This document provides an overview and summary of the TV show "Power" including: - The premise of the show following main characters in the New York City drug trade. - Key people behind the show including executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and creator Courtney Kemp. - Descriptions of main characters played by actors like Omari Hardwick and Joseph Sikora. - Context around the drug wars in New York City that inspired the show's setting and themes. - The consistent narrative theme throughout the show of James "Ghost" St. Patrick's attempts to leave the drug business despite obstacles.

1. Theory Task
Dan Corr

3. CONTEXT

4. Power – A Quick Description
Power is an American crime-drama TV show based on the
drug gangs of New York City. It follows main characters Ghost
(James St. Patrick), Tommy, Kanan and more on how the drug
game effects them and there families. The show starts with
the opening of James St. Patrick’s brand new night club
“Truth”, originally opened to clean the money from the
biggest drug business on the east coast, but when business
picks up Ghost thinks it can be more than just a way to keep
his money clean, as Ghost gets more and more into the
nightclub he tries to get further out of the drug game. This
starts off through showing Ghost as the man who has it all,
perfect family, perfect business, but everything isn’t all as it
seems throughout the five series of the show.

5. Who are the people behind Power?
Power has had big names involved with it from the start, the executive
producer being Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, he also plays
the character of Kanan in the show. This is good for the show as it
gives it an instantly recognisable face due to the fame of 50 Cent.
50 Cent is an American hip-hop artist releasing most of his music in the
early 2000’s, most well known for songs such as “In Da Club” and
“Candy Shop”, and the Juno awarded International Album of the year
“Get Rich or Die Tryin’”. “Fifty” was born in South Jamaica and brought
up in Queens, New York, where the show is set. It is well documented
that before his career as a musical artist Curtis Jackson was selling
drugs from the age of 12 during the crack epidemic in the 1980’s. This
makes 50 Cent perfect to work with for this TV show, both as a
producer and as an actor as he has been through the pain and joy of
the game that all the characters are in, as well as it being in the exact
same place that the show itself is set in, therefore he can bring a
realistic approach to the way the show is presented.

6. Who are the people behind Power?
As well as Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson there is the creator of
Power who is also behind the success of the series. This is
Courtney A. Kemp, who is an American television writer
and producer born in Connecticut, a state in USA. The
show came about when she met up with 50 Cent and
Mark Canton, an American film producer and executive,
in a coffeehouse in LA. This is where she pitched the
concept of a guy is becoming destined to leave his life as
a drug dealer behind him to become a successful night
club owner and businessman, as soon as she penned the
script along with Fifty and Canton the show was green lit
by on June 17 2013 with an eight episode first season set
to air the following year

7. Characters and Actors
The main character of Power is James St. Patrick, also known as ghost, who is played by Omari Hardwick, an American
actor who has also starred in films such as “Kick-Ass” and “The A-Team”. Ghost starts the series as a top drug dealer
just as he is about to open up “Truth”, his very own nightclub, inspired by his late father, who owned his own nightclub,
but mostly used as a was to clean his money made from drugs and running the largest drug corporation on the east
coast. At this point Ghost has a successful life as well as a wife and three children and everything seems perfect in his
life. Until his attempts to get out of the game and his family life crashes at the same time. St. Patrick has an affair with a
woman he used to date at school, Angela, who is also a DEA agent who happens to be looking into the case of “Ghost”,
who at the time, she does not know is James St. Patrick.
Another one of the main characters is Tommy Egan, who is played by Joseph Sikora, an American actor of Polish decent
who has had a long career in acting, starring as a child actor in a McDonalds advert with Michael Jordan. His role is the
best friend of James St. Patrick as well as his business partner in the drug trade, Tommy has also worked as a bouncer in
the Truth nightclub so that there won’t be any suspicions when money comes into his bank account from the nightclub.
The origin of the friendship of Tommy and Ghost comes from there childhood, when Tommy, raised by a single mother,
who is also a heavy drug addict, in a black neighborhood was being bullied for being white and being different to the
other children, St. Patrick would stand up for him regularly and this is how they became as close as they are. The
closeness of the two characters of Tommy and Ghost is tested multiple times throughout the seires as there are many
points of conflict between the two, this ranging from the drug business to family life, due to the two being close Tommy
is seen as an uncle to the children of Ghost, and this causes many arguments and conflicts during the series due to
some of Ghost’s mistakes when it comes to family life. Both of these characters were introduced to the criminal life by
Kanan.
Kanan Stark is 50 Cent’s character in Power and another one of the main characters, he acts as a mentor for Tommy and
Ghost towards the start of there criminal career but soon turns into an enemy as Tommy and Ghost want to takeover
the business and run the east coasts drug game. He has taken on many different kinds of characters, from an ally to
Tommy and Ghost to there mortal enemy, many conflicts throughout the series are based on Ghost and Kanan…

