After the Show: Catching Up with "Power" Creator Courtney Kemp Agboh

belle August 20, 2015

You know how much I love "Power"! So you can only imagine how happy I was when the show's creator, head writer, and show runner, Courtney Kemp Agboh, agreed to an interview for ABIB. I liked her before our chat (in the same way that I like David Simon from The Wire) because she's created a show that I obsess over. But post-interview? I'm officially in love! In addition to being all things awesome, Agboh is a former magazine girl (just like me) turned Hollywood powerhouse (um, not me... yet).

I caught up with Agboh via phone as she was sitting in the dark in her LA office, finalizing a script for a Season 3 episode of "Power". (Hint: two characters pull guns on each other... again.) For 45 minutes we talked all things "Power", from Black women harping on Tasha's complexion, to Omari free-styling Jamie's primal scream, to Shawn's 17 extra lives— and much more.

Check out Part 1 of my interview with Agboh below!

ABIB: Where did the idea of “Power” come from? I read it was two shows kind of rolled into one?

Agboh: Mark Caton and 50 Cent had an idea for a fast paced music series. I was putting together a show about my dad. He died in 2011 and I was trying to work my way through that loss. My dad was not a drug dealer, but he was a self-made man, who was very invested in looks, and in perception being reality. Many of the building blocks for creating Ghost are based on those traits. Also, my favorite book, or one of them, is The Great Gatsby, so that figures into the show as well.

ABIB: I can totally see that. The “fake it til you make it” idea?

Agboh: That and the woman who got away that he couldn’t have, and when she comes back, only showing her the one side of him. All those things

ABIB: How much input does Fiddy have on the show?

Agboh: Lots! We talk about everything. We have long phone conversations. He reads everything, but he doesn’t write, per se. But he is a writer. All rappers are poets. A lot of times we’ll be on the phone and I will literally write down exactly what he says and put it in the show.

ABIB: I know that you write most of the show, in addition to being the head writer and the creator and the show runner, but some of the reads on the show…. in the finale Tommy says to Ghost, “No matter how much your suits cost or how many clubs you ever own, you just a ghetto ass corner boy from around the way with a drunk for a daddy and no mama. You ain’t changed at all.” I’m like, Oh God. Pause the show. Is that all you or is that the collection of writers?

Agboh: I’m a very angry person. Just because I didn’t grow up with guns, doesn’t mean I don’t secretly go off in my head occasionally. As a writer, you get to have characters express things that you wouldn’t say out loud, you know? I’m wearing a pencil skirt and a little cardigan while we’re talking, but I just wrote a scene where one character pulls a gun on another. It’s part of the imagination, and that’s how I talk in my head.

ABIB: I love it! I wonder what you thought about the show’s comparisons to Empire? Fiddy was very vocal about it. Are you flattered to be compared to the other show or is it unfair because they’re comparing two shows just because they’re Black and they’re really not very much alike?

Agboh: It’s tiresome and bordering on racist. Nobody compares “Breaking Bad” and “Nashville”. No one says Dynasty was the same as Hill St. Blues. Those shows are so different. So many people approach me and ask me, ‘what do you think about Empire?’ I told 50 a while ago: "show runners do not make diss records. We don’t beef publicly. It doesn’t work that way." It’s just a show and we’re another show. I have much respect for Ilene Chaiken who is the showrunner over there. No one ever talks about her. I have respect for the actors. I think it’s an obnoxious comparison. I guess people have to make it and have to cover it but our show premiered a season prior [to Empire], so it’s at little like, “huh?”

ABIB: We hear a lot of talk about he disadvantages of being a Black woman in Hollywood, what are the advantages?

Agboh: The advantage is that people still think I’m a unicorn. So sometimes I get to have these experiences that other people don’t get to have. I get to mentor young Black women. I get to chose who I hire behind the camera. I get to say unpopular stuff out loud and have a platform. I get to say my truth.

ABIB: I know you’re very active on Twitter, but I’m not sure how closely you follow the TV recaps and blogs about the show. Has there been anything that audience latches on to and you’re just like “really, people?”

Agboh: My number one bugaboo is Black women that say Ghost is somehow dissing Black women by being with Angela. I’ve never told anyone else this, I’ll give you an exclusive. We were doing testing for the show, and when you do tests, you also do quadrants of people. There were a number of people who wrote when they first saw the pilot and said Ghost wouldn’t have been with a woman as dark as Tasha.

ABIB: Wow.

Agboh: And do you know who those people were?

ABIB: Black women.

Agboh: Black women! Why the hell do we hate ourselves so much that we would think that? Its’ so amazing what we do to each other, that we’ve internalized that much hate, and carry it around in ourselves. Ghost isn’t trading up with Angela. That’s his first love. That’s the one thing that I’m like, “Ugghhh! you’re missing something!”

The other thing is when people say Tasha is “ride or die”. If you go back to the first season, Ghost says to Tasha, “I want to be more” and she says, “What more?! We have everything!” He literally says, “Can you get on board? I want to go legit” and she says, “I don’t want to do that. I want you to be what I want you to be.”

ABIB: Sometimes I feel very sorry for Tasha. She has a man who wants more and she can’t see it. She is very limited in the way she thinks.

Agboh: Tasha is complicated. She once had ambitions of her own. She wanted to be a singer. She has half an accounting degree. But she decided to supplicate her desires and get on board with this man and she made a bad bargain with Ghost.

Tasha is one of my heroes on the show. Tasha is growing. What we see in the first episode, in the pilot, Tasha has the first line of the series. There’s a reason we start with Tasha. She says to Ghost, “Tell me I’m beautiful.” She doesn’t own her own beauty. She needs Ghost to tell her about it.

Over the course of the series what you’ll see is that she begins to figure out for herself her own worth and that her worth is beyond the outside package. At one point we talked about getting rid of the nails and the weave, then Shonda did that sh-- on HTGAWM and we were like nah, we’ll go another way. But we are going to explore the idea of who is Tasha under all that. She’s trying to navigate a situation with not a full set of maturity. One of the things that’s there if you look, those twins are 10 years old in the show; she just turned 30. So how old was she when she had them? She didn’t have a lot of childhood or post adolescence. She kind of hustled into this. We’ll see her grow.

