Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Previously on Power Book II: Ghost, business picked up substantially after Riq (Michael Rainey Jr.) decided to use an app to move drugs around Stansfield. Monet sent Drew to investigate Riq’s operation. Still, instead of doing what his mother asked, he got distracted and decided to get his boots smoked by a member of the university’s basketball team. Saxe recruited his niece to spy on Riq while MacLean decided hitting Tameika with a subpoena could help Tasha get out prison. Tameika’s potentially testifying complicates things for everyone.

Monet Teaches Diana Some Game

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

The mid-season finale opens up with a guest appearance from Riq’s twin sister Raina (Donshea Hopkins). Of course, we all know she is dead due to riq’s bonehead behavior, so you should already know her showing this is clearly a dream. Tasha is clearly missing life on the outside and wishes she was celebrating the twin’s 18th birthday. Tasha snaps back to reality when someone walks by her cell, and she immediately calls Riq to wish him a happy birthday. She wants to see her son, but he tells her he is busy after he spots Cane waiting for him. Monet wants to have a conversation with Riq, but Cane doesn’t know the wants to talk to Riq about it.

Before Cane and Riq arrive at the house, Monet and Diana are having a mother-daughter conversation. Since Drew failed to deliver the information she needed, Monet recruits Diana and schools her on the power she potentially has over men and how she can use that tool on Riq. Their conversation is interrupted when Monet’s cop bae shows up. Monet uses the moment as a quick lesson on how to exert power over men. Monet clowns Detective Ramirez and tells him to beat it for no reason.

As Ramirez is leaving, Cane and Riq pull up, and Monet’s enforcer is not happy to see him there. Cane explains to Riq how Ramirez helps the family out, giving the clever St.Patrick some information he could use against them later. Once inside, a brief argument about Detective Ramirez takes between Cane and Monet takes place. Monet quickly dismisses her goon/son and shifts her focus back on Riq. Monet shows Riq the sketch of the basketball player she found in Drew’s bag and asks him if he knows who it is? Riq tells her that he’s too busy doing her nephew’s reports as well as his own schoolwork plus moving her drugs to be worried about who Drew is smashing. Riq hints that Zeke may know who that person.

Riq gets a text from Saxe telling him they have to link up immediately, and Riq leaves.

The Tameika Factor Complicates The Hell out of Things

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Last week after a pound session with his lead investigator Paula, MacLean had an epiphany and decided that Tameika would be his best bet to help his case and sink Saxe. Unfortunately, MacLean has no idea that Tameika’s involvement could also spell trouble for Riq because it could reveal he was the one who shot his father.

After an unsuccessful conversation with Tameika, Saxe wastes no time telling Riq that his lawyer subpoenaed his former boss to testify against him. Saxe details Riq that if she does testify, it could reveal the arrangement the two of them have between each other. With that new piece of information, Riq immediately calls his mother to break the bad news to her. Riq also reveals to Tasha that he has been blackmailing Saxe, and she is not pleased to learn that immediately comparing his actions to that of his now-deceased father. Tasha then drops the bomb on Riq that Tameika already thinks that he killed his father. After they call each other out for lying, Tasha tells Riq that Tameika can’t testify because if she does, it could ruin the whole timeline, and she will instruct MacLean to pull the subpoena.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Tasha quickly learns that getting MacLean to pull the subpoena won’t be easy. MacLean is a very proud man and doesn’t like to lose cases, so the idea of telling Tameika not to testify isn’t something he is about to do. After her conversation with MacLean, she immediately calls Riq and tells him that he needs to go to Tameika’s house and speak to her and if he has to “make her” agree not to testify.

Riq gets her second visitor of the episode when Riq shows up, and he’s not just there to talk. He does reveal that he saw Saxe at Club Truth the night he shot his father. Tameika still doesn’t indicate that she will not testify, so Riq decides to get his gun ready to threaten her. Right before he is about to pull out his piece, there is a loud knock on the door, its MacLean. He is also there to talk about her testifying, but Tameika doesn’t want to let him in the house. MacLean becomes suspicious and believes that Saxe is in the house, Riq is hiding in the back.

MacLean eventually gets in the house, and Riq manages to sneak out without being detected. Tameika then tells MacLean that two of them need to talk and more than likely tells him about the developments she has learned.

Professor Jabari and Milgram Are Both A Mess

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

It’s no secret; nobody cares about the horny professors Jabari and Milgram’s storyline. We know the two educators have a very toxic history with Jabari using his former flame’s addiction to sex against her and as a plotline for his book. Despite being taken advantage of, Milgram just can’t seem to move on from Jabari regardless of how messy he is and knowing that he has sex with his students.

Their storylines don’t get any better, but we do learn that they both ain’t shit. Professor Jabari feels the pressure to deliver another book, or he will be dropped by his publisher. He is experiencing a serious case of writer’s block because he can no longer use Milgram to write about. He does the next best thing, he decides to plagiarize a 25-page report he made Riq write as punishment for showing up late to his class.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Professor Milgram finally managed to liberate herself from the sexual tension between herself and Jabari but, at the same time, decided to take a page out of his book, no pun intended. A few episodes back, Zeke unsuccessfully shot his shot at his professor. He will get a second shot, which is successful catching her at a very vulnerable time after she has moved on from Jabari. Milgram decides to let Zeke take her to pound town. We can only hope this will finally make Jabari and Milgram important characters in this show when it returns in December.

