‘Power’: Joseph Sikora on ‘Ghost’ Crossover and ‘Force’ Season 2 (Exclusive)

Fans haven’t seen Tommy Eagen (Joseph Sikora) in Power Book II: Ghost – but he’s back, and with a plan: to kill Tasha St. Patrick and/or Tariq for their past transgressions. His return comes as a surprise to all, and the way he swoops in to save the nephew he holds resentment toward is even more shocking. But what does that mean for the St. Patricks’ future with Eagen? And on the heels of Eagen’s spinoff, Force, returning for a second season, fans are wondering if there will be more crossovers. PopCulture.com spoke with Sikora about Eagen’s journey and giving Tasha and Tariq a break they may not truly deserve. He also dished on how the crossover sets up the next season of Force.

PC: So first of all, Tommy’s back, that was unexpected.

JS: Yeah. I think that they had them pop up in a really interesting way and I love that it’s over two episodes. Because it’s just really leaves you hanging about what’s going to happen and I love the flashback aspect of everything, so I’m really excited for people to see the finale. The season has been – I mean, come on, you’re going to Italy. This is a pretty wild season of Ghost, so it’s been a fun ride. I was proud to be part of it.

PC:  It’s definitely been a season of fun and just unexpectedness. Tommy’s back with a vengeance. And I love the fact, as you said, that it spread over two episodes, the last two episodes of the season. Because it really sets up what the possibilities are for Tommy’s spinoff, as well as for the next season of Ghost. But as far as the two episodes are concerned, what do you think made Tommy accept Tasha’s truce?

JK: Well, I think that there’s the bigger question of, did he accept the truce? Is this really going to be it? And if it is, I would love to see how that alliance plays out as well. Does Tommy get himself into some trouble where the only person that’s going to be able to save him is Tariq maybe, and maybe Tasha says, “Tariq, you got to go save Uncle Tommy.” Because Tommy’s dealing with some pretty heavy hitters in Chicago and I think that we’re going to see a lot more of the reality of Chicago and just what a tough, gritty, big-shouldered town it really is that I think that we tapped into in season one. But I think that we really flush it out in season two of the Tommy spinoff. I’m really excited for people to see it and I think that they’ll be excited about the correlation and how the Power universe keeps expanding.

PC: Now you mentioned the idea of maybe potentially having to rely on Tasha and Tariq, and I love that you mentioned that we don’t really know if this has been a forgiving moment or forgiveness overall, but whether it is forgiveness just in the moment or overall. Talk to us about Tommy’s journey to even potentially forgive Tariq and Tasha for everything that’s happened.

JS: I think that the St. Patrick’s are so much part of the fiber of what makes up Tommy Egan. Ghost and Tommy were such brothers. I mean they grew up together since they were little kids. They were in the same house. Tommy’s mom, Kate, took in James St. Patrick. It was Ghost who bought Tommy’s mom the house in Long Island. It was Ghost that kept up the relationship with Tommy’s mom. And so it’s kind of what Tommy can’t get away from, that this is who he is. And I think that despite himself, he had to make that decision to leave Chicago and bring everything that had just happened to him, with him on his journey back to New York to take out Tasha in his mind that this had to be done to tie up the loose ends.

Tommy always likes to tie up loose ends. Whether it was him wanting to kill Sax, which I would’ve loved to have been the character that was his… Also with him, with Maria in the closet, Tommy took care of those loose ends. Whereas Ghost believed in more in second chances. So are we seeing, rather than Tariq who keeps saying he’s not his father, he’s not his father – are we actually seeing Tommy become more like Ghost?

PC: That’s actually a good question to pose too, because when this show first started, we didn’t really know what the outcome for Tariq would be. And in the beginning, I feel like viewers did believe that he and his father were one and the same. But as the show and the seasons have progressed, there are some differences in the way that Tariq handles things from his father. What do you think are the similarities and differences between Ghost and Tariq? What makes them the same? What makes Tariq potentially better or worse than his dad? And what are Tommy’s hopes for his nephew?

