We’re now four episodes into the fifth season of Power, and the drama of the first three episodes has died down a little bit. The beginning of the season started with a bang, and each of the first three episodes felt like entire movies. “Second Chances” slowed down the pace to cleverly build the next set of challenges the cast will have to survive.
“Second Chances” begins with a meeting between Kanan, Tommy, and Ghost. The frenemies converge to talk about their problem with the Jimenez, and Kanan “lets it slip” that Tommy should call his recently released father to help them out. Ghost is shocked by the revelation that Teresi is free, and must remind Tommy that his father blackmailed him twice. Allegiances continue to shift, but Tommy promises Ghost that he will not let his father in on anything going on with their criminal lives. That’s a smart move, Tommy. Ghost and Kanan speak after Tommy leaves, and the two plan to end their friend’s new relationship with his father, peacefully. Ghost is worried about Tommy’s safety, but Kanan has other plans in mind.
Tommy does meet up with his father, and Pops takes him to the cemetery to mesmerize him with stories of family and loyalty. By this time, it seems like Tommy is fully entranced by his father’s act. The two then head to a reunion spot where Teresi gets to reconvene with the members of their mob. He continues on with his “family is everything” act, but maybe he lays it on too thick this time. One member at the party asks Vincent about Teresi’s recent release with obvious suspicion, but Vince doesn’t believe the old mobster is capable of snitching. Besides, anyone he would snitch on is dead anyway Vincent replies. Wrong.
Meanwhile, Dre opens up to Alicia about her brother Diego’s spending habits. After Alicia carefully presses Dre for information about the club’s declining numbers, he admits that Diego has racked up a $60,000 tab while also causing bottle girls to quit due to his behavior. Alicia decides to handle the situation herself. She confronts her brother, who apologizes to Dre and pays him back in full when the crew meet at a private airport. Just as Dre leaves the scene and the Jimenez siblings plan to take off, Angela Valdez and her crew of police show up and arrest the brother and sister. It seems like a win for Angela, and Dre immediately realizes he has new problems on his hands.
Angela can only enjoy her win for a few minutes, as her new lover Steve shows up and flexes his DEA power to get the Jimenez siblings released. He claims that he isn’t working for them, and that his feelings for Angela are real, but she believes he used her. The situation is very suspicious, but Angela has more problems to deal with. When Steve sits down with Alicia, it is revealed that the government is allowing the Jiminez Cartel to function because it’s “too big to fail.” The Jimenez dominion over the drug trade reduces crime along the border, something the US government fully supports. Alicia also reveals that she would like to see her brother locked away, but Steve allows them both to leave.
Angela may have confiscated Blanca’s investigation into Raina and Ray Ray, but the stubborn Internal Affairs officer is still digging. She connects Darryl (the employee whose login Angela used to tamper with evidence) to Angela, and speaks with the disgruntled employee. She also sets up her suspect flow chart, with Ghost and Angela front and center. Angela texts Tasha to let her know the investigation is buried, but this is obviously a snowballing issue that will come back to wreak havoc at a later date.
Ghost is struggling emotionally at the same time. He is blaming Tasha for anything he can, and pushes her away. After Tasha refuses to go to a fundraiser for Raina because she is drained (as she should be), Ghost has a breakdown. He mistakes another girl for Raina in the crowd, and makes himself look unstable (which he is) in front of all the possible benefactors. The incident hurts the fundraising, and Ghost blames Tasha for the mishap. That seems to be the last straw for her, and she packs her things and leaves. Her relationship with Ghost’s former lawyer Terry looks like it’s about to start back up. Councilman Tate is not pleased with Ghost’s breakdown and chooses to reach out to Dre to serve as the new face of the project. Why would Tate recruit the one person Ghost is trying to kill into a public business partnership? I have no idea. Tate is playing with fire, and unless he’s got a body count as long as Ghost’s, he needs to slow his roll. Dre turns down Tate’s offer at first, but becomes scared after he believes the Jimenez protection will disappear after their arrest. Keep your enemies closer they say, right?
Kanan keeps making the craziest power moves. He creates his own plan to make Tommy look too toxic for his Italian friends. Kanan hires two young thugs to portray a drive-by with blanks on Tommy while he’s with the mob, to scare them. The young bucks use live ammo instead, but Kanan rides up and shoots them both, appearing to save the people he actually set up. Tommy is thankful for Kanan’s “rescue,” but it all plays into his frenemy’s hands. The Italians welcome Kanan to join them while they recover, and K “lets it slip” that Tommy is under fire from his business in the streets. That piece of information is likely to derail Tommy’s relationship with the Italians.
Proctor isn’t doing too well himself. Ghost and Tommy’s attorney is visited by his baby momma who claims she’s sober now. Neither Proctor nor his daughter believe the former drug addict, and he promises to keep his daughter away from her mother at any cost. That isn’t going to be as easy as it sounds. Later, authorities swarm Proctor’s apartment on the orders of Mak. Proctor’s rival is attempting to get Proctor to snitch on Ghost or Tommy, and he’s sending all the pressure. The authorities comb the house for any sign of Bailey Markham, the Homeland security agent Tommy killed in Proctor’s apartment. That was Markham’s last traceable location, and let’s hope Proctor cleaned up properly. Ghost also has a meet with Proctor, and expresses his frustration that his attorney didn’t inform him of Teresi’s release. Their relationship seems to be strained, but at the moment, they both need each other.
Teresi realizes his son doesn’t trust him after Tommy has a suspenseful phone call with his boss Jason. The ready-to-snitch Pops tries to get his son to open up to him about his situation, but Tommy smartly declines. Still, Teresi’s wife is beginning to suspect that her husband is hiding something from her. Meanwhile, Councilman Tate brings Ghost and Dre together in a public meeting for Raina’s Queens Child Project. Ghost is less than thrilled with Dre and Tate, and I can’t imagine that either one of them will live much longer. Both Angela and Ghost are frustrated with their circumstances, and they finally meet up for the first time this season. The two share a moment of deep staring before the episode cuts to black, leaving us all in suspense about how their night ended.
