Power (TV series)

Power is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Courtney A. Kemp in collaboration with Curtis Jackson. It aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014 to February 9, 2020.

Not to be confused with Powers (American TV series), Powers (British TV series), or Power series.

Power
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Courtney A. Kemp
Starring	Omari Hardwick Joseph Sikora Lela Loren Naturi Naughton Rotimi Akinosho Andy Bean Shane Johnson Jerry Ferrara Curtis Jackson La La Anthony Michael Rainey Jr. Sung Kang Larenz Tate
Opening theme	"Big Rich Town"
Composer(s)	50 Cent Joe
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	63 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Courtney A. Kemp Gary Lennon David Knoller Curtis Jackson Mark Canton Randall Emmett
Producer(s)	Bart Wenrich Shana Stein Heather Zuhlke Raphael Jackson, Jr. Damione Macedon Denise Pinckley Michael Rainey Jr.
Production location(s)	New York City
Running time	51–82 minutes
Production company(s)	End of Episode, Inc. Mawuli Productions Atmosphere Television G-Unit Film & Television Inc. CBS Television Studios
Distributor	Starz Media
Release
Original network	Starz
Picture format	1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Audio format	5.1
Original release	June 7, 2014 (2014-06-07) – February 9, 2020 (2020-02-09)
Chronology
Followed by	Power Book II: Ghost
External links
Website

Upon release, Power gained positive reviews for its pacing, atmosphere, and acting.[1][2] It is one of Starz's most highly rated shows and one of cable's most watched shows.[3][4] Prior to the premiere of the fifth season, Starz renewed the show for a sixth and final season, which premiered on August 25, 2019.[5][6]

Overview

Power tells the story of James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a ruthless, intelligent drug dealer under the street name "Ghost", who wishes to leave the criminal world to pursue legitimate business interests as a nightclub owner. St. Patrick aims to balance these two lives, while avoiding police capture amid a crumbling marriage and shifting economic alliances.

The show also features James' family, which partly consists of his wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton) and son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.). Power also follows James' criminal partner and lifelong best friend Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), love interest and criminal prosecutor Angela Valdes (Lela Loren), friend-turned-rival Kanan Stark (50 Cent), protege and rival Andre Coleman (Rotimi Akinosho), and Angela's colleague, Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson). Defense attorney Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara), district attorney John Mak (Sung Kang), and politician Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) also appear in the show's later seasons.

Episodes

Main article: List of Power episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	8		June 7, 2014 (2014-06-07)	August 2, 2014 (2014-08-02)
	2	10		June 6, 2015 (2015-06-06)	August 15, 2015 (2015-08-15)
	3	10		July 17, 2016 (2016-07-17)	September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25)
	4	10		June 25, 2017 (2017-06-25)	September 3, 2017 (2017-09-03)
	5	10		July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	September 9, 2018 (2018-09-09)
	6	15		August 25, 2019 (2019-08-25)	February 9, 2020 (2020-02-09)