Part 2 of my interview with Courtney Kemp Agboh will post tomorrow. :-)

TV Recap: Power Season 2 Finale-- Ghost is Dead!!!

belle August 16, 2015

"Marlo" aka Drifty is communing with the ancestors, (i.e, practicing voodoo) when an unidentified shooter murks him. He leaves behind… a tarot card of a spider? Huh?

Over in Angie land, she’s going though her old diary and finds a picture of her and Jamie from when they were kids. She’s also packing a bag. Then suddenly, she's sitting in a chair at the end of a hallway. Jamie calls. She sends him to voicemail. Huh? Where is Angie going? Where is Angie sitting? She debates deleting his number. She can’t. But she is changing his name to Ghost, then “Do Not Answer”. Ha! Ive done that. Now she’s packing the picture and the diamond necklace. And the shoes Jamie brought. Is she taking it to a consignment shop? She gotta sell that necklace. I wonder what it will go for. What, oh, what are you up to Angela?

Angela shows up early at work to talk to Mike, I’m guessing about the botched case against Tommy. Mike tells her to save it and there’s a disciplinary hearing coming. She’s not there to apologize, but to confess. Oh, boy.

Turtle aka “Mr. Proctor” and Ghost meet at the park. Turtle thinks he should be kept on retainer because the Feds still want Lobos, and Angela will surely be out for Ghost’s blood after he blew up her case in court. He’s a good lawyer.

Ghost doesn't think Angela will do that. Um… Turtle tells Ghost that if he wants out, he has to cut ties with everyone who knows who he is. “Including you?” Ghost asks, before abruptly wrapping their meeting.

Tommy is stuffing his face at the St. Patricks and telling Tasha about the look on Angie’s face in the courtroom when she realized Ghost played her. Indeed, it was hilarious. “He put our family first!” he tells Tasha. “Maybe things can go back to the way they were.” Tasha looks scared. Cause we know she didn’t hear from Shawn. She calls to ask where he is, because she’s worried, but also the kids have to get to school.

Fiddy is at The Shack hanging out with his gun when he gets a call from Shawn's mom looking for their son. Fiddy says Shawn’s fine and he had to do a run for Ghost. Sir.

Dre wanders into the room on the tail end of the conversation, looking bewildered. He asks what Mom is going to do when she finds out Fiddy killed Shawn. Fiddy, who is going off the rails, attacks Dre and says if he did his job right, no one will ever know. Um.. that’s not how TV works, but you hold on to that for suspense sake. Dre says no one will find Shawn’s body. #justiceforShawn

Ghost stops by to see Tommy, who is wearing a ridiculous outfit. It’s very Kanye West collection. And Tommy is doing real white boy ish, like putting Belle on the counter.

Anyway, Jamie is there trying to figure out how to get in touch with Lobos so they can get back to work in the drug game. Then there’s the other issue of Shawn trying to kill him last night, on Kanan’s orders. Ghost has finally deduced that Kanan was behind the lady hitter, Rolla, and more. Tommy’s confused. Ghost tells Tommy that Kanan is seeking revenge because Ghost put him in jail. Tommy’s even more confused. If that’s the case, why didn’t Kanan just kill Ghost? “Because he needed to learn the business,” Ghost yells. “Which you taught him.” Tommy looks ashamed. Ghost and Tommy make plans to kill Kanan.

At the Feds, Greg has arrived for a meeting with Big Boss Mike. They’ve got a guest, Jerry, a fellow investigator. From watching The Wire, I’m guessing Jerry represents the Fed equivalent of internal oversight. Anyway, Mike wants to know why Greg has been following Angela. Greg stutters his way through an explanation, only to find out that Angela has filed a formal sexual harassment suit against him. Oh sh--! That’s what Angela was there to see Mike about. Greg is suspended, effective immediately.

At Truth, Jamie, Cantos and Stern are watching the videotape of the break in at the office. Conveniently, Cantos didn’t put the money in the system, or put the money in the bank, so insurance doesn’t cover it, and with the books gone, there’s no documentation that Jamie made it into the black, plus 20 percent. So no club ownership for you, Jamie.

Tommy’s trying to get the drug business back off the ground, so he hits up Drifty aka Marlo, who we know is dead. But um, there’s a response. Hold up, who has Drifty's phone?

Tommy heads to The Shack where Kanan is holed up and Tommy is greeted with the business end of several guns. Karan is serious about his security. Tommy tells Kanan that Ghost set him up and obviously they can’t work together anymore, so he needs help moving the package. He wants to partner with Kanan. “Now that I know how Ghost treats his friends, I’m thinking it might be better to be his enemy," Tommy says.

Karan has a story of his own. He tells Tommy about the night Ghost — and Tasha— set him up and sent him to prison for 10 years. Oh, and that Ghost didn’t kill the girl in Miami. “Seems like he’s been lying to you for a long time, Kanan deduces.

Ghost is leaving the office when Tasha shows up with her boobies out. She’s there for reconciliation after Tommy told her that Ghost chose his family over Angie. “Is it over between you two?” Tasha asks.

“Isi it over between you and Shawn?” Jamie retorts.

Tasha’s face is cracked…. and on the ground.

“I used Angela to protect our family,” Ghost says. “You f--king that kid could have destroyed it.

Tasha picks up her things. Clearly, this marriage is a wrap. Ghost has a parting shot: “I’m sure you’ll hear from Shawn as soon as he’s set up. But then you got an important decision to make, I mean, you can stay here with the kids or you can go live off the salary of a high school basketball coach.”

Tasha ain’t being sonned so easy. “There’s no winners here. Just me and you, baby,” she fires back.

The Serb is chilling at the spa when he comes out to see everyone’s dead. Someone shoots though the glass killing him, and steals his phone.

Lobos is with the Feds and claiming “no comprende” for the King’s English. Fed dude whose name I haven’t bothered to learn is like, but “you went to Wharton Business School!” LOL. Mike hits him with some Spanish to inform him that everyone in his network is being killed. And it’s only so long before Lobos gets offed too. Lobos still isn’t talking.

Ghost and Tommy are meeting at the pier in Long Island City, Queens. It’s quite beautiful in the summer. Hubs and I hang out there. A sullen Tommy tells Ghost what Kanan said about Ghost setting him up, which Ghost denies. Oh, and that Ghost didn’t kill the chick in Miami. Ghost confesses that’s true. Tommy is hurt. “I never gave you reason not to trust me,” he says.

