The first words that I said upon watching this week’s Power Book II: Ghost is “That escalated quickly.” I said that once the news about Zeke’s real age became public during his press conference.
It was only an amount of time before the truth will begin to come out on this season of Powerbook II: Ghost. And all it took was for this episode for that to be revealed.
This week’s episode of Powerbook II: Ghost held nothing back as every character tested their own limits. That is because with the trial coming up very soon, there is zero time to be wasted anymore as it is running thin.
Last week’s ending of Powerbook II: Ghost left us a question of “Who’s the daddy” with the shocking reveal by Mecca. This week’s ending went from that to “daddy’s home” with Lorenzo returning home with Monet and their family.
But that was not the only thing that left us speechless. When things seemed to be going fine with
Tariq as he gained legal guardianship of his younger sister, disaster came looming at his doorstep as he is arrested for the murder of Detective Ramirez and Jabari Reynolds. And how do you add extra salt in the wound? By having Tariq read a letter from Ghost. Ghost made sure to write that letter before he passed away and that letter was vicious! I wish Ghost’s voice was the one that narrated the reading of the letter as the scene played out.
Tariq was also lucky that he was not the guard Mecca cut open. Cane saw that in person and he must really know what he is dealing with now. I wonder if that would have happened if Cane would have confirmed that he knew Tariq when he was caught. Everything that happened with Tariq on this episode is poetic to the teacher’s topic of karma earlier on in the episode as he cannot escape his own sins as Caridad Milgram said.
It is a good thing to see Zeke free to go however. Now he can focus on getting drafted on the NBA. I do wonder if the previous interview will affect his spot. But Monet sure put her words on Caridad to stay away from Zeke however.
With all of these developments, I am intrigued on what is coming next. Especially since Lauren was also involved in getting Tariq arrested since they had a wiretapped conversation. Imagine if the both of them will stand on opposite sides in court? That would be an ugly sight to see! Great episode this week with awesome acting from the cast of Powerbook II: Ghost.
This week’s episode of Powerbook II: Ghost featured the arrest of Tariq St. Patrick for the murder of Jabari Renolds. At the scene of the arrest, Brayden was there to witness it. After that scene played out, there will be some questions that will carry over to the next few episodes.
In this exclusive interview, Brayden himself Gianni Paolo talks about that scene and much more about this season of Powerbook II: Ghost!
The Knockturnal: Tariq was arrested the moment he went back to the campus and the first person he saw was Brayden. Do you think the general discussion will shift from him being arrested to Brayden possibly telling the police that the badge belonged to Tariq?
GP: “I guess it could be. It could be perceived that way. I do not think he wouldn’t get anything out of it, in my opinion, but you never know. So yeah, I think I actually like the way how in the Power universe, it’s like anything could be anybody. Like sometimes they’ll frame, it can be like, ‘Oh, well, it could have been this’ kind of like what they did in the final season of Power. When Ghost died, they promoted the last few episodes like ‘Oh, who? Who killed Ghost? It could have been this person.’ So that’s what I kind of love about Power. They do a really good job of making the drama and being like, ‘Oh, who actually did it?’ I think at the end of this, it’s kind of like no one really knows what’s going on.”
The Knockturnal: This season we also saw Brayden with Cane again. Last season, he gave him a test of trouble and he passed, and this season, he did it again with digging up the officer’s body. So what are the conversations between yourself and Woody like when the both of you are preparing for these scenes?
GP: “I love working with Woody. He’s so much fun. Michael Rainey Jr. is obviously one of my best friends in the world. The second we get the set, there’s chemistry and we already know what we’re doing, what we’re getting into. But with Cane (Woody McClain) is kind of like a wild card because those scenes are kind of crazy. Every time I get on the set and I work with him, we’re doing something wild. So I love working with him because it’s just such a great switch up from the scenes that I have with Tariq or the normal scenes that I have with my family. And obviously it’s always action packed, which I love filming and doing too. So, yeah, working with Woody, He’s great, he’s unbelievable. He’s probably one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with. So, you know, we just have a great we have great chemistry and obviously the fans see that.”
The Knockturnal: There was an interesting scene between yourself and Michael where you two used the mechanical brick wall to hide the product and to exchange. Do you have any stories of how that was built because I was convinced that was a normal wall.
