As the ninth episode of the fourth season of Power opens, Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) is attempting to be less terrible. He’s interviewing for a position at the boarding school in Connecticut Raina (Donshea Hopkins) told him about. (It’s the same school Angela attended.) Though the interviewer points out the decline in Riq’s academics and behavior, the boy still aces the interview. Later, when Ghost (Omari Hardwick) drops the Riq off at school he proudly shows his son a news story that says his name has been cleared. Riq seems pleased, but he also asks if they should fear Kanan’s (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) return. Ghost explains that Kanan will leave them alone because they are all witnesses to Juke Box’s (Anika Noni Rose) murder. He also urges Riq to let go of his guilt.

At Angela’s (Lela Loren) apartment, she and her sister Paz (Elizabeth Rodriguez) are getting ready for their day. Paz has been saying with her baby sister since the whole Mike (David Fumero) incident. She’s pissed that Angela used herself as bait, but she’s glad Mike is dead.

In a car somewhere in the city, Tommy (Joseph Sikora) and Teresi (William Sadler) are talking on the phone. Since Teresi was the one who took Mike out for Ghost and Tommy, he now wants a favor. He asks Tommy to come and see him in prison. Because Tommy is a felon, he’s going to need proof that they are family to get in to see him. Teresi assures Tommy that his mother Kate (Patricia Kalember) has all the proof he needs. He tells Tommy he’s not the kind of guy that would deny his own son. “That ain’t me,” he says.

At a warehouse somewhere, Tommy’s men are playing poker. They are all delighted that they’ve avoided a war with the Hermanas and they have turned in their coins to receive their new shipment of drugs which is set to arrive the next day. They all agree that as long as Tommy stays chill, they’re good. Unfortunately, stupid ass Dre (Rotimi) and Cristobal (Matt Cedeño) have other plans. They want the organization for themselves, and they’re going to have to do something drastic to get it from Tommy.

At the Feds, Angela meets with the new US Attorney for the Eastern District. New lady applauds Angela for her work on bringing Mike in. However, she explains that since they were not able to prosecute him they must win back the public’s trust. The first step for the Feds is making an appearance at the Destroy Injustice Gala. This year, the Gala just happens to be honoring the newly exonerated James “Ghost” St. Patrick. New Attorney lady says that after the Gala, she doesn’t want to ever hear St. Patrick’s name again. She also asks Angela her opinion about appointing the new Head of Criminal since Mike’s death has left the job vacant. Her choices are either John Mak (Sung Kang) or Saxe (Shane Johnson). Angela thinks she deserves the promotion, but new lady basically laughs in her face.

Meanwhile, in Queens, Ghost and Councilman Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) are walking the streets and getting interviewed by Olivia (the reporter that interviewed the St. Patricks and was real thirsty and in Ghost’s face a few episodes ago). This new ultra visibility is going to come back to haunt Ghost.

At the St. Patrick’s penthouse, Silver (Brandon Victor Dixon) and Tasha (Naturi Naughton) are still on and as bold as humanly possible. Silver is supposed to be dropping off some of the St. Patrick’s belongings that were seized by the FBI during Ghost’s incarceration. Instead, in between smooches, Tasha tells him about her plans to expand the weave shop with Keisha (La La Anthony). She also tells Silver that she’s going to divorce Ghost as soon as his real estate venture with Simon Stern (Victor Garber) gets off the ground. (Tasha, we love you girl, but sometimes you need to move in silence.)

At a gym somewhere, Riq is playing ball when Brains and Big Country finally run up him, The boy acts unbothered (personally I would’ve been afraid.) He assures the two that he’s not snitching because he would be guilty by association. He also asks them where his share of the money from the hit is. Riq’s balls must have dropped between this episode and the last one.

Later Ghost and Stern are meeting about their upcoming vote with the City Council. Stern is pissed that Ghost has made friends with Tate and he decides to take the reigns at the vote as a form of punishment. Ghost tells Stern that since he owns 51 percent of the venture, he wants a bigger role. Stern tells him nah. (When will this old white man learn Ghost ain’t the one?!)

Back in Queens an enraged Tommy comes storming through Kate’s house looking for proof that Teresi is his daddy. In a tirade, he starts digging through his mama’s things and destroying her prized collection of porcelain dolls. Kate tries to tell him that she doesn’t have proof. She shows him his birth certificate which has no mention of Teresi on it. Tommy isn’t satisfied. He snatches his mama by the neck (SIR!!) and tells her what he did to Holly (Lucy Walters). A distraught Kate finally gives him the proof he wants telling Tommy that Teresi tried to take him away from her. Tommy takes his original birth certificate, a vile of coke, his car and exits telling his mother he doesn’t ever want to see her again.