Cast and characters

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Omari Hardwick	James "Ghost" St. Patrick	Main
Joseph Sikora	Thomas "Tommy" Egan	Main
Lela Loren	Angela Valdes	Main
Naturi Naughton	Tasha St. Patrick	Main
Andy Bean	Gregory "Greg" Knox	Main			Does not appear
Adam Huss	Joshua "Josh" Kantos	Main		Recurring	Does not appear
Kathrine Narducci	Frankie Lavarro	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Luis Antonio Ramos	Carlos Ruiz	Main			Does not appear
Greg Serano	Juan Julio Medina	Main	Does not appear	Recurring	Does not appear	Recurring	Does not appear
Sinqua Walls	Shawn Stark	Main		Does not appear
Lucy Walters	Holly Weaver	Main			Does not appear
Shane Johnson	Cooper Saxe	Recurring	Main
J.R. Ramirez	Julio Romano	Recurring	Main			Does not appear
Michael Rainey Jr.	Tariq St. Patrick	Recurring		Main
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson	Kanan Stark	Recurring		Main			Guest
Alani "La La" Anthony	Lakeisha Grant	Recurring			Main
Rotimi Akinosho	Andre "Dre" Coleman	Does not appear	Main
David Fumero	Miguel "Mike" Sandoval	Does not appear	Main			Does not appear
Jerry Ferrara	Joseph "Joe" Proctor	Does not appear	Recurring	Main
Callan Mulvey	Dean/Milan	Does not appear		Main	Does not appear
Matt Cedeño	Diego "Cristobal" Martinez	Does not appear	Recurring		Main		Does not appear
Sung Kang	John Mak	Does not appear			Main		Guest
William Sadler	Anthony "Tony" Teresi	Does not appear			Main		Does not appear
Brandon Victor Dixon	Deleterious "Terry" Silver	Does not appear			Recurring	Main	Does not appear
Larenz Tate	Rashad Tate	Does not appear			Recurring	Main
Mike Dopud	Jason Micic	Does not appear			Recurring		Main
Cynthia Addai-Robinson	Ramona Garrity	Does not appear					Main
Monique Gabriela Curnen	Blanca Rodriguez	Does not appear				Recurring	Main
Michael J. Ferguson	Francis "2-Bit" Johnson	Does not appear	Recurring				Main
Evan Handler	Jacob Warner	Does not appear					Main

Main

• Omari Hardwick as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, a high-level drug distributor and nightclub owner. He is married to Tasha, and is also romantically involved with AUSA Angela Valdez.
• Joseph Sikora as Thomas "Tommy" Egan, Ghost's partner, life-long best friend, and the godfather to his children. Egan is seen as an honorary member of his family.
• Lela Loren as Angela Valdes, an Assistant United States Attorney tasked with prosecuting Ghost. She went to the same high school as St. Patrick and Egan. She is St. Patrick's love interest and mistress.
• Naturi Naughton as Tasha St. Patrick, Ghost's ex-wife and criminal accomplice. She has romantic affairs with Kanan's son Shawn and attorney Terry Silver. She is also Q's new love interest.
• Curtis Jackson as Kanan Stark, a fellow drug dealer and Ghost's and Tommy's former mentor-turned rival. Prior to the events of the series, he was set up by Ghost and Tasha to go to prison for ten years.
• Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq James St. Patrick, Tasha and James's son. An honor student, he has a strained relationship with James/Ghost because of his marriage-ending relationship with Angela and lying about being involved in the drug game and being mentored by Kanan. Tariq has two sisters: a twin, Raina St. Patrick, who is later murdered by a crooked police officer, named Raymond "Ray Ray" Jones, when Tariq was involved in pulling home invasion robberies with Kanan and Ray Ray; and a younger sister, Yasmine St. Patrick.
• La La Anthony as Lakeisha Grant, Tasha's friend and criminal accomplice. She is a hairstylist and business owner. She becomes Tommy's love interest in the later seasons.
• Rotimi Akinosho as Andre "Dre" Coleman, a low-profile and ambitious drug dealer. He works with both Ghost and Kanan and eventually becomes a major player under Alicia Jiménez.
• Shane Johnson as Cooper Saxe, a fellow attorney and Angela's colleague also assigned to the Ghost case.
• Jerry Ferrara as Joseph "Joe" Proctor, a criminal attorney who frequently represents Ghost and Tommy.
• Sinqua Walls Shaun Stark, Kanan’s son who is also the personal chauffeur and loyal bodyguard of Ghost. But he starts an affair with Tasha.
• Sung Kang as John Mak, an Assistant U.S. attorney who leads the case in the murder of FBI agent Greg Knox.
• Larenz Tate as Rashad Tate, a New York City councilman who is running for governor of New York. Tate uses James for PR for his campaign, as St. Patrick is viewed as an inspiration to potential urban voters. Tate is a former police officer and frequently participates in corruption.
• J.R. Ramirez as Julio Moreno, Ghost and Tommy's right-hand man and a former Toros Locos gang member.
• William Sadler as Anthony "Tony" Teresi, an incarcerated Italian-American gangster and caporegime in the Mosconi crime family.
• Lucy Walters as Holly, a petty criminal and waitress at Truth and the love interest to Tommy.
• Andy Bean as Gregory "Greg" Knox, an FBI agent assigned to the Ghost/Lobos case and Angela's former love interest.
• David Fumero as Miguel "Mike" Sandoval, a corrupt FBI Assistant U.S. Attorney.
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Ramona Garrity, a political strategist for the DNC.
• Michael J. Ferguson as Francis "2-Bit" Johnson. Former accomplice of Dre/Kanan who runs with Tommy now
• Mike Dopud as Jason Micic, Tommy's Serbian connect.
• Evan Handler as Jacob Warner