“Except that one time,” Ghost hits back. “You forgot to mention that Holly talked to the Feds," he says. "You had you reasons for not telling me but it doesn’t make it any less true.”

Tommy’s quiet. He says Ghost knows everything, but is there anything else that he should know from Ghost? Ghost says it’s all on the table. Um… not exactly. But Ghost says, “it’s you and me Tommy. Just like it’s always been.” Tommy promises to deliver Kanan to be killed. And someone is watching all of this.

In a law office across town, The Sterns are finalizing the terms of their divorce. Mrs. Stern breaks out the two sets of accounting books that Stern keeps for the clubs and threatens to have him send to prison for embezzlement. Stern gives in to her demands.

Jamie is waiting for them in the hallway after the meeting. Stern promises that Jamie won’t enjoy working for his wife as she’s “a tremendous b---h”. But Jamie isn't working for Mrs. Stern, he’s back in business for himself, with Truth, and two additional clubs that formerly belonged to Stern. Stern says it isn’t over. “Yes, Simon, it is, “James insists.

So… I hated this storyline all season. It was a distraction from the drug game and the Feds, and Fiddy’s messy self that I really cared about. Please, writers, let this be the end of Stern. Give Jamie some new headache with the club next season.

Angie’s returning to her building after a run when Jamie shows up to tell her the good news: he got his club back and he’s almost totally out the game. Hold up, is he really trying to be with her? Angie is not trying to hear it. Her career is over when Isabel Ruiz testifies at Angie’s bar hearing the next day and Angie’s family, who depends on her, is screwed. “Can you leave me the f— alone?” she asks Jamie. Um… why doesn’t she just ask Jamie to help her, either drop some bread or fix this isabel Ruiz situation. I’m sure her dad doesn’t want her talking to the feds no way.

Tommy is walking Belle in a park and on the phone with Kanan talking about meeting with Lobos when Belle gets loose and runs to… Holly?! Tommy threatens to “choke [her] out in front of God and everybody”. She wants Tommy to know that she loves him and Ghost made her leave. She gives him a bag containing a bunch of cash and a fake ID with her face on it as proof.

In prison, an inmate receives a package containing a phone. He dials a pre-programmed number and asks, “Instructions?” I don’t understand what happened.

At Truth, Dre pops up to visit Ghost. He tells Ghost that Sean is dead by Kanan’s hand. “You want to work with me, huh?” Ghosts asks Dre. “What more do I have to prove?’ Dre asks. It’s the same thing Ghost said to Tommy when Tommy questioned Ghost's loyalty. Does Ghost realize that?

Outside Truth, Dre gets in the car with Kanan. “He bought it. Ghost thinks I’m on his side now,” Dre says. I can’t read this kid. He’s just like Ghost.

Fiddy lays out the plan to get the whole (dead) crew together to come up with the post-Ghost plan. All Dre hears is he ain’t gonna be at the meeting because he’s the errand boy getting rid of Ghost’s body. I think he just had the same realization that Shawn had about Kanan: Fiddy is using me. Fiddy’s rambling on about Ghost being “a greedy motherf--ker who don’t know how to treat a friend.” Um.. you hemmed up Dre yesterday, and exed him out of the meeting just now. But Ghost is the only one with poor social skills?

Ruiz is leaving the car wash when Ghost pops up. I expect Ghost to kill him, but he doesn’t know how reckless Ruiz has been. Anyway, he convinces Ruiz that Lobos will be out to get both of them as he’s in jail facing federal charges and the two of them have seen his face. He tells Ruiz to go into hiding.

In prison, Lobos is playing music in his head when lunch arrives. He’s stabbed through the lunch/mail slot, five times in the stomach. Who is doing all this killing?

Angela’s at her bar hearing, where she could lose the right to practice law or have a censure placed on her permanent record. The judge wants to hear testimony from Isabel Ruiz, who is conveniently unavailable. Angela’s in the clear. Whew! Weird. I want Angie to die, but if she’s going to live, I don’t want her to lose her career.

Back at work, Angie’s trying to call Isabel. Her co-worker is taunting her with what she missed while she was briefly suspended and at her bail hearing. Lobos has been stabbed, Ruis and family moved to California and most of Lobos's drug network is dead. Oh, and Lobos is in surgery— not dead. Either Angela knows Ghost is behind this or she wants to warn him of what’s going on. She goes in her office and calls him, but he doesn't answer.

Fiddy shows up to meet Tommy only to find that he isn’t there, Ghost is. “That wasn’t part of the plan,” Kanan says. “Why he ain’t show?” Good question. Ghost takes Kanan’s gun, asking if it’s the one he used to kill Shwan. “Wasn’t my son no more. That was your son,” Kanan says with no remorse.

The two rumble around for what seems like eternity. It’s actually pretty suspenseful cause you know one of them is about to die and you wonder whether it be the star of the show or the executive producer. Decisions, decisions. In the end, it’s Kanan after a valiant fight. Ghost throws gasoline on the body and lights the building on fire to get rid of the DNA evidence. Rest in Power, Fiddy.

Ghost is in a warehouse hitting the bottle hard when Tommy walks in. He’s pissed that Tommy didn’t show up to help him do Kanan. But Tommy has an excuse. He pulls Holly’s fake ID from his pocket and says, “I was hanging out with her.”

“You think I’m f--king stupid,” Tommy tells Ghost. “Just like Kanan did.”

Tommy’s got a new plan. He’s going to take over the drug business and handle the Serb, Ruiz, and Drifty from now on while Ghost runs the club. Um…

“There is no more business,” Ghost says. He confesses to Tommy that he killed Drifty, The Serb, and sent Ruiz away. “Keeping them alive was risky,” Ghosts says. “The only way out was to cut all ties.”

Tommy is pissed and pulls a gun on Ghost. “You got everything you wanted. What about what I wanted?” he asks. “[Drug dealing] was the only thing I was ever good at.”

“You’re great at it,” Ghost corrects. “But I got more to offer.”

Tommy, just like Tasha, is not here for Ghost’s arrogant sh—t: "No matter how much your suits cost or how many clubs you ever own, you just a ghetto ass corner boy from around the way with a drunk for a daddy and no mama. You ain’t changed at all.”

