Starz’s crime drama Power was rife to expand into a franchise with how popular the series was, so it wasn’t a surprise when the network ordered multiple spinoffs. But it’s Power Book IV: Force that feels like the truest continuation — because it’s the first spinoff that pops off the screen like the original show, and because Joseph Sikora’s protagonist Tommy Egan feels even more like a runaway freight train.
Power didn’t glamorize the drug world; it was an urban tragedy that had to end with the death of its hero James “Ghost” St. Patrick. The show also did a pretty good job of screwing over Tommy: by the series finale, his best friend Ghost and his fiancé LaKeisha Grant had died, his associates in the drug game betrayed him worse than Fez in Euphoria and his own mother turned on him. His flashback appearance in Power Book II: Ghost made things worse, adding that Ghost’s widow Tasha framed Tommy for her husband’s murder. If anyone had unfinished business and a reason to keep going, it was Tommy — plus, Joseph Sikora’s incredible talent was perfect to build another show around.
A spinoff about a protagonist returning to their hometown isn’t new — even The Cleveland Show did it — but it’s the way Sikora plays it that makes Power Book IV: Force the follow-up fans deserve. Tommy has always been a live wire; even in his most quiet or vulnerable moments he’s never quite still. It makes complete sense that he’d take the heavy blows he suffered in Power and use them as fuel to not only start over, but make his own empire where he wouldn’t have to rely on anyone or care about losing anyone. Force also gave him a substantive reason to stay in Chicago by revealing his grandmother was still alive and he had an ignored half-brother. This show is Tommy Egan’s reckoning (and the fact that Sikora is also a Chicago native adds a neat extra quirk to it).
Viewers are now several episodes into the season, and Tommy’s battles have fleshed out the character in ways that Power never could. In the original series, though Tommy and Ghost were partners and even operated independently at times, they were always inexorably connected. Power Book IV: Force has made Tommy clearly number one — with all the positives and negatives that entails. The subtle psychological shift of being professionally beholden to no one else has given him an extra edge. There’s also no one to check him and he faces the full consequences of his mistakes. His relationship with Gloria (Gabrielle Ryan) could help him out but that’s if it even lasts. Sikora has done a brilliant job in playing Tommy as the same man but showing the viewers aspects of him that haven’t been fully explored, by the show or by the character himself.
One aspect of Power Book IV: Force that’s particularly intriguing is its exploration of Tommy’s newfound family: his half-brother JP Gibbs (Anthony Fleming III) and nephew D-Mac (Lucien Cambric). Though D-Mac being JP’s son isn’t public knowledge yet, it’s bound to come out eventually, and JP has already told Tommy that he’s in a financial bind. Ghost’s family was completely caught up in the game; even his true love Angela was a U.S. Attorney. JP is trying to stay on the straight and narrow as is Gloria, and D-Mac’s not totally in yet. Tommy can have a side of his life that has nothing to do with drugs — giving himself a balance and saving himself from making the mistakes Ghost made by being unable to keep things separated.
Power Book II: Ghost continues a story that ended perfectly with Ghost’s demise, while Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel so it’s essentially in its own world. With Power Book IV: Force, the Power universe is taking real steps forward — because it’s betting on Tommy Egan and his inability to do anything but move forward. What Tommy is doing now would make Ghost proud, and that’s what makes Force the true sequel.
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