SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Power Book IV: Force Season 3, Episode 5.

Power Book IV: Force gets to the midpoint of its final season by making a clear statement that the Starz drama is definitely ending. Season 3, Episode 5 is fittingly titled “The Last Dance,” because it’s the last time that Tommy Egan and Claudia Flynn match wits. And because Tommy is the star of the show, Claudia comes out the big loser.

It is a massive move to take Claudia off the board at this point. Viewers have been waiting for her to get out of prison and try to get revenge on Tommy, only for her freedom to last a single episode. And killing her off now means that Power Book IV: Force also doesn’t have the wonderful Lilli Simmons for the remainder of the series. But at the same time, the choice to have Tommy kill Claudia is an emphatic statement that the final season is really burning everything down. The writers just got rid of their best and most popular villain when their story is only half told.

The sort of sad part is that Claudia’s brother Vic seems poised to take her place. Even though Vic spends “The Last Dance” helping Tommy to bribe Stacy Marks—and Tommy gets a witness against Vic to recant for both their sakes—Vic makes a handshake deal with his buddies in the Irish Mob to get reinforcements from Milwaukee. It’s kind of a shame, as Vic still has the closest thing to happiness on this show in his budding relationship with Rae (which seems to weather the reveal of his true identity). It’d be much more rewarding for Shane Harper‘s character to get out from under everybody’s thumbs and go live his own life, instead of turning heel. He doesn’t feel like a true villain. But if nothing else, Vic is at least making his own destiny.

Diamond Sampson is also making his own ill-advised choices. Power Book IV: Force Season 3, Episode 5 opens with the Yardies performing a drive-by shooting to get revenge for something Tommy did much earlier. Diamond talks about bringing the Yardies into the fold instead of killing them—and then proceeds to just kill everybody anyway, including taking out the boss Zamost himself. Season 3 has been violent even by this show’s standards, and Diamond bringing in two motorcycle riders to spray bullets everywhere is another example of that. Tommy has no clue about this incident until Shanti tells him—which will put Diamond on the hot seat, too.

Oh, and Mireya Garcia is pregnant with Tommy’s baby. That piece of information is happy-ish for her, but it’s bittersweet that Mireya backs away from telling Tommy after seeing Claudia’s blood on the floor of the loft. Does the Power universe really have room for a baby when people die pretty much every week? How will Miguel react when he finds out (because he will)? And Tommy, for all his heart, isn’t exactly dad material… as scenes between him and JP Gibbs in “The Last Dance” illustrate. Tommy cares about the people he loves, including getting revenge for Liliana’s murder years later. But he’s not a safe person to be around, and he doesn’t seem like a guy who can settle down any more than he already has.

“The Last Dance” scores a big win for Tommy in taking out Claudia, but it also starts carving away at his support system. Vic, even if he got strong-armed into it, was a resource for Tommy. Diamond is off making his own moves with Jenard; Shanti’s words to Tommy very much sound like a warning. Stacy might be in Tommy’s pocket financially, but any help she gives is going to be kicking and screaming. So Tommy has won one long battle, but the war actually looks worse by the end of the hour.

This is an episode that completely changes the complexion of the show, so close to the finish line. Claudia’s death is huge, but can anyone fill her shoes as far as providing a formidable foe for Tommy to battle at the end? Or will viewers find themselves wishing that Tommy and Claudia had played a much longer cat-and-mouse game? “The Last Dance” is more like a new beginning.

Power Book IV: Force airs Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Starz.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.