I had to pause and rewind. That was the read of the century.

These two have guns pointed at each others' faces, when Dre pops up from nowhere. “You already got yourself a new bitch?” Tommy asks.

They let Tommy go. Or better Tommy gets sick of the stand off where no one’s actually doing anything, and walks off because he’s gangster like that.

Jamie makes his way back to the hotel and he’s walking around in grey sweats and no shirt.

Got.

Damn.

There’s a knock at the door and it’s Angela. She wants to know how he’s the only member of the syndicate that’s left. Um… because he’s doing all the killing. How is this chick an ADA? Like, she can’t do basic 2+2 math. Anyway, Angela’s there because, “I can’t get over you, but I can’t be with Ghost,” se says.

Ghost tells her, “there is no more Ghost. “Ghost is dead”. Instead, there is only James St. Patrick who is very much in love with Angela. “Everything we ever wanted can happen now,” he says, repeating himself from last week. But this week, Angie is trying to hear it. “I can’t promise I will forget everything,” she says. “But I can try.” Oh, Angie.

At the St. Patricks, Tasha is trying to figure out why Shawn never showed up to get her and the kids, or even say goodbye. Lala isn’t surprised. “Maybe he realized he wasn’t ready to be a daddy to 3 kids," she says. Shade.

Tasha’s phone buzzes while they’re talking. Someone’s calling from the morgue, asking her to ID a body. Yep, it’s Shawn. Tasha is hurt, then pissed. She blames herself for Shawn’s death even if she didn’t pull the trigger.

She thinks Ghost did the deed, but I don’t get how she can really be upset with him. Ghost already told her that Shawn tried to kill him. And she knew before Ghost knew she was humping Shawn that Ghost would kill Shawn if ever he found out about their affair. You can only be so mad at your man for killing the guy you were cheating with. I’m saying. The only reason he won't kill her is he's also cheated and she is the mother of his children.

Jamie and Angela walk through the lobby of her building together as they leave for work. Angie’s got to take the trash out because Ghost doesn’t know his way around the basement yet. This makes no sense, especially when Angie just goes to the basement and makes a right out of the elevator. Greg, who was watching Angie and Ghost from across the street, corners her in the basement. He’s rightfully pissed.

“If you’re not stalking me, what are you doing here?” Angela asks. Good question.

Greg says Ghost is going down. “I swear to God,” Greg adds. “You’re going down with him.”

Angela runs back to her apartment and locks the door. She gets her gun from the safe.

Jamie’s in his office at Truth, sitting at the big desk again. He’s on a call when he looks down to see a blood-stained tarot card he’s been leaving after his murders sitting on his desk. Oh sh--! Someone other than Angie and Tommy knows what he’s been up to.

Tommy is good money again, after sex with Holly. Tasha calls and he declines to answer, because he rather spend time with Holly. He’s choosing Holly. This isn’t actually a first, but it means more now.

Angela’s boss, Mike, visits Lobos in his hospital room, and gives him a cell phone. He calls Lobos “Boss.” Mike is the contact on the inside. Yo. I did not see that one coming.

Tommy and Holly are walking thru a park, playing happy family with Belle when Tommy is approached by a large Latino man, who offers him a phone. It’s Lobos on the other end. He knows what Ghost did and he’s offering Tommy a distribution deal only if he kills Ghost. If he chooses not to, then Lobos’s team with kill Ghost, Tommy, Holly and Belle. Oh, sh--! Decisions, decisions.

Ghost climbs into the bed with Angie in his street clothes, each of them pretending that everything is ok. Sir! If you don’t get out that clean bed with your dirty clothes! They lay there, together, finally, but at what cost?

Oh, over at the burnt out warehouse, investigators are discussing the damage, but not a body? One investigator leads the other over to the door. “Why would someone break in here to start a fire?” he wonders.

Um. “No one broke in here. Someone broke out!” says the other investigator. Translation: Kanan is alive.

Ohemgee!

This was a phenomenal ending to Season 2. Can’t wait for what comes in Season 3. Hopefully, “Power” creators Courtney Kemp Agboh and Fiddy don’t make us wait a year

BONUS!!: I have an interview scheduled with “Power” creator, showrunner and head writer Courtney Kemp Agboh on Monday. Tell me what you want me to ask her in the comments.

Power Recap: It Was All Good Just A Week Ago

belle August 8, 2015

Tommy is being processed and a guard observes, "you are one ugly piece of sh--." Really? Tommy kinda does it for me, in a weird way. I think he's one of those guys whose personality makes them cuter. As he's stripping, I wonder how I have never noticed his physique before. Tommy With A Job aka White Boy Tommy is a low key hottie.

At Tommy's bail hearing the following day, I realize "Turtle" aka Mr. Proctor, the lawyer Ghost hired for Tommy, looks great in a suit. Why do all these men suddenly look so good? I've been out of town for five days. I think I miss my husband. Anyway, no bail for Tommy. Oh, and I hate Angie.

Tasha is making out with her delusional boy toy when she gets a call from Tommy saying he's in jail. As expected, she freaks out. Shawn, because he's like 5, doesn't know what to do because, again: 5.

At the office, Angela's getting kudos from the boss, who wants to talk about her bright future. Hater Greg comes over to piss on her parade. He wants James to testify about Tommy. Not never ever will this happen.

Angela swings by Jamie's hotel. She's still mad Jamie changed his cell. He explains his number occasionally gets in the wrong hands. He wants Angie to help Tommy. She wants Tommy to testify. Again, no.

Kanan and Dre are pep talking Shawn into how to kill Ghost. This all feels very Michael Corleone, but the difference is "Mikey" was actually an untapped G who just needed a push in the right direction. Shawn is no Michael Corleone. However, he is eager to please his father and is willing to give it the good try. Um. Shawn is going to end up dead.

Back at the hotel, Tasha is charging down the hallway, pissed. "I guess that d--k ain't what it used to be," she yells at Ghost. She mad about Tommy being arrested. Ghost insists it's all part of his master plan. Tasha is unconvinced. "You're playing with fire, Ghost," she says. "You just better make sure we don't all get burned."

Tommy meets with Turtle in jail. Tommy is pissed that Ghost isn't in jail and is back to believing Ghost set him up. "He just happens to be running late the same day and his girlfriend magically knows the location of our meeting with Lobos?" Tommy asks. Um... good point. Turtle is a hottie in this suit. I still can't take him seriously as a lawyer. But after some convincing Tommy does.