8. Characters and Actors
Due to the previous relationships between the two, it is believed that Ghost and his wife Tasha were the ones who set
Kanan up at the start of the show and this is the reason he is behind bars and in prison for much of the beginning of the
show, as well as this there have been plenty of times where each of the characters of Kanan and Ghost have attempted
to kill each other.
Another group of main characters is the family of James St. Patrick, there is his wife Tasha St. Patrick, his son Tariq, his
twin sister Raina and the youngest child, there daughter Yasmine, who is very young when the series starts, it isn’t told
what her age is but it is believed to be around 1 or 2 years old. They play a main role in the series due to a lot of conflict
between Tasha and James, as well as a lot of mistakes being made by Ghost to do with his family. Also towards the end
of the series (this currently being season 5, with season 6 in production) his children become more of a focal point of
the show, with many emotional moments coming from the twins Raina and Tariq and what happens to both of these
throughout the last couple of series of the show.
The last main character I will detail is Angela Valdez, played by Lela Loren, an American actor who is portrayed to have
Mexican descent on the show, she is also known for a role in the film Snitch, with Dwayne Johnson. Her character on
the show is of an FBI Agent, officially known as a U.S federal prosecutor. She is introduced in the series as the affair of
James St. Patrick, due to a rekindling of there relationship they had in high school, all while James was still married to
an unaware Tasha, they meet in the Truth nightclub where she becomes suspicious of how St. Patrick has done so well
since his school days, from there they fall in love all over again and St. Patrick eventually leaves his wife and family
behind in order to pursue a relationship with Angela. This relationship becomes more and more strained throughout
the seires due to Angela investigating the drug gangs of New York, and originally not knowing St. Patrick was involved,
but knowing that Tommy was involved and knowing of the friendship between the two, she becomes very wary of all
the movements each of them make.

9. What was happening?
The TV show is set in a modern day New York, where drug
fueled gang war can be found anywhere. This is the
influence for the series, due to the high rate of crime at
the original time of writing, this being 2012/2013, where
the gangs of New York, mainly being the bloods and crips
were in the height of the “beef” and war between the
two. As well as many other smaller drug gangs fighting
over the territory that they want. This inspired the
writers, as well as 50 Cent’s past, being involved in certain
parts of the drug trade before he could get out of this
game and pursue a career in music.

10. THEMES

11. What is the product really about?
The main storyline throughout the whole of the TV show
Power is Ghost/James St. Patrick’s attempts to get out of
the drug business and out of “the game” as they
constantly refer to it, there are many different conflicts
that stop this from happening throughout the series, this
being due to relationships with people as well as threats
to his life and to the people close to him. The main story
throughout never changes and this is why everyone is
constantly hooked onto this show, due to the storyline
always being the same, and just as you think he has a
chance, just as he is making his way out and everything
seems perfect, something drags him back in.

12. Narrative Themes
As said on the previous slide the narrative theme throughout the
whole of the series is following Ghost and his attempts to escape this
lifestyle. Each series seems to be based on a way on which he believes
he can get out of the game, and the obstacles in the way of this, and in
each series as he seems to be out something happens that puts him
straight back to square one, this is the main narrative theme
throughout but there are many side stories that focus on the other
characters, for example Tommy and his life has become a man
storlyine in the past, as well as James St. Patrick's children, mainly
being Tariq and his attempt to find out more about his parents and
what they are up to while being sneaky around him, this leads him
down a dark path and almost puts him into the drug game,
unbeknown to his father and the rest of his family. The main storyline
is always the same, but used in different variations, yet the side
storylines always change, keeping the show fresh and relevant with the
times.

13. CONTENT

15. This is a screenshot from one of the early episodes of PowerThe two
characters James St. Patrick/Ghost in the foreground and Kanan in the
background. This series is based on the drug gangs of New York and
James St. Patrick (Ghost) constantly trying to get out of the drug game,
but always somehow being dragged back in. At this point in the show
they are in slight conflict due to a disagreement over other characters.
The first point I would make about this picture is that the camerawork
is done very well and makes Kanan look sly and sneaky. This is as he is
in the background of the image and the camera isn’t focused in on
him, this is so it is less noticeable to the majority of the viewers as his
actions are supposed to be less noticeable to Ghost. This could also be
a metaphor for the way Kanan goes about his business, as it is all very
sly and behind Ghost’s back.

16. Another point could be the way they use the location in
this scene. The location here is on the rooftops of New
York City. This builds tension in the scene as the height
and dangerousness of the setting and situation add to the
conflict between the characters in this scene, they use
this in a ‘Chekhov’s Gun’ sort of way, where every
element of the story should contribute as a whole, an
example of this is if a pistol is hung up on a wall and
shown in the first act, by the following one it should have
been fired. This gives the audience viewing a reason to
believe that the fact they are showing and emphasising
the dangerousness of the setting means that this will pay
off by the end of the scene.

17. As well as this it can be a metaphor for where the characters are in the
drug game of New York, as they are at the top and above the rest of
the city, they believe they run everything. My final point on this scene
is the way colour is used. The example being in the screenshot
everything is very dark. The reason for this is that what they do is very
dark and the conflict between these two current partners has the
potential to turn very dark as it has in past series of the show. This can
also be used to show the past of the characters as a lot has happened
between them and the majority is very dark, ranging from Ghost
attempting to kill Kanan, Ghost framing Kanan, and Kanan kidnapping
Tariq, who is Ghost’s son. It is used in this scene very well as the
camerawork also makes Kanan darker in the background as in this
scene the audience are lead to believe that he is plotting against Ghost
and planning to undermine him.

18. Bibliography:
1. IMDb. (2018). Power TV Series. Available:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3281796/. Last
accessed 12th January 2019.
2. Power. (2013-2018) Starz.
3. Anon.. (2018). James St. Patrick. Available:
http://starzpower.wikia.com/wiki/James_St._Patrick.
Last accessed 13th January 2019.
4. Starz. (2014). Power Season 1 Trailer. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bbwp6feNwM.
Last accessed 13th January 2019.
5. ‘New Man’ (2018) Power S4 E6. Starz/Netflix.