(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book IV: Force episode will be found below.)
The aftermath of Walter Flynn’s death in season two, episode five of Power Book IV: Force is going to affect everyone in the show and episode six, “Here Be The Monsters,” made that explicitly clear. For starters, Vic reaches out to Tommy Egan to make a deal with him and work for CBI under a 60/40 split. This is all while Vic is still working with the feds to take down Tommy and Claudia. Vic seems a bit back and forth on what he wants to do, whether it be work for Tommy and CBI or give up Tommy to the cops, but by the end of the episode he makes his decision clear as he reflects on Gloria’s season one death at the end of the episode.
There are also some big changes in store for CBI. Following the death of their father, Jenard and Diamond are back on good terms with Diamond opening the door for Jenard to return to CBI. Jenard’s return is under the condition that he clean himself up and stay off drugs in order to not hold the group back. So far, Jenard has obliged to that condition, and we see Tommy welcome him back into the group with open arms and a warning that he’ll be kicked out (and worse) if he messes up. That mistake could happen sooner than later as his love interest Shanti wants to use this as an opportunity to take down Tommy. With Jenard’s return, Diamond was able to clear his debt with Miguel but not with the Serbs’ leader Markovich. Tommy tried to convince Markovich, but the Serb leader not only refused but waged war on CBI by attacking the Crimson projects, an area they’ve been trying to take control of for quite some time.
Elsewhere, we also have updates on the new relationships that are forming this season. Diamond continues to train Leon as a boxer and his feelings for Gianna are growing by the second. However, Leon’s father, who is verbally and maybe even physically abusive, takes issue with Diamond’s presence in their family. Tommy and Mireya hit an obstacle in their growing relationship with Mireya growing fearful of Tommy’s safety after her brother Miguel attacks her ex. Luckily for Tommy, he’s able to assure her that he can handle himself and that her worries are not a reason for her to break off their relationship.
Now that this recap is out of the way, let’s dive into the top five Power Players based on what went down in the “Here Be The Monsters” episode.
5. Shanti
Prior to this week’s episode, Shanti seemed only to have some relationship with Jenard as we’d yet to see her interact with Diamond, Tommy, and others from the main cast. It’s clear that she’s rooting for Jenard as both a friend and a romantic partner, and now thanks to this week’s episode, we know that she sees Tommy and Diamond as enemies in the Chicago drug game.
In “Here Be The Monsters,” Shanti makes a deal with Diamond to give up territory and work with CBI in exchange for Jenard getting back in CBI. Diamond agrees to it and so does Tommy after some convincing. What the two don’t know is that Shanti’s offer is all a part of a ploy to get Jenard in a position to take over CBI and take out Tommy once and for all. We’ll have to see if her plan will actually work, but the fact that she was able to convince Diamond to accept and get Jenard to clean up his act so he’d be in a position to accept his CBI role is enough to prove that her power is not small.
4. Mireya
Mireya continues to take a few steps forward in her newfound romance with Tommy, and while that’s a win for her, it’s things outside of it that also prove to be big moments for her this week. In episode five, we see Miguel and an associate attack Kendall, Mireya’s coworker and former love interest, at his home after Miguel saw him grab Mireya’s arm at work. When Mireya learns about the attack this week, she’s able to conclude that Miguel is the person behind and she later confronts him. During this moment, Miguel, a diabetic, is in dire need of insulin, and Mireya refuses to give him his shot in retaliation for what he did to Kendall. He lashes out by saying her career as a nurse is inferior to the family’s drug business which worsens his chances of getting the insulin shot he needs.
In a later scene, we find out that Mireya tried to distance herself from Tommy after Kendall’s attack in fear that the same thing could happen to Tommy if Miguel found out they were dating. Tommy, who is appreciative of her concern, also reminds her that he’s a grown man and can handle her battles. She seems to accept this as she returns to his apartment where they have another night together, a more intimate one, towards the end of the episode. Mireya is fighting for the things she wants and the things she stands for. She’s going to make sure she can keep her nursing career and she’ll continue her romance with Tommy as both make her happy, and for someone outside of the drug world, that’s all that matters.
3. Jenard
The first five episodes in season two of Power Book IV: Force were absolutely tough for Jenard. He endured a harsh split in CBI that left him out on his own to lead a crew, something he wasn’t ready for. Debts to connects caused him to get attacked and have his things stolen. Eventually, he found himself using heroin and heading full steam towards being addicted to it. Miraculously, Jenard was able to bounce back from all of that and find himself back in CBI in this episode. It comes after Diamond extended an olive branch after their dad passed away in last week’s episode. Diamond and Tommy offered him a clean slate in CBI and Jenard jumped at the opportunity to seemingly be in the good graces of past enemies. Though, we’ll have to see how it plays out especially with Shanti in his ear pushing him to take over CBI and eliminate Tommy. Though that would be a very risky and dangerous move, we can celebrate Jenard’s recovery and elevation from down times in the meantime.
2. Tommy
This week’s episode didn’t spend too much time on Tommy in his CBI world, but we do see him make some decent moves in and out of it. He agrees to work with Vic in a new collaboration that’s seemingly beneficial to both sides… for now. Vic’s partnership with Tommy only came after he agreed to help the feds take down Tommy, but even Vic doesn’t seem too willing to do that. So there’s a good chance this turns out to be a successful partnership, but we’ll have to wait and see like everything else here.
Tommy is also able to convince Mireya to put her fears for his safety aside as he’s able to take care of himself. He later admits to possibly loving Mireya during a trippy moment in the episode as Holly from the original Power makes her return as a ghost to remind Tommy about the women in his past who died simply as a result of being around him. Though the correlation may be true, it’s not enough to steer Tommy away from Mireya. Outside of that, Tommy escapes trouble, a shootout from the Serbs, and puts his differences aside with Jenard to accept an apology from him and welcome him back to CBI.
1. Diamond
Diamond reclaims the top spot for having one of this season’s most admirable moments. At this point in the season, Diamond has been teaching Leon, a young kid from the neighborhood, how to defend himself through boxing lessons. However, in episode six, we see that one of Leon’s biggest bullies is his own father. After a boxing lesson, Diamond stops by Leon’s house for a glass of lemonade with Leon and his mother Gianna when Leon’s father comes home furious to see Diamond in his house. Diamond leaves and later learns that Leon’s father is fairly abusive with his son and decides to take matters into his own hands. He meets Leon’s father at the mechanic shop he works at, puts him in a chokehold, and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t leave Leon and Gianna alone.
Elsewhere, Diamond discovers that Jenard has been using heroin, and instead of lashing out at him, Diamond gets him to clean himself up so that he’s ready to rejoin CBI. Diamond then convinces Tommy to let him back into the group thanks to a deal he had with Shanti. From start to finish, Diamond showcases a high level of selflessness and a willingness to help others even when they’ve wronged him, something that is commendable in the drug game especially as others would probably not do the same.
New episodes of ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.
