‘Power Book IV: Force’ Recap – ‘King of the Goddamn Hill’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Power Book IV: Force’. To revisit the series premiere, click here.
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We like to believe, that a fresh start in life is a supremely simple act. One where we just pick up and move to another town and let the moment dictate what comes next. But the fact of the matter is, hitting the reset button is no small task. Because once we get where we are going, we need more than hope and moxie to be successful with our fresh start. For instance, we need a job, because living expenses simply don’t magically go away. Plus, we need to find a place to live and of course, we need to meet new people and make new friends because we are social creatures that require interaction, and new friends will give us just that, and can help us to learn the lay of this new land as well.

Which is a lot to get done for certain and can seem daunting at times. But when you’re genuinely ready for a fresh start, you make it all happen, and really, all of that is top of mind today… because it served as the focus of the next episode of Power Book IV: Force. For when we catch up with Tommy Egan in ‘King of the Goddamn Hill’, he comes to realize that he too needs to accomplish all of those goals and well… it is his brother, JP, that more or less motivates him to get the fresh start train rolling. Because JP has been the victim of a bevy of crimes as of late, the kind that might put his club in jeopardy with the amount of cash required to continue to repair it and the reality that family was in trouble… meant that Tommy had to take care of that checklist, post haste.

So to properly start the process, Tommy swung by the barber shop to give the Sampson brothers back their property. After all, a show of good faith and kindness, goes a long way in any career field and it definitely allowed for Tommy to make some new friends in the Windy City. Since Diamond lowered his guard and opted to talk with Tommy and learn about his goals and well… what truly made this particular move quite important in this tale, is that it allowed for every other goal that Tommy needed to accomplish here, to come to fruition. Courtesy of of a kidnapping at gunpoint that forced Tommy and Diamond into a car to be whisked away and tasked with quite the goal.

For a rival gang wanted Diamond to sling their drugs and get them their money as penance for beef in the past and Tommy was happy to help Diamond accomplish this mission… so he could properly get the lay of the land and see what the routes looked like and who works them and who is looking for a free agent, and of course... to get paid. But the scouting part was important, since it laid the foundation down for his future empire, and despite a few quirky moments with some of the clientele, especially the bakery/deli owner who firmly believed in chemically testing the product to ensure its purity, the day went off mostly without a hitch. In fact, the only real problem this dynamic duo ran into was a traffic stop. One ripped from the headlines since Diamond was racially profiled and threatened by an arrogant and racist cop. 

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But thankfully, the situation was quickly deescalated, and Tommy got his payday and was able to accomplish more of his goals. Such as securing a place to live and once his busy day was done… we were also able to see the softer side of Tommy and explore his past. Since time with JP allowed for some old home movies of Tommy wandering about with his family to be put on display, and of course… he gently worked to build his relationship with Gloria Rogers and charm her… and we even came to see that he is indeed hurting over what happened in New York, and trying to reconcile it as best he can. But while it was amazing to really see this side of Tommy, make no mistake about it… there was still room in this tale for the hardcore gangster side of him, the one that takes care of business by any means necessary.

Because the punks that crossed, he and Diamond and threatened their lives, couldn’t go about their day without their threats going unanswered. Which motivated Tommy to go the extra mile to deal with them appropriately, by locking them in the trunk of a car to languish in fear before blowing them sky high. Plus, we’d be foolish to not talk about the blast from the past that Tommy dealt with in this tale as well. For it turns out that Liliana, the dealer that he and Ghost eventually decided to let go, fled to Chicago all those years ago, and thought Tommy had come to town to kill her and that led to an ugly reunion, one where she gets to live for now... since she had something that Tommy deemed was of value.

But while Tommy’s incredible journey in this story was engaging and powerful, the Flynn family also resurfaced in this tale… to inform the audience that they are not as strong as we were initially led to believe. For Walter is in fact, sick with an unknown ailment. One so advanced that he is starting to ponder upon the future of the family business without him at the helm, and that is bringing about a great deal of infighting between brother and sister. Since Claudia made it clear that the business needs a new direction, one where they move into new territory to stay viable. Suggestions that were quickly shot down by dear old dad, and well… there are clearly cracks in the foundation of this family and a power struggle appears to be brewing, and it could not have come at a worst time. For this is precisely the ‘in’ that Tommy needs to become the new King of Chicago.

However, while we wait to see how Tommy handles this weakness down the line, we can instead… celebrate one awesome episode. One that gave us a different kind of ‘starting over’ story since you don’t usually see men of Tommy’s questionable background go through such a process. Plus, it was just amazing to see the more human side of Mister Egan, since he worked hard here to make a connection with JP and the Sampson Brothers, and Gloria, and in the end… this series continues to impress, plain and simple. For this really is a refreshing and unique crime drama, one that is making sure the characters and their development matter above all else, and now that dear Tommy has settled into Chi-town, it will be interesting to see what moves he makes next... to make it his own. Until next time.  

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