Power: “No Friends on the Street” — June 13, 2015
Reunited high school sweethearts Jamie “Ghost” St. Patrick and Angela Valdes were so happy together and ready to run off to Miami. Typical New Yorkers always thinking life in Florida is going to be so much better, then they encounter their first alligator or serial killer or voting irregularities and they see the dark side of the Sunshine State. In any case, Jamie’s married and Tasha St. Patrick seems like the kind of wife who wouldn’t go quietly, but that’s not their biggest obstacle. Jamie and Angie’s careers get in the way. Ever since Jamie’s bestie, business partner, and dragon Tommy Egan, informed St. Patrick that his mistress might want to lock him up in a federal prison, Jamie’s had some trust issues. Let’s go!
After taking a ride on the “J” train, Angela goes for a run. She doesn’t notice that Jamie is trailing her as she takes a run along the river. We get some lovely Manhattan porn. Power is actually filmed in the same city in which it’s set. It’s not one of those series where they put an extra with a “New Yawk” accent in a yellow cab to distract you from the “Welcome to Vancouver!” sign in the background. (Not that we have anything against our neighbors to the north. We don’t want to get in trouble with our writer and proud Canadian Andrée H.)
Angie just happens to run into Greg Knox, her ex-boyfriend, current co-worker, and occasional doormat. She clearly planned this so she can charm him into telling her about the investigation of the Lobos drug cartel. She was kicked off the task force because their new boss, US Attorney, Mike Sandoval, found her inability to be impressive, or at least keep her confidential informant alive, unsatisfactory.
Jamie is watching as the exes chat and sees that Agent Knox is helpfully wearing a hoodie with the logo “Ben’s Steakhouse, Quantico, VA.” As in Quantico, home of the FBI. Oh, Greg. Where is your stealth? Angie is usually somewhat aloof with Greg, but she thinks now is a good time to pal around in a flirty manner because she wants something. Angie isn’t straddling Greg anymore, but one could see where Jamie might jump to that conclusion. Married Jamie does not care for betrayal. The club owner/drug distributor also does not like that his mistress has not told him exactly what she does for a living. Oh, Jamie.
Angela, of course, is clueless about the relationship trouble because she has no idea that “Ghost,” the man she’s searching for, is her lover. She’s still in unicorns and lollipops mode, hoping that they really will jet off into the Miami sunset — at least for a romantic weekend. Paz shows up and tries to talk some sense into her, it goes like this:
Paz: Hello, I’m actress Elizabeth Rodriguez, I play Aleida Diaz on Orange is the New Black. On that show, I also have to tell my on-screen daughter Dayanara to not be a dumbass when it comes to men. She never listens. Maybe that’s because I’m way too young to play her mother. In any case, regardless of whatever my connection is to you, don’t be a dumbass when it comes to men.
Jamie’s got more headaches and one of them is trying to hold on to his nightclub, so he meets with nemesis, Simon Stern.
Simon: Hello, my name is Victor Garber, and I make every scene pop. Anyway, remember how I sneakily maneuvered to become your landlord?
Jamie: Yeah.
Simon: Well, now you have to do everything I say and then you’ll get your nightclub, Truth, back once you make a 20 percent profit. Obviously, I’m not trustworthy, so that’s never going to happen. I’ll make this more humiliating by having you answer to Josh Kantos, the man you employed as the club manager. He’s your new boss and will make sure that you don’t make a 20 percent profit. Gotta go, has anyone seen Elizabeth Rodriguez?
Speaking of employees, Jamie’s former boss Kanan finally pays a visit to Chez St. Patrick. It goes like this.
Jamie: Oh, hi. Great to see you, man! I thought you were still in prison for another year.
Kanan: Nope, I got an early release for good behavior. I see you’re wealthy now, but spending a decade in prison has not made me bitter. Look at you and Tasha living like “George and Weezie.” (He actually says “George and Weezie,” I’m not making that part up.)
Jamie’s apartment: I’m insulted. The Jeffersons had a mere “deluxe apartment in the sky.” I am a magnificent, luxurious yet tasteful mansion in the sky. The set designers add new square footage in every episode.
Kanan: Welp, gotta go. I’m looking for that mystery woman, Pink Sneakers, the one who almost assassinated you at Truth. Not that I had anything to do with it. I’m just going to start brutally killing extras until someone tells me where she is. Toodles!
Holly, who Pink Sneakers shot by mistake, is home from the hospital. Tommy and Jamie were so busy discussing the Angela situation that Jamie is just getting around to blasting his partner for telling Holly about their business. (Tommy really didn’t mean to be a chatterbox, it just slipped out.) Holly referred to Jamie as “Ghost” right before the shooting at the club. The men have to pretend it wasn’t an attempted hit. I don’t know about Holly, the Foreshadowing Fairy keeps fluttering about suggesting that she is not long for this world. Tommy says nothing bad will ever happen to Holly again, he won’t allow it. The Foreshadowing Fairy just rolls her eyes. Holly must be giving Tommy truth serum because it doesn’t take long for him to confess what really happened at the club. Oh, Tommy.
Jamie and Tommy have some drug-distribution business to take care of. They need help moving their heroin, so they visit an associate.
Drifty: Hello, I’m actor Jamie Hector. You may know me as Marlo Stanfield on The Wire. That has nothing to do with this scene in which I performing some sort of voodoo ritual while we talk about drugs. What we really need to discuss is that this series has an excellent casting director. Have you seen Victor Garber?
Angie’s CI, Nomar, wasn’t killed because he was an informant, he was killed because he was a pedophile. He was having sex with Isabel, the underage daughter of Carlos Ruiz. Tommy’s the one who stabbed Nomar as a favor to Ruiz, the leader of a Puerto Rican gang within Tommy and Ghost’s distribution network.
Little does Ruiz know that his daughter is being taken advantage of again. Angela knows about Nomar’s relationship with the girl, so she targets her to get information on Ghost. Angie promises that it’ll help catch the man who shot Isabel’s pedophile boyfriend. This is inappropriate, but it kind of works, leading Angela one step closer to Ghost, even though she thinks he’s a white guy. Angie goes to Greg for help, but he doesn’t want Sandoval to fire him, so he resists her seductive behavior. Angela’s kind of shifty. Actually, she’s just plain old shifty. She snoops around on Greg’s computer for audio recordings that might help with the case. She is freaked out when she recognizes Tommy’s voice. Angie performs a background check, Tommy’s got a bit of a rap sheet. She checks on Jamie, too, but can’t find any incriminating info.
While all this is going on, Jamie, is poking around Angie’s apartment. He finds files, but nothing that he’s worried about. She returns home. It goes like this:
Jamie: Hey, Babe. Just here to make you dinner and try to figure out if you’re planning to send me to prison. Wanna go to Miami?
Angie: No, I’m busy at work. I may have to put Tommy in federal prison. I am also declining an opportunity to straddle you.
Jamie: That’s okay, I’m about to go home to pack for Florida and get straddled by Tasha. I am contractually obligated to be straddled by a beautiful woman at least once per episode.
Jamie’s about to embark that trip to Miami, before the plane takes off, guess who comes aboard? It’s Angie, those crazy kids just might make it work.
Power airs Saturdays 9 ET/PT time on Starz.