Turtle calls Ghost after meeting Tommy to fill him in. "You're f--king the prosecutor?" Turtle asks. Ghost insists there's "a benefit" to it. I still don't know if he actually likes Angie or not.

Ghost is facing a massive amount of bullish-- at his real job, but somehow he makes time to pitch Cantos new business, an event on Saturday. I'm impressed. The club would have been the last thing on my mind that day and that weekend. Perhaps this is why he's so successful as a MF coke boy. I'm not built for that. Cantos agrees to the party as Ghost has everything in place. As Ghost is leaving, Cantos reaches for a box of records that he plans to send to Stern at the end of the week.

At the office, Angie and team are are sorting through boxes (nice visual transition there), preparing their discovery case against "Eagan." Greg pushes up on Angie about talking to Jamie. She says it hasn't happened. Big Boss shows up to say that Tommy is "small fish"; they just want Lobos. They'll be lenient with Tommy if he gives them Lobos. (By lenient, they mean 15 years).

Lala aka Kisha is by the St. Patrick's dropping off all the bank statements that Tasha has been sending to her house. "What are you going to do with 200k?," Lala asks Tasha. "That's like your shoe budget for a week." Tasha seems deeply worried about the amount. LOL. Tasha tells Kisha that Ghost is in too deep with Angie, and she has to protect herself and the kids. She's planning to leave and go somewhere with the kids that even Kisha won't know about. "You're hiding money from Ghost and now you wanna hide his kids too?!" Kisha asks. She uses the proper level of hysteria for the situation. Kisha thinks going off and starting another life alone is nuts. "Can't you find another way?" she asks. Tasha's wheels are turning.

The Serb shows up for a meeting at a back room hole in the wall with the other distributors. The initial plan to meet Lobos didn't work and he doesn't want to waste his time by engaging further. Oh, and the supply is low. Kanan cautions the other distributors to be easy. "Ghost will be dead by tomorrow", he says. I don't know why he just won't do the job. I know and he should know that his son is "the Namond" from The Wire. Your dad being a gangster does not make you one. It's not like your blood type that is just passed down on your dad's side. Gangsters are not born, they are made. Anyway, Fiddy says not to worry about the supply. Lobos has been arrested before and has measures in place to make sure operations continue to run smoothly.

Shawn shows up at the St. Patricks the morning he is supposed to kill Ghost. Tasha has a proposition for him: run away with me. Of course, he says, "yes." This is "all he ever wanted." Ok. So Shawn will live.

Tommy is being interrogated by the Feds with his lawyer present. He pretends he has no idea what they're talking about. He's not trying to be funny, but this is hilarious.

Shawn is waiting for Ghost to get in the car, and checking the stashed gun to make sure it's there. Oh boy. He calls Dad and Dre who are setting up at the warehouse Sean is supposed to bring Ghost's body to, to dispose of it. Kanan tells him not to think of Ghost as his Uncle at anymore. "He's just another n---- standing in front of the life you want," Kanan says.

This plot just doesn't make sense to me. Because I compare everything to The Wire, I am reminded of when Michael was being trained to do his first hit, and Chris insisted it not be someone he knew because it was too personal and may freak him out. That logic is sound. I just don't get whey Kanan would put Shawn up to this when he could do it better. Even if Shawn was a baby G, which he so, so is not, this would still be a bad idea be cause of the close relationship he once had with Ghost, a surrogate father.

Ghost gets in the car and Shawn is replaying the directions from his father for killing Ghost. Shawn is reaching for the gun when a cop knocks on the window. The road is closed. The cop gives him directions to an alternate route. Womp. Oh, and Ghost (kinda) offers Shawn a promotion.

At prison, the Feds show up with Tommy's mother, who Tommy financially supports. And who is a coke head. "With a mother like that, he never even had a chance," Angie observes. The Feds illegally listen in to her hysteria to see if they're making headway with Tommy. Nope. "I ain't never going to be a snitch," Tommy says. "Not for you, not for nobody." The Feds realize he's not going to flip. "Too bad Tommy Egan," Angie's boss says. "You're going to be in prison the rest of your life."

Random. These shots of New York are beautiful. My city is so pretty.

Angie shows up at Jamie's apartment to tell him he was right about Tommy. "He won't break," Angie says. But she's not down to protect him as he's a major drug dealer. Somehow they end up having sex. After, Angie wonders, "we're running out of time, aren't we?" Jamie tells her that is on her. *insert dramatic music* He calls Proctor as soon as Angie is about the door. He, as usual, is up to something.

Tommy's staring at the ceiling in his cell when a guard comes to get him. The guard takes him to a private meet Angie, who wants to "help him" by getting him to flip on Lobos. She offers witness protection and relocating his mother. She can get his sentence down to 15 years. Tommy: "your p---y must be made out of poison. It's like the acid ate his brain." Aha-ahaha-ahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Angie reassures Tommy that she and Ghost are not conspiring against him because Ghost wouldn't do that. He asks her if he she knows Ghost as well as she thinks.

Their meeting is cut short when Tommy's lawyer arrives. Tommy heads to court to discover that Turtle has a new plan, he's asking for the compliant against Tommy to be dismissed. Short version: the Feds didn't include the complete sketch that ID'd Tommy in their materials, just the partial which would not have been enough to ID him. They based their investigation against Tommy on a full sketch that was provided under duress by a 14 year old. Because their investigation is based on an illegal sketch, everything that resulted from that sketch is inadmissible via "fruit of the poisoned tree." This is brilliant. For years, I'd considered law school, took tons of pre-law classes, even took the LSAT. I'm general, I don't regret not pursuing it (things turned out okay for me), but in this moment, I REALLY wish I was a lawyer. The case is dismissed "with prejudice." Turtle is a damn good lawyer. I'm sold.

Angie is pissed. She bursts into Ghost's office a lot Truth, screaming that she could lose her job. He pretty much confesses to screwing up her case. "You'll do anything, won't you? Say anything to get what you want," Angela accuses. Well, she is right. Jamie points out that she will too because she cloned his phone and followed him to the hotel. "We both been playing dirty," Ghost says. "You're just mad you lost."

