S01.E01: A Short Fuse and a Long Memory

[Scarlett45]

Quote

On his journey to LA, Tommy stops in Chicago, only to discover shocking news about his family; Tommy must decide whether to force his skeletons back in the closet, or put down roots in the Windy City.

Air Date: February 6, 2022

[AntFTW]

This episode was all over the place.

[mxc90]

This episode was atrocious! The writing and plot was so bad! The way grandma Egan looked in the chair was my look watching this train wreck!

Why drop the season finale of Book II and this on the same day?

If Tommy is supposed to dead. Is he going to change his name? Or does this show not give a fuck!

So Kate had baby and left him with the father in Chicago? Huh! Grandma Egan knew and played along that Kate is dead to the other grandson. Why is the father still close with Kate's mother? With this show, Tommy is probably older and conveniently forgot as child Kate was pregnant in Chicago. Where was Teressey (sp) at that time?

Not sure why Tommy got involved with the two when he was asked to move his car. Why was he outside to begin with and why did they need his car to be moved? He was supposedly waiting at that spot to go in the bar and get the "pepper pot soup" (whatever) from the kitchen (that was closed earlier?) but somehow smelled it so the kitchen was open as someone was cooking. Did the bartender lie about the kitchen time?

You can't be a respected gangster when the bartender is clowning you!

Is Tommy supposed to be "the Punisher" now? He beats the guy and breaks his arm. And for what reason he takes his phone, goes to shoot at Vic, then goes with him to meet the connect where he kills two incompetent dealers and steal their money. Why was he there to begin with?

The club scene is something I wish I can forget! It was so bad!

At the end, Tommy is in a badly chroegraphed, synchronized car chase and should have been shot on the street. No! These fools need to bring him to the hippie looking Kingpin's mansion. Who thanks him and praises him for whatever reason and tells him to leave town after telling him a philosophical quote he just memorized of the internet. While the princess (who Tommy will bang) observes from the top.

The guy that got out jail might be the only character I could be interested in watching. The rest are trash.

Dumbest line. Tommy: "When I see the Pacific Coast, you will know I'm here!"

[Joimiaroxeu]

Not a fan of the theme song. This one doesn't sound related to the other three at all IMO.

Why is Tommy's car so shiny? Surely that wasn't the original factory paint.

Boston? Which was extra funny since Joseph Sikora is from Chicago. But wow was that old guy's Chicago Irish accent hard to parse. (And for a second or two I thought the actor was Don Johnson.)

Yeah, sister girl, you don't need to be getting strung along by a dirty cop from a dirty cop family.

"Tom Brady can eat a dick." Truer words, Tommy. Truer words. 😏

Lol, Tommy already getting it in. Whoo chile, that is a solid hunk of man. 🥴

Black light cocaine. Great gimmick if you happen to have a black light handy.

And now you're dead, Crack Baby #1. Tommy does not play.

Tommy has a Black brother. Because of course he does. 🙄 Good casting with the actor though. IMO they have the similar nose shapes and facial bone structure.

So was that guy intimidating Diamond at the barber shop a cop or a gang member?

Decent premiere given all the different premises which had to be established out of thin air. I hope Force is going to be worth the wait.

[Scarlett45]

10 hours ago, mxc90 said:

So Kate had baby and left him with the father in Chicago? Huh! Grandma Egan knew and played along that Kate is dead to the other grandson. Why is the father still close with Kate's mother? With this show, Tommy is probably older and conveniently forgot as child Kate was pregnant in Chicago. Where was Teressey (sp) at that time?

 

I’m guessing Tommy is older. 
 

Likely Kate bounced from NYC and went to Chicago thinking Terressy would come after her and/or take Tommy and give him to his wife to raise (maybe shoot her in the process). (She mentioned that she was scared of that in a season of Power)

She probably lived with her Mom in Chicago a while, met the black guy’s dad. Likely the black guy wasn’t into drugs and the life and realized Kate was a coke head and wanted nothing to do with her (but wouldn’t let her fuck up his son and took the boy from her, or it was “the drugs or us- choose”).
 

