‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Recap: Professor Jabari’s Murder Sets of A Spiral of Events In Season 2’s Premiere

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Cue up “Big Rich Town,” Power Book II: Ghost is back, and the fallout from Professor Jabari’s murder takes shape in the season 2 premiere. 

Everybody Is On Edge

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The events that went down during the season one finale have everyone looking over their shoulders and, in Riq’s case, constantly replaying pivotal moments in his young life that continue to shape his future. Riq wakes up from a “nightmare” of reliving the moment he took Professor Jabari’s life. Riq is also missing his mom, but Tasha has gone radio silent after being placed in witness protection after Davis successfully helped her beat a murder charge.

Riq’s moment of reflection is interrupted by his little sister we barely see, Yasmine, screaming for help. The youngest St.Patrick offspring was trying to make breakfast but almost burnt down their grandmother’s apartment. The smoke detector wakes up Granny, who is suffering from a hangover. Riq asks his younger sister if their grandmother has been drinking again, and Yaz reveals that her lust for alcohol worsens. We expect Grandma’s love for alcohol to play a significant role this season. Riq takes advantage of his grandmother’s brain fog from drinking, convincing her to believe that he spent the night at her apartment, setting up his alibi.

Riq isn’t the only sh***ing bricks. Monet is petrified after what went down that led to Dru getting shot and Diana also getting shot. Monet made the bold decision to retaliate by killing Rico, her wild-child, Cane’s bonehead move by killing her lover, and police connect Ramirez is also playing in the back of her mind. While going over the books, Monet is startled by a noise in the kitchen. She grabs her gun and goes downstairs to investigate, only to discover it was Dru only trying to get some water. Dru holds some hatred towards his mother because he feels she is the reason he almost lost his life in the first place.

Maclean and Saxe Find Common Ground

Last season Riq managed to bring Cooper Saxe and Davis Maclean together. They both want to take down Riq but at the same time get rich doing so. Fresh off his big victory in court, Maclean recruited Saxe after he was given the boot from his government job. The union between the two still needs work with them bickering over things like putting Saxe’s name on the door.

The pow wow session between the unlikely allies is interrupted by a phone call from Riq asking Davis to locate Tasha so he can speak to her about Yaz. After a small back and forth, Riq gets Davis to agree to find his mother after promising to “make it worth his while.” Maclean then looks to his new buddy Saxe for help, who initially declined to help because he believes Riq would probably kill his mother, but Davis shuts that down. Saxe finally comes around after Davis reveals his true intentions, to milk Riq dry.

We also learn Maclean’s real motives for working with Saxe. He plans on using him to help get his brother out of jail, played by Redman.

Zeke Has An Important Decision To Make

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Zeke ponders his hooping future and wonders should he just go pro or stay and develop his game a bit more. All signs point to him deciding on staying in college one more year because he has missed out on hooping time due to being on academic probation.

While that is s good idea, there is one person who objects to it, Monet. Zeke learns this during a discussion with his aunt. She reveals to him that he needs to go pro because she is basically using him to be the family’s way out of the drug business. Monet is spooked after seeing Dru get shot and almost losing Diana during the drive-by incident. Clearly, Zeke doesn’t think this is the way, and why should he? But what Auntie Monet says goes on this show.

Monet’s Tough Love Approach To Parenting Is Dividing The Family

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Monet runs a tight ship in her house, and that’s understandable because she has to raise her kids and run a drug empire by herself. After all, her husband is locked up. BUT, she is also terrorizing her kids, and her iron grip when it comes to her parental skills is taking its toll on them.

Dru doesn’t want to speak to her, he just wants to be free and draw, but that’s not good enough for Monet, hell it got him nearly killed. Poor Diana wants to be regular, do things a young woman her age does, date Riq but Monet got her learning how to load a handgun and cockblocks her every time she and Riq get remotely close to having some sort of intimate moment. Cane wants to come home, but Monet is dead serious about him no longer being a member of the Tejada family.

The Tejada kids, Dru and Diana, have a conversation about their mom and how she is moving after she reveals she wants out of the drug game. Dru is not feeling the plan to use their cousin Zeke as a meal ticket because he wants to be able to do things on his own and the idea of “working for Zeke” and following him around. Diana agrees that it would be nice if they could make some of their own decisions. Dru thinks it’s time they did just that because Cane already has.

Cane Finds A New Family, For Now

Cane embraces the fact he is no longer a member of the Tejada family after Monet gives him the boot. He and his new buddy, a former GTG member, link up with a new connect. Their first meeting gets rudely interrupted by GTG members looking to get revenge for their fallen brethren, but they wound up getting killed with one driving off. Cane is suspicious that the connect was a narc but is convinced that he is not a cop after he takes out two GTG members by himself.

