by Chancellor Agard | via Entertainment Weekly
The Get Down concludes part 1 of its first season with a reflection on power. “Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice” begins with three examinations of how power is wielded in the show’s boldly colorful — and at times, trippy — world.
Let’s start with Zeke’s dinner with Mr. Gunns. He shows up at the house on time (thank god) and meets Herbert’s rebellious daughter Claudia, a.k.a. Kimmie from The Americans (Julie Garner). Following an awkward dinner scored to “Una furtiva lagrima,” Zeke and Gunns retire to the library where Gunns proceeds to explain how he’s acquired all of his wealth: by taking bribes to vote a certain way on the Fiscal Control Committee, with little regard for who could be affected (mostly poor, underserved neighborhoods like Zeke’s).
“The road to power will take you away from everything that you hold dear,” instructs Gunns. He asks if Zeke will be willing to make tough decisions to get what he wants. Zeke says yes and agrees to attend an Ed Koch rally, which is happening at the same time as the battle.
Meanwhile, Shaolin finds Napoleon and learns Wolf is the one responsible for shooting up Annie’s club. It was Wolf’s attempt at staging a coup. Shaolin takes this information back to Annie, who decides his final test of loyalty will be to kill Wolf for his transgressions. As Annie points out, Shaolin now has Wolf’s life in his hands, which is the greatest form of power. Like a demon perched on his shoulder tempting him to the dark side, Annie pushes him to pull the trigger — and feeling powerless against her, Shaolin kills Wolf. “It’s hard growing up, ain’t it?” she says in an attempt to comfort him.
Elsewhere in New York, Jackie takes the girls to the record pool, a place where Leslie Lesgold compiles the disco singles she likes and plays them for the DJs in the hope they’ll pick one and turn it into a hit by playing it in a club. However, Jackie’s meeting with Leslie doesn’t go as planned. It turns out she used to be his intern, and while under his employ, Jackie misused his power and took advantage of her (i.e. she performed oral sex on him). This is Leslie’s chance to get payback, so she makes him return the favor. “I want you to taste exactly what it’s like to be powerless,” she says as she forces Jackie down onto his knees. When the act is done, she still refuses to play Mylene’s song in the record pool and tosses it into a pile.
The episode moves seamlessly between all three of these vignettes, trying to deliver the message that power will change you. If you let it, it will corrupt you or make you a better person. While the three scenes definitely show power’s more toxic nature, in Zeke we see someone who wishes to use power for good. “I want the power to change things,” he tells Gunns. (To quote Kanye West, in this white man’s world, Zeke is the one chosen.)
To read the rest of the recap, “Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice,” click HERE!!!