S01.E08: Best Laid Plans

[Bill C.]

*takes a small bow*  Called it, "Ghost"!

 

Ghost makes a major decision in an attempt to become a legitimate businessman.

 

This show kind of got it together for the last three episodes of the season, if in a somewhat glossed-over way, and the finale may well be the strongest episode of the lot.  Mostly for some surprisingly deft bouncing between the three core stories, though in so doing it might have made everybody except Tasha look bad...perhaps worst of all Angie, inevitable (and not that much of a leap) as that was.  And, ironically, it also ruled out Holly being a cop.

 

But, most importantly to all of us: Pink Sneakers survived the season!  Yay!

[ihartcoffee]

My favorite line: Tommy "that was banana's"!

 

Next season should be interesting.  Will Holly still want to be all gangsta after getting shot? Will ghost give up the club business for good? Will he go back to Tasha, who really knows what he does for a living?  Tommy now knows Angela is on the "other side".  Surely he will tell ghost.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

it also ruled out Holly being a cop

She may not be a regular city cop but I still think it's possible she's working undercover for some agency. It'll be telling what happens to her while she's in the hospital.

 

Tommy now knows Angela is on the "other side".  Surely he will tell ghost.

Or he could use it against Ghost to try to take over the gang. Whatever, Jamie probably won't believe him if he does tell him.

 

Pink Sneakers isn't too smart trying to shoot somebody from a distance in a crowded club. Plus now Ghost knows what she looks like. Kanan should dock her pay for that mishap.

 

It was good to see Debbi Morgan back for the finale but wow is she being way underutilized.

[ihartcoffee]

Yep, it's still possible she's working for someone.  Or, a real life Bonnie & Clyde story is a turn on for her.  At this point I'm not sure.  The way she told Ghost about it though was a tad amateur for an undercover, IMHO. 

 

Yep, he knows what pink sneakers looks like, big mistake on her part.  I was also thinking, why is Ghost running around with no body guard with so many assassination attempts occurring?  He's also not paying attention when walking around, half the time on the phone with Angela.  He would be an easy target. 

 

Not sure what acting chops 50 cent has.  So far he seems stiff to me, like you can tell he's "acting".

 

Did Angela say he'd been made (that dude with the chin braids)?  He was caught being nasty with the daughter, did he lie to her and I missed it?   

 

This show wasn't over the top stellar but it kept me interested.  Tommy's character grew on me some, i'm not totally over the moon, but he improved. 

Edited August 3, 2014 by ihartcoffee

[wanderingstar]

Pink Sneakers isn't too smart trying to shoot somebody from a distance in a crowded club. Plus now Ghost knows what she looks like.

 

 

In a show supposedly full of hardcore gangsters, I'm going to need all of them to be a LOT less stupid.

 

Curious to see what Kanan does now that he's out and Ghost is still alive.

[Bill C.]

Holly wriggling her way into Tommy's work life is no weirder than Nomar getting in good with Ruiz, minus the Lady Macbeth moments, and if it had stopped there the possibility of her being law enforcement would still be there.  But when she went all "I know what you're up to, and I'm in it too, so haha!" to Ghost...nah.  She could turn out to be an informant, I suppose, but since we just had one I don't think they'll go there with her.  OTOH, her getting shot could drive a wedge between Ghost and Tommy--and it loops back to Rolla as well...

 

Back to Nomar, who got the text from Isabel saying her dad found out about them after he'd gone to meet her as per her previous text--which actually was from Ruiz.  And after that was when he called Angie saying he'd been made.  (I'm debating whether this counts as a swerve; since Angie had lied to him about witness protection, I was fully expecting that lie to somehow get Nomar killed.)

 

As someone elsewhere noted: Tasha back in the first episode said that she knew Ghost was going to be "the biggest damn drug dealer in New York City."  And Ghost, when he finally went all The Godfather, Part III at the end of this episode...he said the exact same thing to Lobos.  For a generally unsubtle show, that was a nice lampshade to hang.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

R.I.P. Truth

[Bill C.]

I see what you did there.  :)  And the show's definitely been building to it, too--it ran over loyalty along the way.

[BigBlueMastiff]

Uggghhh, I hate Angela, but I'm glad this means the end for her and Ghost (I refuse to call him Jamie). She is going to look like an ass when her sister says I told you so, puta. Kind of interested to see when she'll match the eyes to Tommy. Also, Nomar got what he deserved. No soldier sneaks around with the bosses underage daughter, sends her multiple dick picks, and lives.

