‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Recap – ‘Divided We Stand’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Three Finale of ‘Power Book II: Ghost’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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For the most part, crime dramas tend to stick to a singular lesson or bit of commentary by episode or by season, and it makes sense as to why. For there is always a worry that putting too much into a single episode or season would be overwhelming for an audience. So, it is best to just keep things simple and do the best job possible exploring that lesson/commentary, so the audience has plenty to chew upon and well, as peak television continues, we are quickly learning… that’s an incorrect view of how audiences process their entertainment. For they in fact, do enjoy powerfully complex, and jam-packed stories that give them and their friends and family plenty to discuss, and plenty to think about and dissect, and thankfully… television shows are starting to figure out that out. 
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In fact, one particular crime drama that is beginning to lean hard into this, is Power Book II: Ghost on STARZ. Simply because season three of this show has pondered upon concepts, we don’t associate with crime dramas all that often. Such as reaping what we sow and how painful a process that can be in a world without rules and going that route has made for powerful television to say the least, the kind that reached a powerful apex in this week’s season three finale. For ‘Divided We Stand’ featured a complex and engaging tale, one that let loose and opted to explore a bevy of topics and concepts that aren’t touched upon in this genre in the slightest. The kind that has us reeling today with their gravity and brilliance…. such as the fact that this episode explored how trauma could create deadly problems in the world of drug dealing. 

Because let’s be honest, no one in the Tejada family is mentally well at the moment and rightfully so. After all, they lost a brother, they lost a father and were forced to do horrible things this season to survive and that... combined with the pressures that they have faced regarding Noma… brought Dru and Diana to their breaking point. Wherein they took the time to set in motion the whole mess with Tommy Egan and Tasha, in the hopes of bringing order to chaos and to feel whole about something. Which in this instance was bringing great pain upon Tariq and using that pain to get him out of the game, since he quickly became the focus of their ire and their unresolved pain, and this was incredible to see play out. Since it really did hammer home that in a world without rules, pain and suffering can be weaponized and can bring forth harm and speaking of Tariq… well the Tejada family wasn’t alone in feeling frustration toward him. 

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For all of his problems with Effie and Lauren, and even Brayden, came to a head in this story. Because Tariq knew full well that Effie was the key to his freedom, and that prompted him to work with Cane and Brayden to threaten Lauren’s family to get her to recant her claims and make it so there was no RICO case, and Effie could walk free. Which was a move that left him… alone really. Because Brayden wanted out. Because he couldn’t stand what this life was making him become and Effie and Lauren were done with Tariq. Not because he was pure evil, but because… he treated people terribly. For one minute, they mattered the world to him and were loved and given everything they needed from Tariq, but the next… they were pawns on a chessboard, shuffled about in the name of the game, without warning and without care. And they couldn’t stand for that anymore, and it was fascinating to see this side of the business be explored and it was brilliant how the story used this to teach Tariq and the audience the most important lesson of all.
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In that, in this life, be it an honest one, or one mired in crime… there is no duality. One cannot expect to expect to handle one’s business and go home and lead a different life as though there won’t be eventual spillover or major conflict. For there will be, because there comes a point where we must choose one or the other. It’s a lesson that Ghost never learned, and that Tariq has struggled to, and it’s one so profound and correct that Tommy was quick to teach it to his nephew after he squashed his own beef with Tasha and remembered what mattered through her. Which also helped Tommy refocus upon this lesson, and in the end, it’s a lesson that Tariq did learn the hard way in this tale. Since everyone turned upon him, because there was too much of two worlds in play, and Monet was of course, badly wounded and in the hospital because of that spillover, and now… Tariq is out there, with only Brayden on his side and nothing to show for his work.

Which was… a powerful and complex way to end this story. One that hammered home that the overall goal of this series, is for Tariq St. Patrick to choose what life he wants and to lean into it because that is how it has to be. And all of those incredible elements give us just cause to celebrate the show’s finest finale and finest season to date. One that went bold in every sense of the word, and really challenged the audience and the characters like never before. And that led to amazing performances from the cast and is proof positive… that crime dramas can be as complex and as powerful as everyday dramas and now that the stage is set for Tariq’s biggest fight for survival to date, all we can do is patiently wait for, when season four of this intelligent and magnificent crime drama to arrive. So we can what Tariq does next with this lesson in hand and how it will help him decide what kind of life he wants to lead. Until next time.

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