Recurring

• Elizabeth Rodriguez as Paz Valdes, Angela's sister who maintains a dislike for James.
• Donshea Hopkins as Raina St. Patrick, James and Tasha's eldest daughter and twin sister to Tariq.
• Enrique Murciano as Felipe Lobos, an international drug supplier who works with Ghost and Tommy.
• Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Tameika Robinson, the leader of the United States Department of Justice.
• Victor Garber as Simon Stern, a rival nightclub owner.
• Ana de la Reguera as Alicia Jiménez, Diego's sister and one of the leaders of the Jiménez cartel.
• Patricia Kalember as Kate Egan, Tommy's mother.
• Bill Sage as Sammy, an Irish gangster who works with Tommy.
• Anika Noni Rose as Laverne "Jukebox" Ganner, a dirty cop and Kanan's cousin.
• Maurice Compte as Diego Jiménez, a rival drug supplier and one of the leaders of the Jiménez cartel.
• Avery Mason as Black "BG" Grimace, Tommy's right-hand man and valet.
• Amaya Carr as Yasmine St. Patrick, James and Tasha's daughter and sister to Tariq.
• Debbi Morgan as Estelle, Tasha's mother.
• Denim Roberson as Cash Grant, LaKeisha's son.
• Ty Jones as SAC Jerry Donovan, an FBI agent working on the Lobos and Jimenez cases.
• Mattea Conforti as Elisa Marie Proctor, Joey's daughter.
• Aleksandar Popovic as Petar, a member of the Serbian organization who worked with Tommy.
• Andrea-Rachel Parker as Destiny, Tariq's ex fling.
• Tyrone Marshall Brown as Quinton "Q" Wallace, Tasha's new love interest.
• Joseph Perrino as Vincent Ragni, a member of the mob, Tommy and Tony conflicted with.
• Franky G as Poncho, the new primera for the Soldados Family, after Ruiz.
• Alix Lapri as Effie, Tariq's new love interest.
• Omar Scroggins as Spottswood "Spanky" Richards, a childhood friend of Dre's and 2Bit's, who later works under Dre and Tommy.
• Glynn Turman as Gabriel, Ghost's uncle.
• Charlie Murphy as Marshal Clyde Williams, a violent guard in Ghost's cell block.
• Jim Norton as Father Callahan, a priest who sells drugs for Tommy.
• Lee Tergesen as Bailey Markham, a Homeland Security agent and Greg Knox's friend.
• Sonya Walger as Madeline Stern, Simon's wife.
• C. S. Lee as Jae Shin, Korean crime boss.
• Johnathan Park as Dylan, Jae Shin's son.
• Richard Ryker as Steve Tampio, a DEA agent Angela deals with.
• Ian Paola as Uriel, leader of the Toros Locos.
• Victor Almanzar as Arturo Magdaleno, leader of the Toros Locos.
• Darrell Britt-Gibson as Rolla, a close friend of Ghost's and leader of the RSK's.
• Danielle Thorpe as Lindsay Proctor, Joey's junkie ex-wife.
• Mercedes Ruehl as Connie Teresi, Tony's wife.
• Domenick Lombardozzi as Benny Civello, a member of the Civello crime family and Joey Proctor's cousin.
• Michael Gaston as Judge Tapper, the judge on Ghost's case.
• Sheena Sakai as Soo, Julio's girlfriend.
• Maria Rivera as Maria Suarez, a witness Ghost spared.
• Vinicius Zorin-Machado as Nomar Arcielo, a Soldado turned informant for Angela.
• Leslie Lopez as "Pink Sneakers", an assassin hired to target Ghost's operation.
• Cedric the Entertainer as Croop, a hitman Tate associates with.