Somewhere in New York, Ray Ray (Marcus Callender), the dirty cop who worked with Juke Box storms in on Brians and Big Country. He says he heard about their botched robbery and the dead woman they left behind. He also tells them that Riq isn’t some regular rich kid, he’s Ghost’s son and Slim (aka Kanan’s) friend. Both men try to reassure him that it’s all good, but Ray Ray isn’t about to take any chances. He shoots both Brains and Big Country dead.

At the warehouse, Tommy’s drugs have been delivered, and Cristobal and Dre are on deck to destroy them. These imbeciles have decided the best way to set Tommy off is to burn the warehouse to the ground with the drugs inside. They want Tommy to think the Hermanas siblings are behind it.

Meanwhile, Angela meets Proctor (Jerry Ferrara) for lunch. Pissed about being passed over for a promotion, it looks like she might want to join Proctor’s defense firm. Proctor seems delighted by the prospect but just as suddenly as she contemplates what moving to the corporate side of the law might mean, little miss self-righteous decides she doesn’t want to be a bad guy. Girl, good night.

Later Tommy tries to convince his soldiers that everything will be OK despite the fire setback. The men are pissed, they’ve paid their pennies, and they want their weight. Frazzled and high but still seeing reason, Tommy asks the men for more time, despite Cristobal tries to instigate a rebellion. Livid, Tommy dismisses Cristobal while the other men agree to give him a minute to figure things out. At the close of the meeting, Tommy pulls Dre to the side to say he knows that Hermanas were behind the fire. He assures Dre that he’s going to go to war and the Serbs are going to help him. It looks like Dre’s stupid plan might actually be working.

At Truth, Ghost and Tate are shooting the sh*t and talking about the impending city council vote. Ghost — thinking he’s always the smartest one in the room, asks Tate about his contract with Stern, he says he’s concerned that despite being a major shareholder of the business, his compensation isn’t adequate. Looking over the paperwork, Tate tells Ghost that what Stern’s doing is fraud. Since the venture was formed as a minority businesses, Ghost’s compensation needs to be reflected as such.

At school  —Raina is minding her own business when Officer Ray Ray turns up in full uniform. (Can the police speak to minors without their parents present?) Ray Ray asks Raina if her brother is at school, she tells him “No, ” and she also informs him she doesn’t know where Riq is. It turns out that he is hanging out at his bae Destiny’s house. He tells her that he’s headed to Connecticut for boarding school. He asks her to his school dance, and though she declines— Destiny tells him she’ll meet up with him afterward to say goodbye. (Doesn’t the school inform Tasha and Ghost if their kids don’t show up for class? I’m so puzzled.)

Later, Tasha and Keisha chat about expanding the weave business. Tasha tells her friend that she’s divorcing Ghost —prenup be damn— she’s getting what’s hers. She also tells her friend that she wants to be completely legit. Keisha is for it, as long as Ghost and Tommy don’t come anywhere near her business.

At the City Council vote, Stern is giving his speech about the real estate venture, and just as the council is about to vote on it, Tate brings up the discrepancy in the paperwork. Ghost’s compensation is off, and that’s not going to work for a supposed minority-owned business, Stern is shocked while Tate and Ghost look on amused. The Council decides they’re going to need to see a new contract before they do any voting.

At home, Raina tells Tariq about Ray Ray’s school visit. Riq assures his sister that everything is OK, but he also makes his twin swear not to tell their parents about it. Trusting her brother, who seems to be trying to do better, Raina agrees to keep her mouth shut. (Jesus take the wheel.)

A desperate Tommy meets with Jason (Mike Dopud) and the Serbs to try and get new product since their old shipment went up in flames. Jason isn’t moved. He tells Tommy he needs clean money for product nothing more and nothing less. Jason’s patience with Tommy is wearing real thin.

High and desperate Tommy heads to the St. Patricks. He needs Tasha to clean money through the weave shop and write him a check so he can get his men their weight. Tasha tells him she’s legit now and she can’t help him. Tommy is pissed and storms out. On his way, Tasha asks if he and Ghost had anything to do with Mike’s death. Tommy basically tells her yup, sure did.

With Tasha turning over a new leaf, Tommy goes straight to the source for help. He runs up on Keisha (who he’s ghosted for the past several episodes) to beg her to clean some money for him. He convinces her to get in his car, apologizes for his wrongdoings and gives her some light info on what’s been happening in his life over the past several weeks. Despite his begging and pleading, Keisha isn’t moved, She tells him he has her f*cked up in so many words and walks away. (Let’s all stand and clap for Keisha!! YASSS GIRL).