Ghost starts rambling about jam in Vermont. Sorry, wrong show. He's talking about getting his club back and then "everything we wanted since high school is there for us to take" because Angie wanted a life with him. Um, he doesn't get it. Angie wanted the upstanding do-right citizen, not a drug dealer. "Are you Ghost?" Angie demands.

"If I were Ghost, would I answer that question?" Jamie retorts, more or less confirming her suspicion.

Angela attempts to leave but Ghost grabs her back. "There's nothing stopping us" he says. I'm so confused. Does he really want to be with her or not? Arrgh. Like he's saying it, but I don't know whether to believe it. Angie tells him he's all "smoke and mirrors". She adds that all he is, is a fantasy before dropping: "fuck you, Ghost!" Oh, she real mad. And Greg's creeper self is sitting across the street taking pictures of her exit.

Jamie's having a bad night, and it gets worse when Shawn pulls a gun on him in the liquor closet at the club. Aww, hell. Ghost talks his way out of it by admitting he set up Kanan and talking about how much he once loved him. Shawn admits he has a thing for Tasha and that she deserves him, not Ghost. Oh, pour outta a little liquor. Shawn is about to die.

"You ain't built for this," Ghost tells Shawn. "What Kanan's asking you to do, no real father should ever ask of their son." Welp.

This is too much talking. Shawn is not about this life. Ghost effortlessly takes Shawn's gun and points it at Shawn's eye. The cackle I let out when Ghost called him a "fuck n---a" was epic. I had to rewind three times.

Ghost isn't going to kill Shawn even though he deserves it for trying to kill him and whatever's up with Tasha. Ghost tells him instead to leave New York. "Go be a better man than Kanan, not the man he's trying to turn you into,"Ghost says. He even gives Shawn the gun back.

Jesus. Ghost actually loves this kid. Maybe this his way of making things right with himself for what happened with Rolla. Sometimes Jamie gets on my damn nerves, but this moment right here? It's why I watch a show where I root for the drug dealer to win.

Shawn tries to plead, protest? I don't know. The primal "gooooo!" that Jamie lets out like some sort of wounded animal? Ugh. That hurt. And it was creepy as f---. I rewound that a couple times too.

Angie's at work sulking when Greg walks in. He's been thinking. He's deduced that James is Ghost and Angie conspired with him (and Proctor) to protect Tommy. He admits he's been following Angie and will report all of her alleged activity to the higher ups. Angie tells Greg that he's wrong and James played her. "I'm an idiot," she says. They decide to stay up all night building a case against Jamie and they will take it to the higher ups in the morning. "We're going to take him down," Angie says.

Tommy's released from prison. James is waiting for him at the exit. All is right in their world... as far as they know.

At the office Cantos discovers his office is a wreck. Someone broke in and stole his files. Jamie? At home, Tasha is packing her Louis V luggage to run off with Shawn, who says he'll pick her up in a hour. She seems happy about this.

Somewhere in Queens, Fiddy is working on Operation Kill Ghost Plan B, which is spraying up the let out of the club like it's the 90s. He been inside too long. Shawn pops up as Fiddy is playing chess alone. He didn't kill Ghost as we know, and Fiddy knows because Shawn's suit is clean.

Shawn confronts his father about using him to get revenge on Ghost. Fiddy says whatever Ghost said is the truth. Shawn calls him a piece is shit who belongs in jail. "You're not my father," he accuses. "You never have been." Shawn goes to leave, but Fiddy stops him... by shooting him in the stomach. He tells him, "you don't deserve to be my son" before shooting him in the head.

Bruh! I did NOT see this coming. I thought Shawn might actually live after Ghost, who had every reason to kill him, let him go. Now his own Daddy is pulling a Marvin Gaye, Sr.?!

Wowie wow wow wow.

For a moment, Fiddy actually looks like he regrets it. Then he calls Dre to say there's been a change of plans.

Um, ya think?

What did you think of the latest episode of Power?

TV Recap: Power 0208- Everybody Has A Plan

belle August 2, 2015

Lobos is at the pool with an assistant to hold his cigar. Or is dude his BF? Or both? I’m not sure. This is better than Fonzworth holding Diddy’s umbrella though.

The BF/assistant asks how long he’s going to keep "doing this"? Doing what? I’m so confused… until a young man pops up from the water. Um… I don’t think he was down there cleaning “the Royal Penis”. Well, maybe figuratively. Not literally.

A cleaning lady walks in to put towels away. Oh sh—! She’s shooting! She gets the guy not literally cleaning the royal penis. Lobos’s BF/assistant struggles with her until Lobos shoots her a fair one in the dome. The assistant is spattered in blood.

Pause: I’ll give this show credit for its equal opportunity. This is the second lady hitter that we’ve seen. Kudos.

Lobos, who refers to himself in the third person thinks the Jimenez Brothers sent her. “New York is not safe anymore,” says Lobos, who seems drunk or high, maybe both. Or maybe he’s just shook up because he was almost killed. I mean, he is still sitting in the pool with a bloody body in it. I’m concerned about these sanitary conditions. “I’m going to get my money from Ghost and get out.” Something tells me it won’t be that simple.

Oh, and is it me, or was that whole scene like Quentin Tarantino dramatic? Very Kill Bill.

Jamie is at the house with Tasha, who has changed the combination on the safe. He’s giving us sad face because he misses his children. He and Tasha speak discuss the kids like they’re business partners, not husband and wife. This is sad.

Ghost is on his way out the door when Tasha demands to know his plan. She no longer trusts Ghost on “blind faith. Not anymore.” Jamie tells her that Angie isn’t after him, just Lobos. Tasha, who is a G, suggests Jamie kill Lobos and get a new connect. If Lobos is gone, Angie’s investigation goes away, right? Tasha may be on to something. Before Jamie bounces, Tasha has a question. “Angela still doesn’t know about you?” Jamie assures his wife that Angie does not. You sure, bruh?

Angie meets with her phone guy. With the cloned phone she can see who Jamie calls and read all of his texts. She cannot listen to his calls. The phone guy says only the NSA can do that. Um… and the Baltimore PD. McNulty was doing that in Season 3 of The Wire. Complicated process, but entirely do-able. Anyway, a text comes through that Jamie wants to meet at “the spot”. Is there a GPS tracker on this phone? That would be helpful right about know.

