Power season 6, episode 14 recap: Reversal of Fortune

The penultimate episode of Power, “Reversal of Fortune,” showed us Ghost’s last day from Councilman Tate’s POV. We’ve got the recap!

The title of this episode does not lie. There is a major “Reversal of Fortune” for Councilman Tate (Larenz Tate). The last time we saw Tate, he was a broken, desperate man whose main drive in life was to see Ghost (Omari Hardwick) dead and gone. But, in Power’s penultimate episode, things turn around rather quickly and consistently for Tate.

He goes from a hoodie-wearing has-been to the Democratic nominee for New York’s Governor. And, he sees, via a breaking news report, exactly who Ghost’s killer is. This was a fun episode. A lot like  Tommy (Joseph Sikora) in “It’s All Your Fault,” I thought Councilman Tate was going to end up dead or in a jackpot. But, just like Tommy, Tate seems to ride off into the sunset. “Reversal of Fortune” was written by Eric Haywood (Empire). It was directed by Mr. Mario Van Peebles (Empire).

The Rhinestone Cowboy

More from Show Snob

• The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
• Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
• Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
• Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”

“Reversal of Fortune” starts in “Nothing Can Stop Me.” Tate wants Ghost dead so badly that he hires two hitmen. He regrets it almost immediately. When Tate calls the hitmen, they are already on a job. Croop (Cedric the Entertainer) and his son Carter (Brandon Micheal Hall) are in the process of torturing and killing a child molester.

Croop, in his black fedora and iridescent Jordan Retro 5’s, puts Conway Twitty’s “That’s My Job” on the turntable while he instructs Carter on how to properly slice the flesh off of their victim’s thigh without making him pass out. The pedophile does pass out. Croop and Carter slap him back to consciousness and double tap him in the back of the head after making him promise to never touch young children again.

While this was happening, Detective Rodriguez (Monique Gabriela Curnen) and Saxe (Shane Johnson) pay their visit to Tate that we saw in “Still DRE.” There is now a legal way to get rid of Ghost and restart his campaign. Tate immediately wants to call Croop off. But, it’s too late. Croop has made it to New York. When Tate tries to call the hit off at their meet, Carter says that it sounds like Tate hired another hitter. Croop informs Tate that if they aren’t allowed to fulfill their contract, they’ll simply kill him, instead.

Tate goes to Truth and actually tries to warn Ghost that he put a contract out on his life. But, Ghost won’t listen. He talks all kinds of mad trash at Tate. Then Ghost makes the gregarious offer to invite Tate to his party that night. Ghost suggests that this will at least give Tate a chance to pivot to a new career without being forgotten. When Ghost excuses himself to go meet Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.), Tate gets nervous that Tariq could be caught in the hitman crossfire. He tries to warn Ghost again, but Ghost thinks that Tate just wants to talk trash. He tells Tate to leave well enough alone and get out of Truth.

Mr. Clean

Meanwhile, Tate has been staying at his brother Kamaal’s (Lahmard J. Tate) place since his campaign was unceremoniously ended. It’s a stable, loving home. Kamaal’s wife Simone (Shana Solomon) is very welcoming but aware that Tate isn’t the best version of himself at the moment. Kamaal and Simone’s son Elijah (Hassan Singleton) is just having a great time being a smart kid who tries to stump his parents with grade school trivia.

As Tate contemplates his next move, he stops for coffee and encounters a couple of dozen people who still want him to run and pledge their votes. But, the Democratic Party wants him to drop out of the race. Tate confronts Lorette Walsh (Donna Murphy) and Steven Ott (Mark Feuerstein) at brunch. He reminds Walsh that she has terrible poll numbers in the black community. Walsh reminds Tate that she has Ghost to make up the polling gap. This enrages Tate. We see the scenes where he hires and pays Dre (Rotimi Akinosho) from “Still DRE.” So there are now multiple contracts out on Ghost.

After Tommy kills Croop on the rooftop during the botched Ghost-hit scene from “It’s All Your Fault,” Carter is devastated and wants blood. He ambushes Tate while he’s throwing out the garbage at Kamaal’s house. Carter is about to execute Tate when Kamaal, who also happens to be a member of the NYPD, doubles taps Carter in the back.

At the police station, detectives are willing to throw Carter’s death under the rug. It was a justified shooting of a mugger. But, Kamaal isn’t buying it. He thinks his brother got in trouble and came out on top, again. While wrapping up their interview, word of Ghost’s shooting comes across the wire. All head to Truth. Kamaal doesn’t want Tate to go, but the detectives are cool with it because Tate was a former cop. He’ll handle himself the right way.

When they make it to the scene, Tate is ready to find and kill Dre if he has to. But, reporters stop him and ask for a comment. Tate, ever the politician, comes up with a beautiful tribute for Ghost and talks about his run for public office. He feels revived. Kamaal is super suspicious of everything that’s happening.

Still Time to Share an Uber

At Kamaal’s house, Walsh and Ott pay Tate a visit. They reaffirm that they want him out of the race. Tate reminds them of his popularity with his constituents and the media. Plus, there’s Walsh’s whole disconnect with the black community. To Walsh’s horror, Ott agrees and shakes Tate’s hand. He now has the full backing of the Democratic Party, including the one-man super PAC Simon Stern (Victor Garber).

As he is celebrating by having sex with Cassandra Haynes (Candace Maxwell), Ramona (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) shows up at his hotel to call him out. Tate had made a public claim that Ramona was having an extramarital affair with an ex-drug dealer. She wasn’t, but they both know that everyone will always see her that way. He dispatches her and a surprised Cassandra. Apparently, that was just revenge sex.

As Tate waits for the women to leave, he turns on the TV. The news is about to show live footage of the person in custody for shooting Ghost. Is it Tasha (Naturi Naughton), Tariq, or Saxe? Tate did pay a visit to Tasha to try and convince her that Ghost was going to throw Tariq under the bus to save himself. Did she buy it? We will have to wait till February 9 to find out. Power is taking Super Bowl Sunday off. Tate was shocked by what he saw on the news. I’m sure we will be, as well.

What did you think of “Reversal of Fortune?” Do you think Tate will be a major player in Power spinoffs? Let’s discuss in the comments!