(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book IV: Force episode will be found below.)
The tides are turning in Chicago and the waves are getting bigger too in season two of Power Book IV: Force. With Vic Flynn by their side, Jenard back in the picture, and his crew reuniting with CBI, Tommy Egan and Diamond push full steam ahead in their takeover of the Chicago drug game. The duo makes two major moves in this week’s episode titled “Chicago Is Heating Up.” First, they convince Miguel to cut off the supply of drugs to the Serbs in retaliation for the Crimson Projects attack. Miguel agrees, leading to the second move: teaming up with the Division Street Devils. Though Tommy gets his car shot in the process, he’s able to convince the leader of the DSD to join the coalition that Tommy and Diamond have formed throughout Chicago. Yet, on their return from the meeting, Tommy discovers a cop has been tailing them, the same one he noticed earlier in the day. He then sees Vic and the cop having a conversation and forces Vic to kill the cop to prove that he’s not a snitch, which Vic does.
The police being on their tails is not the only thing that Tommy and Diamond have to worry about. Jenard and Shanti still have a plan in motion to take out Tommy and they’ve made progress on it. Shanti secures a deal with Claudia to help her move product in high places in Chicago, like exclusive strip clubs. Their 50/50 split means that she and Jenard have more money coming their way that they can just keep for themselves and not have to split with anyone. Jenard, on the other hand, makes the big discovery of finding out that Tommy and Mireya, Miguel’s little sister, are now dating and he has photo evidence to prove it. Though his initial instinct is to put Tommy on blast, Shanti suggests that they wait for a better moment to use the photo.
Speaking of relationships, things between Tommy and Mireya are going well for the most part. The only downside is the elephant in the room which is Miguel. The two almost get caught by Miguel when he makes a surprise visit to Tommy’s house, but luckily they are not discovered. Mireya is worried about Miguel finding out about her and Tommy as Miguel killed the last person who worked with him that dated Mireya. Again, Tommy reassures her that nothing will happen to him and that seems to calm her fears. On the flip side, Diamond finally shoots his shot with Gianna, Leon’s mother, and it’s nothing but net. Turns out the interest is mutual and it led to a very intimate night together between the two after Diamond delivered a great speech to his community of which Leon and Gianna were in attendance. Oh, then there’s Claudia who’s enjoying a blast from the past as her longtime friend returned to keep her company after Walter’s death, but feelings have grown greatly since her arrival.
Okay, that’s your recap for the week. Let’s see who made of top five Power Players of the week like based on the events that went down in the “Chicago Is Heating Up” episode.
5. Claudia
In “Chicago Is Heating Up,” Claudia is just getting back on her feet after being cut out from the Flynn family organization. She reconnects with an old friend, who turns out to be her new love interest, and sets out to re-establish herself in the drug world. Claudia ends up at an exclusive strip club where she learns that pills are being sold there. She’s able to work out a new deal to sell her own product there and she initially reaches out to Jenard to strike a deal in collaboration to move the product in the club. He turns it down, but in this episode, Shanti reaches out to Claudia to make a deal. The two eventually agree on a 50/50 split which effectively puts Claudia back in the game, and by the looks of the money she and Shanti made on their first night, it seems this will be a nice win for Claudia. It would’ve been a better look for Claudia if she put the deal together, but her profit makes up for it.
4. Jenard
Jenard is back in CBI and he’s a clean man as well. He’s struggling through withdrawal from his brief bout with heroin, but he seems focused on staying off the drugs and on making the most of his opportunity in CBI. This week’s episode makes it clear that he still has a goal of taking down Tommy, and now he has the ammo to do just that. While parked outside of Tommy’s place, Jenard sees Mireya arrive and go inside Tommy’s house, but not before giving Tommy a kiss which Jenard captured on camera. Tommy and Mireya’s relationship is not something they want Miguel, her older brother, to discover. Still, with the evidence in Jenard’s hand, he now has the leverage to get the upper hand and then some with Tommy. It all depends on how he plays it.
3. Shanti
Shanti has emerged as a bit of a mastermind in the second half of Power Book II: Force season two and that couldn’t be more apparent in “Chicago Is Heating Up.” While Jenard turned down Claudia’s deal to work with her, Shanti saw it as an opportunity to make money for herself and Jenard that wouldn’t be tied to CBI and more specifically, Tommy. Shanti worked her way to a 50/50 split and made sure that Claudia would keep quiet about the deal so that their partnership and her position in CBI could coexist. Lastly, when Jenard shows her the picture of Tommy and Mireya kissing, she suggests that he hold on tight to the image as it could become more useful to them in the future. For someone who was quiet at the beginning of the season, Shanti is not one to sleep on as she has the cards and the brains to make some really big moves to close the season.
2. Tommy
One-half of the lover boys in this season of Power Book IV: Force is keeping their relationship alive for as long as they can. Tommy and Mireya are going to steady as the opening scene of “Chicago Is Heating Up” proves. Still, the elephant in the room for both of them is the possibility of Miguel finding out, which nearly happened just a few seconds later as Miguel paid a surprise visit to Tommy and his apartment, coincidentally while Mireya was there. Though they escaped that situation unscathed, trouble is on the horizon for them as Jenard snapped a picture of Tommy and Mireya sharing a kiss. Whether he decides to show that picture to Miguel or use it as blackmail remains to be seen, but either way, it’s not good for Tommy.
The good for Tommy comes when he notices that the feds are tailing him and eventually the murder of one of the officers thanks to Vic who decided that his loyalty to Tommy was more important than his loyalty to Stacy. He was also able to convince Miguel to cut off the Serbs which makes it easier for him and Diamond to work towards their goal of taking over Chicago. With the cop and the Serbs out of the way, it’s one less person looking for Tommy which gives him one more second to breathe. It’ll also cause the feds to back down, but the heat is only going to turn up for Mr. Egan.
1. Diamond
Our other lover boy, Diamond, had a great week thanks to “Chicago Is Heating Up.” For a few weeks now, he’s been looking to capture the attention of Gianna, Leon’s mother. Finally, he was able to do so this week and it came after a speech he had to give to his community. His parole officer instructed Diamond to give a speech about his past and “reformed” present. Despite some hesitations, Diamonds agrees to give the speech with the knowledge that it will help his parole officer back off of him and reduce the random checks and drug testing. Diamond impresses the crowd with his speech, and amongst them is Gianna and Leon. He uses this opportunity to ask Gianna out on a date and she accepts, but their night together doesn’t go as planned. Rather than dinner, Gianna suggests that they stay inside, and instead, they end their night with a very intimate moment together. Diamond scored the lady he wanted the most, gave a great speech, and got his parole officer off his back. Perfect week if I have to say so myself.
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.
Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/power-book-iv-force-season-2-episode-7-recap-rankings/