Jamie meets up with Julio who is standing in front of a wall of money that's supposed to go to Lobos. Jesus! How much are these people making?? Tommy walks in and declares it looks like the US Mint. It does, Tommy, doesn’t it?

Tommy sees Jamie and proceeds to dip. They ain’t really feeling each other right now. In the hallway, Jamie reiterates that he has a plan: give Lobos the money, then go to the hotel and kill him. Tommy ain’t down. If they kill Lobos, who is the connect? I got a better question, what happens to all that money?

Oh, okay. They’re going to take the money back. Jamie says split it, it’s enough, and they get out the life. Tommy says that’s not going to happen. They’re gonna do the deal with Lobos, then go back to business. Tommy walks off and Ghost does that stare off into the distance where we know he’s thinking, but no idea what he’s thinking about. Oh, boy.

Sean is by his Mom’s house, where he apparently lives. Mama ain’t pleased with the hours he’s keeping. Oh, and Dad’s there. Honestly? I think the show is better without Fiddy, but I’m glad to see him after three episodes because I know he’s about to make things messy. Fiddy wants to know what Ghost’s been up to since he’s been gone and tells Sean to find out.

Jamie is on the phone with Lobos aka “Jeffe” who wants to meet. He’ll send an address. Apparently what he sends is “Wait for instructions”. Angela intercepts the text, but doesn’t know what to make of it.

Apparently there is a GPS tracker on the phone. Angela’s watching Jamie shop in Bally as she talks to him. He lies and says he’s at Truth. As Angela’s peeking through windows, she gets a text from Greg that says they have an address for the Lobos meeting. Meanwhile in the store, Jamie gets called to a meeting with Lobos nearby. Something tells me Greg’s intel is not accurate.

Ghost and Jeffe meet at the Monkey Bar. Jeffe wants Ghost to take on a bigger role in the drug organization. He wants his Mexican cartel to report directly to Jamie… on one condition: Ghost drops Tommy. “He’s dead weight,” Lobos deduces. Ehh… Yes and no. Tommy’s nuts, but he has his merits. I do understand why Jamie keeps him around. Jamie says he’ll roll around the suggestion and get back to him when he delivers the money.

When Jamie leaves, Lobos’s partner slides into the booth. Lobos is not happy that Jamie didn’t jump at his offer. “He’s not interested in power or money or anything that I can give him,” Lobos complains. "It means I can’t control him. He’s a liability.” Hmmm. Is that true? Actually, he’s just not interested in it in that world. But hold up. Is Jeffe gonna try to off Jamie?

At the office, Greg and the rest of the task force are discussing where Lobos will meet and cooking up a strategy to bring Lobos in alive.

Back on the block, Fiddy, who is no longer wearing a shearling coat, catches up with Dre. He wants Dre to find out where the Lobos meet is. Dre fills him in on all he missed. Hmm. Dre’s more loyal than I thought. I totally thought he would be out for dolo.

At home, Angie is checking her duplicate phone wondering why there’s been no chatter about the meet between Ghost and anyone else. Ghost knocks on her door unexpectedly. She puts on a great act, pretending to be happy to see him. He comes bearing gifts, from Bally’s!!! But then he has to return a text. Angie leaves the room to check the dupe phone. Jamie is texting his daughter. Womp. Blah, blah, blah, they have sex. I am so over their sex scenes.

Tommy and Fiddy meet at a diner where Tommy, of course, yammers too much about the meet up with Lobos, and about Ruiz/Luiz. Kanan offers to go with Tommy to back him up at the drop. Tommy actually makes the right call for once and declines.

In a fancier place across town, Dre rolls up on Jamie. He immediately deduces that Kanan is back and told Dre where he was. Dre looks nervous. I can’t tell if he’s acting. He asks Ghost if he can work directly for him. Ghost brushes him off. Grrr. I can’t read Dre. I think he’s loyal to Kanan after that incident with his boy in the trunk of the car. But maybe that spooked him and he wants to distance himself?

Julio’s fine self has swung by an office to see Mr. Proctor, who turns out to be “Turtle” from Entourage. I literally yelled “Turtle!” when he opened the door. You know, I still haven’t seen the Entourage movie. How was it?

Anyway, Turtle owes 12k and isn’t trying to pay up. He hits Julio with the “Ill pay you when I can pay you.” Oh, Turtle, honey, no. You don’t know who you’re f—ing with. This doesn’t end well.

At work, Angie is still intercepting Ghost’s texts. This one is for a meeting at the Carlton hotel the following day. She asks Greg what if the Federales are wrong about the meet up between the connect and Lobos.

Tommy is smoking a blunt in the St. Patrick’s bedroom. I don’t have any friends that are this close and I’m A-OK with that. He wants to talk to Tasha about Ghost’s plan to kill Lobos at the Carlton, which is actually Tasha’s plan. And worse, he wants Tasha to know that Ghost "wants out". They say this as if it is a bad thing. “You don’t think he’s trying to run away with the Fed bitch?” Tasha asks. Tommy says he wouldn’t leave without the kids. Tasha isn’t so sure.

Tasha heads to Truth to surprise Jamie. Her boobs look awesome. Anyway, Tasha wants him to now that she’s on to his plan to run off with Angela and leave her and the kids. We rarely see Ghost lose his cool, but he does here.

“Did I cheat? Yes!” he says. “But that don’t make me less of a father.” He assures her that he won’t make any moves that affect the kids without filling her in. He sounds like he's lying. She warns him to be careful.

At the house, Sean swings by and is all up on Tasha like the kids ain’t home. She warns him about the meet at the Carlton the following day. She wants him to be careful. See. She talking too much. They can’t finish the conversation as Lala pops by. Tasha and Sean are so awkward. Geez Louise. Lala would have to be an idiot not to know that something is up.

As soon as Sean leaves, “Lala asks the obvious, “so how long ya’ll been f—ing.” She says she’s cool with it, but wants to know how Tasha is sure Ghost won’t find out. Everything about her face says she will be the one to tell Ghost.

