Power season 6B premiere recap: Still DRE

Power is back with its final five episodes. “Still DRE” focuses on the man with a thousand faces. Do we find out who shot Ghost? We’ve got the recap!

The last time we saw Ghost (Omari Hardwick), he was shot in the chest and falling off the balcony at Truth. It’s been two months since Power’s Fall finale. Teaser trailers have asked viewers to take to social media and talk about who shot Ghost. One of the teasers gave us all of the options, which was most of the cast. Another teaser had Ghost falling through the air clutching back at the camera. It’s been running steadily on Starz. Sheesh. That poor man has been falling for a long time.

In “Still DRE,” we do not find out who shot Ghost. But, we start to see the events that led up to the shooting. We are taken close enough to hear the shot, but no further. The only person we can rule out is Dre (Rotimi Akinosho). But, it seems that all of the other principles are still in play, especially Tommy (Joseph Sikora) and Paz (Elizabeth Rodriguez). We’ll get to that shortly. The bombshell is that Ghost is reported on local news as being dead. Wow. Bold move, Courtney A. Kemp. Kill off Ghost before the series ends. Or, considering how Kemp and writers like Gabriela Uribe have grown the character, Ghost could be faking his death as part of a much bigger plan.

“Still DRE” was written by Matt K. Turner (The Family) and directed by Kieron Hawkes (Ripper Street). I liked the structure of the episode. It sets up an outline for Power’s final installments. We’ll get a different character’s point of view each week. This week, we saw the events leading up to the shooting, the shooting, and its aftermath from a day in the life of Dre. At some point, all of the viewpoints should overlap and we’ll know what really happened. One thing was clear from the opening shot of this week’s episode: Dre was going to die.

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Man of a Thousand Faces

When the episode opens up, Dre is holding his heart-melting daughter Heaven (Marley Henry). He’s singing to her and talking to her mom, Tina (Melissa Mensah). It was a really blissful way to pick up after the Fall hiatus. The first ten episodes of Power’s final season moved at break-neck speed. The story moved and characters were killed off almost every week. This beautifully framed and warm lit display of domestic bliss was nice. Also, by the rules of TV, you knew Andre was going to die horribly by the end of the hour.

Tina wants the three to move to Vegas. Dre doesn’t want to be a small-time card dealer at some casino. He wants to be a big-time drug dealer in New York. It’s what he knows. When he goes to meet with his crew, they aren’t enthusiastic. They know his rise to power included a lot of lies and backstabbing. One prima donna is loyal. That’s important. The Serbians show up to avenge Jason (Mike Dopud). A gunfight ensues. The Serbians kill Dre’s crew except for the guy that was down for whatever. Dre uses him as a human shield and gets away. Back at home, he agrees with Tina. It’s time to run. But, the young family needs money first.

Decisions

From the halfway point of the episode on, “Decisions” by Rotimi is the song that sets the mood for Dre’s last day on Earth. In bullet points:

• Dre asks his estranged mom, Vanessa (Ami Brabson), for money outside of her church. She calls Dre a liar for making up a fake granddaughter just to take her for cash.
• Dre visits Tasha’s (Naturi Naughton) empty daycare and pressures her for hush money. Tasha says she’s broke. Dre threatens to throw Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) under the federal bus if he doesn’t pay up.
• Tariq gives Dre about half of the $20,000 he was hoping to score. When Tariq asks for an untraceable gun, Dre promises to get one for him if Tariq will take him to meet Ghost.
• Dre shakes down Ghost at Truth. Ghost promises to give Dre $250,000 in an hour. We never see Tariq leave Truth. When Dre leaves, he’s picked up by the cops.
• In jail, Dre is processed into the system quickly. Ghost puts out a hit on him with the help of 2-Bit aka Francis (Michael J. Ferguson) and Spanky aka Spotswood aka I’m Named After a Judge (Omar Scroggins), who are in custody after being raided.
• The hit fails when Dre conspires with Detective Rodriguez (Monique Gabriela Curnen) to lie in court by claiming he saw Ghost kill Terry Silver (Brandon Victor Dixon).
• Back out on the street, Dre asks Councilman Tate (Larenz Tate) for new identities.
• Desperate for money, Dre breaks into his mom’s house. She pulls a gun on him. Dre disarms her, but can’t kill her. They’re brief, tense dialogue fills in a lot of Dre’s backstory. Vanessa is a gas-lighter who has always believed Dre was evil. From an early age, that made him want to please people, which lead to him being the man with a thousand faces. Dre vows to never let Heaven meet her. He takes some jewelry and runs.
• When Dre goes to pick up his new ID from Tate, he is also given $100,000 to kill Ghost. Tina urges Dre to just drive away. But Dre goes back to Truth to shoot Ghost. When he gets there, he hears the shot. He tries to flee, but runs into Detective Rodriguez. He sucker punches her and runs. He sees Tommy at a stoplight not far away. Spooked, but speeding away, Dre thinks he’s free.
• The cops stop Dre when he is getting gas. They arrest him for Ghost’s murder. Tina and Heaven visit Dre. Vanessa is there. She makes the eye contact of a cold, vindictive person who has won. She has Dre’s kid. Dre is lost forever to burn in hell.
• 2-Bit and Spanky get to Dre while he is in solitary. They push gasoline-soaked towels through his food hole and spray him with fuel. They toss a zippo in the cell and burn Dre to death.

Aftermath

Tommy knows that someone in his crew is snitching. When Spanky gets processed out quickly, 2-Bit knows that the rat is Spanky. The last time we see Spotswood, he signing snitch papers for Detective Rodriguez, who just happens to be welcoming Paz into her office. Was it to discuss Ghost’s death? Was it to cover it up? “Still DRE” asked more questions than it gave answers. But, it killed off a character that’s probably deserved it for a few seasons. I’ll miss Rotimi Akinosho.

On to next week. I wonder which point of view or points of view we will get. With the exception of Dre, we could be headed to A Murder on the Orient Express trip where everyone played a role to ensure Ghost’s death. That is, if he really is dead.

What did you think of Power’s Spring premiere? Who do you think shot Ghost? Let’s discuss in the comments!