The relationships of Power Book IV: Force set the new series apart from the other shows within the franchise –– at least, that’s what the first episode seems to promise. Stars Gabrielle Ryan and Shane Harper explain that “the Tommy Egan show” will likely have many surprises in store for fans as they try to guess what the infamous character has gotten himself into by heading to Chicago in an attempt to conquer the dark side of a new city.
“Tommy comes in and shakes things up. He shakes Chicago,” Harper tells PopCulture.com of what to expect this season. “Chicago’s functioning the way it does and everything’s going, and then he comes in and just blows the whole thing up. So it’s really all of our characters trying to figure out.”
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But, because nobody really knows “who this guy is and what the heck’s going on” some problems could be lurking because “they might not know who they’re messing with” –– a grave mistake when up against this power player.
Ryan joins the series as a potential love interest for not one, but two characters on the show. However, many can tell her character, Gloria, starts an instant attraction to Egan, which could spell danger for her too due to their troubled pasts. “When you sort of have experienced trauma in your life in any capacity, you do kind of recognize it in somebody else. And I think that that’s something that immediately is what attracts Gloria to Tommy when he walks in,” Ryan says.
“She’s so intrigued by this man who is different to Vic in many ways, and very, quite similar in some ways,” she continued.
Family ties also play a major role as Harper plays Vic, a member of the Flynn family, who are notorious weight pushers in the Chicago area. As lines are drawn among different organizations, the question of who will be spared and who will be sacrificed are pushed to the forefront and blood doesn’t necessarily keep anyone safe in this dangerous game. Criminal families isn’t a new trope to the franchise, but Harper says the ties in the new series hold a different weight that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats.
“There is a huge family element, but sometimes the actual blood family isn’t as, as tight as the family that you make through other bonds,” he says. “That’s kind of the thing: is blood really the thing that keeps you, or is it your loyalty? Your respect and you having that person’s back. Because with the Flynns, they are blood, but are they gonna, are they gonna have each other’s backs? As brother and sister, is Claude and Vick, are they going to keep each other safe for like look out for each other?’” Power Book IV: Force airs on Sunday nights on Starz.