JS: Well, I think that it’s interesting with the women – they both get themselves into plenty of trouble with women. But Tariq, unlike Ghost – Ghost allowed himself and was blinded by love, whereas Tariq seems to be even a little bit colder in his heart, ultimately in the love arena. So I think that that makes them a little bit different. I just think that the sheer verocity that Omari Hardwick brought to the role as Ghost, and it is something that Michael is just a little bit more like slick with it. So you remember the Vincent character? He was very slick and smooth, and that’s why Tommy kept coming for him, but couldn’t really put hands on him until that end moment when he luckily took out the Italians. So I think that Michael’s Tariq is much craftier, it’s kind of Terminator, the second Terminator, you know what I mean? Walking through bars and stuff like that. So I think it’s a different approach to the same ends.

PC: Now, there’s a balance that we see Tommy fight through in the last two episodes where it comes to saving Tariq and in a moment where he’s like, “Listen, this is not a good move for you, think this through.” And then when Tariq lets him know, “Well, Uncle Tommy, I don’t have anyone, I need your help.” And he says, basically tells Tariq to sink or swim. So talk to us a little bit about that decision-making for Tommy who is feeling like, “This is my nephew, I want to protect him, but if he’s in the game, he has to truly be in the game and figure it out on his own.”

JS: Well, I think honestly, you just answered it. I think that’s it. Because I think that Tommy’s warning was that you can’t be in both worlds, that’s ultimately what’s going to kill you. I’ve seen it time and time again, and then I saw it with your dad, even though you were his demise, it’s because he was trying to live a civilian life and a gangster life at the same time and there’s too many options for people taking advantage of you. And you look at that in real life. I mean, you look at that that it was El Chapo’s partner’s son who ultimately was his demise because the son was not all in the whole organization. So it’s not like we’re just pulling from nothing. I think that good showrunners like Brett Mahoney on the Ghost show and Gary Lennon, who we’re so blessed to have running our show are just really smart and they take from reality, and then we as actors try to play these things as humanly as possible.

PC:  What is your take on  Tariq and Brayden. Do you feel as though they are the second coming or a reiteration of Tommy and Ghost?

JS: Well, now that there is no Ghost, they sure could be. I think that the Brayden character, I think Gianni Paolo does a great job with the Brayden character. The Brayden character’s fun and funny. It just comes from a very different world than Tommy does. Brayden is not an urban world and is kind of learning that. So I think that there’s some fun in that to see somebody learning the world for the first time. It’s like somebody who loves a certain kind of music, so then they play that music, whereas Tommy is from there. So it’s a different understanding of that world. It is who Tommy is. For Tommy to learn something else, he’d have to move to a desert island and learn how to be naked and afraid or something. That would be very new to Tommy, but the urban world and the life of a hustler is all he knows.

PC: Now, you spoke earlier about really seeing how gritty Chicago is versus New York in the next season…

JS: Oh, I don’t think it’s more gritty than New York. I think that it’s absolutely every bit as gritty, and I think that Tommy had a propensity of landing on his feet so much that it seemed like he was a hot knife through butter in the first season at times. Even though by the end we saw that he wasn’t and that he had such tremendous loss, particularly Liliana. But I think that in the second season, we add in all of these very gritty, tough, and real aspects of the City of Chicago that I know Chicago is going to appreciate. And just like the Power show when New York gave its stamp of approval on this show, I think that’s what Chicago’s going to do in season two, and then we’re just going to blow up. You’re going to love season two. It’s so good.

PC: Well, I’m definitely excited to see it and I’m excited to see the continuation of Tommy’s, I guess finding peace and the blood ties that he has. Because obviously, as you mentioned, his entire life and loyalty system prior to getting to Chicago was really based around Ghost and the St. Patrick’s. So it’ll be interesting to see how he continues to build his, I guess, crew in Chicago.

JS: Yeah. You’re going to love. It’s really, really exciting and especially the Latin community, the Latino community of Chicago is far more present in season two, which I think adds to the reality as well.