Riq’s 18th Birthday Bash Doesn’t Go As Planned

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Brayden decides to throw his boy a surprise birthday bash despite Riq not wanting no big celebration. We learned that both he and Saxe’s niece have gotten real close since last week’s episode, and she has been using her opportunity to get information on Riq.

While picking up Hennesy and Hypnotiq for the party, Saxe’s niece begins asking Brayden a lot of questions about Riq, and he quickly dismisses all of them. It’s finally the night of the party, and when Riq shows up, he’s really not in the mood to party after his close call at Tameika’s house. Saxe’s niece is also there, and she is still asking questions about Riq, but it finally pisses Brayden off, and he tells her to stop and to go make him another drink. While she is doing that, she decides to slip in a drug in Brayden’s drink to make him a bit more receptive.

After some convincing from Drew, Zeke, and Brayden, Riq decides to chill for a bit. Diana eventually shows up, and she’s on the mission her mother put her on, but at the same time, she is feeling Riq. Things do get rather interesting when Lauren shows up at the party and grabs Riq’s attention away from Diana, whom she learned about last week when she saw her name popping up on Riq’s phone. As Riq and Lauren are heading upstairs to talk, Brayden hands him a drink, it just happens to be the cup with the spiked alcohol, and Riq drinks it.

Speaking of Drew, he bumps into his boo, or so he thought he was. Ole boy gives him the cold shoulder, basically confirming that yeah, he’s gay, but he doesn’t want no one at his school founding out about it because it could hurt his chances at going pro.

When we finally head upstairs, Riq is already drugged out of his mind. Lauren sees the Riq is out of it and tells him that she doesn’t want their first intimate moment to happen there. He eventually passes out, and Lauren leaves. Saxe’s niece notices that Lauren left the room alone and decides to sneak in. She uses the moment to take out Riq’s phone, activate the tracking software in it, and link it with her phone.

Riq’s drug-induced slumber is interrupted by Brayden’s equally high and drunk self. He throws Riq out of his room, and Riq somehow manages to make it downstairs. Before he leaves, he and Brayden get into an argument, but Brayden has no idea his buddy has been drugged. Riq stumbles upon a disappointed Diana and sits down for a second to have a conversation with her. Diana also realizes that Riq is out of it and manages to take the gun out of his pocket before telling him that she doesn’t want to be bothered. Riq obliges and leaves.

Now somehow, Riq still manages to make it to his room, changes into the suit he wore when he killed his father and decides to pay his sister’s grave a visit. After a brief conversation with his dead twin, Riq shifts his attention to his father’s grave, and he lets out all of his frustrations. Unfortunately, Riq has no idea that Saxe’s niece sent him his location and is watched and recorded him admitting to the crime.

Riq makes back to the room and wakes up in the clothes he wore to the cemetery, confused and is trying to piece together his night as flashes of him getting dressed play in his mind. Brayden comes out of the bathroom and barks at him for his behavior at the party, and Riq finally apologizes. Brayden wants to know what’s going on; Riq is hesitant to explain what he is doing when he is not on campus. After being hesitant, Riq finally explains to Brayden that they are in business with the Tejada family, and he breaks down each member’s position using chess pieces.

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

After the party, Riq head’s back to the Tejada house to speak with Monet. She knows that Riq protected Drew, and he reveals to her that he knows that she sent Diana to get information out of him. When Monet asks Riq which of her children she could trust the most, he says himself, Monet is impressed. She also knows that he was strapped because Diana gave her his gun, thinking it was a win, but that didn’t impress her mother at all. It only got her sent to her room.

Monet warns Riq he shouldn’t be walking around without a piece and instructs Cane to give Riq his gun. Riq is now in even deeper with the Tejada family.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Meanwhile, at Saxe’s office, MacLean decides to stop by. Maclean reveals that he will no longer have Tameika testify against Saxe and is looking to make a deal. Unfortunately, MacLean has no idea that Tasha has already decided to make a deal. Saxe even shows MacLean the recording of Riq confessing to the crime. This is where things get interesting. MacLean reveals he wants to make a deal with Saxe and agrees to work with him. The deal is Tasha gets off not messing up his record, and in exchange, Saxe gets Riq, and he will get the needle.

A fascinating turn of events that we will have to see further playout when Power Book II: Ghost returns in December.

[ione_media_gallery src=”https://cassiuslife.com” id=”96691″ overlay=”true”]
Photo: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Previously on Power Book II: Ghost, we learned that there is a power struggle going on within the Tejada family. Tasha thought she was ready to take the stand, but MacLean (Method Man) proved otherwise. Riq (Michael Rainey Jr.) is still struggling at Stansfield and decided in order to help his mother, he to make a deal with the devil, aka Monet (Mary J. Blige). Now it’s time for Riq to put his plan in motion.

Business Is Booming For Riq, Tasha Is Worried About Her Son

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

The episode opens with Riq getting a call from his new supplier Monet. The de facto head of the Tejada family breaks down the commandments when it comes to doing business with her before she sends Riq on his merry way. Following his phone conversation, we learn that he is about to meet with Stern, but not the Stern we immediately thought of. Turns out he has a meeting with Stern’s new HUSBAND… Sebastion Kamal-Stern (Abubakr Ali).

