The third and final season of Power Book IV: Force is underway, and according to the cast and crew, this might be the series’s most volatile installment.
According to the official synopsis for the last season on Starz, “Tommy Egan’s relentless ambition to dominate Chicago’s drug game comes at a high cost. In order to claim the throne as kingpin, he must navigate an ever-evolving dynamic with his business partner, Diamond (Isaac Keys), and a contentious relationship with Diamond’s brother, Jenard (Kris D. Lofton). As pressure mounts from the coalition, the Feds, Miguel’s crew and the Marquez Cartel, Tommy must find a way to protect his family and those he loves, including Mireya (Carmela Zumbado).
“The biggest question we ask of the season, and we came into the room with, which is, ‘Will Tommy Egan become the king of Chicago?’ And I think we answered that question in our finale,” showrunner and executive producer Gary Lennon shared with Blavity’s Shadow and Act during our cast interview ahead of the new season. “Everything was driving to that. Tommy’s like the superhero, right? I mean, he’s better than Iron Man, in my opinion. And so in order to have a superhero, you need to find out what their kryptonite is, and so, in asking the question, ‘Will Tommy Egan, in fact, become the biggest, baddest drug dealer in Chicago?’ Then, we just threw everything, every obstacle in his to way to achieving his goal, and the answer is revealed in our finale.”
He added, “I would that you will be surprised of the fates of some of your favorite characters, because there are some surprising endings this season.”
What closure looks like for Diamond Sampson
St. Louis native Isaac Keys, who portrays Tommy’s business partner, Diamond Sampson, disclosed that when one is in the business that Tommy and his character are in, there is no such thing as closure because it’s so unpredictable.
“You live for that day,” he told us. “You try to set a short goal where you want to go, but you don’t know what the survival rate is at because you don’t honestly know who you trust. So, I’m not sure if he’s looking at closure, but if I was to try to chime into it, I think part of the closure is him building his relationship with his brother and just wanting to be — he wants one person in his corner that he can feel like he can trust, and he can feel like he can lean on, and that will have his back.
“Despite what Jenard has done already, he’s still trying to pull him in to be like, ‘Can I trust you? Brother, can you be the person that I need to lean on and count on, because I don’t,’ Keys continued. “He doesn’t know if it can be Tommy. He doesn’t know if it can be that person, because, again, like Joseph mentioned, that Chicagoness, that brotherhood, and being from the same city and being blood brothers, Diamond wants it to be him, but Jenard just keeps pulling away and keeps doing things to take away from that. So when the season is all said and done, I think what I want to take away from it is just the struggle, the relatability, the humanity that goes into it. That everyday people can relate to and be able to listen, whether you’re from the streets or not, be able to see these stories that are portrayed by all these characters in this Power Book Universe.”
What’s next for the ‘Power’ franchise?
When it first debuted in 2014, it wasn’t long before Power became a television series that has become a cult classic.
Created by Courtney A. Kemp and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, the crime drama aired on Starz for six seasons from 2014 to 2020. Shortly after, the spinoffs came by way of Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force.
The latter is the second series to close its chapter, following the conclusion of Power Book II: Ghost in 2024. Once again, the show’s reign is set to continue, this time with a prequel, Power: Origins, and another potential spinoff that will be called Power: Legacy. The latter is said to bring back Michael Rainey Jr.’s Tariq from the original series and Ghost alongside Sikora.
That means, although Power Force IV: Force is drawing to a close, the story of Tommy Egan may not be over just yet.
“I felt a real responsibility talking with my partners at Starz and Lionsgate and my partner in Joseph Sikora on how we were going to end this particular chapter of the Power books and then, having come to a conclusion that we felt was very satisfying to our audience, our loyal fans, I had to end it in a way that would help me as the creator, storyteller and showrunner of the next iteration of the Power world that I had ended in a way that the audience, their minds would be blow, and they’d be like, ‘Oh man,’ and knowing exactly where we’re going, because, in our finale, there is a moment that’s going to tell you what the new show is,” Lennon shared.
When asked about Tommy’s future beyond this series, Sikora told us about the continued excitement about the character he has portrayed for over a decade.
“Something that I’m really proud of is that we are the only Power show that doesn’t take place in New York, and I think that Chicago, the heart and soul, if Tommy is the face of this, and the muscle of this, and the heart and the soul of this show is Isaac Keys and Kris Lofton as the Sampson brothers. Isaac and Kris are wonderful actors, but they also bring this realness and this Chicago authenticity.”
Sikora concluded, “Now, Isaac is originally from St. Louis, but there is a bond between those two cities as well. And Kris, being from Chicago, I think, brings this authenticity to it. Because the Power show brought an authentic — even though it’s New York-adjacent, it brought authenticity to New York and the complex tapestry of New York. I think Season 2 and Season 3, especially Season 3 of Power Book IV: Force, brings an authenticity and a complexity to the city of Chicago, and I think people are going to love it.”
Power Book IV: Force’s final season premieres on Starz on Friday.