‘Power Book IV: Force’ Recap – ‘This Is Who We Are’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Power Book IV: Force’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of life that is incredibly transformative in nature, is dealing with death. Because there is a hard finality that accompanies death, since the person we lose is no longer around and all we have are fond memories and an understanding of what they meant to us and having that void in our hearts and that absence in our everyday lives, truly transforms us and changes us immensely. To the point where some people go a different route in life when handling loss, while others slip into darker places when the gravity of mortality settles into their minds, and well… the transformative nature of death is top of mind today, simply because it served as the focal theme of the next episode of the STARZ series, Power Book IV: Force.
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For ‘This Is Who We Are’ immediately made it clear that everyone was processing the vast amounts of death that came about during last week’s assault on the Serbs, and Jenard and Vic Flynn for that matter as well… came to realize they might not have the stomach for this aspect of the game. Because the loss of E and Simon truly rattled Jenard and Vic, to the point where they quietly met with Diamond to do the impossible and the unthinkable. For they asked Tommy to leave the group and respect their boundaries and let the drug trade in Chicago more or less return to normal without his influence or help. A move that Tommy surprisingly took well, but more on that in a moment. Because this made it clear that sometimes, death will scare us to no end and force us to play it safe, in the hopes of never having to deal with its gravity again. 

But that aside, there was a reason that Tommy had no problem with being booted out of the collective here, simply because he had Dahlia on his radar and without any managerial distractions, he could work to build that up and make it the dominant drug in Chicago and oddly enough, his desire to narrow his focus on his future empire, allowed for more observations upon death to come into play. In that, when we meet someone that has dealt with its gravity when we are yearning to, we can find support and a kindred spirit. One that we bond with and move forward with and in this case, that bond that was forged between Claudia and Tommy. Since he helped her bury Mai’s body and in doing so, helped her to really understand the game and its losses and how to view them and just like that… they were on the same page and got down to work.

Which is a sequence that allowed for the story to give the audience a bit of a break from such heavy subject matter. For Tommy and Liliana, and Claudia wasted no time in building their empire by setting up a distribution network. One that involved getting Dahlia into lockers at the convention center so dealers and distributors could easily sneak in and out with the product and no one would be the wiser. A network that Claudia expressed great doubt about until Tommy took the time to show her exactly how well it works by setting up a drop himself, allowing for him to have a little fun for a change and indulge in the parts about his job that he loves and well… once she saw that it was indeed a sound model, she was on board and ready to get her cook to make enough Dahlia to conquer the world. 

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But it didn’t take long for this story to dive back into the deeper stuff, courtesy of Walter Flynn. Because once again, his health served as a liability in this tale, to the point where his kids are starting to genuinely question whether or not he is okay and had it not been for Paulie, they might have come face to face with the reality that their father was mortally ill in a terrifying manner. Since Paulie found Walter face down and bleeding after a fall caused by his illness and well… that led to a powerful moment between these two men. Wherein Walter had to face his own mortality for the first time in this tale and in doing so… we were able to come to learn that facing such matters can put us into a panic and force us to do some dangerous things. 
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Because shortly after Walter recovered from his head injury, his son came home in a panic. For someone made an attempt on his and Gloria’s life while they were enjoying their evening, and that someone had to be a Serbian Mobster and the prospect of seeing his son go into the ground, first, was more than Walter could bear. Which in turn motivated him to take fate and death into his own hands and waltz into the restaurant where the top Serbian mobsters like to dine… to send a message to leadership, one signed in blood with a lead filled pen. A move so desperate and so powerful, that Walter has undoubtedly unwittingly brought more death and suffering upon his house and his empire… all because he gave into his fears revolving around death. 

Yet while all of those storylines could have carried this episode no problem, it still had more powerful moments to send our way. For this is also a story that saw Tommy reveal the truth to JP about what he really does for a living. A reveal that didn’t bring about the divide that Tommy expected, since JP was actually eager to join the cause to get out of debt, rather than take a handout. And that admission and request… allowed for Tommy to open up and reveal how much the loss of Ghost and the fall of the St. Patrick Empire impacted him and taught him to keep business and his private life separate, in order to keep those he cares about safe. Which is why he refused JP’s request post haste and to top it all off… he wasn’t the only one to learn this lesson. Because seeing his father and the man he was asked to track, together, was enough to get D-Mac to rebuff Jenard’s demands that he track Tommy so he could also keep his two lives separate.

But while it was amazing to enjoy a chapter in this story that was full of incredible depth, make no mistake about it… the traditional crime drama stuff was still there. After all, there is war coming to the Flynn empire and law enforcement is doing its best to close in and that double pronged attack might cause trouble for Tommy and Claudia’s plans. Plus, there’s Adrienne, the mysterious woman that is hyper focused on Diamond. But all speculation and worry aside, make no mistake about it, this was hands down the best episode to date of this burgeoning series. Since it really displayed the potential storytelling wise for this series, and it really did move the Power Universe into new territory as well, and now that we’ve reached the end of this cerebral adventure, it’s time to impatiently count down the minutes until next week’s tale and all the wonders and intrigue and danger it will send our way. Until next time.

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