Season 4 was the moment the floor dropped out for fans of the original Starz series. Honestly, if you were watching back in 2017, you remember the gut-punch of seeing James "Ghost" St. Patrick traded his bespoke suits for an orange jumpsuit. This wasn't just another chapter; it was a total structural reset.
The Power season 4 cast had the impossible task of keeping a high-octane drug thriller interesting while the main character was stuck behind bars. It worked. Why? Because the supporting players didn't just fill space—they took over the narrative.
The Core Players: Ghost, Tommy, and the Legal Nightmare
At the center of it all, you have Omari Hardwick delivering a powerhouse performance as a humbled, incarcerated James St. Patrick. For years, Ghost was the chess master. In Season 4, he’s the piece being moved. Seeing him navigate the prison yard under the thumb of Charlie Murphy’s Marshal Williams was visceral. It was a brutal, gritty departure from the glitz of Truth nightclub.
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Then there’s Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan.
With Ghost in the feds’ custody, Tommy had to step up as the sole connection. Sikora plays Tommy with this sort of vibrating intensity—you never know if he’s going to hug you or garrote you. Season 4 pushed him to the edge as he balanced the business, kept an eye on Tasha, and dealt with the lingering trauma of what happened to Holly.
The St. Patrick Family and the Federal Front
- Naturi Naughton (Tasha St. Patrick): Tasha really became the MVP here. She was the "ride or die" holding the family together while their bank accounts were frozen.
- Lela Loren (Angela Valdes): This was the season of "Jamela" angst. Angela starts the season convinced Ghost killed Greg Knox, but that conflict leads her down a path of career-ending decisions.
- Sung Kang (Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mak): A new addition to the prosecution team who brought a cold, calculating energy to the courtroom scenes.
- Shane Johnson (Cooper Saxe): The cockroach of the legal world. You love to hate him, and he was never more annoying—or effective—than in this trial.
New Faces and Surprising Returns
One of the best things about this specific cast lineup was the inclusion of Larenz Tate as Councilman Rashad Tate. He brought a slick, political layer to the show that we hadn't seen before. He wasn't a corner boy; he was a suit-and-tie shark, showing that the "power" in the title wasn't just about the drug game.
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Then we have the late, great Charlie Murphy. His role as the corrupt, sadistic Marshal Williams was one of his final performances, and he made every second count. He was the physical manifestation of Ghost’s loss of control.
And who could forget Anika Noni Rose as Jukebox? Her chemistry with 50 Cent (Kanan Stark) was terrifying. They were the predatory shadows looming over the St. Patrick kids, specifically Tariq. Michael Rainey Jr. was beginning his transition from "annoying kid" to "full-blown antagonist" in this season, a pivot that would eventually anchor the entire franchise for the next decade.
The Legal Defense: Proctor and Silver
The courtroom drama in Season 4 felt like a different show, but in a good way. Jerry Ferrara returned as Joe Proctor, the only man smart enough to keep Ghost from the needle. Proctor's dynamic with the new co-counsel, Terry Silver (played by Brandon Victor Dixon), was fascinating. Silver was the moral compass—a man who despised what Ghost stood for but was bound by the law to defend him.
It was a clash of ideologies that added a lot of weight to the episodes.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Rewatch
If you’re heading back to rewatch this season, keep an eye on these specific character beats that set up the series finale:
- Watch Dre (Rotimi): This is the season where he truly masters the art of the double-cross. He’s playing Tommy, Ghost, and Kanan simultaneously.
- The Reinvention of Keisha: La La Anthony moved from a guest star to a series regular, and her relationship with Tommy starts to bake here.
- The Tariq Descent: Notice how Kanan uses Tariq’s resentment of his father to dismantle the St. Patrick legacy from the inside out.
Season 4 of Power proved that the show was bigger than just a drug dealer trying to go legit. It was a Shakespearean tragedy about the consequences of your past catching up to your present. The cast didn't just play their parts; they lived in that messy, violent world.
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To get the most out of the Power universe, track the evolution of Michael Rainey Jr.’s performance in this season—it is the literal blueprint for everything that happens in Power Book II: Ghost.