Knowing Kate, she probably stole from her Mom (and a bunch of other things)- so her Mom was glad to see the back of her but stayed in her other grandson’s life. And went along with the lie to do so. 
 

Likely his dad paid for that nice nursing home as a thank you for helping raise him. (or maybe the grandson is paying for it, because he loves her) Doesn’t seem odd to me, quite common in black families to stay close to your child’s extended family even if you can’t stand/don’t talk to/hate the other parent- it’s not uncommon to be friends or close with the other parent’s family. 

From the way the brother is speaking I’m guess his Dad is dead too?

Tommy would’ve been little and likely didn’t remember anything about it. 

[Scarlett45]

20 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

So was that guy intimidating Diamond at the barber shop a cop or a gang member?

I’m voting crooked cop. 
 

I think Joseph Sikora is a fine actor so this could be good, and Tommy (the character) is in a bad place. He was emotionally betrayed by Tasha and Tariq, he lost Lakesha, his Mom did him dirty- he did reconcile with Ghost right before he died, so I can see him longing for a family. But Tommy is a loose cannon who was never the brains of the operation. Let’s see how he does working for himself. 

 

Edited to Add- I did keep thinking about the actors wearing such little outwear (which is always how it is on film) outside, at night, in an ACTUAL Chicago winter (I live in Chicago)- so not pleasant. When Tommy appeared in the first scene and there were the "dibs" items in the street I cracked up, but I also thought "he has no hat, no coat, no gloves- it gets cold in NYC as well!"

TImeline wise, is this in occurring in-between the end of Power, and before Tommy comes back in the first season of Power Book II? So Tommy assumed dead or has that not happened yet? Anyone know?

[Yogisbooboo64]

23 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Lol, Tommy already getting it in. Whoo chile, that is a solid hunk of man. 🥴

Girl, you ain't never lied!  I was literally fanning myself and inwardly hating his real life wife 'cause if I were married to him I'd be bouncing him on the regular like a low rider truck!  I hope to see more of the lady bartender, when they finished both of them were looking at each other like they had gotten the feels....I know Tommy did, which is likely why he left so quickly.

I wonder if Patricia Kalember (Kate) will return, with Tommy's newfound brother it would make sense.

The old dude with the Irish accent was sexy, I thought.

I really like Joseph Sikora (even though looking at him reminds me of a former friend who looks just like him), so I'm all in for his sexy ass. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Yogisbooboo64

[AntFTW]

On 2/6/2022 at 12:46 PM, mxc90 said:

If Tommy is supposed to dead. Is he going to change his name? Or does this show not give a fuck!

Was Tommy supposed to be dead?

Memory is kinda fuzzy. Was it that FBI chase that happen to fake Tommy's death?

Edited February 10, 2022 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

On 2/6/2022 at 11:26 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I’m voting crooked cop. 

Me too

[Scarlett45]

8 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Was Tommy supposed to be dead?

Memory is kinda fuzzy. Was it that FBI chase that happen to fake Tommy's death?

As of the end of season 1 of Power Book II I think so. But he’s driving his original car right? So this show is starting in-between the original Power ending and when Tommy shows up at the end of Season 1 of Book 2.

I THINK!

[mxc90]

16 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Was Tommy supposed to be dead?

Memory is kinda fuzzy. Was it that FBI chase that happen to fake Tommy's death?

11 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

As of the end of season 1 of Power Book II I think so. But he’s driving his original car right? So this show is starting in-between the original Power ending and when Tommy shows up at the end of Season 1 of Book 2.

I THINK!

 

I had to look back. Tommy was driving his mother's BMW when he crashed and faked his death. So, now I'm not sure if this season is to fill in the gap when he left town after Ghost was killed or after he left Tariq and Monet at the cemetary.

On 2/6/2022 at 1:05 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Not a fan of the theme song. This one doesn't sound related to the other three at all IMO.

Me too. I'll be FF this every week.

