A full college term has passed since STARZ, 50 Cent, and Courtney A. Kemp’s Power Book II: Ghost series debuted as the first spin-off of the original Power series. So, it’s only fitting that Power Book II: Ghost, a series that follows Tariq St. Patrick and his double-life as a college student and drug dealer, comes to an end after four seasons. The upcoming season will premiere on June 7, 2024, the tenth anniversary of the premiere of Power, which begins a fitting end for the spin-off that added to everything we thought Power could be and helped to establish the Power Universe.
Power fans might not have been able to imagine the Power Universe as it is today. Yet, for the past four years, viewers have saw it expand in three different directions kickstarted by James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s death in the Power series finale. The Power Universe allowed characters who otherwise been outside of the spotlight, to have their own storylines at the forefront of their respective series. Michael Rainey Jr., who plays the role of Tariq St. Patrick, is a prime example of that. He went from having a recurring role on the original Power series to playing a key role on the show in its final seasons to being the star of a show centered around him with Power Book II: Ghost.
'Power' 402 w/ Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq
“Man, my first season on Power, I ain’t have no type of nothing,” Rainey Jr. told UPROXX with a laugh. “I was just there like, ‘Whatever y’all need me to say, I’ll say it, whatever y’all need me to do, I’m gonna do it.’” With time, Rainey grew out of this happy-to-be-here approach and into a hands-on actor who saw past the words on a script. “Now, it’s like – obviously the character of Tariq is solidified – but how can I make him a little more solidified? More believable? More relatable?” he says of his first season on Ghost.
That first season of Ghost was key in making sure the Power Universe could set sail into the dynamic future it teased to its loyal fans. It started with a shift in focus and demographic – Power aimed at a demographic north of 25 with Ghost, Tasha, and Tommy as its leads while Ghost went south of 25 with Tariq and Brayden (played by Gianni Paolo) at the helm. Rainey Jr. (23) and Paolo (28) both used their youth to their advantage in perfecting their characters with the hopes of making them, as Rainey said, more relatable and believable on screen.
'Power Book II: Ghost' 104 Gianni Paolo as Brayden & Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq
“The writers let me have a lot of fun with Brayden, whether it was to pitch my own jokes or make certain scenes more fun when things were darker in the Universe,” Paolo recalled to us of his last couple of years on Power before the launch of Ghost. “They really let me run free and I’m so thankful they did because I don’t think I would be in Book II if they hadn’t.” Rainey echoed a similar sentiment in regards to the start of Ghost, saying, “The writers definitely helped me with that as well. It was just like I’m gonna come in and do things a little bit different, step out of my comfort zone, [and] do things that I wasn’t doing in Power.”
Though the focus of Rainey and Paolo’s roles changed between Power and Ghost, Shane Johnson’s role remained more or less the same between both series. In both, Johnson played Cooper Saxe, the antagonist viewers loved to hate as he was fueled by the desire to dismantle the St. Patrick & associates’ empire, whether it was Ghost and Tommy at the top or Tariq and Brayden. Still, the feel between Power and Ghost was clear to Johnson. “There was such an incredible magic to Power the original series,” he recalled. “With Power, we were all in the same boat as actors, writers, and crew. We felt like we were creating something special, but we had no idea how big it would become. For Ghost, it was a very different experience and one that was just as special. Of course, one of the big differences is that we were already a known entity and we knew we’d carry over some of that former audience.”
'Power Book II: Ghost' 202 Woody McClain and Cane, LaToya Tonodeo as Diana, and Lovell Adams-Grey as Dru
Among that former audience were actors Woody McClain, LaToya Tonodeo, and Lovell Adams-Gray who joined the Power Universe through their roles on Ghost. The trio all held Power to high regard as fans and jumped at the chance to be involved in a spin-off of the shows. “I loved Power!” Adams-Gray, who plays Dru Tejada in Ghost, said before citing the influence of actor Omari Hardwick’s role as James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s on him. “I think Omari Hardwick validated me and my instincts as an actor. He made such unique and nuanced choices that really impacted me.” For Tonodeo, her appreciation for Power ran deeper. “I’m a big fan of the Power Universe and was definitely a fan of the OG Power series to the point where I had “Starz” (Power) on my Vision Board while the show was still airing,” she recalled. “Now that I’m apart of it, it’s even more special because I get to be apart of something that I know will forever be part of the culture.”