Cane’s loyalty to his potential new connect is immediately tested when he is presented with the third guy who drove after the failed attempt on their lives. The poor sap is tied and up and gagged, sitting in a chair waiting for Cane to kill him. The connect wants to see how Cane will handle the situation. Cane decides instead of just killing the guy with a knife that is given to him; he decides to free him so they can scrap. Cane easily beats up the guy, breaking his neck for good measure impressing the connect.

Cane almost fumbles the bag when he gets a little too adventurous and gets caught inspecting the new connect’s product. Cane quickly fixes the situation by pointing to his loyalty, and the drug lord is satisfied with his response. But, he still follows Cane without him knowing and sees him failing to gain entry into the Tejada home after Monet tells him to kick rocks.

Councilman Tate Is Trying To Find Victory In Defeat

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Councilman Tate is down bad after losing his bid to become Governor of New York. When we catch up with the Tate, he is on his brother Kamal’s couch, passed out after a night of drinking entirely too damn much. Tate’s brother, hilariously played by his brother in real life, wakes up to express his disappointment about Tate’s behavior. The Councilman took a Trumpian approach to his defeat at the ballot box, believing the election was “stolen” from him, feeling no one did anything to stop it.

After a pep talk from his brother, Tate decides to find another way to grab more power. Tate decides to visit Steven Ott at his home to pitch the idea of him running for the 12th district. Ott quickly shuts the idea down because that seat currently occupied Congressman Rick Sweeney, a democratic legend. Ott tells Tate the only way the Democratic Party will even consider backing him is if he finds some serious dirt on Sweeney and adds that’s highly unlikely. Tate takes Ott up on his offer.

In the episode, we are introduced to Congressman Sweeney, or as Brayden calls him, Uncle Rick, at a gathering at Brayden’s parent’s house. After a brief introduction, Brayden’s dad hints at some things happening between him and his good buddy Rick during their college days. Rick jokingly adds what happened then should stay there. There also happens to be a photo album full of some questionable photos that Riq got a peak of before it’s snatched out of his hands by Brayden’s brother, so keep that logged in the back of your memory banks.

Tate is not aware of Sweeney’s college shenanigans yet, but he asks his brother for a small favor. He wants Kamal to log him into the NYPD database so he can learn everything about Congressman Sweeney.

The Fallout From Professor Jabari’s Death

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A new detective is on the scene for us to hate throughout the season, and he finds Professor Jabari’s cold corpse. Police also found Officer Ramirez’s firearm on the scene, and it’s been revealed the NYPD is well aware he has been missing.

The detective isn’t buying that Ramirez bodied Professor Jabari and just left his gun behind. He believes there is more to this situation, and it has to do with the investigation of the dead GTG member they found in the Stansfield swimming pool. To get to the bottom of this, he decides to link up with always horny Professor Milgram, who we learn has a thing for this detective, go figure.

Milgram believes linking up with the detective will help her get over Jabari and Zeke but quickly finds out he only reached out so he can take her to identify Jabari’s body at the morgue. Milgram is absolutely saddened to see Jabari dead, the detective begins to question her, and she is taken back by some of the things he asks her. Heartbroken, Milgram reaches out to Zeke, who stops by her apartment. Milgram needs some consoling, and things quickly transition to the bedroom. After their smash session, Milgram explains to Zeke what is going on and how she believes this has something to do with his aunt. Zeke doesn’t think that is the case.

Meanwhile, the news about Professor Jabari’s death quickly spreads around campus. Riq is still playing dumb, but he knows this will only complicate matters. News of Jabari’s death also makes to Monet, and she asks Dru and Diana if they knew anything about it, of course, they both say no. Word also gets back to Cane, who shot Jabari first, and he Riq meet up to discuss how they are going to move. Riq reassures Cane he has nothing to worry about, and during their conversation, gets a text from Monet to stop by the house for dinner.

Source: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost

Riq knows she’s only inviting him over to talk about Jabari’s death, Cane instructs him to just play cool and don’t say anything, and Monet suspects a thing. Riq takes Cane’s advice, and Monet believes him, but Dru and Diana don’t, but they don’t bring up their suspicions to their mother. Before Riq leaves, Monet blesses him with more drugs to sell, Brayden picks him up, and they head back to campus.

Back on campus, Riq gets a call on the burner phone he uses to conduct his drug business and speak with his mother. He quickly answers it thinking it’s his mother, only to learn that the detective is on the other end of the phone call. Riq smartly doesn’t say anything and quickly hangs up and removes the battery from the phone. But it’s too late. The phone was traced back to Stansfield, confirming the detective’s suspicion.

Things are about to get interesting quickly.

Photos: Starz / Power Book II: Ghost