Just like his husband, Bash is very ambitious and also conniving. Riq is there to present his new idea about an app called Course Correct that he wants to help use it to provide tutoring to the students of Stansfield straight to their doors. Bash knows Riq has something else up his sleeve with this idea and wants in. Riq pitches him an opportunity he cannot refuse and offers him 5% of the gross revenue. In exchange, he doesn’t tell his racist boo about what is going on. Bash agrees.

After his meeting, Riq gets a phone call from his mother, and she is S T R E S S E D after she got that phone call from Lorenzo. She tells her son to get a gun to protect himself, but Riq explains that all avenues to acquire one are all gone. Tasha informs Riq about stash locations where his father and Tommy would hide pieces in stash boxes just in case they needed them later. Riq does eventually find that piece that will draw the attention of MacLean’s investigator, Paula.

Back to his plan, remember that app Course Correct? Well, Riq plans to use it to help sell drugs on the campus, and it works like a charm. Through it, students will be able to either get weed, uppers, or downers whenever they need. The money comes in quickly, and he and Brayden are swimming in the dough.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

But the plan works too good, and they sell through their product quickly, and Brayden warns Riq that they can’t keep up with the demand. He also tells Riq that the comp on campus is not too happy about the fact he is losing out on business. Riq has a plan for that, of Course. While at a party, Riq tells the dealer that Brayden is the one selling drugs. The dealer approaches Brayden, and a fight breaks out between them. Riq’s plan works like a charm because the dealer gets thrown out of the school for putting hands on Brayden, who happens to be the son of the university’s biggest donors.

Competition eliminated.

MacLean Has A New Plan To Help Tasha, Saxe Plays Dirty

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

MacLean is still hard at work trying to get Tasha out of jail and off the hook for the murder of her ex-husband. He gets a visit for Riq, who hits him off with payment. Riq is not too happy about the mock trial MacLean conducted with his mother. MacLean explains to him that he only did that to test Tasha, and she failed, and now they know not to put her on the stand.

Riq then pitches the idea that they should put him on the stand to vouch that his mother is not the kingpin. MacLean shoots that down, explaining that a jury would, without a doubt, believe he is lying just to save his mother. Instead, he explains to Riq his new plan is to shift the focus from Tasha to Saxe and expose his maleficence, and he will be recused from the case pushing it back to a local court and having it possibly being dismissed. Riq is down with the plan but warns MacLean not to miss when it comes to going after Saxe. After Riq leaves, Paula expresses her concerns about Riq and taking his money, being that they have no idea where it is coming from.

MacLean gets right back to work during a hearing with the judge calls Blanca Rodriguez back, but this time to testify against Saxe. Despite getting her to point out just how crooked he is, Saxe somehow manages to flip it around and makes it look like Blanca was just as thirsty to put James behind bars and was willing to bend the rules like he did to make that happen. While that was a victory for Saxe, MacLean manages to get a small win out of the situation because now the judge is curious about Councilman Tate’s (Larenz Tate) involvement after Blanca revealed that Saxe coerced him into lying on Ghost.

MacLean thinks this could be a great thing, but John Mak and the DNC are one step ahead of them. Tate meets up with Mak and the DNC rep to discuss the subpoena he was slapped with. Tate doesn’t want to do it, but Mak and the DNC rep was like, we don’t give a sh*t…literally and informs Tate that he will testify at the hearing and help make the case that Tasha is calling the shots and James was an upstanding citizen.

Despite pressure from MacLean, Tate does what he was instructed to do and defends James and very convincingly. MacLean calls Tate a “lying ass n*gga” before he leaves.

Now, remember that gun that Paula saw on Riq? She brings up the fact that she spotted it on Riq after some extramarital sex with her coworker MacLean. We should have known these two were sleeping with each other. During their boot smoking session, the wire payment she requested from Riq goes through, confirming her suspicions that money is coming from a shady LLC. BUT, they both had an epiphany as to how they can get Saxe after failing miserably with both Tate and Blanca.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

That’s right, Tamieka! MacLean sends her a subpoena disguised as a floral delivery, and now she will have to come in testify against Saxe, and he won’t be able to flip the testimony in his favor like he did with Tate and Blanca.

Sticking with Saxe, he still has to make his case against Tasha and Riq and knows the only way he can do so is going back to his old playbook. The investigator he recruited to help him isn’t with it and warned him that he is only doing things by the book. An opportunity presents itself when Saxe’s niece is brought to his office after being arrested by the cops trying to buy weed. After going back and forth, Saxe makes her an offer and promises not to tell her parents that she got arrested if she goes to Stansfield and spy on Riq. She accepts her uncle’s request.

Monet Wants To Learn About Riq’s Operation, Drew Lives In His Truth

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Monet runs a tight organization, and if you get outta line, her goon/son Cane will check you. We get an excellent example of that during a meeting between Monet, Lil Guap, and his GTG crew. She is not too thrilled because his social media antics have brought so much heat on the street, bringing unnecessary attention to her business. To punish them, they cut the GTG crew’s supply.

Lil Guap was not feeling that decision and while Monet and Cane were walking away, calls her a “punta.” Monet heard him and presses him to say again, but this time to her face. Before he gets the full word out, Cane begins to whoop his ass for disrespecting his mother. After the beatdown, Monet tells Cane she can always depend on him.

