Power Book II: Ghost seems to age like fine wine with its seventh episode holding no punches. For a split second, it didn’t seem like the “most hated character from Power,” also known as Tariq St. Patrick, could hold his own. But, it’s becoming clearer and clearer each Sunday that not only can he hold his own, there’s a whole juicy universe to explore through his character and all the series needed was some time.
Hard- Nosed Cane Tejada
So, off the rip, there’s some storylines and plots that are very similar to those in the original Power series. Cane Tejada (Woody McClain), easily becoming one of my favorite roles on the show for his edgy charisma and cut-throat confidence is eerily similar to the ferocious Kanan, played by 50 Cent.
While he still grapples with the discipline from his crime boss father, Cane’s growing resentment towards his own mama Monet (Mary J. Blige) causes him to sell her out to her side dude and potential op Officer Ramirez (Shalim Ortiz).
On top of his emotionally charged decisions, Cane is seeing red when it comes to Tariq. It could be Monet’s constant dependence on St. Patrick or his sister Diana’s infatuation with the co-ed that has him feeling froggy. But, his jealousy of the kid is starting to make him, unwisely, split from his family’s empire.
Powerless Monet
Speaking of Monet, she wasn’t too angry this episode (that was starting to become a thing, wasn’t it?). However, as we’ve said from the beginning, if she’s any representation of power or the kind of power that Ghost once held, she’s far from sharpened.
The floundering crime boss in interim struggles to establish any real power except for that of a mother — but even her own children don’t follow her rules. It’s mad disrespectful that this Black woman with the hottest fashions and laid hairstyles can’t get the respect she demands.
From Cane overriding her instruction to Diana sneaking onto Tariq’s campus and orchestrating plays without Monet, the only one who seems to be on the same page with her is Tariq. Cane attempts to redeem himself to his mother by promising Diana that he will be present for a scheduled drop. Of course, that plan fell through when police picked up Cane for a robbery leaving Monet to take matters in her own hands — everything went haywire.
The teen looking drug handler she was supposed to meet with totally disregards her demands (watch the show if you want to know what we’re talking about) and ends up threatening her with a box cutter. Who comes to the rescue? Yup, you guessed it — Tariq. His temporary deflection gives Monet a chance to gather herself enough to shoot the attacker dead. Would all of this had happened if Cane was present? Hell no!
So there it is, Monet still is just a caricature of power. We can’t wait for the episode when what she says goes in the actual drug game and among power players, not a group of teens!
Tariq, His Father’s Child
Meanwhile, Tariq’s school is holding a “Sex Week” (by the way, never have we ever had a week at a university where students walked around with no clothes on, but we hear that UCLA has something similar).
Tariq is already being plagued by the curse of his fine ass father Ghost — he can’t seem to keep the women off of him. From his classmate Lauren (Paige Hurd) to his partner in crime Diana, then throw in the conniving niece of Saxe, Riley (Andrea Lee Christensen), Tariq’s stuck between a rock and a hard place and he’s still not getting none.
Horny Professors
So, who is getting screwed — a couple of Stansfield University professors, that’s who. Professor Jabari Reynolds (Justin Marcel McManus) and Professor Carrie Milgram (Melanie Liburd) are playing a dangerous game of tit for tat as they hold each other’s secrets. Both are sleeping with students.
Previous episodes revealed that Jabari was sleeping with his teaching assistant. Carrie has opted for a younger version of her former fling Jabari by dating the student athlete Ezekiel ‘Zeke’ Cross (Daniel Bellomy), who is already falling in love with the cougar. Jabari seems to think that Tariq is the one sleeping with her, so knowing that Tariq just lost his opportunity to be a part of the fellowship program that would enable him to graduate from college early, Jabari offers Tariq the chance to earn it back through an extra credit assignment.
Frenemies Saxe And Maclean Power Tripping
On the other side of town, a court case is going down as Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson) and Davis Maclean (Method Man) continue their raggedy plan to free Tasha (Naturi Naughton) and trap Tariq. It’s an odd power struggle between the two, who clearly don’t trust each other.
In a thrilling court scene, Angela’s sister Paz (Elizabeth Rodriguez) takes the stand. Saxe reneges on his pact with Maclean to satisfy watchdog Steven Ott (Mark Feuerstein) when he goes in for the kill in implicating Tasha. At first, Paz resorts to blaming Tommy Egan for the death of her sister. (Why is Tommy Egan getting all the flack?).
By the end of the questioning, Paz is left questioning whether she’s been wrong the entire time as she peers across the courtroom at a nervous Tasha. Maclean recovers from Saxe’s betrayal in trust by making Paz confess that she has no evidence that Tasha is the murderer. After the courtroom stint, mean Maclean barges in Saxe’s office to check him for switching up the plan. He responds with a suggestion for the next witness — the stripper Epiphany Turner, Tariq’s neighborly plug.
Wrap It Up
The episode ends with Paz visiting Tasha and making her consider looking out for herself by telling everyone who murdered Ghost. Not for one second do we think that Tasha will turn in Tariq, besides he’s the one who is closest to getting his father’s money. Would Tasha really risk that when she can just keep blaming Tommy or playing dumb, especially with Maclean on her side?
What we do want to see is Monet become so ferocious that not even her imprisoned hubby, the head honcho Tejada, can control her. It would be crazy if Cane and Tariq, at the behest of Tasha, go out in a full on war to gain the title from Monet. Oh, and those professors need to be exposed and fired.
It looks like Officer Ramirez may become another Angela, caught up in some drama he has no business in, while Diana and Lauren might have to throw some strategic paws to win the love of Tariq. But, the nut buster of it all would be the rise of Tommy mini-me Brayden Weston. Guess we will have to wait next episode to see it all go down.
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