TV Show Review

TV Review: POWER: Season 4, Episode 1: “When I Get Out” [Starz]

Omari Hardwick Ty Jones Omari Hardwick Power When I Get Out

Power “When I Get Out” Review

Starz‘s Power: Season 4, Episode 1: “When I Get Out” was an episode of shifting agendas and priorities for most-if-not-all of the principle players in this television series. James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) endured the biggest agenda shift in “When I Get Out”. Ghost had been on the cusp of expanding his legitimate empire beyond his wildest dreams in the Season 3 finale before Angela Valdes (Lela Loren), riding her misguided horse of righteousness indignation, blew it to smithereens.

Ghost being arrested for the murder of FBI Special Agent Greg Knox not only changed Ghost’s priorities but the priorities of everyone in his orbit. Tasha St. Patrick (Naturi Naughton) learning about Ghost’s arrest in “When I Get Out” was the initiating incident for one of the most devastating moments in Tasha’s life i.e. the money that the St. Patricks had bet their lives on was almost completely gone except for their children’s trust funds. Ghost had stolen the money, last season, that Tasha told him that he couldn’t have for his club expansion opportunity.

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Because of that theft, loss, and police scrutiny, the St. Patricks were almost completely back to zero during “When I Get Out”, which caused them to use their wits and their street smarts. Tasha was not a follower like Ghost and Tommy’s retainers. Her intelligence was equal to Ghost’s. That was why their dynamic had worked and endured for as long as it had. That was also why he could tell her something cryptic and he knew she would figure it out (even if it was with Tommy Egan’s assistance).

With Ghost behind bars, Tasha became the head of the family in “When I Get Out”. As materfamilias, Tasha had competing demands on her attention during the episode. Besides securing Ghost’s bail money, she was response for finding M.I.A. Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.). His disappearance and reappearance introduced a powerful new storyline into Power.  Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) could “smell” that there was something wrong between Tariq, Dre (Rotimi), and mysterious individual known as Slim. Tariq had no idea how to lie convincing and Dre’s pre-thoughtout lie was thin. Those two variables set Tommy’s curiosity ablaze. Now that wily Tommy has caught the scent, he’ll want to unravel the “Slim” mystery or at the very least find out why Tariq was lying and why Dre’s story didn’t sound right.

Dre’s quagmire went from dark gray to absolute black in “When I Get Out”.  Dre was playing a dangerous game. Dre should have saved what credibility he had left and come clean with Tommy. Numerous unanswered questions have swirled around Dre since Kanan showed up alive in NYC: 1.) why didn’t Dre get his daughter out of town?, 2.) why didn’t Dre move his daughter across country, into the Midwest (where Kanan knows and has no one?, 3.) why didn’t Dre get his daughter out of the country?, and 4.) Dre was stealing money to pay Kanan. Why didn’t Dre steal for himself and use those funds to get his family out of Kanan’s reach? Dre was an idiot. Not only that, he was a pawn in a perilous situation that he could have easily gotten his daughter and himself out of with the snap of his fingers. It was nearly impossible that these solutions (leaving town, the state, or the country with his daughter) had not occurred to Dre, especially after the first time that he paid Kanan with stolen money in “When I Get Out”.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mak (Sung Kang)’s entrance into Power during “When I Get Out” was as smooth and as slick as his argument to get Ghost’s bail denied. Attorney Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara) was good but not good enough in that key moment.

U.S. Attorney Mike Sandoval (David Fumero) may try to pin the murder of FBI Special Agent Greg Knox on Ghost so the suspicion doesn’t go anywhere else. Sandoval kept the Greg Knox murder paraphernalia after learning about Ghost’s arrest. Sandoval may plant it in one of the places Ghost had access to before the murder took place to make sure Ghost goes to prison and the case is closed.

If Ghost is as clever as he seems and Attorney Joe Proctor is as good as he seems, the both of them will use the beating that Ghost endured at the hands of Federal Marshal Clyde Williams (Charlie Murphy) and his compatriot to their advantage. Police misconduct of a prisoner while awaiting trial is a serious offense. Proctor could sue the marshals on Ghost’s behalf. The beating could be enough to get Ghost out on bail. The marshal lawsuit and getting out on bail because of the beating are real world scenarios. Neither will happen on Power. There are too many story-lines to be told with Ghost on the inside of prison than on the outside while his murder trial gets kicked into high gear.

One of the best moments of “When I Get Out” was when Kanan (Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson) talked about what Ghost was going through in prison on his first night. Kanan was relishing Ghost’s fall and what was going through his enemy’s mind as he sat (or lay) in his jail cell. I hope narration like this happens again and again this season, through the different trials that Ghost will face in prison.

What Kanan had begun doing with Tariq St. Patrick will have big ramifications down the road. Kanan believes that Ghost turned his son against him. Kanan, inch by inch, has been trying to do the same with Tariq. With the animosity that already existed between Ghost and Tariq before Kanan returned, it might actually work.

Leave your thoughts on this Power “When I Get Out” review and this episode of Power below in the comments section. Readers seeking more Power can visit our Power Page. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Google+ Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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