Back at the Tejada residence, Cane breaks down what happened at the meeting with GTG to Diana and Drew. Drew wonders who will replace them, and Monet walks in at that precise moment to tell them that they have a new business partner and it’s Riq.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Cane is not on board with the idea, but Monet explains that there is a lot of money to be made because of the wealthy white students at Stansfield. Monet asks her Drew what does he think, and he pretty much cosigns working with Riq. Diana suggests that they should go to the school to see what Rqi’s operation looks like. Monet agrees and sends Drew to check on her new business partner. Monet is still not feeling what Diana did reaching out to her dad behind her back, so she takes Diana’s other phone.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Drew wastes no time and pops up on Riq, who is surprised and not too thrilled to see him. Drew even accompanies Riq to his art class, and this is where we learn an interesting tidbit about Drew. Lorenzo’s choice to take over the business is gay, and he reveals that as he flirts with one of Riq’s male classmates, he is paired up with. Drew and the student who also happens to be on the basketball team head back to his dorm room for some extracurricular activities. The moment is interrupted when Riq blows up Drew’s phone. Drew decides to call Diana, but he doesn’t know that his mother took his sister’s phone. Monet gets Diana to answer Drew’s call to find out what’s going on. Drew has no idea he is on speakerphone and tells Diana he is not with Riq and that he needs her to bring a lot more product to the school.

Monet instructs Diana to head to the school. We all know Diana is down for that being that she wants to see Riq. The Tejada family is officially a mess.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

When Drew returns home, Monet presses him for the money he collected from Riq. He tells her it’s in his bag. While taking the money out, Monet discovers the sketch of the gentleman Drew got intimate with at Stansfield. Monet tells her son that despite his dad thinking he is too soft to run the family business, she believes he is fully capable of doing the job. Monet wants him to be careful because everyone won’t come except him like family. Monet also is lying. She believes its Cane that should take over.

Riq Has Plenty of Options, Jabari and Milgram Are So Damn Toxic

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Right off the bat, we knew we’re going to get some interesting love triangles in Power Book II: Ghost, especially with Riq. Both Diana and Lauren made it evident as hell they want Riq, and he clearly knows that. When Diana shows up to his dorm, she wastes no time making her move kissing Riq before their makeout session is interrupted by Drew. Diana also reveals that she doesn’t care what her momma has to say about Riq. She wants the boy.

Riq also finally gets his chance with Lauren as well. During class, Professor Milgram announces a new fellowship program that the Canonical Studies program offers students. Lauren seizes the moment to invite Professor Jabari to her parent’s house for dinner. Professor Jabari accepts the invite but insists that another professor be present for fairness, so Professor Milgram is also invited. Jabari also suggests that a fellow student be asked to come so it wouldn’t look fishy and Riq volunteers. Lauren warns him not to be late because her mother isn’t a fan of people being late.

Welp, Riq is late, of course, because of his earlier meeting with Diana and rushes to get to Lauren’s house. Once he finally gets there, he has already missed dinner but is right on time for dessert. Lauren’s parents are extremely bougie and try to play Riq, but the boy is witty and intelligent and manages to counter their hate. Meanwhile, the shade between Jabari and Milgram was on full display at the dinner table.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

It got so bad that Lauren and Riq decide to excuse themselves. Once they are alone, the youngsters have that face-to-face conversation they needed to have. Lauren lets her intentions be known and finally kisses Riq. Once again, Riq’s makeout session is interrupted this time by a doorbell and Lauren’s mother telling her she has a visitor. When they get downstairs, it’s none other than Lauren’s boyfriend from Washington D.C., Malcolm, and she pretends to be thrilled to see him while also being embarrassed that Riq has found out he exists.

Riq plays it cool, kinda ignores her, but when they finally see each other is class again, they have a convo. Riq explains to her that he’s not mad. Lauren notices Diana blowing up his phone. He cooly tells Lauren like her, he has options, so he isn’t mad. Okay Riq, we see you.

Jabari and Milgram head back to his office and have another heated argument. Milgram reveals to Jabari that she knows he is sleeping with his students. The two exchange barbs back and forth, and once again, her urgers get the best of her, and she has sex with him once again.

We are already annoyed with these two, and also why don’t they have these sexual encounters in their homes, not at the school?

Tasha Gets An Unsettling Text Message

Source: Power / Starz

Tasha is already nervous as hell know that Riq is working for some shady ass individuals. She’s also well aware that someone is watching her, but she has no idea who it is. She thinks its the correction officer who has been bothering her since she arrived, but we know it’s not.

The episode comes to an end when she gets a text message containing a photo of Riq at school the Drew took with a haunting message stating that Riq is making good money and “earned another day about ground.” Looks like things will be intensely lit on next week’s mid-season finale.

Photo: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Previously on Power Book II: Ghost, we learned more about Auntie Monet (Mary J. Blige) and the Tejada clan. Riq (Michael Rainey Jr.) opted not to trash Ghost during his father’s funeral while eulogizing but instead toed the line telling a story of a complicated man he only just began to know. Riq also got a little closer to the Tejada family when he asked Monet for a favor on his mother’s behalf. Riq is now looking to get in even deeper with the Tejada family to help him get his mother out of jail.

There Is A Fight For Power Within The Tejada Family

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

The episode opens up with the Cane (Woody McClain) and Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray) making their rounds and collecting payments. We already knew Cane was the hothead/enforcer of the bunch, and it shows once again during one of the stops when one of the clients is drastically short. Dru, on the other hand, is the more level-headed child out of the Tejada children and opts to give the man more time to get their money together by Friday, or he will let Cane handle his business.