On 2/6/2022 at 1:05 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

"Tom Brady can eat a dick." Truer words, Tommy. Truer words.

Perfect timing from the show with his "supposed" retirement announcement last week.

On 2/6/2022 at 11:26 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I’m voting crooked cop. 

Crooked cop. 

Poor Diamond. He gets out of prison and seems he wants to start a new clean life. Not so fast. Already the odds are stacked against him. His brother wants him to get back in the game/kill, this crooked cop is going to cause trouble, the prisoner (Rojas) is going to send people after him and he still hasn't met Tommy yet (that's trouble X3 right there for him).

On 2/6/2022 at 11:14 PM, Scarlett45 said:

Likely Kate bounced from NYC and went to Chicago thinking Terressy would come after her and/or take Tommy and give him to his wife to raise (maybe shoot her in the process). (She mentioned that she was scared of that in a season of Power)

She probably lived with her Mom in Chicago a while, met the black guy’s dad. Likely the black guy wasn’t into drugs and the life and realized Kate was a coke head and wanted nothing to do with her (but wouldn’t let her fuck up his son and took the boy from her, or it was “the drugs or us- choose”).
 

Knowing Kate, she probably stole from her Mom (and a bunch of other things)- so her Mom was glad to see the back of her but stayed in her other grandson’s life. And went along with the lie to do so. 
 

Likely his dad paid for that nice nursing home as a thank you for helping raise him. (or maybe the grandson is paying for it, because he loves her) Doesn’t seem odd to me, quite common in black families to stay close to your child’s extended family even if you can’t stand/don’t talk to/hate the other parent- it’s not uncommon to be friends or close with the other parent’s family. 

From the way the brother is speaking I’m guess his Dad is dead too?

Tommy would’ve been little and likely didn’t remember anything about it.

I can understand this scenario.

But if they are all tight as a family, I need a good reason why father and grandma couldn't tell him the truth. The way Zeke's backstory was handled; I don't trust these writers to come up with a satisfying explanation for Kate.

Edited February 10, 2022 by mxc90

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, mxc90 said:

I can understand this scenario.

But if they are all tight as a family, I need a good reason why father and grandma couldn't tell him the truth. The way Zeke's backstory was handled; I don't trust these writers to come up with a satisfying explanation for Kate.

I don’t trust the writers either (since they can’t do math or understand that children grow very quickly before puberty)-  but parents/elders lie about things like this.
 

Not as much now as we have the internet & at home DNA tests, but Tommy is about 40-43 right? I could see someone of his grandmother’s generation telling Kate “stay gone” and supporting the lie that she was dead. Once you started with the lie, it’s hard to come out of it. 

[Coleyb]

On 2/10/2022 at 6:04 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I don’t trust the writers either (since they can’t do math or understand that children grow very quickly before puberty)-  but parents/elders lie about things like this.
 

Not as much now as we have the internet & at home DNA tests, but Tommy is about 40-43 right? I could see someone of his grandmother’s generation telling Kate “stay gone” and supporting the lie that she was dead. Once you started with the lie, it’s hard to come out of it. 

Luckily Courtney Kemp is not involved with the writing for Force, she still an EP, but the writing team is completely different from PB2.

with more of Tommy’s background  they brought it up from the start which was very smart and now it can slowly build from there. With Zeke’s story poor guy was already clueless as is, and there was hardly any buildup for his backstory, it just felt like a random thing thrown in and then zeke gets killed off. 

In OG Power Tommy’s age was never really brought up, but I would guess Tommy’s age is closer to Joseph’s age which is 45 and apparently JP (the brother) alluded to himself being older. Which would make sense as far as Kate’s lies go. 
 

Also pilot episodes are always slow, we know Tommy and that he’s in a very bad head spaced which I’m most excited to see him in quieter moments processing everything. But anyways, yes it’s slow and little all over the place because they have to introduce these new players and it’s a brand new city with rules different from NYC. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Coleyb

[AWhittle]

See how Tommy handled himself...

I take it that New Yorkers have quicker reflexes and are one step ahead of Chicago. 😂