Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
One of my absolute favorite parts of the “Power Book II: Ghost” experience is how huge the pendulum swings are on this show. Just a few days ago in their world, Tariq and Brayden were pulling “Call of Duty” first-person shooter moves at airport hangars and now they’re back on the campus of Stansfield University where somehow, someway, Tariq has been let back in school, back to his old schedule and been approved for student loans and work-study programs complete with a uniform and rules. Seriously, it’s like two days later in their world. HOW, SWAY?
Monet is back at home rehabbing and her cousin, Janet (played by Golden Brooks) has entered the picture to help her get back on her feet. This addition has promise. For one, we got some wonderful flashbacks of a young Monet and Lorenzo (R.I.P.) and their drug-dealing kingpin origins; the person playing Young Monet NAILED it. I love origin-story flashbacks. Lorenzo always seemed to put their family first in a way Monet never could. Secondly, Janet seems like the only member of the family on the straight-and-narrow path. I don’t have anything to back up this prediction, but my heart tells me she’s going to catch a stray bullet intended for one of the Tejada kids and that will send Monet into extreme levels of scorched earth that will most assuredly get people killed that I’m interested in seeing die. You can’t see me but I’m clapping my hands feverishly … with future joy.
I expected this (to some extent) but Monet is now considering that maybe, just maybe, she has been a horrible mother and parent and ruined her kids’ lives by forcing all of this drug-dealing violence upon them and into their lives. The fact that she has to ASK if she ruined their lives is wild, but I suppose that shows growth. Dru isn’t convinced.
Speaking of the Tejada kids, Diana is with child; HOW IS THIS SHOW ABOUT TO END? Dru is ready to off his mother with her recovery medications, and Cane is out in these streets trying to find out who tried to kill his mother while wanting to kill Tariq. Anywho, the Tejada family is a wild one.
We are starting to see how much of a menace Det. Carter (Michael Ealy) is about to be. He’s a cop on a mission, and his mission is destruction. He reminds me of Denzel Washington’s character, John Creasy, in the movie “Man on Fire.” He’s a man driven by his pain; he’s a detective but it doesn’t seem like his goal is justice but revenge and retribution. He might be more fun than I expected — I also might not be mad if Tariq were to kill him. I bring this up because his cool when trying to convince Davis to turn on Tariq was cold and calculated. Oh, Davis’ legal license is still temporarily suspended.
Detective Carter ALSO tried to get Tariq to break by using his mother’s dwindling safety in witness protection as a ruse. Tariq ran up on his mother and had to handle some fool in Pennsylvania. This storyline also has promise if only because Tariq and Brayden are ready to hit those drug-dealing streets again. You know, what are the other drug dealers in New York City up to? Is this where everybody is getting all their drugs? New York City must be a drug-free area because these are not the best drug dealers in the business.
I bring this up because I really hate Noma and her assistant, whose name escapes me. They’re looking for new drug networks and the Russians end up involved. Effie manages to bring the Russians to the table in one of the more nonsensical plot points because she somehow becomes the conduit between the Russians and Noma. This same Effie who is trying to head to Stanford University to do an engineering program but STUPIDLY misses an appointment trying to help Cane fix a problem that Monet’s hobbled self messed up because she can’t deal with the fact that she needs to take a break from the drug game for a minute while recuperating from multiple gunshot wounds.
While all of this is going on, Tariq and Brayden both realize how much life sucks without selling drugs and getting this money. Brayden is selling real estate and Tariq is worried about his inability to take care of his family.
Monet and Tariq meet up and start to put the pieces together. Y’all, the Tejada family dinners will never be the same in an episode or two. And Tariq got his car back. There is no word on how he’ll afford the gas for it.
Until next week.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).