Things just got real on episode 9 of Power Book II: Ghost. The Starz series introduces us to the defiantly benevolent side of Tariq, who refuses to accept that he’s turning into a “monster.”
With professor Jabari Reynolds covering the book Frankenstein for Tariq’s class discourse, the theme of the episode titled “Monster” finds Tariq struggling with coming to terms that his choices not only positions him to be perceived a certain way, but also proves he’s just like his father, Ghost. Still, he tries to fight his inevitable fate.
Throughout the episode, Tariq makes amends with Brayden and Effie, spares the life of stripper-turned-potential expert witness Epiphany, and saves Monet’s daughter Diana during an ambush shooting.
His troubles are far from gone, however, when Tasha’s lawyer, Davis Maclean, and the persistent prosecutor Cooper Saxe clash — leaving their plans for collaboration decimated and forcing Saxe’s hand to subpoena Tariq to testify.
By the end of the episode, Tariq enlists the attorney Tameika Washington to defend him, but first she asks him the question that she’s had all along. Did he kill his father? Knowing his mother’s freedom hangs in the balance, Tariq finally admits to Tameika that he killed his father — another example of his attempt to quiet the monster within him.
Meanwhile, the forever poor-choice making Cane digs himself a deeper hole as he goes head-to-head with Monet. In one sweeping motion, backed by the muscle of the GTG gang, he hijacks all of Monet’s street soldiers. His move has consequences for his family when the drug lord Rico Barnes moves his supply to Cane’s crew, cutting Monet out of the distribution. Rico tries to walk down on the Tejada family in a shooting spree that causes Dru to get hurt.
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An emotionally charged Monet has an intense face-to-face moment with Cane as she waits outside of the emergency room in which Dru is undergoing surgery. While she handles Cane in the coldest way and continues her disownment campaign against him, Monet’s unknowingly creating a monster in Cane. His frustration manifests when he kills Monet’s secret lover and police ally Officer Ramirez. Things will all come to a head in episode 10, the season finale of the series.
Although the series has been pretty entertaining, Monet’s character is still a disappointment as she comes off as an emotionally unstable drug dealing novice. Again, her dilapidated empire is incredibly flawed as she faces balancing a Judas within her circle, a skeleton crew consisting mostly of teens, and her pipeline of information coming from weak secondhand sources.
For someone who is deemed a staple of power, one would think that she would be omniscient because she’s just that good. Instead, she seems to spend her time chastising her children. She should have eyes on all of Tariq’s moves, but instead she overly trusts the kid as if he was her own — yet, she is so hard on Cane, someone she’s known way longer than St. Patrick.
Cane is out in the streets making moves and strategic alliances, but we never see Monet holding meetings with other power players in the game. The many attempts to make her appear powerful or in charge, which include unwisely holding guns up to people’s heads or talking in her angry voice, has been lukewarm in comparison to the confident power portrayed by the likes of Ghost, Tommy, Davis, Tameika, and even Tariq. It’s just not believable.
This is further exemplified by Monet’s inability to follow through on her own repetitive threats to kill Cane. Where’s her authority, where’s her sting? Why is she playing checkers, instead of chess? While Monet is not the main centerpiece of the story, she is a distracting one. Since Tariq is on the path of continuing the legacy of his father (so we think), it’s only a matter of time before Monet will need to bow down to St. Patrick.
