Rising out of the ashes of the bloodiest episode in the series, Power returns for season 3. Only a few short weeks have passed since Ghost eliminated his drug network in pursuit of a law abiding life, but getting out the game won’t be as smooth of a process as he imagined.
This is the Episode 301 “Call Me James” recap—spoilers ahead.
“Drugs Sell Themselves. Legit shit? Takes more work”
Ghost has become the new Simon Stern of nightlife, as the proprietor of Truth and a collection of venues. Ghost is still investigating who left the Arana photo in his office. He’s been reviewing surveillance tape and has focused on Tatiana, a bottle girl who put the card in his office. Ghost sneaks into her apartment, only to find a trail of blood all over Tatiana’s apartment and her whereabouts unknown.
Ghost gets rid of Kantos during a huge staff meeting to make an example out of him, but Kantos knows that Knox is snooping around asking questions. Why does Ghost suddenly distrust Kantos and could this bode ominous to Truth’s future?
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Ghost has Dre working for him, as Dre proved his loyalty at the end of season 2. Dre wanted to leave the street life but still yearns for the hustle, as honest work doesn’t vibe well for him now. Dre tries to convince Ghost that they can still lead the Hustler/Business Man dual lifestyle, but Ghost will hear none of it. They are either in or out, and Ghost makes it clear that he’s OUT!
This episode explores the Jamie/Angela relationship in a post “Ghost” world. Angela wants to meet Jamie’s kids, and eagerly hopes to truly move forward as a couple. Jamie is reluctant to advance the relationship in this way, but knows that tough talks have to happen between he and Tasha anyway.
Tasha and Ghost have to face reality that their relationship is over, and have to present their kids with the new normal. Tasha confronts Ghost about Sean’s death, implicating him in the murder. Ghost adamantly declares his innocence, and explains his side of the story. Tasha speaks to Tommy about Ghost and Tommy corroborates his story. Tasha seemingly has no reason now to distrust Ghost.
CONTINUED
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Photo: Starz
Tommy has assumed the role as the number one in the organization, now that Ghost has left the game. Tommy mediates disputes with reckless abandon. Tommy decides to interject himself into a turf war, by killing two leaders of a rival gang, who were at odds with the Soldados (who were left orphaned by an exiled Ruiz). But instead of moving in silence, he makes sure that his victims see his face.
Tommy has to rebuild the organization from the ashes of Ghost’s purge and find new business partners. Lobos still wants Ghost dead and Tommy has been avoiding it for some time, trying to keep the focus on the job. Even though Tommy watches Ghost from afar in the opening scenes, you can tell he doesn’t have it in him to pull the trigger. At least not now.
Holly wants to be more involved in the operation but Tommy wants to keep her separate for “plausible deniability” (or he might not trust her that much). Tommy returns to their apartment to find a blood trail and the body of his loyal dog. Where is Holly and who killed the dog?!
Julio thinks Tommy has completely gone off the rails, and beseeches Ghost to intervene. Angela sees this meeting, researches and discovers that Julito has ties to Jamie’s “past life”. Angela confronts Jamie because she wants to know if he’s truly out of the game or has he been lying? Jamie reassures Angela that Julio wanted to confirm that Ghost was out of the game. Angela confides in Jamie that Lobos is still alive.
CONTINUED
When we left Greg Knox last season, he was on the brink of termination from his job. Angela flipped the script and accused him of stalking in order to save Ghost. Knox gets advice from Cooper Saxe to lay low, forget about Angela and possibly work in another department to save his career. Knox agrees, but he won’t drop his pursuit that easily. As Saxe leaves, we see the collage of newspaper clippings, articles and pictures that Knox has hidden in his apartment. Feeling like he truly has nothing to lose, Knox has continued his FBI esque surveillance of everything Ghost related.
When Mike Sandoval called Lobos “Jefe” in the season 2 finale, we all speculated on the meaning. In this episode we learn that Lobos and Sandoval have a secret working connection. Sandoval has attempted to sabotage the case against Lobos from the inside. When decided whether to mount a John Doe prosecution, Sandoval doesn’t fight the issue, but Angela puts up a compelling argument, and the judge rules in favor of the district. Angela’s job isn’t as secure, as Sandoval won’t let her transfer, and Saxe threatens to ruin her career is the Lobos case falls through for whatever reason.
Sandoval and Lobos know that Angela and Ghost have a relationship, and test her mental resolve during the Lobos interrogation. Lobos calls Angela everything but a child of God in Spanish, but she doesn’t buckle. It’s clear that Lobos has something on Sandoval to force his hand. Maybe a threat against his family, career or both? We will have to wait and see.
The end of the episode finds Jamie weighing all the events of the day, reaching out to Tommy announcing himself as “Ghost”. Looks like the James era has been put on pause!
Check us next week for episode 302!
Listen to the #PowerAfterHours Podcast for more in depth analysis of this episode!
