Countdown to 'Power': PROMO—5 Times 'Power' Proved It's One of the Best Action Shows on TV

Over the course of three seasons, Power has also proven to be one of the best action shows on television.

Starz's 'Power'
Starz

Image via Starz

Starz's 'Power'

The best television shows have always been the ones that are most difficult to categorize. Case in point: Starz’s hit series Power, which will return for its fourth season on June 25. While, on the surface, it would be easy to categorize the series—which has continued to set record-breaking numbers for the network—as a crime drama, fans know that it’s much more than that. There’s plenty of family drama, especially when it comes to Ghost and Tommy, the lifelong friends and criminal business partners at the center of the show. Over the course of three seasons, Power has also proven to be one of the best action shows on television. Here are five times it proved that.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead if you’re not caught up through season three.)

1. Opening Night Identity Crisis

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From the get-go, Power made it clear that it wasn’t your average crime drama. In the opening few minutes of the pilot alone, we get to see several sides of its main protagonist, James “Ghost” St. Patrick: doting husband and father, budding nightlife impresario, and total badass. As he basks in the success of his new nightclub, Truth, more pressing matters call when his BFF/business partner Tommy shows up to let him know that they’ve been robbed and he needs to take care of business. Which he does, just a few floors down from where a room full of beautiful people are drinking up the scene at Truth. Ghost then heads right back up to the party, where his perfectly tailored suit and tie cover the specks of blood on his T-shirt below—setting up a sort of visual metaphor for the series itself.

2. Tommy Lights Up

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With their crew under fire from an unknown enemy who clearly knows their every move, Ghost and Tommy want to know who has got it out for them in season one. While Ghost prefers a more business-like approach—call a meeting of their fellow drug kingpins so that he can look each one of them in the eye and determine who is jeopardizing their business—Tommy’s got a more, well, colorful idea: Snatch one of the guys off the street and pull a Reservoir Dogs-like torture number on him, only with a tub of glue and a Zippo.

3. Road Rage

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In the world of Power, there are no accidents. What seemed like an innocent fender bender while Ghost drove his son Tariq drove through the city in season three, turned out to be a much more explosive situation. When a car full of Jamaicans hired to kill Ghost rear-ended his ride, a truckload of gunfire was unleashed on the assailants. Fortunately, Tariq was focusing on the beats blaring through his headphones and missed all the bloodshed. Noise: cancelled.

4.  Locked and Loaded

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Kanan has always been one of the most brutal and ruthless characters on Power. This is made even more evident in the gripping scene from Season 3 where he and his crew forcefully rip off a jewelry store. Glass is smashed, weapons are waved, and lots of gold and precious jewels are ripped from their cases. And after the main safe is unlocked, Kanan puts a bullet in one of his boy’s head before making a clean getaway.

5. So Long, Lobos

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The challenge with a show like Power is that the line between protagonist and antagonist is always shifting, and the most lethal characters are often the most fun to watch. Which is a good thing. In this case: Felipe Lobos (Enrique Murciano), the deliciously unhinged Mexican drug trafficker who we meet in the very first episode—and the character who, in a roundabout way, ends up reconnecting Ghost and Angela. As the series’ main antagonist, it was only a matter of time before his number was up, but the show’s producers were not about to say goodbye without an appropriate sendoff, complete with some double-crosses, a few great one-liners, and the chance to see Ghost and Tommy united once again. It’s bloody beautiful.

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