[Sheenieb]

I'm glad to see Tasha being smart and putting some money in a personal account. She's not trying to end up like Ginger Rothstein.

 

For someone so methodical, Pink Sneakers got surprising sloppy. I want to blame that horrible wig she was wearing.

[Joimiaroxeu]

 

No soldier sneaks around with the bosses underage daughter, sends her multiple dick picks, and lives.

An adult man sending dick picks to an underage girl is probably never going to end well.

 

 

I want to blame that horrible wig she was wearing.

Heh, she was probably trying to distract from her face but Ghost still got a nice long look at her. Wonder if the club has inside security cameras?

[luckyroll3]

She may not be a regular city cop but I still think it's possible she's working undercover for some agency. It'll be telling what happens to her while she's in the hospital.

Wait, she's still alive??  I was so happy when her ass got shot and was excited that she would not be on next season.  Guess I spoke to soon.

 

Angela's still being an idiot.  Your plan is to leave your nice job to follow a married man (who doesn't even plan on really divorcing his wife) to another state.  And she's supposed to be the smart one.  She's just lucky Tommy didn't shoot her when she interrupted Nomar's shanking.

 

And Tommy, were you really planning on cutting off his dick?  Cause that would have been badassed and well deserved.

[Mozelle]

Wait, she's still alive??  I was so happy when her ass got shot and was excited that she would not be on next season.  Guess I spoke to soon.

 

Angela's still being an idiot.  Your plan is to leave your nice job to follow a married man (who doesn't even plan on really divorcing his wife) to another state.  And she's supposed to be the smart one.  She's just lucky Tommy didn't shoot her when she interrupted Nomar's shanking.

 

And Tommy, were you really planning on cutting off his dick?  Cause that would have been badassed and well deserved.

 

Yeah, she's still alive. There was a brief shot of her being wheeled out on a gurney. There was an oxygen mask over her face, and the sheets covering her only went up to her chest.

 

So, after having given up on this show (I stuck around until the episode where Jamie told Angela he was married), I ended up watching the remaining episodes yesterday because my friend is a fanatic and a couple of us had had a girl's weekend at her place. So, I guess--her DVR, her rules? :) Anyway, it was interesting watching the show with her because she can't stand Tasha (and I have my own theories about that) while she's not so hard on Angela (again, I have my theories). I'm of the opposite mind as my friend, though.

 

While I don't like Tasha, I'm not here for Jamie's hypocrisy regarding her and how he's acting like she's wrong about everything. He can't keep talking shit about leaving the drug arena while still immersing himself in it all the way up to his eyeballs. That ain't Tasha's fault, boo! And then when he got upset with Tasha for using money to get their daughter the lead role in Annie, I was like, "This em effer." Oh, Jamie can use money to buy Angela diamonds (who comes off like a straight gold digger given how hard she fell for Jamie after finding out that he owns a successful night club and later bought her expensive jewelry) and spend money on expensive hotel suites to fuck her in, but Tasha donating money to the school as quid pro quo for the daughter's part in Annie is something he finds beyond the pale?

[Bill C.]

Fair point, Mozelle.  Though that may be one of the two constants about this show: it's all about loyalty (perceived or otherwise), and it's all about hypocrisy (actual or, to some degree in James's case, tangential--well, up until Angie came back into his life).

 

I'm glad to see Tasha being smart and putting some money in a personal account. She's not trying to end up like Ginger Rothstein.

 

For someone so methodical, Pink Sneakers got surprising sloppy. I want to blame that horrible wig she was wearing.

 

Come to think of it...Pinky's been an up-close kind of assassin throughout all her appearances in the show.  I mean, damn, she masqueraded as a stripper to get a crack at Ruiz!  And then in this episode she decides to try to pop a guy from about twenty feet or so.  In a crowded nightclub.  She couldn't just walk up to him, pretend to trip or something, and then pop him (or try to pop him and still accidentally clip Holly)?

[RockyHorror64]

I really love that Previouslytv has these wonderful messageboards. Reminds me of TWOP which I miss. I love how all of you recap and say what's on your mind with all tv shows. I have been watching Power and it's just okay for me. I guess I had higher hopes, which I usually do for certain shows and then I get let down.

 

First off. WTF is wrong with Nomar? A grown ass man working for a dangerous drug lord (not sure what Ruiz's title is) and fooling around with his teenage daughter. Dude. You deserve to be castrated. What a stupid son of a bitch. Taking a picture of your dick and sending it isn't too bright. I don't think that is what Isabel had in mind dumbass.