Once they get back to the crib, visibly excited after their day of collecting money and beating people up, they are greeted by some concerning news. Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) shows them a video of the GTG Crew, a bunch of knuckleheads who moves weight for them, is on IG Live making the block hot for them. Cane gets upset immediately and is ready to head out there, but Diana insists that they should tell their mother about it first. Little did she know she was speaking Monet into existence, and she walks right in and wants to know what the hell is going on? Diana shows her Lil Guap’s IG Live situation, and Monet walks off in disgust.

Monet immediately calls her husband, Lorenzo. The man is living it up in prison despite serving a life sentence. The phone call interrupts a conversation between Lorenzo and one of the boys on the inside responsible for getting Tasha the phone and morning-after pill she requested. Before he is told to leave, Lorenzo’s boy tells him he saw Tasha hand the morning after pill to someone else, sparking curiosity out of Lorenzo. Anyway, back to the phone call, Monet is concerned that Lil Guap and GTG Boys will make the block hot for the family. Lorenzo isn’t too worried about them and tells her to back down. He is unwilling to get rid of Lil Guap yet because Guap’s dad took a bullet for him. Lorenzo tells Monet to send Dru to talk to Guap instead of Cane because he knows his son is a bit rough around the edges. Monet isn’t happy about the situation.

She breaks the news to her kids, and they are all shocked about her father’s request because they know Cane could probably get better results than Dru, but their dad’s word is the law. Diana and Dru leave the kitchen and, Monet pulls Cane to side and tells him to follow his brother to make sure everything goes down smoothly.

Dru links up with Lil Guap, and he is being his regular ratchet self and is literally bumping booger sugar (cocaine) off his gun. Dru tries his best to nicely tell him to stop putting his business on blast because the feds could be watching (they are). The meeting gets spicy when Lil Guap pulls out his phone and tries to put Dru on his IG Live. They both stand up and get in each other faces.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Dru has his hand on his gun, ready to pop off but gets a surprise when Cane walks in. Lil Guap quickly checks himself because he is scared. Before Dru and Cane leave, Cane decides to pop off many shots in the air and runs out of the building. As they exit, a squad car rolls up, and one of the cops hops out and begins to chase Cane. The other officer just happens to be Monet’s sidepiece, and he immediately knows its Cane, who his young partner is pursuing, so he knows this situation can get really bad.

Cane and Dru turn a corner and hide behind a container. With nowhere else to go, Cane decides that he has no choice but to kill the cop. The tense situation gets diffused quickly when Monet’s cop bae lies and says he saw them run in another direction forcing his partner to get in the car with him. Cop bae links up with Monet to tell her what happened and informs her the only reason they were in the area was because of Lil Guap’s videos confirming her fears. Anyway, he tells her that they should chill, but Monet isn’t with that idea.

That’s not Monet’s only problem. Her daughter Diana is also a bit rebellious as well. Diana clearly wants her boots smoked by Riq, plus she doesn’t really want to be in the family business. Instead, she wants to go to school and play basketball professionally and wants Riq around, but Monet is like NAH on both fronts. Like any daughter would do, Diana decides to call her dad on her own burner phone that her dad more than likely gave to her behind her mother’s back. She tells him what she wants to do and asks him to talk to her mother about allowing her to live out her dreams and, of course, he does.

During a conjugal visit with Lorenzo, he brings up his daughter’s wishes and how he wants things to go regarding who should be in charge, and he likes that person to be Dru. Monet, on the other hand, feels Cane should be next up, but Lorenzo knows his son is just too much of a loose cannon.

Monet comes home and confronts Diana. She is not pleased with her daughter and asks her if she told her father about their conversation. Diana says no and tells her to check the “family burner phone” and discovers no calls on record. BUT later on, Monet searches her daughter for another burner phone and finds it and destroys it. She basically tells Diana that while she is staying in her house, she goes by her rules. Clearly, there is a power struggle going on between Lorenzo and Monet.

Tasha Wants To Take The Stand, But MacLean Isn’t Too Sure About That

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

MacLean knows he has to work hard to get Tasha out of prison because Saxe’s case against her alleging she is the kingpin is pretty solid. Tasha is pretty confident that she can prove that Saxe is lying about her being the kingpin of her now dead ex-husband’s criminal enterprise. She feels she should take the stand and testify on her behalf, but both MacLean and his investigator are not too thrilled with that idea. After some convincing, MacLean agrees to Tasha’s vision, but his investigator is still not on board and thinks it’s a terrible move to make.

So, to make sure his client is ready, MacLean somehow arranges for Tasha to head to a remote location to partake in mock trials to see if she is ready. There is a whole glam squad to doll her up and make her look believable, a fake judge and jury on deck as well. MacLean is definitely putting all of that money he is getting from Riq to good use. Anyway, Tasha isn’t too thrilled about the idea of participating in the mock trials because she feels it’s a waste of time and money.

She is proven wrong immediately. Especially when she finds out that MacLean hired Tameika to cross-examine her.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Tameika grills her and quickly gets Tasha to crack on the stand. The mock jury didn’t even buy anything that she had to say, and every single one of them said she was guilty. MacLean knows they are in trouble, so he decides to go for a hail mary and asks Tameika to join the team. MacLean tries to use the Saxe angle, but it doesn’t work, but he does notice her facial expression when he mentions her former colleague and feels that might be something he can continue to work on.

