“Power Book II: Ghost Recap”: Riq Has To Choose Between His Mom’s Life or His Father’s Legacy

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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