‘Power’ Recap: Tasha & Riq’s Plan To Deal With Ghost Doesn’t Go Exactly How They Planned

Previously on Power, we followed the actions of one Councilman Tate leading up to the night James St. Patrick caught a bullet in his chest. We learned that despite having all the reasons in the world to kill Ghost, he wasn’t the triggerman, plus he got his political life back on track. We also discovered James’ killer was arrested at the close of the episode, and now FINALLY we lea #WhoShotGhost?

Tasha’s Plan To Frame Ghost Falls Apart

We knew about Tasha’s plan to get rid of James by snitching to the feds and pinning the murder of her former lover and her ex-husband’s defense attorney, Terry Silver. Before we proceed, we just want to point out that:

 

1. Tasha’s choice in men is absolute trash.
2. Having sex with her brings you grave misfortune.

Okay, back to the episode, Q real name Quentin is back in the picture. We didn’t really know how much of role this man would play in the final season, but we quickly learn where he fits in the story. Tasha shows up at his crib while he is putting his child to sleep. Once Q deposits his daughter in her room, he and Tasha engage in a “conversation.” Tasha is riding high because she believes that Ghost is about to be locked up *Cardi B voice* forever. To celebrate, she wants her cheeks clapped, and Q is a bit hesitant, but you know these men on Power are dumb as a brick when booty is thrown at them.

After the steamy sex scene (it’s been a while since we had one), Tasha is reminded she has a knucklehead son at home by a text he sent to her. She quickly gets up and gathers her intimates among the magnum condom wrappers (yes to implied protection) all over the floor. She notices a gun inside the drawer before she sneaks out (take note of that).

When she gets home, she is confronted by Riq, who questions his mother about her whereabouts because he claims he is worried about her. He is also upset that Tasha didn’t tell him about Q, really? Now on what planet will parents let their miserable teenage son run their lives like this? Only in the world of Power, that’s where. Tasha reveals to her son that she snitched on Ghost, and he is going jail for a long time. He’s not immediately receptive to the idea because snitches “ain’t sh*t.” She convinces Riq that her plan will work and that his father will be locked up for a long time.

That quickly changes the following morning, Tasha’s slumber is interrupted by Riq pointing out that her plan failed due to the announcement that James is joining Walsh’s campaign as her Lieutenant Governor. Fearing that a pending background check into James’ life will expose all of them and surely send them to jail. While they ponder what to do, Riq gets a text from Elisa Marie to meet up to discuss the recording left by Proctor. Tasha quickly calls Saxe to find out why Ghost hasn’t been arrested yet, and he explains to her it’s still in the works, but it’s going to take a bit more time.

Tasha and Riq Circle The Wagons

Tasha knows she has to move fast, and so does Riq. We revisit a bunch of moments we saw in the previous episodes just form the viewpoints of Riq and Tasha. Following his meeting with Elisa Marie and Aunt Dolores, where he failed to acquire the recording, he quickly hits up Tommy to tell him she has the disk with his voice on it.

What we didn’t learn previously that we do know now is that Riq begged Tommy not to hurt Elisa Marie. Tommy tells his nephew that’s not how things work, but, of course, we also know Tommy eventually warmed up to Proctor’s daughter and doesn’t kill her. Riq also hilariously insists that Tommy doesn’t hang the girl from a roof like he did him, Tommy informs him that he only saves that method of intimidation for “his family” before he walks away.

During their conversation, we also learn that Tasha hit up Riq at that moment to let him know that Dre is looking for his money. Riq links up with the desperate d-boy to give him his money and asks Dre for a gun. In return, Dre wants a meeting with Ghost, Riq convinces Dre to provide him with a piece, and now we know why Riq wants it, to frame Dre with it.

From there, we see what Tasha is up to, and we are taken back to the meeting between herself and James at Raina’s gravesite.

Tasha tries to warn James that his political ambitions could implicate them all, but he shuts her down by telling his ex-wife he has passed his background check. He wasn’t done there though, he completely clowns Tasha telling her to cut the bullsh*t and “stop selling drugs” and warning her that he plans on taking the kids because she is a drug dealer. James tells Tasha that they will have a better life with Ramona as their mother and that he relieves Tasha of their marriage so she can carry on being the “chicken head” she wants to be… OUCH.

Tasha’s misery doesn’t stop there because she gets a visit from Tommy, and he wasn’t there to eat her cooking either. As you remember in Tommy’s fantastic episode, he confronted her about Keisha’s death after he discovered Tasha’s earring in a bag of his late boo’s belongings Blanca gave to him. From Tasha’s point of view, we see just how scary the moment was for her being that Tommy was very close to canceling her Christmas but opted not to for the sake of her kids. With tears running down her face, she gets a text from Saxe informing her they need to speak ASAP.

We are taken to the scene that we have experienced a bunch of times between Dre, Riq, and James. This time we get more context regarding the conversation between father and son.

