‘Power’ recap: Never say never

Season 3, Episode 2 | “It’s Never Over” | July 24

After a ridiculously long wait, Power is back and we’re all locked and loaded.

Double entendre absolutely intentional.

In this episode, the drama is sky-high and the body count is even higher. It opens with Ghost (Omari Hardwick) and Angela (Lela Loren) cuddled up and naked in bed having what appears to be the world’s most uncomfortable moment. It’s jarring — not the nakedness — because for the last two seasons we’ve seen the couple engage in the type of intimacy that makes us all rethink our life choices. Before this moment, their passion was hot and intense, all jumbled together, and love it or hate it, they made it impossible to look away.

But this opening scene? Downright distressing. Why?

There’s something bigger than lovemaking on Ghost’s mind. Far bigger. He’s trying to figure out how after renouncing a life of underworld crime, he’s still caught up in residual drug kingpin foolishness. Just when we thought Ghost was out, he gets pulled back in.

We see him linking up with his not-all-the-way-here-for-this attorney Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara) to track down drug kingpin Felipe Lobos (Enrique Murciano). Is he still alive? Ghost sure thinks so. And it’s his belief that once he finds out the truth of it all it can truly and finally be the end of his underworld life.

Or will it? Seems like Ghost and his one-foot-in, one-foot-out way of handling things will be apart of this life for a good long while — and hey, as viewers, we need that. The series is deliciously dark and behind every street corner is a would-be murderer or someone rolled up in bubble wrap by their would-be murderer and that’s exactly how we like our Power served.

Angela, perhaps the most flawed female character on the series, is still trying to piece together a career bust here. She’s worked hard as an assistant U.S. attorney and she wants to, needs to, see the fruits of her labor. She can’t possibly be the woman who got five inches away from the finish line only to have a throwback relationship resurface and deliver her the most intense sex of her life and ruin everything she’s worked hard for. Can she? That remains to be seen. But she wants to review files and keep her Lobos case alive.

And Ghost, her lover, wants Lobos dead.

An interesting aside here is the issue of infidelity and how we haven’t really seen the fallout of it play out in a major way just yet. It’s coming, that much is clear. In this episode, Ghost texts his estranged wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton), and they later meet up and he asks her to deliver a check to Tommy, who is still ducking him. Ghost explains that he wants to get this money to Tommy because it’s his share of the business. Ghost says he’s “out” after that drop happens. Tasha barely looks at Ghost — she’s pissed because those club money checks aren’t even close to what drug money brings in. She’s also very much visibly hurt that Ghost has left her to be with Angela and she’s trying to make the best of it. She agrees to let their children spend the night at their apartment.

For his part, Tommy, is trying to pretend that his dog Belle is simply missing. He’s too scared to reveal to his girlfriend Holly (Lucy Walters) that the dog was murdered because he hasn’t yet pulled the trigger on killing Ghost. So Holly is aimlessly posting fliers all over the city looking for a dog she thinks has run away from her miserable, trouble-causing butt.

“I just hope she’s not hurt.” Oh, girl.

Over at LaKeisha’s (LaLa Anthony) weave spot, Tasha’s BFF (best friend forever) is doing what BFFs do and is challenging her about the decision to let her children stay with Ghost and his lover. Tasha, who a few scenes earlier told Ghost that she remembered what it was like when her own father left and she’d never want to put her own children through that, calmly tells LaKeisha that she’s over the whole Ghost and Angela thing. “The Ghost I knew is gone.”

(He is not, girl. Just give it time.)

LaKeisha — who clearly is about that life — doesn’t like it, nor does she like it that her girl isn’t wearing her ring anymore. Did she give it back? Pawn it? Is she hard up for money? Hey, girl, she tells her in an interesting foreshadowing moment, if you need cash, you can always manage the books at my weave spot.

Dun. Dun. Dun. The federal agents are hoping to get Ghost to turn witness and testify against Lobos. Yeah. Good luck with that.

And Andre (Rotimi) is an interesting fellow. We’re seeing, perhaps, a young Ghost on the rise in this one. The Ghost we didn’t get to see because he was already fully realized by the time the series began airing. Andre doesn’t like that he’s being kept out of the loop. He knows about the weird, bloody tarot card that Ghost received. He saw it when he was locked up north some time ago. “You get a card like that, it means you’re in trouble. It means we’re in trouble,” he says.

You right. You right. True.

Ghost lowers his eyes — the same way he does before he springs into action. Is homeboy back? IS GHOST THE SUPER HARDCORE DRUG VILLAIN BACK?

Meanwhile, Tommy and Tasha finally meet up for pancakes. They address that infidelity and Tommy angrily explains to her why she’s on his list too. Before Kanan (50 Cent) was killed (though we all know to stay tuned for that!) he told Tommy that it was Ghost who sent him away to prison and Tasha is the one who helped him do it.

TOMMY DON’T LIKEY.

Tasha fires back that he didn’t alert her to when Ghost started cheating on her with “Miss Puerto Rico.” (Sa-nap!) They get into it. She retorts that perhaps, it was Ghost who was always out for Ghost this whole time.

Ya think?

Andre — Ghost’s young new No. 2 — is back on his old block, suited and getting clowned on. His old cohorts wondered where he’s been, discover that he’s working at three clubs in the city and want to know if he’s still about that grimy life.

Or if he’s turning over a new leaf?

Time will tell.

Tommy finally confesses that Bella isn’t missing; she’s been killed by Lobos. And she’s been killed because he’s been too slow with the trigger with offing Ghost. Holly’s simple self wants Tommy to do it. Makes sense — Tommy told her that she’s next if her boyfriend doesn’t kill Ghost. Gotta do whatever you can to stay alive.

They then have this sweaty, serious eye-to-eye back and forth dialogue that kept us all on the edge of our couches.

“I know you can do this.”

“What?”

“I know you can kill Ghost. If you can’t kill Ghost for yourself, Tommy,” she pauses dramatically while handing him the gun. “Do it for me.”

“Do it.”

You got the juice now, ma.

And if that whole scene wasn’t enough, a knock comes at the door. She tells Tommy that she made a call and she hopes he’s not mad at her.

“What did you do, Holly?!”

Tasha walks in.

“I hear you have a problem. Apparently I can help?”

IT IS SO ON.