At Angela’s apartment, Angela is telling Paz that she’s going to have to get out of public service because her reputation is garbage…girl obv. As they chat, Mak comes to Angela’s door dressed for the Destroy Injustice Gala (Paz is pleased to see Mok all dapper and ish). Mak tells Angela that once he’s Head of Criminal, he wants her to come back to the task force. Angela — per usual tries to be all self-righteous. She begins to explain how she deserves the promotion over him and she even calls herself a whistleblower. Mak laughs in her face and heads to the Gala.

Somewhere in the city, a waitress is cleaning off tables when she hears Ghost’s interview with Olivia on the TV. Horrified she drops all of the glasses in her hand. If you remember from the pilot episode, Ghost murdered her man for stealing his drugs (or money) and let ole girl go free. She never saw his face she just heard him speak Spanish. Ghost’s past is never going to stop coming for him.

At the St. Patricks’ Tommy who is high as hell comes roaring through. The twins are dressed for their school dance and Ghost is preparing to attend the gala solo. (Tasha has informed him that she won’t be joining him.) After saying hello to the fam, Tommy asks Ghost to speak privately. Ghost scolds Tommy about being high around his kids. Tommy is like whatever. He headbutts his friend and demands the money he gave Ghost for the Milan deal, and the money Ghost stole from him to get Riq back. He also informs Ghost he’s going to war against the Hermanas. Ghost is aggravated, but he doesn’t have the time or energy to deal with his crazy friend. Instead, he writes Tommy a check and sends him on his way. In the midst of their convo, we learn that in Queens, Ray Ray has tracked down Destiny. He knows that Riq is going to be waiting for her at the dance.

With a solution in hand, Tommy heads to the warehouse to speak with his soldiers only to learn that they have abandoned him. Only Dre and The Priest are there. The Priest tells him it was a good run but he’s out, he at least he had enough respect for Tommy to do it to his face. Dre also antagonizes Tommy and gets himself fired. Tommy is out here alone AF with no organization.

At the Destroy Injustice Gala, Ghost learns that his contract with Stern has been modified and approved by the council. Angela also shows up, and she learns that she has been appointed the new Head of Criminal. (Ugh why?!) Later she and Ghost have a heart to heart, and we also learn that Ghost had the opportunity to attend the Connecticut prep school, but turned it down to stay with Tommy. (WOW!) Unfortunately, Ghost’s bubble is swiftly popped when Councilmen Tate approaches him with one of the corner boys from the neighborhood. Apparently, since Ghost got the Tate to back him, Ghost must now back the corner boy financially? (I think that’s what happened) Tate has known who Ghost is all along.

Power Season 4 2017

In the midst of this, Cristobal and Dre are celebrating breaking free of Tommy. “There are advantages to being underestimated,” Dre says. (Dre is so dumb. I can’t wait until Tommy and Ghost find out what he’s done.)

At his apartment, Kanan comes home, and as he nears his door he realizes two men are there to kill him. The men are sloppy, and Kanan easily puts them down, but now he probably thinks Ghost’s put a hit out on him. UGH DRE WHY?!

With no one else to turn to, Tommy finally visits Teresi in jail. Upon seeing each other for the first time, the two men are delighted laughing at their resemblance and demeanor. Teresi asks Tommy how he’s doing and if there is anything he can do to help him. Tommy tells his father that he wants to meet the rest of the family. LORD.

As the episode comes to a close, Raina and Tariq are enjoying their school dance. Riq is making his rounds and saying goodbye to his classmates. (Apparently, Raina is staying and not going to the prep school with her brother.) Toward the end of the evening, Riq gets a text from Destiny telling him to meet her outside. Instead of the curvy teen, Riq runs right into Ray Ray and only narrowly escapes him.

Raina follows her brother outside to see where he’s slithered off to. Recognizing Ray Ray, she approaches him bravely telling the man to leave her brother alone. Ruthless AF, Ray Ray draws his gun and shoots Raina dead as Riq looks on from his hiding place. Running towards his sister, Tariq looks down at her body as she bleeds out on the icy ground.

Just like that everything has changed for the St. Patricks.

Power airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Starz

Aramide A Tinubu is a film critic and entertainment writer. As a journalist, her work has been published in EBONY, JET, ESSENCE, Bustle, The Daily Mail, IndieWire and Blavity. She wrote her Master’s thesis on Black Girlhood and Parental Loss in Contemporary Black American Cinema. She’s a cinephile, bookworm, blogger and NYU + Columbia University alum. You can find her reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, read her blog at: www.chocolategirlinthecity.com or tweet her @midnightrami