Shakir Rashaan recaps 'Power': Is an HEA for Ghost and Angela impossible now?

Hello, I'm Shakir Rashaan, and I'm a male erotic romance and mystery author for Strebor Books/Simon & Schuster and a regular contributor to the Happy Ever After blog! You can normally find me on my regular blog, Manly Musings, but I'm devoting some extra time to recapping episodes of Starz's hit show, Power!

We're getting into the home stretch, and there's heartbreak coming around the corner in a major way. It's going to get very interesting moving forward, trust me on this!

If this episode is any indication, and the final setup for the season finale, things are about to get dangerous. I'm still buzzing over the heartbreak with Ghost and Angela, though. I know I'm not supposed to give away spoilers, but this one screwed up my HEA angle. Insert all kinds of irritated screams here.

So, now that I'm out of my feelings, let's get started, shall we?

If you recall, Tommy got arrested last episode, but what I left out (for those who didn't see that move coming) was that Ghost had procured the services of a former client who was into a large financial debt to Ghost, based on the drugs he'd been buying to support his wife's habit. That move paid off big-time! I'll get to why in a minute.

I had been focusing so much on Ghost and his love affair with Angela that I totally neglected the happenings with Tasha and Shawn. When I say that heated up quicker than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition? They got so deep that Tasha has decided to be with Shawn!

Back to Tommy and the moves that were made behind the scenes that might have spelled the end of Ghost and Angela.

Tommy is now going through the motions of being arraigned and going through trial, watching Angela across from him as his lawyer, Proctor, represents him. He's skeptical of Proctor's reasons for representing him, trying to figure out why Ghost isn't in prison orange with him. Proctor is tight-lipped and finally convinces Tommy that if he shuts up long enough, he could get out of this without so much as another blemish on his criminal record.

Angela, on the other hand, is hell-bent on nailing Tommy to the wall, and the rest of the team is on board with trying to break Tommy the best way they know how, including pressuring his mother to get him to flip on Lobos. Tommy sticks to the code, basically saying he'll go to prison instead of snitching. Realizing that he won't flip, Angela goes to Ghost, but finds out that he doesn't see things her way, either, trying to get her to remember how things were when they were growing up and the code they all used to live by. He implores her to find another way, and she relents, trying to figure out what that actually means.

In a last-ditch effort, Angela meets with Tommy in the bowels of the jail, trying to get him to reconsider, offering immunity and witness protection. For a moment, it looks like Tommy might take the deal, but then he comes to his senses, violently telling Angela that she's a fool for even thinking that he would do something so stupid. By that point, the bailiff shows up, telling Angela that they're expected in court. She's confused over why they're expected back so soon, and she finds out the reason as soon as she sits down in court.

Proctor informs the court that during the discovery process, someone from the prosecution forgot to involve a partial sketch other than the one that was included in discovery that was actually used to create the full sketch used to identify Tommy. He berated the prosecution for not including evidence that basically created a "poison tree" pattern of finding other evidence to try to pin Tommy for a series of crimes that otherwise they would have not been able to get if it weren't for a bogus sketch. He asks for a dismissal of all charges, with prejudice (for those who don't know, "with prejudice" means they can never bring these same charges up again against Tommy).

The judge agrees and scolds Angela that someone on her team needs to be sanctioned before granting the request for dismissal.

Angela is ticked! So much so that she tracks down Ghost at Truth and rips him to shreds, accusing him of putting her livelihood in jeopardy and doing whatever it takes to get what he wants. In a fit of rage, she asks Ghost to reveal his true self. He doesn't deny that he is the real Ghost, but he doesn't confirm it, either, but he still wants her to be with him now that Lobos is behind bars and Tommy is in the clear.

Angela is no longer disillusioned about who James St. Patrick is anymore and basically tells Ghost that they're done. It's over!

Now that he's lost Angela, will Ghost try to win Tasha back, for the sake of the family?

And speaking of Tasha …

With everything that happened with Tommy, she no longer feels safe in New York City. In preparation for figuring out her next moves, not only did she get romantically and intimately involved with Shawn, she'd also been siphoning off money into a separate account that Ghost knows nothing about. Before long, she has hundreds of thousands of dollars tucked away for whatever she needs to do. Now that she's seen that Ghost has things out of hand, in her eyes, she thinks it's better that she and the kids leave NYC and build a new life — without Ghost.

The only remaining piece of the puzzle to her escape plan: persuading Shawn to come with them as her new love and a pseudo-father to the kids.

He jumps at the chance to be with her, which emboldens him to try to complete a task that Kanan has charged him with: killing Ghost! Once he's out of the way, Shawn can leave with Tasha and they can live their own version of happy ever after.

What is it they say about the best-laid plans?

Of course, as always, I'm not telling everything that happened in this episode, but here's some of the more interesting questions to take into the next episode:

• Is Tasha going to be able to get out of NYC without Ghost knowing about it?

• Is Kanan going to be able to turn Ghost's entire network against him?

• And, finally, is Angela really over Ghost, or is she simply acting in her own self-interest while behaving like a woman scorned?

One more episode until the finale! Will Ghost end up catching Kanan's wrath? Tune in to Starz at 9 p.m. ET next Saturday to see what happens next!

Shakir Rashaan lives in suburban Atlanta with his wife and two children. His catalog includes the Nubian Underworld series and the upcoming Kink, P.I. Series. He is also developing projects under the pen name P.K. Rashaan. You can see more of him at www.ShakirRashaan.com or you can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter (@shakirrashaan).