Special guest appearances

• Kendrick Lamar as Laces, a Dominican drug addict who works with Kanan.
• Jesse Williams as Kadeem, Lakeisha's ex, and father of their son, Cash.

Broadcast

In Australia, all episodes are available to stream after their US airing on Stan.[7] The show is available weekly after its US airing on Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[8][9][10] In Scandinavia and Finland, all episodes are available to stream on HBO Nordic.[11]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2015	Women's Image Network Awards[12]	Actress Drama Series	Naturi Naughton	Nominated
		Outstanding Show Written by a Woman	Courtney A. Kemp	Nominated
2016	47th NAACP Image Awards[13]	Outstanding Drama Series	Power	Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Omari Hardwick	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Naturi Naughton	Nominated
	NAMIC Vision Awards[14]	Best Performance – Drama	Naturi Naughton	Nominated
		Best Performance – Drama	Omari Hardwick	Won
	Women's Image Network Awards[15]	Actress Drama Series	Naturi Naughton	Nominated
2017	48th NAACP Image Awards[16]	Outstanding Drama Series	Power	Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Omari Hardwick	Nominated
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Naturi Naughton	Won
	Black Reel Awards for Television[17]	Outstanding Drama Series	Power	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards[18]	Favorite Premium Drama Series	Power	Nominated
2018	49th NAACP Image Awards[19]	Outstanding Drama Series	Power	Won
		Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Omari Hardwick	Won
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Naturi Naughton	Won
		Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series)	Michael Rainey Jr.	Nominated
	Black Reel Awards for Television[20]	Outstanding Actor, Drama Series	Omari Hardwick	Nominated
	NAMIC Vision Awards[21]	Best Performance – Drama	50 Cent	Nominated
		Best Performance – Drama	Michael Rainey Jr.	Nominated
		Drama	Power	Nominated
	Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA)[22]	Outstanding Music Supervision - Television	Jennifer Ross	Won
2019	50th NAACP Image Awards[23]	Outstanding Drama Series	Power	Won
	34th Annual Imagen Awards[24]	Best Actress - Television	Lela Loren	Nominated

Reception

Critical response

Season 1

Season 1 of Power received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 57 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating a mixed reaction to the series.[25] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 41%, based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 5.72/10. The site's consensus states, "Power suffers from excessive plotting and the use of overly familiar by-the-numbers story elements."[26]

Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter observed in his review, "Power seemingly wants to be a show that tells a big, complicated, meaningful story about, well, the perils and problems of power and how one man deals with them."[27] The New York Daily News staff writes in their review, "Power hits on all cylinders as it returns for its second season. Throw a couple of great women into Ghost's life—his wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), and his recently resurfaced lifelong flame Angela (Lela Loren)—and you have drama that's hard not to keep watching."[28] Critic Brian Lowry of Variety states in his review, "The three previewed episodes of the show, created by The Good Wife alumna Courtney A. Kemp, move briskly enough, but they're still only moderately compelling. And while 50 Cent's participation provides some promotional heft (he has a cameo in a later episode), the allure of such behind-the-scenes marquee names is usually limited. Mostly, this is undemanding escapism with all the requisite pay-TV trappings, along the lines of what Cinemax is offering in episodic form. While that might be a formula to keep Ghost visible for some time to come, creatively speaking, it leaves Power a touch low on juice.[29]

Season 2

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.83/10.[30] Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 75 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating a generally favorable reaction to the series.[31]

Season 3

Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 6.33/10.[32]

Season 4

Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 83%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.[33]

Season 5

Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10.[34]

