Power Season 3 Episode 3 Recap: “I Got This On Lock”

Throughout the entire Power series, James “Ghost” St. Patrick has thrived on the fealty of his subordinates and the trust from his loved ones to attain ultimate control in any situation. Even when the reality contradicts his perception, he will affirm to anyone who will listen that “I got this on lock.”

Episode 303 exemplifies Ghost’s ability to manipulate situations, but still remain clueless to the threats right under his nose.

Ghost has a firm handle on his new club war with Andy and Alby. He pulls an uber dirty mack move by paying for their private dinner with hotel mogul Karen Bassett, while warning her about Andy & Alby’s shady business practices. This cutthroat maneuver proved successful, as Bassett visited Truth later that day.

Bassett researched Ghost and knows about his war with Stern and how he acquired his other clubs. Karen will open a new apartment complex and proposes an open competition for the rights to build a new club on the property. She wants to know her potential business partner on a personal and professional level, and Ghost tells her “What you see is what you get.”

The opportunity to expand internationally, and further his brand appeals to Ghost, and winning this business at the expense of Andy & Alby would be the cherry on top of the sundae.

Professionally, Ghost has his business on lock, but his personal life resembles a wild west shootout. Tariq brings Angela’s gun he stole to school and of course he gets busted by his teacher! When Ghost and Tasha meet at the school, they argue over the hows and whys of the gun situation, but the principal confirms that the gun belonged to Angela.

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Photos: Starz

Tasha finessed Tariq out of an expulsion, and Ghost had to pick up his face for 1) trying to play Tasha as if Tariq got the gun from her and 2) admitting that he left Angela with the children alone. Tariq admits that he took the gun for protection since Shawn was murdered and Ghost no longer lived with them, while brazenly disrespecting his parents in the process.

I thought we would have BCW appear on the show as I braced myself for a parental ass whooping, but it didn’t happen. That co-parenting shangri la Ghost envisioned is over. Tasha won’t send those kids over to his girlfriend’s house anymore. Ghost and Angela discuss the incident and lob insults at one another. Yes it was irresponsible for Angela to leave her gun unattended but leaving her unattended with the kids wasn’t smart either, Ghost!

Angela questioned Ghost about visiting Tommy, which annoys him. Why does she suddenly have interest in communications with Tommy? You can blame Greg Knox for that!

Knox reveals his predatory moves to Angela while her and Ghost are out on the town. Knox knows Angela can’t report him without also reporting her relationship with Ghost. Knox shows Angela pics of Ghost outside of Tommy’s apartment and lets her know he will stop at nothing to get Ghost convicted as Lobos’s distributor. Knox won’t let up at all. This may be his downfall or an obsession worth the trouble.

Power makes for some interesting alliances, and none more eye popping than Holly and Tasha. They begin collaborating in Tommy’s operation, with some really fun moments this week. They learn to trust each other more in this episode.

Tasha proposes hair weaves as the new business to launder their money, which is genius when you think about it. Hair is HUGE business with plenty of opportunity to wash their blood money clean! Tasha loops in Keisha on the business end to purchase weave wholesale and distribute retail. Keisha ain’t feeling Holly at all after she stole Tash’s earrings, and threatens to beat her ass if anything comes up missing. Keisha is an important cog in the plan, as Tasha advises keeping Keisha out of their ulterior motives, to preserve Keisha’s plausible deniability.

If the hilarious scene with Holly and Tasha getting stopped by police doesn’t convince you that their poised to become the next Thelma & Louise, I don’t know what will!

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Holly has been pushing Tommy to kill Ghost, and locates him after talking with Tasha and empathizing over her messed up marriage. Holly has more incentive for Ghost to die besides saving her own life—she’s pregnant!

Of course she hasn’t shared this with Tommy yet, but with this news, the pressure on Tommy to finish the job will only intensify. Tommy has to deal with his product being stepped on by Dillon Shin (after some investigative report by Julito after a romp with an Asian prostitute). Jae Shin asks nothing but loyalty and even his son had to pay a steep price for his insolence.

Ghost and Tommy finally meet after Ghost lured him out by impersonating Tariq. Their discussion goes nowhere, as Ghost attempts to have Tommy join him vs. Lobos. Ghosts asks Tommy if Lobos is trying to kill him, unaware that Tommy is the real hitman. Tommy leaves Ghost with more questions than answers, as it seems the battle lines have been etched in the sand.

Nothing interested me more than Kanan’s return, and he’s in Washington, DC! We knew he couldn’t be dead, right? Introducing Anika Noni Rose as his cousin Laverne “Jukebox” Gainer offers new insight into Kanan and his origin story.

Jukebox, a DC police officer with shady motives, enters the story orchestrating a coverup for a botched robbery, with her own street dudes involved. Jukebox wants to know what happened to Shawn and who set his flesh on fire. Kanan’s reluctance to tell the truth has Jukebox looking for other methods to get the real story, such as withholding his pain medication and sending her girlfriend Candie to sleep with Kanan in exchange for information. Although Candie and Kanan didn’t have sex, he does tell her about “Ghosts.”

Kanan and Jukebox share a special type of trust, as they confided their secrets (both criminal and personal) to one another. Jukebox has a job in the works with her associate dirt, who Kanan thinks is a liability (who does Kanan like?!), but he has to rehabilitate himself before being of any help.

Kanan, fueled by revenge and the allure of crime, is now more focused than even on getting back to 100%, helping Jukebox with her moves, and eventually killing Ghost. Ghost might think he has situations on lock, but these loose ends surrounding him may prove to unravel his best laid plans.

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