A few reviews ago, I mentioned that the characters were all heading towards a cliff’s edge. Between the cracks in the foundation, the lies and games weighing heavily on everyone’s minds, it was only a matter of time before someone fell over. I am ecstatic to say that our patience was rewarded, although that’s not necessarily good news for the characters.
The episode begins with Tommy getting charged, and he makes his way to his first hearing in court. Angela and her Fed friends are in great moods, as they know Tommy doesn’t have anything that can exonerate him from the case. Tommy’s paranoia levels are rising, since he doesn’t know exactly what went down with Ghost. Did he flip? Did he run? The only message he receives from his partner-in-crime is in the form of this smart, yet slick lawyer, Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara). While coached by his retainer, Proctor has enough stones to keep Tommy in line, but I’d be wary of leaving my hands with a public defender, too, so yes, keep Proctor.
Tasha and Shawn’s honeymoon phase on the kitchen table is sorely interrupted, as Tommy uses his first phone call to get ahold of her. It sets her on her own path down paranoia; she’s worried about Tommy, but she’s also worried that her family will be torn apart, since Ghost is quite unhinged. She finds Ghost and rips him apart, but he continues to grasp for the “in control” straws that he doesn’t have. Although, he does have one ace. Remember that witness ID in the form of Ruiz’s daughter, Isabel? When Angela couldn’t find a way to release Tommy, he gave Proctor the sketch, which threw a wrench in Tommy’s case. As he’s set free, Angela makes her way to Ghost.
The destruction of Ghost and Angela is at its peak; the one thing I’ve been looking forward to, since the beginning of the season. The confrontation happens at Truth, the club that was supposed to shed Ghost’s many layers—all so that he could find himself back in his original skin, as James St. Patrick, the businessman who followed in his father’s footsteps. Ghost can dream the perfect pattern for his life, and he can dream of sharing that life with the girl that knew him before he blemished his reputation, but Angela, momentarily, shatters that vision. Let’s not forget that Angie’s just as much at fault with her own idealist ways. If Ghost is a dreamer, than Angela is just as guilty for falling for a mirage of her own creation. There’s also this truth: Ghost is a mirror, that reflects those faults and failures back at her. They’re just alike.
The moment that Shawn decided to situate himself fully on Team Kanan rang all the alarms, alerting us to a real dilemma for this episode. The innocent—well, not exactly innocent, when you’re willing to have an affair with your faux-uncle’s wife—plays the persistent pawn for his loved ones. Let’s remember that last season, Tasha used Shawn to retrieve information on Ghost’s whereabouts. It eventually grew to be something more, once she found out about Angela and they fulfilled their secret lover status. But Shawn was always Tasha’s pet. That power then shifted to Kanan, because it’s easy for a son to accept his father back in his life, after being forced to live without him.
As we recall, Kanan passes a gun to his son in order finish off Ghost, while Dre, the snarky one, passes the silencer. After the fight between Ghost and Angela, Shawn quickly finds Ghost alone, so he tries to complete the job after he failed earlier in the day. This sparring scene between the two is quite illuminating: we can easily see a young Jamie in Shawn, getting mixed up in this world when he’s really “not about this life.” There is more truth to be revealed; Kanan took Ghost under his wing when his father died, which means Kanan mostly forced him into this life. It’s at this time Ghost invokes his inner fatherly sentiments and unleashes more wisdom—if Kanan truly loved his son, he would want him to be a better man, not use him to kill a rival. Finally, he tells Shawn to leave New York and never come back. He’s giving Shawn the chance that he never had.
Unfortunately, once the camera pans to 50 Cent playing chess, we know we’re in for a world of hurt. I had hoped that Sinqua Walls would be given a more significant narrative, but as a secondary character, it’s understandable that this happened. It’s something that I would have loved to see—him testing his boundaries further and keeping in line with Joseph Sikora (Tommy) and Omari Hardwick (Ghost) more often. Yes, his character rid himself of his ball-and-chain in one final scene as he denounces his father… but it burned to watch him die at the hands of Kanan. I can’t deal!