POWER (spoilers)

I know what you're thinking "You're just now watching Power?" "You're late Power been off for a minute" "blah, blah, blah" I know, I know. I've been hearing about Power for a minute but never watched it because to be honest I wasn't interested. None of my close friends watched it so I just shrugged it off...at least I tried to. Every Sunday on social media my timelines would be flooded with posts from Power. I would try my best to avoid them yet it seems like no matter what social media site I was on it was always there. 

This past week my TRIO Advisor, Ms. Lori, was talking to me and my friend Matt about Power. I remember watching an episode and a half around Labor Day but didn't finish because I was focused on completing my assignment. With the upcoming 4-day break I decided that now was my chance to finally watch Power and see what all the hype is about. Luckily for me the first three seasons are on Hulu (shoutout to Spotify for the connect) so I treated myself to the perfect binge weekend. 

I picked up on the second episode where I left off and honestly it feels like I never left. Power gives off a sense of familiarity. You're instantly drawn in to the lives of Ghost and Tommy and every character in between. While you're getting invested you get so upset when they make the simplest mistakes and yet somehow root for them to get out of tough situations. I found myself struggling because while Power tells a great story I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters, except Tommy. Every character has their good traits but their bad ones were hard to overlook. 

Character Breakdown

James 'Ghost' St. Patrick

Ghost is the main character of the show. He owns the nightclub Truth as a cover up for being one of New York's prominent drug dealers. No matter how hard he tries to get out of the drug game he finds himself in a predicament where he keeps getting dragged in. Ghost is a great leader, smart, and quick on his feet yet I couldn't get past his infidelity. How easy it is for him to cheat on his wife Tasha for his high school sweetheart, Angela. He finds himself in a lot of trouble because of this relationship and I don't feel sorry for him. Like Monique said:https://youtu.be/heLL1ExEzQA

Tommy Egan

At first, I didn't know how to feel about Tommy. I initially didn't like him because I felt like he was a hand-me-down Eminem. His accent, his vernacular, even the way he looks just seemed like it was too much to handle. Through watching the series I began to have a soft spot for Tommy. He's very loyal and outside of his relationship with Holly he's the most tolerable person on the cast. Tommy has his flaws as well. His very loud, abrasive, not-afraid-to-kill-anyone attitude gets him in some predicaments that are hard to get out of. Overall, I'm rooting for Tommy. Through all his antics he's a funny and lovable guy. 

Tasha St. Patrick

Tasha is the wife of Ghost and the mother of his three children: Tariq, Raina, and Yasmin. Tasha is known as a "ride or die." She's been down with Ghost since she was in college and would do anything for him. Tasha was with Ghost through all of his drug selling activities so you can imagine how hurt she was to find out that Ghost was cheating on her. In the second episode her mother was warning her about Ghost cheating on her and that Tasha needs an income of her own but she just didn't believe it would happen. Now we can say that Tasha plays Lemonade on heavy rotation. My hope for Tasha is that she gets her independence from Ghost and focus on HERSELF. She doesn't need any fake relationship to fill in the space that Ghost left. Once she gets herself together and focuses on her healing she could really be unstoppable. 

Angela Valdez

Angela Valdez is a Government Attorney for the FBI and is Ghost's high school sweetheart. Her random walk-thru in Truth reunited her with her first love, Ghost. At first, I couldn't blame her. When you break up with someone after a while it seems like you can only remember the good memories. The nostalgia was getting to her head and clouding her judgement. Even after she found out Ghost was married she still continued the relationship. If this man can't be faithful to his wife, what makes you think he will be faithful to you?

Angela is a smart woman but she lets her heart gets in the way of what truly matters. She needs to focus on her job and her family and leave Ghost and his mess ALONE. 

Kanan

Power made me hate 50 Cent. Kanan is ruthless and will kill off anybody who gets in the way of his money. Kanan has been plotting on Ghost for 10 years. I knew Kanan was a savage when he killed his own son, Shawn, for choosing Ghost over him. If someone can kill his own son and not show any remorse, what makes you think he'll spare your life? Exactly. Kanan is sneaky and will cross the line to get what he wants and I would not wanna get in his way. 

Tariq St. Patrick

UGHHHHHHHH. Tariq is the most annoying character on the show. Every time he's on the screen I just roll my eyes and shake my head. Tariq grew up in a penthouse away from the hood. Now all the sudden he wants to be "about that life" and hang out with Kanan??? What really had me shook was when he decided to get in the car with Kanan after only meeting him one time before. I looked at that scene like 

Tariq hates his father for lying to them and leaving them for his side chick (Angela) and while I don't blame him for being upset I do believe he needs to let his anger out in a healthy way. Trying to be a thug and selling your father out isn't the way to do it. Tariq needs to grow up and realize that through his parents mistakes they are only trying to create a better life for him and his sisters. 

What I Want To See In Season 5

Season 5 is going to be full of mess with the family dealing with the death of Raina, Tariq killing Ray-Ray, Ghost and the politician, and so much more. I want season 5 to have buildups go somewhere. In season 4 when Kanan spent several episodes kidnapping Tariq in a plot to kill him and Ghost only for him to cop-out and kill his cousin Jukebox and let them go free was such a waste of time. I felt like they just dropped a story line for no reason. Also, the senseless killings need to stop. Lets be honest, Tariq should've been the one that died not Raina. They only killed Raina for shock value because otherwise Power would've ended in a positive note. I want to see the trials and tribulations Ghost is going to go through trying to live a clean lifestyle. I want Tariq to take responsibilities for his actions and realize that "When you do clownery, the clown comes back to bite." (That's my favorite quote by the way you're gonna see me say that a lot)  Overall I love Power. The story is gripping and exciting and once you start watching you're hooked. Hopefully season 5 can deliver and be the season that really knocks it out the park.