Power– “Who You Are and Who You Want to Be” Review. The Truth Will Set You Free…or Will It?

Season 2, Episode 5

Air Date: Saturday, July 11, 2015, 9:00 pm ET/PT on Starz

Rating: ★★★★★

“Holly, my name is AUSA Angela Valdes. We don’t have a lot of time to talk. You need to think about what you’re doing. You don’t have to throw your life away for Tommy Egan .” – Angela

Holly may think she’s cute but it doesn’t work.

As we saw in the last episode, “You’re the Only Person I Can Trust,” Holly (Lucy Walters) was taken into FBI custody, and Tasha (Naturi Naughton) threw Ghost (Omari Hardwick) out of house after learning he took Angela (Lela Loren) with him to Miami. Now, Ghost is reaping the consequences of his actions, and the Lobos Task Force is playing Holly for all she’s worth. “Who You Are and Who You Want to Be” is quite an enlightening episode for more than one of our main characters.

The power struggle going on inside the Lobos Task Force is interesting, although I don’t blame AUSA Mike Sandoval (David Fumero) for not letting Angela participate in Holly’s interrogation. Angela is way too personally involved and has a bit of tunnel vision where Tommy (Joseph Sikora) and Ghost are concerned. Holly isn’t stupid, though, and knows well enough not to give AUSA Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson) any information on Tommy. Actually, she does a great job sidestepping all of his questions. “I don’t know where all this is coming from but you’ve got your facts all wrong. Tommy’s a lot of things but he’s nothing like what you’re asking about.” Apparently, this isn’t Holly’s first time at the rodeo. What I find most interesting about this whole scenario is Angela holding back a critical piece of information she receives from the Cleveland D.A.’s office until the last minute. I’m not sure why she does it or what she hopes to gain. Angela does, however, hand Sandoval another tactic to utilize with Holly, which sends Holly spinning. I wonder whether Angela’s words to Sandoval, “When you really love a guy, you stand by him, no matter what he’s done,” will come back to bite her in the ass after the conversation she and Holly have in the bathroom.

Besides trying to come up with the cash Felipe Lobos (Enrique Murciano) wants, and dealing with Simon Stern (Victor Garber) and his handling of Truth, Ghost needs to handle problems at home. His son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) needs the advice only a father can give a son with “girl” problems. With Ghost living in a hotel, it’s not so easy for him to be available when his kids need him. Although he asked for this by cheating on his wife, I feel sorry for him. He loves his kids and would do anything not to disappoint them. Ghost and Tariq share a wonderful moment sitting on the floor together outside Ghost’s hotel room. I laughed right along with them. Ghost knows exactly what he’s talking about when giving Tariq advice about the two “women” in his life. Too bad Ghost didn’t do what he tells Tariq to do; if he had, he wouldn’t be living in a hotel.

No one expected this to happen.

Speaking of Lobos, his request leads to a problem between Ghost and Tommy as they bump heads over how to handle the situation. Ruiz (Luis Antonio Ramos) puts it perfectly, “There’s trouble in paradise.” The plan Tommy comes up with seems like a perfect solution to bring Vladimer (William Popp) around. Julio (J.R. Ramirez) is right to question Lobos’ motives for wanting his money so soon, though. Things like that don’t happen for nothing; there has to be a reason Lobos wants all his money.

Other Observations

I’d like to take a swing myself.

As much as I dislike Stern, I do enjoy all the double entendres between him and Ghost. During a particularly contentious conversation, Stern hands Ghost a golf club and says, “Would you like to take a swing?” I bet anything Ghost would love to do exactly that, minus the golf ball.

I love the juxtaposition of Stern’s hedonistic party and what happens when Tommy carries out his plan. Too bad it doesn’t exactly go down the way Tommy intended—in one respect.

Memorable Lines

“Look T, I know you’re mad at Ghost and you’re mad at me but you wouldn’t ever…I mean, you wouldn’t blow up the whole thing over this, right?”

I hope Tommy’s question to Tasha doesn’t mean what I think it means.

Tommy’s voice when he calls the cops is hilarious. “Hello, 911? Get down to Hamilton docks, terminal G. There’s a narcotics deal going on. OMG, hurry!”

Overall

The excellent dialogue, terrific acting, and brilliant direction of “Who You Are and Who You Want to Be” makes this episode a must-see hour of television. It truly becomes a game changing episode once Ghost gets a look at the books for Truth, and later when he has a very telling conversation with Stern. Add to that Angela’s extremely enlightening conversation with Holly, and if you’re like me, you can’t wait for next week’s episode. Watching Angela relive her life through flashbacks really made my heart hurt. What do you think Angela’s going to do now? Better yet, what do you think Greg (Andy Bean) is going to do after he spies on Angela and Ghost?

What do you think of “Who You Are and Who You Want to Be?” Hit me up on Twitter @SeasideTV or leave your comments below so we can discuss.

Tune in to Power Saturdays at 9pm ET/PT, only on Starz.

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Follow Power on Twitter using hashtag #PowerTV. You can also follow these cast members: Kanan @50Cent; Jamie “Ghost” St. James @OmariHardwick and @IAmTheRealGhost; Tasha @naturinaughton; Shawn @sinquawalls; Angela @LelaLoren; Tommy @JosephSikora4; Holly @lucytwalters; Greg Knox @andybeanactor; Dre @rotimi; Miguel Sandoval @davidfumero; Isabel @YainisYnoa; Pink Sneakers @TheLopezLopez; Julio @JR8Ramirez; Ruiz @LuisARamosActor, Felipe Lobos @enriquetwiter; Kantos @adamthuss, Cooper Saxe @shane_m_johnson, and Lakeisha @lala. Follow creator and executive producer Courtney Kemp Agboh @CKAgbohOfficial.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!