Riq Is Still Struggling At Stansfield, Makes A Deal With The Devil

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

It’s still a struggle for Riq at Stansfield. He even can’t seem to juggle street life and academics at all and is still always late to his classes. He is also trying to juggle women as well. Riq once again learns that his professors are not going to make the road to that 3.5 GPA needed to get his inheritance easy. His white professor calls him out for being late to his class and decides to call on him to speak about the reading.

Riq being the smart ass he is, has a rather interesting take on what he got from the book, which basically called out the professor and the book’s take. While he is taking down Oliver with his points, Professor Jabari is looking on with rare admiration. Following the class, Riq is not too happy and feels the professor is picking on him. Lauren tells Riq he should basically chill with trying to upstage his professors and instead opt for a more tamed approach and just do what they say cause it will yield better results.

He ultimately takes her advice, but it doesn’t pan out because he learns he didn’t receive any credit for his paper and fails. Professor Oliver tells him he liked his report, but he had no control over the grade. Instead, it was Professor Jabari who graded his paper. Lauren feels like crap and apologizes for the advice she gave Riq.

He immediately goes to have a conversation with Jabari about his grade. Professor Jabari tells Riq he should have stuck with his original opinion on the reading and not have conformed. Sticking with Jabari, for a minute, he accidentally tortures his ex, Professor Milgram. She just happens to walk into the office and hears him having sex with one of his graduate students. Poor Professor Milgram, keep in mind we learned she is a sex addict, so she is just trying not to think about this man, and he isn’t helping the situation.

Anyway, back to Riq, he isn’t too happy with his roommate and tutee, Zeke. He blames the basketball star for his failing grade because he had to write Zeke’s paper on a book that was due the next day. Zeke said he couldn’t do it because he had a game the next day. He will later learn he won’t be able to play because he is still on academic probation. Zeke apologizes to Riq, but Riq also wants a favor and wants to set up a meeting with his Aunt Monet. This is important because Riq decided it was time to get back into moving weight. He tells Brayden to get ready. He enlists the help of Epiphany to distract the most prominent dealer in Stansfield, making Brayden’s job even easier, and the plan worked.

Zeke comes through, and Monet shows up at the dorm. She isn’t too thrilled to learn that her presence was requested to talk to Riq, whom she doesn’t trust at all. She tells Zeke to go wait in the car so she and Riq can speak alone. Riq makes his pitch to her and gives her a duffle bag full of money to show how much he pulled in a matter of hours. Riq needs the weight, and the only place he can get it is from the Tejada family. Monet was reluctant, but she finally agrees after he convinces her that the family needs him to keep Zeke in school, but under the condition, he moves out of Zeke’s dorm room because she doesn’t want her nephew involved with the Riq’s drug business. Riq agrees and tells her he has somewhere to stay, and that is Brayden’s dorm room. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from his mother. She informs Riq that she needs him to give MacLean more money ASAP, realizing she is in trouble following her mock trial. Riq tells her not to worry, and he has a plan.

Immediately after her call with Riq, Tasha gets a call from Lorenzo informing her that Riq is working with his family. He tells her to make sure Riq does what they say because if he doesn’t, Lorenzo will see to it that he dies. Looks like Riq might have bitten more than he can chew with this move. This is precisely what Tasha has feared.

Photo: Starz

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Last Week on Power Book II: Ghost’s premiere, Riq (Michael Rainey Jr.), hit the ground running to enact his plan to earn his inheritance and help free his mother from jail. He quickly found out things aren’t going to be easy when it comes to juggling college, tutoring the school’s most prominent basketball star, and selling drugs to help pay for him momma’s high priced attorney. This week’s episode picks right up after Saxe snakes his way into the equation and charges Tasha with a kingpin (queenpin) statute after she said that she told Tommy to kill Ghost.

MacLean Is On The Case, Wants Riq to Dog His Father At His Own Funeral

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Following Saxe’s big surprise, MacLean gets to work immediately and proves why he’s worth every damn penny that Riq is going to have to hustle his ass off to get. Flanked by his investigator, Paula Matarazzo, MacLean wastes no time in questioning Tasha about what exactly is going on. MacLean quickly points out that payment is due, and Matarazzo surprises Ms. Green by revealing that her son is the one making those payments. Tasha thought racist ass Simon Stern was funding her defense, but regardless she promises to get the A T T O R N E Y MAN his money.

With that out the way, MacLean wants Tasha to stop playing and tell him the whole truth because he accurately feels she is not telling him the entire story in regards to why she asked Tommy to kill her ex-husband. MacLean knows something smells fishy with Saxe’s federalizing of the case and making her look like the queenpin. After a series of questions simulating as if she was under oath during her actual trial, he gets her to answer his questioning making in a way that it proves that she is not running James and Tommy’s drug enterprise. MacLean knows that Saxe is charging too high, and there is a political motivation behind Saxe’s decision to charge Tasha.

