(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s Power Book II: Ghost episode will be found in the recap below.)
The premiere episode of Power Book II: Ghost season four picks up right where the season three finale left off. A murder attempt on Monet Tejada that was supposed to be completed by Tariq with help from Dru and Diana Tejada, sparked an all out war that spills into this season. Tariq intended to abort the mission to kill Monet, but his mother Tasha to his surprise, swooped in to fire gunshots at Monet, leaving her in critical condition. Dru and Diana, who had a plan of their own, switched up on Tariq and rallied Cane and Noma, whom Monet was working for, against Tariq. Just like that, Noma, Cane, Dru, Diana, and even Effie, who pops in as another enemy of Tariq, surround him in an warehouse where Cane has a gun in hand point at Tariq ready to kill him for shooting his mother. It looked like the end for Tariq, but this is Power where the good die and the bad don’t die easy.
Brayden, thanks to a tip from Obi, arrives to save Tariq and ambush the warehouse with gunshots in Noma, Cane, Dru, Diana, and Effie’s direction before running out with Tariq and escaping in his car. In the aftermath of the shootout in the Ghost season four premiere episode titled “I Don’t Die Easy,” Noma, seething with anger, instructs Diana and Dru to find and exploit Tariq’s weak points, Cane to see a doctor for the gunshot wound to his shoulder, and Effie to use her former romance with Tariq to figure out where he’s hiding.
Meanwhile, Tariq and Brayden decide to continue with their plan to kidnap Noma’s daughter Anya (played by Sydney Winbush) as leverage against Noma. The two track Anya down to an airport hanger where she is waiting in an SUV surrounded by numerous guard with guns. Despite arriving with their own weapons, Brayden and Tariq realize that attacking the guards head on would be like walking into their own death. So, they send an unmanned SUV, thanks to a concrete block strapped down to the gas pedal, at the guards to distract them. It works, as it allows the duo to ambush the guards and kill most of them. Unfortunately, the remaining guards escaped with the Anya in the SUV.
'Power Book II: Ghost' 401 w/ Gianni Paolo as Brayden and Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq
The attack and new kidnapping of Anya has Noma absolutely fuming, leaving her to berate her guards with a “you had one job” rant. Obi sweetly offers to “handle” the Tariq situation for Noma, but she slaps him and instructs him to “think with the head that’s useful” and place a $100,000 bounty each on Tariq and Brayden. To add to her stress, Anya arrives to confront her mother about rushing her out of class at New York University. Noma tries to reason with Anya, but it’s also clear that she’s hiding her criminal life from Anya, making it hard for Noma to give her daughter an actual reason for rushing her around the city. Anya’s suspicions are clear and she delivers a tough comment to her mother, saying, “I hear what you’re saying, but I wonder what you’re not telling me.”
Brayden and Tariq are not the only ones on the offensive this episode. Dru and Diana, after instruction from Noma, kidnap Brayden’s younger sister Becca under the guise of Brayden being in trouble and needing her help. Becca willfully tags along with Dru and Diana, and as this goes down, Cane storms into the Weston residence to attack Brayden’s older brother Trace and point a gun at his father in hopes of getting information about Brayden’s whereabouts. Cane fails to get any information as Trace and his father truly have no idea where Brayden is. Effie arrives and begs Cane to leave Trace and Mr. Weston alone so they can escape before the police arrive. That leaves Becca who remains in the hands of Dru after he ditches Diana so she can go check on Monet in the hospital. It’s officially a hostage situation as Dru calls Brayden to tell him that he kidnapped Becca and to meet him at a pier if he wants to get her back.
'Power Book II: Ghost' 401 w/ Caroline Chikezie as Noma & Kyle Vincent Terry as Obi
A frantic Brayden scrambles to make it to the pier to save his sister, despite Tariq’s pleas for him to take a moment to breathe and think of a plan with him to rescue her in the safest and quickest way. Luckily, Dru is one of the worst kidnappers we’ve seen as Becca eventually pepper-sprays him and escapes from his car long before Brayden arrives. She makes a run for it and eventually finds Brayden who just arrived in a SUV. Dru is not too far behind and arrives ready to fire shots in Brayden and Becca’s direction. However, before he can, Tariq comes barreling through in a truck and slams into Dru’s car, injuring him severely.
Dru limps out of the car, dodges bullets from Tariq, and watches as Tariq jumps in Brayden’s SUV and the three of them speed off into the distance. Brayden returns Becca to the Weston home where his father scolds him with racists comments about his drug dealing and criminal life beside Tariq following the assault of Trace and Becca’s kidnapping. He angrily disown Brayden, who is shocked at the news of someone coming to his family’s home. Brayden brushes off his father’s comments and walks away, but not before cursing them out saying, “F*ck this f*cking family.”
