The Power power rankings: Ghost hits rock bottom as Kendrick Lamar guest stars

“I want to be a better man.”

Well, considering all the murdering, drug dealing, and cheating that he’s done, that should be pretty easy for Ghost, who hit rock bottom in “Happy Birthday.” The season 5 midpoint was billed as a big one, especially with the high-profile casting of Kendrick Lamar — but not even the rapper’s appearance could save this downer of an episode.

Not that there weren’t some positives. I mean, how good was it to see Tommy get at least a little bit of his swagger back? And Tariq standing up to Ghost was an important and impressive moment for the character and his portrayer, Michael Rainey Jr. Let’s see where both of them land on this week’s Power power rankings.

Strap in and strap up, because this is where it goes down.

1. Mak and Saxe

“I love it when a plan comes together” is probably what Saxe and Mak are thinking right about now. They’ve been locked in on taking down Tommy, Ghost, and Angela, and they are now that much closer to their goal with Blanca’s investigation discreetly continuing and Teresi tipping them off to Ghost laundering Tommy’s money.

2. Kanan

Look who made a new friend! While Kanan has been busy stirring up trouble for his old friends Tommy and Ghost, he gets into some trouble of his own with Laces, a homeless drug addict played by Kendrick Lamar. The street hustler, who talks a mile a minute, becomes Kanan’s latest partner, helping him kill members of Cristobal’s crew. What do these guys do when not blowing out the brains of Tianos members? Talk about dinosaurs and the pros and cons of being a vegan, of course? “I tried it,” admits Kanan, “but they said I couldn’t eat p—y, so I quit.” I don’t think that’s how being a vegan works. Luckily and shockingly, Laces doesn’t meet the same fate of most of Kanan’s companions. Instead of shooting him, Kanan gives Laces his gun to sell. “You don’t have any friends, do you?” asks Laces, who could have a future as Kanan’s shrink.

3. Terry

Tasha is drunk… on Terry. “If anybody has me under their influence, it’s you,” Tasha tells her lover, who wants her to move in with him and stay away from Ghost. Later, he gets to show up and play the hero, both by bringing a birthday cake for Tariq and showing off his lawyer skills when the cops come looking for Tasha’s gun. Although, it’s not all good between Tasha and Terry, as we see when he storms out after she continues to insist that she killed Ray Ray.

4. Tariq

I’ve never been a big fan of Tariq. Teenage characters on adult TV shows are always hard and rarely successful. Even when there is a good one, it doesn’t usually last long (looking at you, Homeland and Dana Brody). But this is the episode where Tariq St. Patrick became a man. Standing up to his father and trying to be there for his mother was a big step up from drinking lean and pulling stick-ups with Ray Ray and company. A few more episodes like this and I might be ready to fully buy into the storyline of the son following in his father’s footsteps.

5. Teresi

Well, something finally went right for Tommy — kind of. The episode starts with Vincent confronting Teresi, Sammy, and Tommy about Tommy lying to him about Dre. Vincent orders Teresi to kill either his BFF or his son. “I’m sorry,” Teresi says as he pulls the trigger on Sammy. Luckily for Sammy, the gun wasn’t loaded. Unluckily for them all, Vincent is done with them. Teresi assures Sammy that he could tell the gun wasn’t loaded (convenient story) and that he’s going to get something from Tommy because his son now “f—ing owes me.” And Tommy, unknowingly, delivers, sharing that he’s laundering his money through Ghost’s club. This is great news for Teresi, who happily relays the info to Saxe and Mak, allowing him at least another day on the streets.

6. Angela

As previously mentioned, Angela is soon going to be facing some real issues at work, especially with her boss Tamika clearly starting to suspect the worse (and she has no idea how bad it really is). But Angela has something up her sleeve — Tommy. She interrupts a meeting between Tommy and Proctor, revealing the tracker on Tommy’s car. Why? Because she wants him to flip on the Jimenezes, offering him full immunity. “All this time and you don’t know me at all,” he says when he later shows up at her apartment. “I’m not that f—ing guy. I never have been, I never will be.” But that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to work with her. He takes the tracker with him, seemingly as a way to bring down the Jimenezes. At least she might win one case before she gets disbarred and thrown in jail!

7. Tommy

Thank you, Courtney A. Kemp and the Power creative team. Last week, I begged to get some of fun Tommy back and you delivered. I never knew that I needed Tommy quoting Socrates, but now that I’ve seen it, it’s all I want. This was an episode of memorable interactions for Tommy, whether it was with Angela at her apartment; his conversations with Teresi; his meeting with Proctor; or his driving lesson/frank conversation with Tariq. Sadly, even with fun Tommy moments, there was no shortage of negativity coming his way. Still unbeknownst to him, his long lost father is ratting him out to the feds, and his new/old friend Kanan is working to steal his business out from under him. But I will take this progress!

8. Sammy

Damn, decades of friendship and loyalty doesn’t mean what it used to, huh?

9. Dre

There’s no middle ground when it comes to Dre and the Power power rankings. He’s either at the top or the bottom. The week after rising back up, he drops back down thanks to Ghost costing him his job. As pay back for Dre working his way into the business with Tate, Ghost goes to Dre’s employer and threatens to sue over the non-compete in Dre’s Truth contract. His problems also continue in the criminal world with growing animosity between him and his No. 2, Cristobal, and with Diego confronting him over a litany of issues. Dre throws the blame for the growing list of problems at Tommy and Ghost, which leads Diego to decide it’s time to get rid of them. Well, I guess that could be good news for Dre, even though I have trouble imaging Power without Ghost and Tommy.

10. Ghost

Rock bottom, meet Ghost. His wife has left him, his son has lost respect for him, his daughter is dead, his best friend is ready to be done with him, his enemy has essentially replaced him, and he doesn’t have Angela. That’s about as bad as it can get and it’s hitting Ghost. The moments of drinking we’ve seen throughout the season finally catch up to him as he spirals out of control and makes a fool out of himself at the fundraiser. It only gets worse when he gets home and Tariq calls him out on all the lies. This last straw and embarrassment sends Ghost to see Reverend Macedon. After Ghost blames everyone else for his problems, the reverend asks Ghost what he would do differently, a.k.a. What Would Raina Do? “She would want me to be different,” he admits of his late daughter. “I can do that. I can be different. For her.” He adds, “I want to be a better man.” And, apparently, being a better man means going directly from church to see your mistress. In non-breaking news, Angela lets him in.