Back at Stansfield, Riq knows he isn’t bringing in enough money to pay MacLean. The counting of his funds is interrupted when his dumb ass tutee walks in the room. Riq hands him the report on Moby Dick he did for him and tells him to read it before he meets with Professor Milgram. Ezekiel claims he will read it, but his focus seems to be on trying to holla at the professor. We gonna be shaking our head at Zeke all season long, we are calling it. Before he leaves, Riq inquires if he can join him for dinner at his Aunt Monet’s house, Zeke says he will ask her.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

As far as his own school work is concerned, Riq is still struggling to get on course after he got accepted into the Canonical Studies program. Riq, of course, was late to class with professor Jabari, who already doesn’t really like Riq and didn’t want him in the program, to begin with. Immediately as he takes his seat, the professor asks him about the book he was supposed to complete ahead of class. Riq seemed to know what the hell he was talking about, but following his answer, his new potential boo, Lauren,  challenges his point, and Riq has no answer. Professor Jabari realizes that Riq didn’t read the book and is not pleased. Lauren apologizes to Riq, and he tells her it’s not her fault. Riq gets a text from MacLean because the two need to have a much-needed conversation about his mother’s case.

MacLean is still searching for answers and clearly doesn’t believe Tasha’s lying ass and who can blame him. He immediately tells Riq about the recent developments in his mother’s case. Riq backs his mother’s claims that his father was running the drug business, but MacLean is still skeptical, being that they both failed to disclose that she had a history with the Feds. BUT regardless, MacLean is still on board. In fact, he wants Riq to deliver the eulogy at his father’s funeral and trash him at the same time to help his mother’s case. Riq isn’t immediately too sure about that idea, but MacLean tells him to grow a pair and make a decision, his father’s integrity, or his mother’s freedom.

We Learn More About Auntie Monet & The Tejada Family

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

We learned last week that the St.Patricks aren’t the only crime family on the block anymore when we met the Tejada’s. Immediately we find out that Auntie Monet is getting her boots smoked by her cop bae, who happened to be the same officer that stopped by the house conveniently when Cane was about to blow Rel’s head off with a double-barrel shotgun. Cane would late smoke Rel later on in the episode.

Anyway, after a presumed night of passion, Officer Ramirez wants to be more than just Monet’s sidepiece fulfilling her needs due to her husband being locked away for life. Monet isn’t trying to hear any of that because he can’t begin to offer her anything that her husband did. She kicks him out before the kids, and her enforcer/son Cane shows back up. Later on that evening, Zeke and Riq and show up for dinner. The family gathering is interrupted by an unexpected guest, Uncle Frank.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Monet is very curious as to how Uncle Frank got out of prison so soon before eventually telling him to leave after his creepy ass sizes up his own niece. After Uncle Frank leaves, Monet tells Cane to take Riq home, and she did that for a specific reason. Before they get back to the school, Cane pulls over and tells Riq to get out of the car so they can have a conversation and set some things straight. Before Cane can tell Riq he needs to keep whatever he saw at the house to himself, Riq stops him immediately and schools him on Uncle Frank being a snitch. Riq also points out that his future depends on Zeke being successful in school, so he has no intention of messing anything up. Cane is impressed, and the two get and the car and drive off.

Cane arrives back at the house, and before he can tell his mother and sister what happened between him and Riq, he learns that his sister Diana and mother have already come to that conclusion. At first, Monet wanted her daughter to use her beauty to charm her Uncle, but after Cane tells her what he learned from Riq, the decision to cancel Christmas for Uncle Frank comes rather quickly.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Monet is even more curious about Riq now and decides to press Zeke for some answers about his tutor.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Monet inquires if Riq asked to come to the house, or did he invite him over? Zeke reveals that it was Riq’s idea which has Monet’s drug family senses tingling. She informs her nephew to learn more about his tutor. The following day Uncle Frank’s time as a “free man” comes to an end quickly when Cane kills him and chops him up into pieces. Who knew Woody McClain could play such a gangster role?

Professor Milgram Is Doing Too Damn Much, She Also Has A Sex & Love Addiction Problem

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Following her conversation with Zeke, where he tried his best to shoot his shot with her, she learns that the funeral for Riq’s dad is coming up. She decides to reach out to Riq to talk to him about dealing with the experience and opening up about it. Riq could care less though and doesn’t want to be bothered about and asks to be excused.

Professor Milgram is determined to help Riq, but her colleague, Professor Jabari, wants her to relax. Milgram reveals she wants to hold a candlelight vigil for Ghost. You gotta laugh because she has no idea how much Riq’s dad is undeserving of such treatment. Jabari also thinks that would be a terrible idea and that Milgram needs to exercise chill. After a bit of an intense back and forth, we learn the two professors were once an item and that a book Jabari wrote that included Milgram in it broke them up. Eventually, the arguing leads to passion, and the two have decided to have some good ole office sex.

Following the quick smash session, we learn that Milgram is a recovering love and sex addict and her sponsor was not too pleased that she dropped her panties for Jabari. Anyway, she still decides to do the vigil despite Jabari accurately warning her not to. When Riq arrives, the students start snapping photos of him, forcing Riq to do about-face and head to a frat party with Brayden.

A Tale of Two Cases

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

It’s a tale of two cases when it comes to Tasha’s freedom. On one end, Saxe is being pressured by Mak, who has the DNC lighting a fire under his ass to pin everything on Tasha so James dirt won’t come out. On the other end, MacLean is doing his due diligence because he knows something is up and along with his investigator that are working hard to get to the bottom of this, earn his $50,000, and stick it to Saxe.