Spin-offs

Main article: Power Book II: Ghost

With the ending of the original series, it was announced that Starz had four upcoming spin-offs planned in the same world as Power. This included Power Book II: Ghost, which is set after the events of the original series following the events of Tasha and Tariq and starring Mary J. Blige and Method Man.[35] The other spin-offs include: Power Book III: Raising Kanan, a prequel into Kanan's (50 Cent) life, starring Omar Epps; Power Book IV: Influence appears to be a sequel set in the political world, with Tate (Larenz Tate); and Power Book V: Force will follow Tommy's (Joseph Sikora) journey to Los Angeles after the events of the original series.[36]

On August 4, 2020, it was announced that Power Book II: Ghost is set to premiere on September 6, 2020.[37]

References

1. "'Power' Season 3: Release Date, Cast, Plot, Rumors & Everything We Know So Far Here!". September 10, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
2. "'Power' Gets Season 4 Premiere Date".,
3. Andreeva, Nellie (June 11, 2014). "Starz's 'Power' Renewed For Season 2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
4. "Shows A-Z – power on starz". The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
5. Petski, Denise (March 13, 2018). "'Power' Renewed For Season 6 On Starz; Gets Season 5 Premiere Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
6. Patten, Dominic (May 9, 2019). "'Power' To End With August Premiering Season 6 "Unpredictable" Spinoffs For Starz Drama Underway". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
7. Knox, David (June 15, 2015). "Stan adding Power, Ash vs Evil Dead, Flesh & Bone". TVTonight. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
8. Szalai, Georg (June 9, 2014). "The first episode of the show from Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson is available on Amazon, iTunes and other platforms Monday with a linear TV run in Britain still possible as Starz is holding out for a price tag it feels the show deserves". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
9. White, Peter (June 9, 2014). "50 Cent drug drama gets digital release". Broadcast Now. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
10. "Power". Netflix Media Center.
11. "HBO Nordic". hbonordic.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
12. "Women's Image Network Awards 2015". August 3, 2018.
13. "2016 Image Winners". Variety. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
14. "22ND ANNUAL NAMIC VISION AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). August 3, 2018.
15. "Women's Image Network Awards 2016". August 3, 2018.
16. Kinane, Ruth (December 13, 2016). "Beyonce leads the pack of 2017 NAACP Image Award Nominees". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
17. "BLACK*ISH PACES THE BLACK REEL AWARDS FOR TELEVISION FIELD". August 3, 2018.
18. "People's Choice Awards Nominations Are Here: Find Out How to Vote for Your Favorites". August 3, 2018.
19. "NAACP – Nominees Announced for 49th NAACP Image Awards". November 20, 2017.
20. "VOTERS ARE "SWEET" ON QUEEN SUGAR". August 3, 2018.
21. "2018 NAMIC Vision Awards Nominees". August 3, 2018.
22. "2018 HMMA Winners". September 22, 2019.
23. "NAACP – Nominees Announced for 50th NAACP Image Awards". September 22, 2019.
24. "Nominations Announced for the 34th Annual Imagen Awards". September 22, 2019.
25. "Power: Season 1". Metacritic. CBS Interactive (CBS Corporation). Retrieved December 30, 2015.
26. "Power: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
27. Goodman, Tim (June 6, 2014). "'Power': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
28. "'Power' review: Omari Hardwick's drug-lord drama is right up there with 'Empire'". Daily News. New York. June 5, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
29. Lowry, Brian (June 4, 2014). "TV Review: 'Power'". Variety. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
30. "Power: Season 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
31. "Power: Season 2". Metacritic. CBS Interactive (CBS Corporation). Retrieved December 30, 2015.
32. "Power: Season 3". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
33. "Power: Season 4". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
34. "Power: Season 5". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
35. https://ew.com/tv/2020/01/22/mary-j-blige-power-book-2-ghost/
36. https://ew.com/tv/2020/02/09/power-spinoffs-teaser/
37. Iannucci, Rebecca (August 4, 2020). "Power: Starz Unveils Premiere Date, New Trailer for Book II: Ghost Spinoff". TVLine. Retrieved August 4, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Power on IMDb
• Power ratings at TV by the Numbers