Riq is still livid that Ghost put his hands on his mother because he told Riq never to hit a woman following an incident between himself and Raina. James tries to apologize and explain what happened, but Riq doesn’t care and reveals the real reason that he is there, and that is to allow Dre to talk with Ghost. James is livid that his son is associating with the enemy and tells Riq to go wait in the hallway. While Ghost and Dre are having their moment, Riq uses this opportunity to stash the gun he acquired from Dre for later use.

Riq finally makes it to school, is anyone else confused why no one questioned why he wasn’t there in the first place? Anyway, he arrives just in time to see his professor getting arrested.

Now we are just going to point out this one loose end the episode left open, but maybe this will somehow come back to bite Riq in the ass later down the line. Moving on, Tasha arrives at Saxe’s house, and she is not only greeted by the former prosecutor but his defense attorney, Tameika.

Tasha learns that Saxe is no longer employed due to his hard-on to throw Ghost in jail and how sloppy he was about it. Saxe also informs her that Terry Silver’s rotting corpse in the back of a trunk plus Tate’s lies against James won’t hold up in court due to the fact he hates him. Tasha is determined to make sure Ghost ends up in jail, so she decides to go pay Tate a visit to see exactly what he knows.

We have also seen this interaction before, but now we get more information. Tate reveals to Tasha that Ghost told him that she was having an affair with Terry Silver, but that’s it. But he drops the extra nugget that police found Riq’s DNA at the scene of Raymond Jones murder and that James is the one feeding them information to ensure his road to Albany is clear of any potential issues.

Tasha Comes Up With A New Plan

With the window of opportunity closing, Tasha has to come up with a new plan quickly, and the opportunity she needs presents itself to her immediately. When she gets the items that belong to James following a walkthrough inspecting the penthouse, she discovers that her key to Ghost’s Escalade is in the bag.

After she has a flashback of the good times that were once experienced in the posh apartment, Ghost shows up to claim his stuff. They get into another intense back-and-forth after Tasha says he is going to turn his own son in for Ray Ray’s murder. James is hearing this for the first time and says he would never do such a thing, but it dawns on him that it would be a good idea if Riq copped to the crime.

Tasha hates the idea, but James tries to convince her that he can help all of them, especially her if she catches a case for killing LaKeisha. He hits her with a gut punch when he asks her did she think about Kash and how his mother’s death would affect him?

James is now convinced Riq confessing to the crime is the best route because he feels they have done everything they could to help Riq. He instructs Tasha to tell their son to come to his hotel so they can have a real man-to-man conversation before she storms off.

Tasha briefs Riq on details of her discussion with his father tells him that James wants him to confess to the crime. The b**** in Riq comes out, he doesn’t want to go to jail, a stark contrast to him talking all tough and out in the streets selling drugs. Tasha tells him that Ghost will do what it takes to help him once he gets to Albany, but neither believe that. Riq heads to his dad’s hotel room to have that man-to-man convo.

Riq can’t believe his father wants him to confess to the crime, Ghost basically tells him he has to face the consequences due to the fact he is so damn hardheaded. Things get extremely tense between the father and son when Riq ignores James’ pleas for him to listen. Ghost yolks that ass up and warns his son to stay out of his way, or he could possibly end up like his best friend Breeze.

Riq runs home to report the news to Tasha and details the look in his dad’s eyes and how he got the impression that he is willing to kill him. Tasha and Riq are scared because the odds are dangerously stacked against them. With the prospect of jail looming over both their heads, Tasha reveals a new plan she has to stop Ghost this time, and it doesn’t involve snitching. Instead, she informs her son that she will hide in the back of James’ truck and wait for him where she will kill him. Riq is tasked with lying to his dad, convincing him that he will confess to the crime.

Now, of course, Tasha has no intentions of going to prison, so she has to find a way to pin the crime on someone else, that’s where Q’s gun comes into play. She stops by Quentin’s crib to ask him to give her a ride to Truth so she can surprise James with the divorce papers and get him to sign it. He agrees, and before they set out, he FaceTimes his daughter, Tasha uses the opportunity to go in the bedroom and steal the firearm.

Tasha’s Plan Doesn’t Go As Expected

While Tasha and Q are on their way to Truth, Riq arrives and links up with his dad. Riq gives his father one more chance to change his mind about having him confess to Ray Ray’s murder. James doubles down and tells his son to look around because the chances of him taking the fall are not happening.

James walks away to go greet the mayor, and at that exact moment, Riq gets a text from Tommy instructing they need to meet. We have seen this scene between the two characters go down already with Riq telling Tommy he has no intention of helping him stop Dre from killing Ghost.

Tommy is disappointed and drives off to go save his friend, but little does he know that it was Riq who called Vincent and revealed his location, as to how he knew precisely where Tommy’s car would be is another story. He also hesitates to text his mother that Dre is on his way to kill Ghost but then decides to call her, but she doesn’t answer. He then decides to not tell her and heads back to Truth.

