Tariq looks to redeem his name, Monet mourns the death of her son, and a new villain comes to town. Here’s our Power Book II Ghost Season 3 Episode 1 review.
After a long break, the highly anticipated Season Three premiere of Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost has arrived. The premiere sees Tariq, the Tejadas, and the rest of the gang reeling from the deaths of family meal ticket and basketball superstar, Zeke (Daniel Bellomy), as well as family drug business connect, Dante aka Mecca (Daniel Sunjata).
Set three months in the past, Dante’s blue diamond ring is being auctioned at a fancy auction house after it was removed from his safe. After it is sold for millions. A group led by a mystery woman approaches the buyer in Central Park following a marriage proposal. When they refuse to give up the ring, she cuts the almost soon-to-be bride’s hand off with a machete. Later, she is revealed as Noma (Caroline Chikezie), former financee of Dante who was also her lieutenant. After Monet inherited Dante’s condo following Zeke’s murder, Noma and company show up to find out what happened to Dante, aka “Mecca”, and his product. When Tariq, Brayden, and Cane offer to be her distro to avoid being killed she gives them 30 days to prove themselves,
Meanwhile, with Effie’s help, Tariq is moving out of his college room after Brayden took the wrap for their drug ring. Effie appears to be carrying guilt following Lauren’s (Paige Hurd) murder as he expresses his trust in her. To help restore the family name he helped tarnish, Brayden starts work at the family company. Matters made even worse for both Tariq and Brayden when their former Course Correct business partner, Bash (Abubakr Ali), threatens to rat them out to the NYPD in exchange for cash. When Brayden and Cane decide to murder Bash for his conniving ways then find Tariq already beat them to it.
Interview with Cooper Saxe actor, Shane Johnson
Because of his recent arrest, the Dean is looking to have Tariq removed from school after students said they didn’t feel comfortable with Tariq on campus. Fortunately, Tate steps in, but there’s something up his sleeve.
With Lorenzo Tejada offering to have Diana attend Stansfield and live on campus, and Effie now attending the school, Tariq has some new classmates. Diana, who is now roommates with Becca Weston (Samantha Blaire Cutler) organizes a memorial at Stansfield for Zeke, The memorial is no solace to Monet who is hell bent on finding the person who killed her son not knowing he’s living in her house. Tariq delivers a speech about Zeke but somehow turns it into something about him as he seeks to redeem his own name.
Overall, the episode did a good job of raising the stakes and elevating the storyline by adding an even more menacing villain and a strong Black female character at that. It also did a good job of humanizing the characters of Monet as she mourns the death of her son, David MacLean as he seeks to get his brother out of jail in order to save his life, and Cooper Saxe as he looks to turn to the good side. Lastly, it also elevated both Tariq and Brayden to being peers of Cane instead of underlings, showing growth in their characters.
Although, there were moments when the episode seemed good but would not meet the expectations for such a beloved series and franchise, it was ultimately redeemed, ending with a plot twist as we find out a former character who was thought dead is not dead after all.
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