“Witnessing a character like Ghost, a business owner who runs a nightclub and isn’t afraid to delve into the gritty side of life to support his family, was truly groundbreaking,” McClain says about Power. “I never imagined that the producers could surpass that, but they proved me wrong. Not only did they craft a successful spin-off, but they also built an entire captivating universe.” The universe as of now, spawned three out of four previously announced spin-offs: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force. When compared to Power, Ghost is flashier, sleeker, and more modern — primed for the younger audience it aims for. Kanan evokes a bit of nostalgia and familiarity in its series -– you may not know the characters at its start, but the time period, aesthetic, and way of life is recognizeable and not too far removed from Power. Set in the 1990s, it captures the drug world that Ghost would later be deeply entwined in. Force opts for a colder (both literally and figuratively) feel in a completely different world where shivers are brought forth by both the brisk winds of Chicago, where the show’s lead Tommy Egan relocated to, and the gruesome drug world that a beloved Sons Of Anarchy actor couldn’t even survive. There’s something for everyone to pick and there’s an enough room to fall in love with all that’s offered.
The reasons for the last success of Power and Ghost are endless. McClain credits the “talented writers’ room” that continuously kept “viewers on the edge of their seats” as well as the “marketing genius” of 50 Cent. Tonodeo cites the “storylines, constant conflict between the Tejadas and Tariq, and the cultural impact” while Adams-Gray believes that the “electrifying and relatable” stakes as well the “conviction and authenticity” the actors put in their roles are to blame. Paolo also gave credit to the narratives in both Power and Ghost saying, “There are so many different story lines, twists and turns, and jaw dropping moments and I think that’s what keeps people wanting more and more every week.” As for Rainey, well, it cuts a bit deeper than that.
“The feeling of elegance, the feeling of greediness, that feeling of just being able to relate to certain characters in the story,” he says. “It’s the small nuances that bring people back to watch the show, just the little things like we’ve never seen a character on TV rockin’ Alexander McQueen while they over here going to go kill somebody. Stuff like is just different and I feel like people get tied into that.”
'Power Book II: Ghost' 304 Mary J. Blige as Monet Tejada
Much of that will be present in season four of Ghost which carries a tagline of “Like Father, Like Son,” alluding to a shift in character for Tariq St. Patrick. Rainey admits that Tariq “coming to terms” with the similarities between him and his father made the role “a little more fun” for him. “Now he’s doing a lot more ruthless stuff,” Rainey reveals. “He’s on the offensive, like he said, he wants to be an apex predator this year. He’s just in a different type of mindset. He’s not waiting for people to come get him so he can defend himself, he’s ready to get people.” It lines up to be a fitting self-acceptance moment for Tariq as Ghost will conclude the series after the second half of the season airs this fall. With it being the final season, Tariq has one wish for his audience. “I want them to watch this season and be like, ‘Okay, this season was good enough for it to be the last season,” he says. “I think that’s going to be the case and I’m ready to see the outcome of everything.”
Regardless of what happens in season four, the legacy of both Power and Ghost are cemented in TV history forever. “We captured lightening in a bottle so many times, that we started selling different flavors of lightening,” Johnson says of the former. For both series, Rainey notes that they and the Power Universe as a whole brought “something new to TV.” “They were able to make a familiar story new again and that’s not easy,” he adds. “On top of that, they were able to create three, four different spin-offs from one show. For all of them to be successful and people want to watch them, that’s a huge accomplishment because that’s very rare that people want to watch something like a spin-off to something that’s super successful like Power.”
For the next few months, Power fans will have the chance to say goodbye to the decade-long story of Ghost and Tariq St. Patrick. Ghost will conclude with a fourth season made up ten episodes that will surely add to the many memories the series has delivered over the years. Where Tariq and company end up remains to be seen, but Power, Ghost, and the Power Universe, which still lives on, carrying a legacy already set in stone. Ghost played a big role in that in ensuring that Power made it a new generation and that the Power Universe received the validation to be a exciting and thrilling as its creators imagined it to be. For that, Ghost should always be appreciated and with that, we can say goodbye and look forward to what lies ahead in the Power Universe.
‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season four, part one premieres on June 7. Part two debuts on September 6.
