Starz Had a Power Struggle Over ‘Power’ Season 5, but the TV Drama Is Back on Track

Starz drama Power is the second-most watched premium cable series after Game of Thrones, so it couldn't possibly not return for a fifth season. So now the question is, when will Power be back on?

The series will officially return on Sunday, July 1 — so we are only a few months away. Frustratingly, though, we might have gotten the show back sooner if it hadn't been for a feud between Starz and cable provider Optimum, as Power star and executive producer 50 Cent alleged.

"I was trying to bring the show back early this year," the rapper wrote on Instagram. "Now this. You have to call into Optimum. They are holding up your show."

.@OmariHardwick, @naturinaughton, and the #PowerTV crew are back at it. Season 5 production is officially underway. pic.twitter.com/fQ1fVmxEcP

— Power (@Power_STARZ) September 20, 2017

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Luckily, the two companies settled their differences, but that ordeal wasn't the only drama around Power in recent months. Until this September, the series was embroiled in an infringement lawsuit from author Larry Johnson, who claimed the show was lifted from an unpublished manuscript of his titled Tribulation of a Ghetto Kid. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real dismissed the suit and seemed to get a little shady in his ruling. "The characters in the works also share no significant similarities under copyright law," the judge said, per Deadline. "Plaintiffs allege that both are smart, wear the same hairstyle and goatee, and desire to leave the drug trade. Beyond these non-distinctive similarities, the characters are nothing alike."

With those speed bumps in the rear-view mirror, Starz is putting the pedal to the metal on Power Season 5. The cast and crew got back to work in September, and the premium cabler has already released a short teaser for the new episodes. The ominous tagline: "The enemy of my enemy is my old friend."

Naturi opened up to Life & Style in October about what to expect this time around. "A lot of mourning. Mourning [Raina]'s death. Tasha is like, in survival mode for her kids and her family, and I think right now she's just emotionally trying to rebound from losing a daughter. How do you come back from that? It's crazy," she shared.