 

Holly. Got on my nerves to no end. Stupid, self-entitled brat, coke head and tiny little titties that I really did not need to see. First off bitch. You do not just tell your boss that it is your last day. As with any "company" you need to give two weeks notice. My little OCD with that situations. Second of all, you DO NOT tell him you are going to be his partner in crime and call him by his street name. Just because Tommy does, doesn't mean you can. Also, wearing the earrings you stole from your bosses wife to their place of work was beyond stupid. I really wanted Tasha (who I have other issues with see below) to punch the bitch out. I hope the bitch dies. There is no way someone that stupid and coked out of her mind can be a cop, undercover cop or anything in the law enforcement. This is not to say she wasn't a plant by someone else, but there is just no way in hell she would be in law enforcement. Too stupid!

 

Tasha. OMFG! WTF is wrong with you? I do feel your pain about your husband cheating on you. Not cool by any means. If he wants out, he should tell you he wants out. Cheating gets no respect for me no matter what the situation. There is a proper mature way of handling things especially with children involved. Which. Tasha, you never seem to really mother those children. I have yet to ever see you hold that little baby Yasmine of yours. Yes. You seem waaay too young to have a pre-teen. If you just turned 30 and your son must be about 14, you had him at 16? Yeah. Something seems very wrong with the age situation. Ghost has to be in his mid 30's. That would mean he was a pedophile when he first got with you Tash. You seem pretty happy with being a drug lords wife. Get your own damn job sweeties. Why are you depending on your husband nowadys to support you and your children. What is it you do besides take off your clothes, have sex, smoke pot, shop with your stupid ghetto wannabe girlfriend(s) and not mothering your children?

 

Love Debbie Morgan. No complaints. Under used.

 

Angela. Oh sweetie. You must be one of the stupidiest people on tv. You act all strong and independant. Then turn the minute Ghost shows you any attention. You never ask what he's been doing. If he's married/children when you first meet. Then you find out and it's just...okay fine. No problem. Sex, nudity for no reason but to keep viewership in tact by us male viewers. I could do without all of that shit to be honest. You use people. Lie to them. I do hope you get what's coming to you. I hate cheaters that cheat knowing better. You, Angela, should have backed the fuck away from Ghost the minute, the minute he said he was married with children. Knowing that you don't seem to care and dropped your cute boyfriend for Ghost, well bitch hope you have someone to depend on because you have lied and broken bridges that cannot be fixed.

 

Pink Sneakers. Well, you're just as stupid as the rest of these moronic women on this show.

 

Tommy. Dude. You need to grow the f'up already. Stop being a wannabe thug. Get your own life and leave Ghost alone. Drop Holly because you think you're in love, but it's just the drugs talking. Now, Nomar has called you out at Ghost. You're dead brother.

 

Ghost. There are just no words. I wanted to like you. You seemed to be smart, sophisticated and sassy with your nightclub. Going legit is the way to go as a father, husband and wanna be business owner. Cheating on your wife. Nope. I hope you lose a lot more than your club. I hope Tasha (who I hate more than you) takes the kids, your money and runs. I hope Angela losses her job ends up hating you (she probably won't because this show is just that type of show) and you loss all your street creds now that Kanan (50 is out).

 

I just can't believe that the director of this show which is a woman says that this show is to show strong, independent women. It's not. Frankie was the only true strong woman. She didn't have to strip naked, have gratuitious sex for no reason and cheat to show herself. I hate when directors talk the fucked up talk of strong women and all they show is nudity for no reason, but to keep the male viewership eventually it's going to fail.

 

Off my soapbox for now. I look forward to season 2.

[hammaboo]

When Tasha pulled out the stack of hundreds to open her own account with, I yelled at the tv.  Banks have dollar amounts that they are required to report and I'm guessing that brand new, not in the system stack she pulled out would have triggered something somewhere - not mr. bank dude saying it was all private.  She should have opened a new account and transferred money from an existing account and then slowly added to the account she opened, so as not to raise any flags.  The government wants their cut, Tasha. 

 

I think this episode did a good job at wrapping up the existing storylines and creating a path for the next season.

