‘Power’ Episode 12 Recap: Paz is Hurt, But a Little Dumb Too
Now that fans have had the chance to sweep up the confetti and dust left behind from Dre’s death in last week’s episode of Power, it’s time to keep things moving. As promised by showrunner/creator Courtney Kemp, episode 12 focused on Angela Valdes’ sister, Paz, as the next suspect.
Most already deduced that she did not shoot Ghost, and this week’s story has viewers analyzing and trashing its necessity. That’s fair, but things sort of got interesting at the very end. Here’s a condensed recap of the wild, desperate, logic-defying episode about Paz called “He Always Wins.”
Paz blows a gasket, Warner digs for dirt
After awakening from a nightmare reliving the day Angela died, Paz flips on the TV. She learns about Jamie’s bid for lieutenant governor and is filled with rage. This is not new because for the entirety of the series, Paz has hated Jamie/James/Ghost.
She even has her son Junior on the hatred bandwagon since he remarks, “They think Angela’s killer is gonna be president.” “Over my dead body,” says Paz. The grudge is real. Junior just wants to know when Titi’s (Angela) pension check is coming through so he can go back to school.
Paz says she’s leaving to go take care of that, but she’s lying. Junior however, is left home to take care of his grandfather with dementia who keeps forgetting Angela is dead.
In another part of town, Warner presses John Mak for dirt on Saxe. He doesn’t want to help, and only mentions Saxe droning on about Maria Suarez being a witness against Tommy and Ghost and Teresi’s inadmissible testimony. Mak won’t co-sign on Saxe being a criminal, adding that his former co-worker was only interested in taking Angela and James down. Warner is not happy.
Paz turns into a busybody to take down James/Ghost
She pays Tasha a visit and attempts to convince her to expose Jamie for whatever crimes she thinks he committed. Tasha is not biting, saying that if he goes down, she’ll receive less financial support than she does now. Paz responds with, “He ruined both our lives!”
Tasha brings up Angela having an affair with her husband, and they go back and forth about what he’s taken from them. Tasha is not down with risking her kids’ financial security.
Paz then tells her, “Your kids? He already made you lose one of them,” one of many facts she gets wrong during the episode. Tasha shuts her down by saying he didn’t kill Raina or Angela, tells Paz “He always wins!” and won’t help her. Paz leaves angry.
She then decides to go home, grab a gun, and stalk James/Ghost outside of his building from her car. We realize that’s who he turned around and glanced at when he was walking down the sidewalk. She gets out in an effort to shoot him, but fate is not on her side. She leaves angry and upset.
Then she drives over to the FBI building (presumably with the gun still in her purse) to speak to Saxe but learns from Warner that he was fired. He also extends his apologies about the botched investigation. Angry, she then bounces over to Saxe’s apartment, because naturally, she has his address. Saxe tells her that the autopsy proves St. Patrick didn’t kill Angela.
Paz launches into a story about how she made Angela go to boarding school to get her away from Jamie and she fought for her sister her whole life. “He got her anyway, so don’t you dare tell me that Jamie St. Patrick didn’t kill her.”
Saxe won’t say who killed Angela but tells Paz about Angela’s illegal dealings with and on behalf of James St. Patrick’s criminal organization. She wants to know how to take him down since they can’t pin him for Angela’s murder. She then goes home and tells her money-stressed son about his aunt.
Paz snitches on her sister
Paz visits Warner and tells him about Angela’s burner phone, and he agrees to have her body exhumed—that same day. The phone is too damaged to be usable, so then Paz demands to be wired so she can talk to Jamie. Somehow, Warner agrees to it and sets all that up on the same day. Paz’s self-directed FBI investigation is moving quickly, but her wiretapped conversation with James/Ghost yields nothing.
The only thing it proves is that Angela was colluding with a criminal, and now, those pension benefits Paz and her family so desperately wanted are off the table. She races to the hospital after finding out something happened to her dad, and Junior is there. They get into an argument about Jamie and Angela’s pension being gone, and what if Titi’s killer (Jamie) comes after her next.
Junior says he can’t take care of grandpop and he should be in school. He wants to take Jamie out himself. Paz is angry but against that plan. She goes to pick up her check from the salon and Detective Rodriguez rolls up to tell her their case against St. Patrick fell apart and there’s nothing they can do.
Defeated, she runs to Tasha’s to share the news. They make amends but Tasha adds that Jamie is moving on with another woman—Ramona—and that sends Paz into another rage because he’s supposed to love her sister forever. Fans are confused since she never wanted Angela with him in the first place, but now she’s upset?
Still a busybody, Paz tries to get gangster
She goes to Tommy’s place swinging that gun around and begs him to kill Jamie, the man who killed her sister. She tosses him a wad of cash, but he refuses. He tells her that Angela was no angel, and people do crazy things for those they love. He forcefully kicks her out.
An emotionally unstable wreck, Paz goes home and cries herself to sleep. She wakes up and sees the gun is missing and figures her son took it to kill Jamie. She drives to Truth, finds Junior outside, and takes the gun. She then heads into the club.
While that is going on, Warner receives a visit from a Democratic Party hotshot named Steven Ott. He warns Warner to stop snooping around in the closed case surrounding Angela and St. Patrick. The DP means business. That riles Warner up and he pulls a Saxe and finesses a judge into signing an arrest warrant based on the lie/witness statement from Dre. He signs.
At Truth, Paz gets nervous and goes to the bathroom to power up. She runs into Ramona, who sings Jamie’s praises. This pisses Paz off and she asks Ramona what she sees in him because he’s evil. They end on a bad note with Ramona saying some people are unstoppable. Paz stalks James in Truth with the gun in her hand, but she chickens out and leaves. James spots her walking out.
Paz makes peace—almost, then her case is closed
She visits her dad in the hospital and has an epiphany about letting things go, especially since Angela made her own choices. At home, Paz wakes up and sees a news broadcast that James St. Patrick was shot and killed the night before, and Junior asks if she did it. Nope.
Warner is fired because he didn’t listen to Ott, and Paz learns that when she heads there to talk about having Angela reburied. Rodriguez helps arrange that but informs her once again that there will be no pension funds. While at the cemetery, Paz gets a phone call to come in for an appointment about James’ will.
Geoffrey Owens’ character is the attorney presiding over James’ estate, and walking out of the office is Tommy’s mom, Kate Egan. Here’s the interesting part of the episode: Ms. Egan says she can’t wait to tell her son about this, her OTHER SON. Who would that be? She’s holding a check so someone in her family was named in the will. Are there fake IDs involved?
Paz is told that Jamie left money to her—not Angela—as he changed his will after her death. She doesn’t want the money—although she’s been crying about being broke for the whole episode—and walks out. She runs into Tasha who implores her to take the money, saying she deserves it. Paz is still insisting James killed her sister, and Tasha finally tells her, no he didn’t, Tommy did. She flips.
Still with the gun in her purse, she goes straight to Tommy’s and bangs on the door. It’s unlocked, she walks in, and the place is completely empty. Paz screams out in anger.
Next week, focus will be on Proctor’s cousin Benny, so maybe viewers will see more about Elisa Marie’s secret and Tommy’s fate.