GP: “I got to the set and it was already built and they had showed me it. I’m an actor. And because of that, I don’t know how to build stuff like that. So it always kind of blows my mind when you read it on the script and you’re like, ‘Good luck’ because I don’t know how this is going to come out. And then once I put the phone up to that thing that popped out., I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy.’ So yeah, it was kind of cool how they did that. It’s wild to me because I don’t know anything about that world of engineering. And I saw it and I was like ‘Wow, this is nuts ‘ And everyone loved it, too. Everyone thought it was genius. Everyone’s like Brayden is really stepped it up, but I didn’t build it. But you know!”
The Knockturnal: BMF is also another successful show on STARZ and Powerbook II: Ghost has had a ton of success as well. It seems like the fans are putting the shows against each other regardless of one being fiction and another being non-fiction. What is your stance on this from the fans of both shows?
GP: “It’s a great show and I love it. It’s just that I don’t even think there really is a competition. It’s just kind of 50 Cent, you know, doing what 50 Cent does. And it’s smart. It’s a genius move because everyone’s just talked about it. And obviously, if you saw me and Meech Jr. on Instagram, you saw that we were going back and forth. Me and Michael Rainey Jr and everyone that whole day, all four of us were posting each other. We got on the Shade Room and it was on everywhere. So it was just a lot of fun like, we’re just kind of, you know, throwing digs at each other. And it’s great. The fans love it. The fans have fun and they feel like they’re involved in it. It’s great. You know, we have no bad blood with them, like it’s just kind of all fun and games. And it’s just great for the shows and I love it. I love the competition, you know? I’m a competitive kid. I grew up playing sports. I’m always like ‘Now we’re better. We’re better!'”
This week’s Powerbook II: Ghost was full of secrets and reveals. One at the very end that I know for sure caught viewers off guard.
That huge secret is, Zeke is Mecca’s son. I can say that I was stunned as Monet’s reaction to hearing Mecca say this in front of him. This all happened hours after Zeke’s interview with the journalist on live television went south. The only thing that did, is for the general public to think that Zeke had something to do with the murder of the professor. The attention sure shifted after he walked off. With this ongoing development, I am wondering how the writers will convince us that Monet hid that secret from everyone including Lorenzo.
Cane had Brayden do two missions for him today with one of them being hilarious. First, Brayden helped Cane to rob a jewelry story. And later in the episode, Cane had Brayden help him dig up Ramierz’s body to not only exonerate Zeke, but to also retrieve his badge. This resulted in Cane planting the badge in Tariq’s desk and I am really interested to see who will be the first one to find it. Will it be Tariq, or will it be the law enforcement? We will have to wait and see.
Another development that is related to the murder of Jabari, is the situation between Saxe and Jenny. Since these two are together, they are also on the opposite sides of the case. What did Saxe do the moment Jenny leaves the room? He goes through her belongings and found Ramirez’s gun. This will be crucial to the case. I am curious to see when these two will clash over this information.
All in all, this is a strong episode as Monet carried most of the episode. The jump scare at the start of this episode set the pacing in motion that this will be the Monet show this week. Be sure to return next week for my continued coverage of Powerbook II: Ghost
This week’s episode of Powerbook II:Ghost taught a lesson. That is, unlikely partnerships can lead to a huge success. That is the case as Monet (Mary J. Blige) got Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Cain (Woody McClain) to drop their feud and to work with each other. They put their bygones aside and begin to work together for the time being. Cain is even starting to trust Brayden even more now.
While on the subject of trust, Cain is not sure yet if he can trust Mecca. Especially since he is interested in Monet. Whether if Mecca is using Monet for his own advantage or not, we will see this play out in the coming episodes with this potential love triangle. At least Cain got a chance to see what Mecca can do if he double crosses him!
One thing I can also say that I liked, is the new “trade off” system Tariq and Brayden created that blended in with the outside wall. This is quite clever as only a QR scan is needed to open it. That means nothing would be traced back to them if they get caught. It is also a good thing that Tariq got personal with Lauren and showed her his younger sister he is trying to gain custody of. But the truth of what Tariq has been doing will come out soon.
Even so, the authorities are getting closer to the leading suspect of Jabari’s murderer. This is because Zeke gives Whitman a PBA card signed by Ramirez. That piece of evidence will be crucial to the entire investigation.
Overall, a really solid episode. And Davis McClean (Method Man) and Cooper Saxe’s (Shane Johnson) partnership is growing on me. Next week’s episode will follow up on every single situation that was presented on today’s episode of Powerbook II: Ghost.
The stars of STARZ’s Powerbook II: Ghost appeared on the red carpet this week on the worldwide premiere of their second season.