James - Truth is shuttered in the short term - no more big name parties for you, sorry! (Was the cop that told him it was closed the guy Angela had been banging before?  I wasn't positive.) Moves forward with being the largest east coast drug distributor.  Knows Tommy talks too much to his new woman (You know Tasha would never have ran her mouth like that - she would have bided her time and used her info when it made the most sense)

 

Angela - Whatever it is with Ghost at this point, who knows.  Has the partial sketch of Tommy thanks to Nomar that I'm guessing she will figure out.  But where does that go?  Somewhere, I'm guessing, thanks to James giving Tommy the "authority" to control the streets.

 

Tommy - Knows about Angela.  Doesn't know about Holly.  Didn't seem to tell Ghost about the favor he was doing for Ruiz.  Doesn't know about what went down at Truth yet. 

 

Holly - Fool.  Will she try to spin this as Ghost knew he was going to be shot and pulled her in front of him to save himself? 

 

Kanan - thought he was leaving prison to step into the shoes of being the boss because Ghost was supposed to be dead.  Oops - guess that is not the case.  (Based on this, I think Pink Sneakers had better have hightailed herself out of the area as fast as those shoes will take her.)

 

Nomar - dead.  Ya dumb punk.  Though I'm surprised that Isobel didn't have a passcode of some sort to protect herself in case her papi ever looked at her phone - she had to know she is playing with fire in general.  I'm guessing this is the last we will see/hear of her.

 

ETA:  You know Simon Stern is full of smiles at this point.  I see some knife twisting in the future.

Edited August 4, 2014 by hammaboo

[RockyHorror64]

 

ETA:  You know Simon Stern is full of smiles at this point.  I see some knife twisting in the future.

This! I couldn't remember his name. This is the guy Victor Garber plays? (I hope that is his name).

[Empress1]

If you just turned 30 and your son must be about 14, you had him at 16? Yeah. Something seems very wrong with the age situation. Ghost has to be in his mid 30's.

I can't tell how old they are supposed to be. To me the actors look their ages (I am too lazy to look but I think Naughton is around 30 and Hardwick is 37) and Tommy and Angela look like James's contemporaries. But they all talk like they grew up together. Tasha was clearly a teen mom; maybe that's why she and James got married?

I would respect Angela more if she WERE a straight gold digger, if she were using James for diamonds and Loubous, rather than someone who quits her good job and dumps a good single man to move out of state away from her family with a married man. Girl, this is not "more permanent." You look stupid. Your sister doesn't support you because you are acting a fool (though I would guess she'll offer her shoulder to cry on when this blows up in Angela's face).

I hate Holly too (and while I like tommy as a character, I don't like the actor - I feel like I can see him acting) so I was mad that she lived. And I agree, she's too stupid and coked out to be a cop. I think she's just an average opportunist.

Like that Tasha is coming up with some kind of exit strategy.

I get a kick out of seeing Casey Novak on this show.

[wanderingstar]

Tasha needs exit strategy lessons from Betty Draper!

I loathe Holly and wish she wasn't returning. Her character grates. Mightily.

James and Angela make Scandal's Fitz and Olivia look mature and profound.

Here's hoping everyone gets some smarts in S2.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Gillian Rosh

[Brooklynista]

What's Angela's plan? To be the Miami wife? Leave her job and sick dad so she can be the side piece with a tan? I never heard James say he was leaving his wife. Is his plan really to move to Miami and leave the three kids?

They have to stop making Natori do sexy. It's just not working. The moves she was trying to put on the banker? Even her trying to seduce the driver, it's just so stunted and awkward.

[luckyroll3]

I never heard James say he was leaving his wife.

 

That's because he didn't!  Angela thinks she's being a good person by showing a slight bit of remorse over the situation, yet she's so hung to begin her life with a man who is still married and plans on staying married.  She needs a wake up call.  

 

 

Is his plan really to move to Miami and leave the three kids?

 

He pretty much said as much.  They way he was so nonchalant in telling his wife, "oh, I'm going to run the Miami club while the other guy runs this location.  But don't worry; I'll come back and visit you and the kids every few months."  Say what now, asshole?  Tasha's a better woman than me, cause that fool would have gotten a fork to the dick.  

[RockyHorror64]

 

cause that fool would have gotten a fork to the dick.

My wife absolutely agrees with you Lucky.

I'm noticing a trend on a lot of cable shows. Maybe it's just me being a little overly sensitive, but a lot of these shows have no redeeming characters on them. I usually end up hating everyone. No one to root for. No one to like. No one with any brains, Has anyone else noticed this as well? Besides Power. I've watched Black Sails, Magic City, True Detective, Master's of Sex (which I gave up on), The White Queen, Ray Donovan, Salem and a few others. I did enjoy Penny Dreadful even though I pretty much watched it without really paying attention to it. Sometimes I just like to "hate" watch these shows. They make no sense to me. Have no story worth paying attention to. The writers just throw all these distractions into them for nothing more than entertainment reasons, but I end up just losing interest to be honest.

