Oh, Tommy Egan. Welcome back, sir.
The Power spinoffs have been coming at us rapidly, and the long-anticipated Tommy spinoff barrels onto the scene with Joseph Sikora looking ever so comfortable slipping back into the shoes of the fan-favorite Egan.
Power Book IV: Force Season 1 Episode 1 gets us started on Tommy’s solo journey, as he leaves behind one big city for another big city where he’s free from his past and ready to take on the next big thing.
Power Book IV: Force lives up to the hype. And that has everything to do with its star.
The Ghost and Tommy relationship was always the heart of Power. That dynamic, the push and pull, the triumphs and defeats, were the cornerstone of the series. And with Ghost gone, it’s exciting to see Tommy get to move forward and chart a new path for himself away from the demons of his past.
Except the monsters are always going to be there. Even if they’re now lingering in the shadows.
Tommy has lived a lifetime of pain, and that little trip down memory lane as he’s fleeing New York was a stark reminder of all the tragedy that encompassed Tommy over the years.
And a lot of that came directly from Tommy. It’s not as if he was an innocent bystander who just happened to find himself in tragic situation after tragic situation.
He chose a life in which pain and heartbreak were always on the table, and he never wanted to be free of that life. Hell, he still doesn’t.
But he found himself in a situation where New York was no longer an option, and he had zero ties to the city he’d always called home. Starting over in California was a smart move for him; however, his seemingly unplanned stop in Chicago got him thinking about what he really wanted for his life.
Tommy’s pitstop in Chicago does seem to be a pitstop on the way to the west coast, at first. But then he had to be in the wrong place at the right time, and that wildly bright mind started working overtime.
We all know that Tommy doesn’t take well to being disrespected in any way, shape, or form. He’s pretty much never going to be the bigger person in any situation because that’s not who he is.
He’s been protecting himself and sticking up for himself all his life. And it’s all he knows.
So, naturally, within a day of blowing into the Windy City, he makes enemies with the most significant drug-dealing family in town.
Much time is spent during this pilot introducing characters and giving the viewers an idea of the politics of the Chicago drug scene.
The Flynn’s are clearly a prominent family, and you can tell that by the ridiculous office Walter uses to belittle his daughter Claudia in, as he grabs her hands and emphasizes how little she can do with them when it comes to working in the streets.
Claudia, you are a beautiful young woman. Can you just accept that? The natural order of things, Victor runs the streets. You keep us legit, and you look after me.
Walter
Claudia is a beautiful girl, and she should be content to be a beautiful girl with a fat bank account, says her daddy. From their brief interactions in the premiere, it’s clear that Claudia wants more for herself, and Walter wants her to stay pretty and out of the way.
Then there’s brother Vic, who immediately butts head with Tommy over a parking space and seems to be a bit out of his depth the more we get to know him.
He doesn’t seem to have a firm grip on anything, least of all his ex-something Gloria, who seems like a woman who has been waiting and waiting for the man she loves to get his head out of his butt and commit in the way she needs him to commit.
I loved this idea of Tommy being a nobody when he’s the furthest thing from it throughout the pilot. No one knows him there, and he’s just an anonymous face in a sea of forgettable faces. But this is Tommy Egan.
The man has absolutely no fear and will kill ANYONE who proves themselves to be a threat to him or the very few people he allows himself to care about.
Because he’s Tommy and he can’t leave well enough alone, he makes it his mission to insert himself into a situation that has nothing to do with him. And you knew it was coming the longer that guy kept telling Tommy how quickly he should tuck his tail between his legs and leave Chicago.
That was only going to make Tommy want to stay longer because he’s never one to let anyone get the last word.
There were a lot of vintage Tommy moments, from the humor to the sheer brutality, but nothing was more Tommy than the standoff between him, Vic, and, Jenard and the two kids. Tommy was disarming and calm, making light work of murdering one boy and severely injuring the other before brokering payment for his troubles.
Vic and Jenard were much more frazzled, and I liked seeing what I think will turn into the beginnings of a strange arrangement between the three different men.
With the Flynn’s on one side, we have the Sampson’s on the other. Two brothers who seem very close and loyal to one another, but also very different in the way they currently approach things.
Jenard: It don’t rain or snow on that side of the wall or something?
Diamond: It just feels different.
We meet Diamond on his last day behind bars, and for such a large man with a domineering presence, he almost seems shy. He’s soft-spoken and seemingly generous, choosing to walk out of jail barefoot and taking a minute to bask in the beauty of life outside of cinderblock walls.
Jenard is brasher with a flashy car and a bright attitude. But unlike the rival Flynn family, whose interactions with one another are stilted, the Sampson’s have great chemistry.
Their on-screen dynamic is golden.
The premiere does so much world-building that it doesn’t give us a chance to see some of the most anticipated pairings, but there is plenty of time to get our Tommy and Diamond scene, which I’m thoroughly looking forward to.
And while we did meet JP, briefly, you can tell there is so much more to unpack there. And that’s aside from the bomb that he’s Tommy’s half-brother.
For a man who has been searching high and low for a family and stability his whole life and has tried to manifest it out of some terrible people, you just knew that no matter how he tried to fight it, he wasn’t going to let knowing JP slip through his fingers.
Perhaps he’s staying in Chicago to be his own boss, set his own rules, and finally be THE ONE in the drug business. But you can’t tell me a larger part of Tommy wasn’t drawn to the idea of being around his blood.
Staying in Chicago against the wishes of Walter Flynn will have consequences. But how big those consequences turn out to be will presumably play out throughout the season.
As far as pilots go, this one has a lot to like while also feeling like we’ve just barely scratched the surface in terms of what to expect. The best thing it has going for it is Joseph Sikora at the helm and a great group of actors flanking him from all sides.
And now that most of the major players got their introductions out of the way, we can sit back and let the various plotlines enfold as we immerse ourselves in Power, Chicago style.
Everything Else You Need To Know
- Tommy needs to find Claudia somehow because she’s the right kind of ambitious that he needs to work with. She’s the Flynn member he can flip.
- Perhaps it’s because it’s been a while, but I’d forgotten about Tommy’s savagery. He broke that man’s arm and just went about his business like it was nothing.
- Tommy and Gloria’s flirty energy was nice, but Tommy is so far from ready to be all-in with someone after LaKeisha’s death. Though, that kind of chemistry may be hard for Tommy to resist in the long run.
- My biggest complaint? We didn’t get to spend more time with the periphery players. And that sounds odd because of how much I enjoyed just being back with Tommy, but there are a lot of intriguing characters, and I wanted more. I wish the pilot had been about thirty minutes longer.
- As is expected from all things Power, the premiere is full of great music that sets the stage. And Chicago serves as a beautiful backdrop for the series.
I’ve been looking forward to this series since Power ended, and I’m thrilled to be covering the first season week in and week out! Let me know who you liked or didn’t like about the series premiere below!
Here at TV Fanatic, you can always watch Power Book IV: Force online anytime you wish, so you don’t miss a second of the action.
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.