When Sean hits the lobby, Kanan is there waiting for him. He wants to know the same thing La does, “how long you been smashing Tasha?” he asks Sean. “Stevie Wonder could see ya’ll f—ing.” Fiddy thinks Sean is playing himself until Sean reveals there’s a big meeting the next day at the Carlton. Look. This meeting is no secret. EVERYONE knows about it. Geez. Dad is impressed. Then he asks for a play-by-play of his son’s sex life. “I been in jail 10 years. If I can’t get it in person, I want a play-by-play.” The look on his face is so Uncle Denzel.

Somewhere in the Bronx, Luiz/Ruiz is playing cards when Dre walks in with Kanan, who Luiz/Ruiz is none too happy to see him. Kanan drops that there is a meeting tomorrow between Lobos, Ghost and Tommy. Luiz/Ruiz is pissed. Ghost promised him an in on the meeting. Kanan suggests that they, along with the rest of the distributors, approach Lobos on their own. Ruiz/Luiz says what Kanan won’t: cutting out Tommy and Ghost means killing them. He respects Tommy.

Apparently Luiz/Ruiz is down, kinda. In the next scene he’s meeting with Serb. He lays out the plan, but doesn’t want Tommy involved. Ruiz/Luiz tells the Serb that the hit on the Serb’s stash houses wasn’t the Albanians, but Ghost, who originally wanted to kill the Serb. The Serb needs proof of an insurrection. In walk Kanan and Dre, along with “Marlo” from The Wire. The plan is to ambush Jamie at the meeting with Lobos tomorrow and tell them that distributors have banned together to cut out Ghost and Tommy. Karan says that Tommy will take him into the room. Um, will he?

Elsewhere in the city, Jamie is meeting with Mr. Proctor, a lawyer who is paying for his ex wife’s drug habit in exchange for custody of the kids. Um, huh? Anyway, Jamie is retaining his services in order to not reveal that information and have him disbarred. I’m so unclear. Is Proctor a divorce attorney? A defense attorney?

At the office, the plans to ambush the warehouse where the Federales have said the Lobos meet will happen are in full effect. Angela still hasn’t said a word about the meeting at the Carlton. She checks her phone again, then rushes out of the office. Greg attempts to go after her, but can’t get out of the meeting.

At the Carlton, Lobos’s assistant/BF is prepping the room for the next day’s massacre which will involve a machete. These two are comedy. That is, until Lobos gets sick of his BF’s attitude. He yokes him up on the wall and makes it known he is not to be toyed with. Well, all righty then.

Angie is by Jamie’s hotel, attempting to seduce him. He notes that it’s unlike her to pop up in the middle of the day. They have their sex that I am so sick of seeing. After, Angie is laying on Ghost, looking terrified. She wants them to leave “right now”. Just pick up and run off together. “I just need you” she promises. Jamie tells her that’s in the plans, but he can’t do it today. He has a meeting a Truth. She says she understands. When he leaves, she follows his car.

Angie is going through it. I imagine scared of facing her moment of truth, finding out for sure who Jamie is, and choosing between her job and the man she loves.

The job wins out. She calls Greg and tells him that she saw “the distributor” going into the meeting with Lobos. She doesn’t say Ghost. Then she sends Greg a picture of Tommy arriving at the Carlton. She won’t give up her source. As Tommy is walking in the building, he looks toward Angie's car and she drives across the front seat. Hmmm.

Greg and the entire FBI team arrive at the Carlton hotel preparing to take Room 540, where the meet is taking place. They ram the door. Shots are fired. Angela is downstairs looking terrified. The target is secure. Evil Boss congratulates Angela who looks miserable.

The team comes downstairs with Lobos in cuffs, and Tommy. There’s another body on the stretcher. Could it be…?!?! Nope. No Ghost in sight.

Fiddy watches it all from across the street.

Angie calls Ghost and gives him her “I’m mad" voice. “Jamie. Where. Are. You?” she demands.

Actually, he’s watching you from the window in the hotel. Look up.

Somewhere in Queens, Sean storms into the diner where Dre is always at to confront his father. “Did you do this? Did you get Tommy arrested?” he demands. Fiddy denies going to the cops. He wouldn’t do that. He’s not Ghost. He tells Sean that he knows Ghost set him up to go to jail. “All them years we ain’t been together was your Uncle G’s doing,” he tells Sean. Dre, who is watching all this while sweeping, pipes in that Ghost is going to get “street justice” for his crime. Whose side is this kid on? I’m so confused.

Kanan says he can’t do it because Ghost will see him coming a mile away. Sean points out that Dre can’t do it because Ghost doesn’t trust him. Kanan says Ghost is the only thing standing in the way of Sean and Tasha being together. He say this in front of Dre, who I’m not sure can be trusted. Sean knows Ghost trusts him, so Sean aka “I-only-pulled-a-trigger-at-a gun-range range” volunteers. This doesn’t end well. This young boy is going to get himself killed.

The task force is at the bar celebrating their win, everybody except Angela. As Mike looks on, Greg catches up with her at the bar as she settles her tab. Um… the company or boss couldn’t pick this one up? Anyway, Greg points out that Angie’s source will need to come forward, but that is tomorrow’s issue. The way he looks at her as she walks off lets us know he hasn't forgotten about seeing her with Ghost. He does not trust Angie.

Hold up. Angie never revealed the source? Did the FBI have a warrant to raid that hotel? Before Angie leaves, her colleague gives a toast, noting they’re all about get to raises because of her. Angela gets a text from Jamie as she walks outside. He got a new phone and his business is settled. He is ready to leave with her “tomorrow”. Hold up. WHAT? So he does want to be with Angie? Or he’s just talking ish?

ARRRGGHHH!!! This man infuriates me. I never know what he is actually thinking, and what he means and what he doesn’t. Like, Angie is off his back now, right? So does he still need to keep her on the hook? Or was he just saying that to screw with her head because he knows she gave him up.

Angie tosses the clone phone to the ground and hops in a cab. A song called “Fuck It All” plays as the credits roll. Is Angie is leaving with him? Or is she going to be out to get him for playing her? But he gave her Lobos, so is she mad?

LOL.

But no seriously, who is this song by? The soundtrack for this show is so underrated. (EDIT: It's by Elle Varner. >>LINK<<

And what did you think of the episode?

After the Show: Catching Up with "Power" Creator Courtney Kemp Agboh

TV Recap: Power Season 2 Finale-- Ghost is Dead!!!

Power Recap: It Was All Good Just A Week Ago

TV Recap: Power 0208- Everybody Has A Plan

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