Edited August 6, 2014 by RockyHorror64

[Bill C.]

Cable television embraced "Bad is good, baby!  Down with government!" a long time ago...for better or worse.  Sometimes it works (The Shield, The Sopranos), and sometimes...we get this.

[Easyspreestep]

That was a great finally and how I wish Tommy would kill Angela, but I know that won't happen. How much does Angela want this case, so much she is willing to use Greg but not so much to stay if Ghost will take her to Mami to be his personal mistress.

Ghost kills me with Tasha just doesn't understand, well how about you go tell Angie about your plans to be the biggest drug dealer in NY. I bet she will understand you. Hey Angie if a man does not inquire about the details of what you do and you are not willing to tell him the details of what you do. YOU ARE NOT IN LOVE.

Speculation, but Angie will get nothing from the sketch but that meet up with Tommy when he interupts her and Ghost will be the key. Tommy states that her friend canceled christmas on him he uses that term for everything, she will hear it and put it together.

Tasha stop telling everyone your business if you don't plan to leave Ghost. Also the mom states you need the illegal money I thought the legal money was sizeable. If so half should be fine.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Easyspreestep

[Marigny]

Caught up on this show last weekend and I can't stand anyone but the kids. 

 

Ghost - What a coward! You mention in passing a few times about going legit, all the while continuing with the original plan (which you probably had multiple DETAILED conversations about with Tasha), yet you wonder why your wife didn't take you seriously? As ride or die as Tasha has been with him, had he been as detained with the going legit plan as he was with the biggest drug dealer in NYC plan with her, she would have been on the same page with him. Is she supposed to be a mind reader? He was looking for an excuse to dip. Tasha could have been perfect in all of her deeds and words, and Ghost would still do her the same way. He's way to busy trying to paint a picture that he thinks the establishment (Stern) will find acceptable and that this somehow will mean he's no longer that punk kid from the corner. 

 

Tasha - Its obvious that she is a huge part of the brains behind the operation but they are writing her like a dumb bird. Courtney (the writer) needs a come to Jesus meeting. I get that (most likely) Ghost hooked up with her when she was 16-17, but she's 30 now. Why is she acting out (the entire flirtation situation with Sean) like a damn jealous 14 year old? If she's got a momma that coached her well enough to land a big time drug dealer that would support the both of them, there is no way that same momma didn't show her how to create her own side hustle or off shore accounts where your mad day stash is kept. 

 

Holly - No way she's a cop with that coke habit. I also doubt that she's an informant but I think that will change. Angela & crew will pursue the person in the sketch because they think that's Ghost. Eventually, that investigation will lead to Tommy's doorstep. Tommy's saving grace will be Holly coming to the rescue, revealing who the real Ghost is because 1.) she loves Tommy & 2.) she'll have an axe to grind for taking that bullet. Tommy will go along with this because, by this point in the game, Ghost will have doubted him enough times that he's pissed off and Kanaan will probably have chirped in his ear enough to have him questioning his loyalty to Ghost. 

 

Tommy - As long as he's been in the game and he's spilling all of his secrets to some random chick? M'kay. 

 

Angela - So, he's willing to do it and dip it with you and somehow you believe that there is going to be a happily ever after? You're willing to sacrifice your career for the Ghost of Dickmas past, based off puppy love of 18 years ago and the fact that he says he owns a club (you haven't seen neither deed nor title) and a necklace (that could have fallen off the back of a truck or be fake)? Her sister told no lies. $5 says this desperate bird will try to cover for Ghost the second she finds out who he is. Folks talk about Tasha but Angie is a way bigger doofus in my book. 

 

Club Manager - He will be involved in Ghost's downfall. Look for him to feed info to either the feds or to Stern (who will also be involved in Ghost's downfall in some way, shape or form). 

[wanderingstar]

the Ghost of Dickmas past,

 

Ha! I must use this!

[Meedis]

On 8/3/2014 at 2:33 PM, ihartcoffee said:

Did Angela say he'd been made (that dude with the chin braids)?  He was caught being nasty with the daughter, did he lie to her and I missed it?  

Yes he did lie to her about being made.   I assume that'll come out in Season 2.   I'm just starting to catch up on the series on DVD.