As if Brayden and Tariq didn’t think things are bad enough for them, the latter gets a call from Davis McClean who tells them to get out of New York as fast as possible as $100,000 bounties were placed on both Brayden and Tariq’s heads. It was moments before that Noma and Obi paid a visit to McClean’s apartment with a gun drawn in hopes of getting info on the duo’s whereabouts. Davis, with his own gun pointed at them, rejected the $200,000 offer give up information on Tariq and Brayden. However, others like Cane and Effie (whose romance oddly continues into this season) as well as Dru and other associates connected to Noma, happily accept it and set out to find Brayden and Tariq. In order to save themselves, Tariq and Brayden set out to the Stansfield campus to retrieve a hidden stash of money. Of course, they’re met with resistance as a simple in-and-out extraction would be too easy in the Power Universe.
'Power Book II: Ghost' 401 w/ Method Man as Davis McClean
After retrieving the cash, Tariq is tipped off by Effie — who clearly and oddly still has feelings for Tariq despite her growing? romance with Cane — that she, Cane, Dru, and a group of Noma associates are on the campus to find Tariq. Brayden and Tariq then make a run for it, but are soon stopped by Angel Valdes aka Junior, FBI agent and nephew of Angela Valdes from original Power series, to question him about the green cards he gave Obi. Tariq denies and taunts Junior about his aunt’s connect to James “Ghost” St. Patrick when a flurry of bullets come their way. Tariq, Brayden, and Junior all take cover, and eventually, the shooter, one of Noma’s associates, is killed by Junior. Seconds later, Brayden knocks Junior to the floor by hitting with the butt of his gun. Tariq and Brayden step toward Junior with guns drawn and Tariq uses this moment to call Noma and offer a deal: We’ll kill Junior who is looking into your drug organization if you remove the bounties on our heads. Noma reluctantly accepts the deal with an added condition that Tariq and Brayden stop selling drugs of all kinds (“not as much as an aspirin”). Tariq obliges and kills Junior a short time later.
Noma sends a message to Effie, Cane, Dru, and her associates to abort the mission to find Tariq and Brayden. A frustrated Cane ignores the command and tracks Tariq down, chasing him through the Stansfield campus. Tariq, in full sprint, calls Dru and demands that he tell Cane to fall back or risk him telling Cane about their prior plan with Diana to kill Monet. Dru agrees, but before he can even tell Cane, he runs into him and Effie watching Tariq and Brayden from a distance as the two lie to cops about the events that sparked two murders, including that of FBI agent Junior Valdes. Dru then tells Cane to stand down and lets him know that Monet woke up from her coma. A suspicious Cane promises to get to the bottom of Noma’s sudden request to call of the bounties before following Dru to the hospital.
'Power Book II: Ghost' 401 w/ LaToya Tonodeo as Diana, Lovell Adams-Grey as Dru, and Woody McClain and Cane,
This brings us to what is probably the most awkward part of this week’s episode. Throughout “I Don’t Die Easy,” we’re invited into the comatose mind of Monet where she is guilt-tripped by the slain men in her life: Mecca, Lorenzo, and Zeke. As doctors work on her actual physical body to save her life, Monet internally battles the guilt she has from Mecca, Lorenzo, and Zeke’s deaths. The three men are present to dramatize the moment and continue the guilt trip Monet, which is supposed to metaphorically represent the pushback in her fight through to break out of the comma.
It’s a bit awkward to watch as the drama and tears seem to be overdone, but nonetheless, Monet breaks out of the comma to see Diana standing by her side. Dru and Cane eventually join Diana in the hospital where Monet tells them she loves them and asks who is responsible for shooting her. Cane, with a very silent Dru and Diana beside him, says that they’re working on it to which Monet replies, “Find out.”
“I Don’t Die Easy” ends with Brayden and Tariq scrambling to figure out what their next move will be after Noma cut off their drug supply and ability to move weight in the street. In the next scene, we’re introduced to Detective Don Carter, a rising NYPD officer who was on track to become Police Commissioner until his wife was killed in a crossfire between rival drug gangs. Detective Carter is leaving church after a moment of prayer when he runs into Paz Valdes, Angela’s sister and Junior’s mother. Distraught and in tears, Paz tells Carter that her son was suspiciously killed after investigating Tariq St. Patrick. Though the FBI thinks Junior’s death is a random school shooting, Paz is sure there is something deeper at play. Carter seems to agree and promises to arrest whoever killed Junior.
New episodes in ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season 4 are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am EST and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm EST. Season 1-3 of ‘Ghost’ are now streaming on the STARZ app and website.
