SPOILERS AHEAD.
Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent turned Starz into a contending cable channel with Power. The nation became obsessed with Ghost, and his struggle to attain power at any cost. For the last two months, fans of Power have been piecing together clues to try and discover the final betrayal. Who shot Ghost? The answer to that question was finally revealed this weekend. The signs have always been there, and we've suggested multiple times that Tariq would be the killer. Courtney Kemp has admitted that Shakespearian themes influence her writing, and there is nothing more Shakespearian than a son murdering his father. Patricide is as classic as poetry itself.
The series finale of Power was somewhat of a letdown due to the fact that a majority of the episode highlighted scenes we already watched. It felt like watching a mash-up of the last four episodes, making "Exactly How We Planned" play like a special edition rerun with a few new scenes peppered in. There were some important revelations though. Viewers get to see Tasha and Ghost have one last tender moment during a conversation that is as real as it gets. The two speak briefly at their old loft where Ghost admits that he did once love Tasha, but he also reminds her that she fell out of love with him the moment he tried to go legit. This is an important scene because it gives closure to their relationship. Fans have spent years placing blame on either Ghost or Tasha for their ways, but in the end, we see that they both are at fault. Tasha couldn't love Ghost as a clean businessman, and Ghost couldn't let Angela go. Their future was always doomed.
After Power forces viewers to watch the "James St. Patrick As Lieutenant Governor" storyline once again, the show takes a step back. The murder of Ray Ray (the corrupt cop Tariq killed for slaughtering Raina) becomes central to the plot one more, something that was hinted at two episodes ago. Ghost threatens to turn Tariq in for killing Ray Ray, and he also tells Tasha that he will snitch on her as well for killing LaKeisha unless both of them play along with his plan. Blackmailing your son and wife in order to gain political power is a new low for Ghost, one that ends up costing him his life.
As the episode follows Tariq around, we learn that the young St. Patrick got the gun to kill his father from Dre. Power also makes it a point to highlight that Tariq's teacher, Mr. Radnor, gets arrested for selling the drugs 'Riq gave him. Expect that to play into a spin-off series. In fact, it feels like many moments in the episode are set up to play into spin-offs, which robs this finale from feeling too conclusive. Tariq's treachery knows no bounds this episode. It is revealed that he called Vincent and the Italians to kill Tommy in order to stop him from saving Ghost, a move that paid off and stopped Tommy from getting there in time. The young St. Patrick makes all the right moves in "Exactly How We Planned," but he still can't save the person he loves most: his mother. After 'Riq and Tasha decide that killing Ghost is the only way to free themselves from his power, the latter comes up with the plan to murder her estranged husband.
Tasha plans on pulling the trigger, but on the night in question, it is Tariq who kills his father. Tasha gets her new lover Q to drive her to Truth, while Tariq enters the club a different way. He changes the plan after being confronted by the ghost of Kanan (much like his father was on the same night). Kanan goads Tariq into taking matters into his own hands, giving him the confidence to kill Ghost as Tasha tries to run to his rescue. Tommy witnesses Tariq at the scene before everyone flees the club, and viewers finally get their answer.
That's not it though. After Ghost dies, Tasha, Tariq, and the fam plan to collect from Jame's will. The joke is on them. Ghost left absolutely nothing for Tasha, which is disgraceful and disrespectful. Instead, he left everything to his kids. Tariq gets the most though since he inherited Raina's share as well. That means millions of dollars, properties, and club Truth are all now Tariq's, under one condition. He must graduate a four-year university while maintaining a GPA of 3.5 before he can see a single penny. It looks like even in death, Ghost has Tariq and Tasha jumping through loops. With the plan to cash out somewhat thwarted, next on the murderous family's agenda: lying to the police. Tasha and Tariq spin a tale that blames Dre for the death of Ghost, which works after 'Riq blackmails Saxe into running with the story. It appears that everyone is off free, until Dre is murdered in prison. That leaves Tasha and Tariq without a fall man, which essentially messes everything up. Remember, before he died Ghost put a hit on Dre and moved 2-Bit to the same prison to get that murder accomplished. Once again, even in death Ghost enacted a power move that ends up having massive repercussions for Tasha.
Q's role in Power has been pointless until now. The tall, dark, and handsome new lover of Tasha gets dragged into the drama, but he's not as dumb as we thought he was. And we've also found out When Q drove Tasha to Truth, he parked and went into a store to buy a Red Bull just in case he needed an alibi. Tasha, clueless about this fact, tries to frame Q for murdering Ghost now that Dre is dead. She drops an anonymous tip to the police, who come and arrest Q while he is mid-love-making to her. The cops find the gun, and carry him out as he yells for Tasha to back him up. Of course, she doesn't, and she feels satisfied with her slick self. That is, until the police show up at her apartment and arrest her days later. Q's alibi checks out; proving Tasha framed him and while also placing her at the scene. As Tariq screams in protest, Tasha is taken to prison for murder. Now both Tasha and Tariq's futures are in Ghost's control. One must go to college and the other will rot in jail due to his moves. He's been playing chess from the beginning.
Both Ghost and Tasha met their appropriate ends. Tasha, who has used snitching to remove her enemies (she put Kanan in jail, lest we forget), ends up in prison where she has sent countless others. Meanwhile, James, a killer, has his life taken. It's poetic for the couple to reach these fates, but we wish it was done more eloquently. This finale had so much invested in spin-offs that it felt like a regular-season finale and not a series closer. That sense of a definitive conclusion is robbed from viewers because we know Power is far from over.
Sound off in the comments and let us know what you thought of the Power finale. Were you surprised?
Starz Orders 3 More "Power" Spin-Offs
The "Power" universe expands.
Starz is ordering three more new shows set within the Power universe.
Variety reports that Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Power Book IV: Influence, and Power Book V: Force have all been ordered by the network, on top of the already announced Power Book II: Ghost.
Raising Kanan will follow Kanan Stark during the '90s as a prequel series, Influence will be set around the character of Rashad Tate, and Force will focus on Tommy Egan leaving New York for good. Ghost will continue where the original series leaves off and star Mary J. Blige, Method Man, and other select members of the original cast.
“In television history, only a select few shows have inspired four consecutive series extensions, launched into active production and development at the same time,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, president and CEO of Starz. “These new and exciting chapters will continue the journey of some of ‘Power’s’ most controversial characters while featuring a growing ensemble of complex, distinct characters along with the high-octane drama that set ‘Power’ in a class of its own.”
Starz announced last year that Power's sixth season would be its last. The final episode, "Exactly How We Planned," is set to air February 9th.
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