Back at the night club, the moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. James is shutting things down following the party, and Tasha and Q arrive. Tasha instructs Q to drive around the corner from the nightclub and wait for her there. She hops out and sneaks into the back of James’ truck and gets in position for the kill. While back there, she gets second thoughts when she sees herself in the rearview mirror. It also doesn’t help that Riq is not answering her texts, but finally, the typing icon comes up, but when it disappears, Tasha realizes what is about to happen and runs inside the club.

Before he sets on his mission to kill his dad himself, Riq gets a visit from Kanan.

We rolled our eyes so hard at this moment, but whatever. Kanan expresses how proud he is of Riq and pretty much puts the battery in the back of his protege to kill Ghost before it’s too late. Riq sets out on his mission and surprises his dad.

James tries his best to convince his son to put the gun down, but that is not going to happen. Before Riq pulls the trigger delivering the fatal gunshot wound to his father, Tasha shows up at the precise moment as the bullet enters James’ chest.  Tasha urges her son to leave, telling him she will take care of everything while Tommy, who was too late, tends to his fallen brother as he bleeds out. The gravity of his actions hit as Riq bursts into tears seeing his father lying on his night club’s floor dying.  Riq runs out of the club, changes his clothes, and before he leaves, he spots a drunk Saxe stumbling out of the back of the club.

It looks like their plan is going to work, or so they think.

Even In Death James St. Patrick Still Wins

With Ghost dead, his next of kin should be taken care of in his will, right? WRONG. Even in death, James St. Patrick still wins. His attorney in charge of his assets reveals that Tasha isn’t getting a damn thing, while Riq will get all of his properties, including Truth. He did pay one year’s worth of Tasha’s mother’s rent, but she wasn’t satisfied with that at all. Riq can’t touch any of the money or gain control of the club until he graduates from a four-year college with a 3.5 or higher GPA.

GHOST IS SO COLD BLOODED.

On their way out, they are greeted by Blanca, who tells Tasha and Riq they have to come in for questioning. Sticking to the script, they both say that Dre was the killer. Neither Blanca or Saxe believe that, but Riq has an ace up his sleeve, and he reveals to Saxe during his interrogation that he saw him at Truth. Knowing he is screwed if that information gets out, Saxe has no choice but to say that Dre killed Ghost.

Saxe and Blanca meet up after their separate interrogations, and he tells her that it was Dre while she still believes that is not the case. Not knowing that Saxe is compromised, he informs Blanca that she is going to lose her job because she was the reason Coleman was on the streets in the first place. Blanca begs Saxe to help her, but he stiffs her and leaves, she immediately calls the prison to set up a sitdown with Dre and learns he is dead. Instead of talking with Dre, Blanca heads to the jail to speak with 2-Bit.

2-Bit doesn’t really give Blanca any information cause he is enjoying watching her squirm. He does leave her thinking when he says to her that she is crazy to think that Dre was the one that killed James. We catch back up with Tasha, and she is having dinner with Simon Stern.

She is desperate for money because Ghost screwed her by leaving her out of his will. Tasha manages to convince Stern into repurchasing Truth, but the only way deal can go through is if Riq graduates, so she also wants Simon to pull some strings and get him into college, and he agrees. Simon also offers Tasha a job in his company in the most racist way possible, of course.  He also breaks the news to Tasha that Dre is dead, which throws a gigantic monkey wrench into her and Riq’s plans.

When Tasha arrives home, she breaks the news that she got Riq into college and got a new job thanks to Stern but also reveals that Dre is dead. She does some quick thinking and goes into her room and decides to call 911 on the burner phone to give a tip that she knows who killed James.

We zap to Q’s crib, Tasha is there once again getting her cheeks clapped, but they are interrupted by the police. Turns out, Tasha snitched on Q and placed the murder weapon on him. Problem solved, right? Nope far from it.

The following day everything is looking right in the world, Riq is excited about his first day of school, Tasha starts her new job, things couldn’t have worked out any better.

The moment of ease is broken up by a knock at the door, and it’s Blanca, and she is not there for a cup of coffee either.

Blanca has come to arrest Tasha because Q apparently had an alibi that night, and it checked out, making her story completely false. Knowing she is screwed, Tasha has no choice but to surrender while Riq screams for his mother to tell Blanca who killed his father. Tasha urges her son to stop fighting and just go to school, and she is taken away. The next scene is chilling, Tasha is walking into prison for processing while Riq and registering from school. They are now on two different paths.

Tasha is now facing the same fate she bestowed upon Kanan while her son is on the outside now tasked with keeping the St.Patrick’s legacy going. The story of Riq will continue in Power Book II: Ghost. So closes the chapter of James St. Patrick.

Photo: Power / Starz

‘Power’ Recap: Tasha & Riq’s Plan To Deal With Ghost Doesn’t Go Exactly How They Planned  was originally published on cassiuslife.com