MacLean brilliantly decides to use the former prosecutor who Saxe low-balled to try and get the case thrown out, and it almost worked during a private meeting in the judge’s chambers. Saxe counters with detective Blanca Rodriguez who isn’t too happy to be a character witness for Saxe because he burned her in the Power series finale. Saxe smartly tells Rodriguez to answer his questions with yes or no answers, limiting her responses, which she desperately tried to clarify but to no avail. After both witnesses testify, the judge decides there is just too much meat on the bone for her to dismiss the case, a small victory for Saxe. BUT, before MacLean leaves the chambers, Blanca stops him and tells him to get Saxe. Clearly, there is no love lost between them.

Riq Steps Up & Delivers His Father’s Eulogy, Asks Monet For A Favor

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Finally, it’s time to say goodbye to James “Ghost” St. Patrick. Before the fateful day, Riq had some thinking to do after conversations with MacLean, his mother, and Simon Stern. If you recall, MacLean wanted Riq to trash his dad during his eulogy while Simon Stern said that wouldn’t be a good idea. Tasha gave Riq the option of not having to do it all, opting to deliver the eulogy in his place, and they both agreed at the time.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

After a conversation with his late father’s Uncle, Gabe, that must have helped Riq come to his decision. Also, when his mother showed up from prison in her funeral fit with cuffs as her accessory, Riq decides he will do it since Saxe, who is also at the funeral, won’t allow Tasha to do to deliver the eulogy without taking off the handcuffs.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Riq steps up to the podium following Reverend Mastadon’s words and delivers a eulogy that tells the story about a conflicted man he didn’t really get to know until his death. Basically, he walked a fine line of keeping things cute about his dad without having to completely trash him. Following the funeral, as Tasha is being taken away, she asks her son to get her a plan B pill. While locked up, Tasha observed a meeting between the correction officer who gives her a hard time and one of the inmates, and apparently, she might have gotten her club shot up by one of the guards.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Riq gets a surprise visit from Diana at his dorm, and she wants to know how Riq knew that her Uncle Frank was a snitch because she was “impressed.” Riq changes the topic of discussion and asks Diana if her father knew anyone on the inside that could get sneak a morning-after pill to his mom in jail.

Diana runs home to share the revelation with her mom, and Monet agrees to do the favor. When Tasha returns to her cell, she finds the book with a phone and the pill inside of it. Tasha immediately uses it to call her son to tell him how proud she was of him and inquires how is paying MacLean because she doesn’t want him selling drugs. Riq tells her that he found another way that should keep him from getting killed or ending up jail, that way is the Tejada family, but Tasha has no clue yet.

Speaking of the Tejada family, Monet gets a visit from cop bae, and he comes bearing gifts. Monet is not impressed with the flowers and a bottle of Johhny Walker blue label, but he does grab her attention when he has evidence confirming Uncle Frank is a snitch asks if she knows anything about him being missing? Monet plays it cool and by using the fact that he is a snitch and that anyone could have killed him. Monet wants Ramirez to leave the crib before her kids come back, but she has no idea that Cane saw Ramirez walk in the house. Also, she wants her side boo to get more information on Tariq and the St.Patrick family.

Uh oh, things are starting to get interesting now.

Photo: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Source: Giovanni Rufino / Getty

Earlier in the summer, we learned that we would be getting a second season of the ABC hit drama For Life, which is executive produced by 50 Cent. Unfortunately, like everything in the world now, production for the show is not rona proof and had to be shut down due to the contagious virus TMZ reports.

A source from Sony Pictures revealed to the celebrity gossip site that “some inconsistent test results, and out of an abundance of caution,” led to the decision to stop production on Friday (Sept 11). It’s currently not clear how many of the tests were positives or false positives among the cast and crew. But there was enough worry for the studio to decide to pull the plug for now. 

For Life was shooting in Queens, TMZ reports that 50 Cent has not been on set. The show was one of many, along with movies and commercials, slowly making their return to production in a world that is still on pins and needles due to COVID-19. Of course, there are precautions and testing in place to ensure the safety of the cast and crew.

There is no word at this time on when the show will resume production.

Photo: Giovanni Rufino / Getty

Source: Alexander Tamargo / Getty

Reese’s Puffs aren’t the only classic junk food to get a Travis Scott refresh.

McDonald’s recently teamed up with the rapper to drop a brand new combo meal for fast food enthusiasts and hip-hop heads alike. Surprisingly enough, this team up marks the company’s first collaboration with a celebrity since they partnered with Michael Jordan in 1992, according to reports from Newsweek.

“We’re excited to bring the Travis Scott Meal to a McDonald’s near you,” McDonald’s US chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley said. of The promotional meal is available starting today through the end of the month, with the last day being October 4.

For just $6, fans can purchase the Cactus Jack. The meal is comprised of a Quarter Pounder with cheese, sizzling bacon and crisp lettuce, medium fries with BBQ sauce to dip and a Sprite. Anyone interested can order in-restaurant, for carryout, at the drive-thru or through the McDonald’s app.

“I couldn’t be more excited to bring the Cactus Jack x McDonald’s collaboration to life,” said Scott, who grew up eating Mcdonalds’ all the time in Houston, Texas. “We are bringing together two iconic worlds,” he said, adding that he “can’t wait for people to see what we have in store.”

The Travis Scott Meal is available at all US McDonald’s locations, except those in Hawaii, Alaska and US territories.