnant. Considering how good of an uncle Tommy is, is this the news that will push him over the edge to kill Ghost? Tommy’s baby. Ghost’s son. The only one who seems to not care about the father-child relationship is Kanan.
Jukebox tries to figure out who killed Shawn, Kanan’s son. As she theorizes on what happened to Shawn, Kanan spits it out and says he killed Shawn. I was shocked that he admitted this to her. I was afraid that she would put a bullet in his head and call it a day. Jukebox spoke profoundly on how much Kanan meant to her. I assumed that he meant a lot to her because he not only accepted her as a lesbian, while her father disowned her, but because, you know “blood is thicker than water.” However, I was wrong.
Kanan means a lot to Jukebox because he was on her side. That’s it. When she hears Kanan admit to killing his own son, she is sympathetic saying he “had to do what he had to do.” Oh, wow.
Move over, Kanan! His cousin seems to be filling his monster shoes well. I’m sure she will be able to pick up where he leaves off if the showrunner, Courtney Kemp Agboh, decides to really give Kanan the axe.
This episode restored my faith in the series. These are twists and turns I did not expect. Bravo, Courtney!
Season 3, Episode 3 (S03E03)
Power airs Sundays at 9PM on Starz
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Jennifer Ford writes by night and secures insurance for TV shows by day.
Twitter: @reneseford / Ok-So Blog
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