Starz
Despising a side chick isn’t as easy as I’d like it to be. At least not when it comes to TV. In real life, they’re the despicable kryptonite to your relationship, or the category you’ve unknowingly been placed in after finding out that your bae has a girlfriend. But on the boob tube, side chicks are glorified every week. Whether it’s Olivia and Fitz’s Oval Office fantasy, Mary Jane Paul’s pregnancy attempt with David (and her past relationship with Andre), or the myriad of love triangles on the Love & Hip Hop franchise, most of us unexpectedly find ourselves in favor of the woman who’s not the wife or main girlfriend.
And why is that? What is it about “the other woman” on the small screen that we enjoy so much? A woman who confidently dates a taken man is often considered a ho, deemed weak-minded, and hated on by those who witness their actions. The common viewpoint is that a side chick is inferior to the main chick, a no-nothing individual with less class and intelligence. But what if she’s the hardworking, ambitious antithesis of the wife like, let’s say, Angela Valdes?
The first season of Starz’s steamy crime drama, Power, spotlights big-time drug dealer James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), who opens a nightclub in the hopes of becoming legitimate. While doubling as a married family man and upstanding business owner moving in and out of the drug underworld, he rekindles a love affair with his long-lost childhood sweetheart, Angela (Lela Loren).
At first, I wasn’t feeling it. I thought, here’s the typical side chick who swoops in to ruin Black love. But as James’ wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), regularly exposes her hood mentality throughout the entire premiere season (and her body to his driver), the more Angela appears to be a better fit for his better half. She is a main line of emotional support and his chance to flee a lifestyle full of cocaine-coated money and chaos.
The enticing twist? She is also the force that can cripple James’ entire future. A federal agent, Angela and her team are unknowingly cracking down on James’ drug operation. Even if Angela whisks her beau away from his marriage, she still has the potential to bring him down once her team figures out that he is the elusive drug lord they’ve been tracking. Or will she protect him once his true identity is revealed? One thing is for sure: I’m enjoying every TV minute of the dynamic between these two.
Unlike her fellow TV side chicks, thus far, Angela’s more than a bundle of overly emotional hangups and hasn’t spiraled into a neurotic breakdown. For me, that trumps the predictable song and dance other mistresses are playing on TV. I find myself rooting for her as she climbs the misogynistic ranks at work, and I hope she gets her guy in the end as well. It’s all very morally corrupting, but hey, that won’t stop me from tuning in every week.
Season 2 of the hit series, executive produced by 50 Cent, promises to uncover more of their complicated affair. James attempts to leave his wife, move a larger amount of weight and discovers that Angela is the essentially the enemy.
Hopefully, women of color will be written into a more mixed bag of roles (more Rainbow Johnson (Blackish), less Olivia Pope) and side chicks will take a back seat to wives and girlfriends. But in the meantime, I’m okay with being #TeamAngie.
