Power Book II: Ghost Features Angela Valdes’s Nephew
The Power Universe loves to occasionally sprinkle in Easter eggs, and in the fourth episode of “Power Book II: Ghost”‘s third season, longtime “Power” viewers spotted a familiar face — someone who could become a game changer later in the series.
In the episode, titled “The Land of Opportunity,” we meet a DEA agent named Angel “Junior” Young (Kevin Rodriguez), who’s aiding Detective Blanca’s (Monique Gabriela Curnen) latest investigation. The two are shown at a crime-scene aftermath of a motel shootout between the Tejada clan — Lorenzo (Berto Colon), Cane (Woody McClain), and Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray) — and some arms dealers, one of whom happens to be a criminal informant for Blanca. Junior makes a brief appearance as he explains to Blanca that her C.I. has been shot and transported to a hospital and is in critical condition. Junior’s small scene may seem insignificant, but it could be a hint at something bigger down the line for “Power” fans who know who he’s related to: the federal prosecutor Angela Valdes (Lela Loren).
That’s right, the same Angela who was wrapped up in James/Ghost’s (Omari Hardwick) web of lies, deceit, and crime in the original “Power” series — where Blanca’s character was also introduced — and got killed for it by Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora). Angela met her demise at the start of season six at the hands of Ghost’s best friend-turned-enemy, all because he feared the ADA would get them sent to prison for their many crimes. It also didn’t help that Blanca was relentlessly pursuing the trio to implicate them all in a case.
Angela is survived by her sister, Paz Valdes (Elizabeth Rodriguez), and her nephew Junior. The latter first appears in the second episode of “Power”‘s sixth season, as he and his mom, Paz, mourn Angela’s death at a church. It’s there that they’re informed Ghost paid for all of Angela’s funeral expenses.
Paz blamed Ghost for getting her sister killed and vowed to seek revenge on him in Angela’s name. She even consented to an autopsy for Angela and dug up Angela’s grave to secure evidence that Paz hoped would prove Ghost’s guilt. But it all blows up in Paz’s face when Angela’s own crimes come to light — and sabotage any chance of her sister or nephew getting her pension (which would’ve paid for Junior to go back to school and keep his sick grandfather in a nursing home).
After several foiled plans from Paz to destroy Ghost, Junior decides to take matters into his own hands: he wants to kill Ghost himself for ruining his family. When his mom realizes what he plans to do, however, Paz rushes to stop him and says, “I already lost Angela, and I am not going to lose you, too.” Paz then tries to murder Ghost at his nightclub but changes her mind at the last minute.
The last we see of Junior in “Power” is when he and Paz learn that Ghost is actually murdered in his club, per a TV news broadcast. They later meet with Ghost’s attorney, who informs Paz that he left her money in his will. Because of that, she tells Junior that he can finally go back to school.
It’s unclear what role Junior will play in “Power Book II: Ghost,” but it’s no coincidence that he’s now a DEA agent working with the same detective who tried to take down both Ghost and his aunt. The fact that the investigation Junior’s looking into could lead back to the Tejadas (who are also working with Ghost’s son, Tariq) likely only means more trouble up ahead.
New episodes of “Power Book II: Ghost” air on Fridays on Starz.