Power season 6, episode 12 recap: He Always Wins

Power looks at who shot Ghost from Paz’s point of view in “He Always Wins.” But, is Ghost the character that always wins? We’ve got the recap!

For five and a half seasons of Power, Ghost (Omari Hardwick) has been the character that’s always won. But it was at great cost. He spent time and jail, lost his daughter Raina (Donshea Hopkins), and held the love of his life Angela (Lela Loren) as she died at the hands of his best friend. Plus, he was murdered in the mid-season finale. (Ghost is still falling off the balcony in slow motion in the “previously-on” recaps, by the way. It’s turning into Inception, at this point.) The main drive of Power’s final season seems to be characters gaining hard-earned independence from Ghost. Some are using it to their advantage. Some have died. All are still revenge-driven.

This week, we focus on Paz (Elizabeth Rodriguez). In “Still DRE,” we saw Paz pay Blanca (Monique Gabriela Curnen) a visit while the detective was getting Spanky (O.S. Scroggins) to sign his flip papers. We find out that this visit was not part of a cover-up of Paz’s involvement in anything shady. Paz was looking for an update on Ghost’s death and Angela’s death investigation. Elizabeth Rodriguez shines in “He Always Wins.”

The episode was written by Monica Mitchell (Parenthood) and directed by Bart Weinrich (Gossip Girl). At points, there were straight on shots of character’s heads as they delivered lines. I get that started with Kubrick, but it really reminded me of Silence of the Lambs. In that movie, when you wanted to see a character work something out or get their entire soul crushed, you could watch it in one of these shots. Paz had a lot of these moments.

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No One’s Ever Really Gone

Paz is still an open wound. She knew that Angela was losing herself to Ghost and his world. When her only sister died, she was left in pieces. She had no way to pay for her son, Junior’s (Kevin Rodriguez), college. Unable to pay for a nursing home, Paz had to take her Papi (Jaime Tirelli) in. His dementia hits painfully close to home for anyone who has ever watched a parent lose their identity to dementia. There are three big moments here.

Papi thinks that Paz is Angela. The fact that Papi doesn’t know about Angela is sad. But having him misremember one daughter for another erases Paz in a real way. He clearly favored Angela and thought about her more. Paz is afraid to set her father straight because could easily break what is left of his memory.

Junior telling Papi that Angela is dead. There’s a lot at play, here. First off, it sends Papi into a panic attack that is so bad, it looks like a heart attack. Sure. It’s the shock of learning that you outlived your favorite child. But to someone who has dementia, Papi might have wondered if he already knew Angela was dead. He would question how long she had been dead and how many of his memories are actually just daydreams.

Papi recognizes Paz. It’s a fleeting moment. He recognizes her, gives her fatherly advice, and tells her that she was a wanted child. Paz is literally named after peace. And then, just like that, you see Papi forget where he is. Those moments are worth everything to Paz. Yet, the hurt of losing her dad again to dementia, so suddenly, is almost as painful as any part of the disease she’s experienced before.

How to Kill a Ghost

Paz goes to great depths to try and get Ghost to incriminate himself for any crime she can with the help of Warner (Evan Handler). After he tries to force returning fan-favorite Mak (Sun Kang) into helping his investigation with little success, Warner is ready to let go. Even the supposed confrontation takes place on a walk on the street of New York over coffee. Mak has his New York blue coffee cup. Warner has his boutique brewhouse cup. Mak works in D.C. while Warner is left wanting to work there. He knows he has no leverage.

But, Paz convinces him otherwise. She wears a wire, but Ghost knows how to talk. She tells Warner that there was a connection to Tasha (Naturi Naughton) that could bring him down. Paz and Warner go as far as to have Angela’s body exhumed in order to retrieve the cell phone with connections to Ghost and Tasha. But none of the evidence clearly incriminates Ghost. And, Warner’s failure to heed the warning of Democratic Party boss Steven Ott (Mark Feuerstein) to leave rockstar Ghost alone, results in his firing.

Plus, thanks to Tasha, Paz knows about Ghost’s relationship with Ramona (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). It seems Ghost got over Angela like a kid gets over a tonsillectomy when they see ice cream. Paz resolves to kill Ghost, but she just can’t. She begs Tommy (Joseph Sikora) to “kill the man that killed my sister,” but he refuses for obvious reasons. Junior sees his mom is consumed with Rage over Ghost. He goes to Truth to kill Ghost, but is intercepted by Paz. She tries to kill him again but backs off. Paz is for peace.

The Man Who is Winning

The next morning, Paz and Junior wake up to find out that Ghost has been murdered. She is even more shocked when she is summoned to Daniel Warren’s (Geoffrey Owens) office. Angela’s spot in Ghost’s will has been taken up by Paz. She refuses the money at first, even though it will help Junior and Papi. But, Tasha shows up and convinces her to take the money. Tasha also tells her that it was Tommy who shot Angela. In a rage, Paz shows up to kill Tommy. I thought she was going to get killed. But, Tommy was gone. His apartment is empty. Paz is left broken and yelling for the man who is currently winning, Tommy.

At some point, Tommy’s point of view will come up. It might be the finale. His mom Kate (Patricia Kalember) was also at Warren’s office. So, we’ve eliminated two suspects from the #WhoShotGhostPool. One thing is for certain: Ghost had a real busy last day on Earth. You know. If he’s really dead.

What did you think of “He Always Wins?” Who do you think shot Ghost? Let’s discuss in the comments!